Coach Jon Kraus selected as NFHS Coach of the Year

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Nick Rulevish

The high school coach of the year was given to Okawville High School’s very own Jon Kraus. The coach of the year is a very high honor. Especially since he won this award out of every coach in the United States. There were so many other coaches that the award could’ve been given to, but Jon Kraus received it and sure deserved it. I interviewed Kraus to get his opinion on not just his thoughts on the award, but also the team’s future.

I asked Kraus how it felt to be honored with such a reward. He responded with “I think the main thing is that it (the award) is great but it’s not really for me, it’s for all the kids that play for me and the coaches that have helped me. I think it’s an award for our whole program, I mean yea I’m the head coach and sometimes you benefit from that, but it’s more so an award for our program.” I then asked him how this award changed your life, if at all. “It hasn’t changed really. I’m not a big award guy, it’s just one of those things that are great for our program and then I moved on. I just try and go back and keep coaching our kids and stuff like that. It’s nice to get a little recognition every once in a while, but if our kids get some recognition that’s where I find it to be more beneficial.”

 

After that, I started asking some questions more about Kraus’s coaching and a little less of the award. I asked him how coaching has affected his life. Kraus said “It’s been a real big part of my life. There are some things you miss out on, I miss a lot of my kids’ events whether they’re sporting events or other things because of my job so there are the downfalls of it too. It’s time-consuming, but it’s something that I enjoy doing and I enjoy being around the guys that play for me and around my coaches that have helped. I got to meet a lot of people and I get to watch basketball and I get to coach the game that I love to play and anytime you get to do something for a living that you enjoy doing, I think that’s a plus.” I asked him later on about how he plans to improve as not only a coach but also a team. Kraus answered with “It’s one of those things where you go through and watch videos, our games, watch other teams, I go listen to other coaches speak at clinics, and things like that throughout the summer and sometimes the fall. I just try to learn and watch and I watch a lot of basketball on TV, I watch our guys, so it’s one of those things where I just kind of keep learning new things and finding things that I like. It’s like anybody else who is in school and if you’re struggling at math, what do you do? You keep work harder and you just try to get better and better and as a coach you do the same thing.”

 

Listening to Jon Kraus talk about the award and his team made me think of how humble he was. I think Jon Kraus is the most humble person when it comes to this sort of thing. He definitely taught me that it’s better to be humble than cocky.