Perry High School has found their varsity basketball coach and it’s a young man who is certainly familiar with the program. Assistant coach Aaron Lyons has accepted Perry’s offer and will take over the program for Dennis McDonnell who left for personal reasons. Lyons has been an assistant coach the past four years, two with Perry and two with Greene County.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to be the head coach of Perry high school. This is something my dad and I have been dreaming about for a very long time. When Tom (Lipovac) gave me the call to offer the position, I had a lot of different emotions running through me. I know when I hung up the phone, I let out a big Let’s Go! I love the Perry community and the kids and am excited to be a part of the Blue Jay community.”

The 24 year old Lyons last name will certainly be recognizable for many fans in the area. His father Dean was a long time coach at East Greene and retired this past winter after leading the Greene County Rams girls program the past four years. Dean was East Greene’s head varsity boys coach for over 22 years. The younger Lyons is anxious to learn and knows his teams will play with the fire and passion that he brings to the job each and every day.

“For me, the decision was easy because I really like the kids we have coming back. From day one and the very first time I walked into the gym at Perry, I was seeing kids who really wanted to be there and that is a key. The junior varsity group was a great group of kids who wanted to learn the game and who always played hard. They were ready to learn and take what I taught them and put it to use in a game. I like that.”

Lyons was a four-time letterwinner in basketball for the East Greene Hawks where he was an all-conference and all-district performer. He also lettered five times in baseball and was an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection as a junior and a First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-District selection as a senior. He was a starting outfielder on the state tournament team in 2009 for Head Coach Dana Fink. He also lettered three times in football and four years in track. Aside from athletics, he was Class President and was also a member of Student Council.

Raccoon Valley Radio will have more on the conversation Shawn Kenney had with the new Blue Jay coach over the next few days.