By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE – According to a press release from Trussville City Schools, Hewitt-Trussville head boy’s basketball coach Jim Sanderson has been placed on leave before coaching his first game with the Huskies.
Sanderson’s exit comes less than two months before the start of the 2015-16 season. The program has named former assistant basketball coach Marcus Thomas as the interim head coach leading up to the upcoming season. Wes Murphy will assist him with the team.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t feel the team relationship portion fit the program and we decided to go in a different direction,” athletic director Karen Johns said.
Sanderson, the son of former University of Alabama men’s basketball coach Wimp Sanderson, was introduced as Mike Dutton’s replacement just five months ago. The longtime college coach was Hewitt-Trussville’s fourth coach since the 2011-12 season.
Dutton, who led the Huskies for the last two years, is the only coach in recent years to stay with the program for consecutive seasons.
Sanderson was approved for his previous position at Hewitt-Trussville after 24 years of experience as the head man at Faulkner University, where he built an overall record of 481-297.
Under Sanderson’s watch, Faulkner won its first NAIA national championship in any sport. They also made eight trips to the national tournament after winning four Southern States Athletic Conference tournament titles and three SSAC regular season championships.
His 481 wins ranks 10th among active NAIA coaches. Sanderson also has high school coaching experience at Curry and Guntersville high schools.
The story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Follow Erik Harris on Twitter @jeharris2.