COURIER-JOURNAL -- DeJuan Wheat, one of Louisville’s favorite basketball sons, said he’s ready to make his mark as a coach.
Valley High School on Wednesday named the 42-year-old Wheat as its new boys basketball coach. He replaces Joe Harris, who posted a 27-35 record over two seasons. Valley athletic director William Raleigh said Harris left to pursue a career as a superintendent in Texas.
Wheat has not been involved in coaching since his professional basketball career ended in Mexico in 2010 but has operated the DeJuan Wheat Sports training program for six years in Louisville.
“That got my juices flowing … and coaching has always been the ultimate goal,” he said. “I saw that (Valley) had a good record last year, and the time was right for me to become a coach.”
Raleigh said Wheat’s humble demeanor stood out during the interview process.
“He knows his stuff,” Raleigh said. “He’s sort of a famous guy and could be all haughty if he wanted to, but he’s just a regular Joe. I liked that. … As a big Louisville fan, I’m really happy.”
Wheat is a 1992 Ballard High School product and ranks among the school’s career leaders in assists (fourth, 488) and points (eighth, 1,699). He was a standout shooting guard from 1993-97 at the University of Louisville, ranking second all-time in career points (2,183) and career 3-pointers made (323) and fifth in career assists (498).
He was a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1997 NBA Draft, later was cut by the Lakers and ultimately played two seasons in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Vancouver Grizzlies. He played in various American pro leagues and also played in Venezuela and Mexico.
After retiring from the Soles de Mexicali in 2010, team management asked him to become the squad’s head coach.
“But it was time for me to go home and be a dad,” Wheat said.
His daughter, Imari, is a 2016 graduate of Male, where she played basketball, and now is enrolled at Tennessee State University.
“With her off to college now, I felt the time was right to get into coaching,” Wheat said.
Wheat will inherit a Valley program with plenty of talent. The Vikings finished 21-12 last season, falling to Doss 63-57 in the first round of the Sixth Region Tournament. Valley is set to return its top seven scorers from that squad, led by senior Eric George (14.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and junior Damont Walter (11.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg).
Wheat said he envisions the Vikings using a fast-paced style and contending for Sixth Region titles for years to come.
“My goal if I became a high school coach was to build a good program,” Wheat said. “I played at Ballard in the early 1990s, and Ballard was and still is the cream of the crop in Jefferson County. It’s not like they just have one or two good seasons and then stop. That’s the plan we have for Valley.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
