The search is over for the Lady Pioneers. Kyle Turnham will be taking over the WCHS girls basketball program, becoming the third coach in three years after being announced Thursday by principal Chris Hobbs.

Turnham, who has over three decades of experience on the sidelines, is assuming control of the program following Mendy Stotts’ one-year stint. Stotts took over for Anthony Lippe last May after he had spent four years on the sidelines and led the Lady Pioneers to a top-10 ranking in 2022-23. 

Hobbs and the members of the search party zeroed in on Turnham quickly after deciding to not retain Stotts as coach March 8. Last year’s coaching search spanned over six weeks, but Turnham’s emergence made this year’s hunt a short one.

“We are thrilled to welcome Kyle Turnham to Warren County as the new head coach for our Lady Pioneer basketball team,” said Hobbs. “As we worked through the search process, his application jumped out and rose to the top of our list very quickly. His on-court results speak for themselves.

“He’s coached at a high-level NCAA Division 1 (school) and JUCO, along with 30-plus years as a high school coach. He has experience in our own district and we are confident in his ability to build a program that will not only be competitive on the court but also teach our student athletes well through the game of basketball.”

Turnham, 63, is coming off a three-year stay on the Shelbyville sidelines, where he faced off with Warren County as a district foe. The Eaglettes improved tremendously over his tenure, culminating in a 17-13 mark this year - the school’s first winning season in six years. Shelbyville qualified for the region tournament in each of Turnham’s three seasons (twice as an automatic qualifier) and took down Page in the region quarterfinals last month. 

He amassed a 35-34 record over three years at Shelbyville. Turnham’s win total in high school basketball is extensive though. 

During a six-year run at Central Magnet before taking the Shelbyville job, Turnham led the Lady Tigers to a district tournament championship. He was also successful at stops at Blackman, Franklin County and Riverdale as a head coach of the boys programs. 

Turnham started his head coaching career in college, where he led the Chattanooga State boys team (1990-95) and Cleveland State boys team (1995-96). 

He's a graduate of MTSU, where he served as a student assistant from 1985-88.

The Standard will be working to conduct an official Q&A with Turnham to run in a future edition.