Former Trenton High School and North Central Missouri College basketball standout Zach Vandevender has landed the girls’ basketball head coaching job at Sedalia Smith-Cotton High School. The announcement comes more than six weeks after former Smith-Cotton Coach Chris Parsons resigned to take over as the girls’ coach at Palmyra High School.
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Vandevender was a second-team all-state selection during his senior year at Trenton and a two-time all-district selection. He scored 451 points in his senior season at Trenton and recorded 103 assists as the Bulldogs posted a 22-4 record. Vandevender’s success at Trenton High School allowed him to continue playing basketball, first at NCMC and then at the University of Central Missouri. While at NCMC Vandevender averaged 14.7 points as a sophomore and ranked second in the nation with 9.2 assists per game.
Following his time in Warrensburg, Vandevender attained a Master’s Degree in Athletic and Activities Administration at William Woods University, where he also coached the freshmen men’s basketball team. Vandevender would then made a stop at Delta Woods Middle School in Lee’s Summit before coming to Sedalia.
Vandevender has spent the past three years in Sedalia and has coached the receivers on the football team as well as junior varsity basketball. Vandevender now takes over a program that was 15-12 last season, narrowly missing what would have been a second-consecutive West Central Conference championship.
Vandevender graduated from THS in 2001 and NCMC in 2003 and is the son of Steve and Susie Vandevender of Trenton.