Ten years after being the area’s best high school basketball player, Mitchell Spotleson is embarking on his first college head coaching job at one of the area’s top programs.
Pending school board approval, Spotleson will be hired as head coach at Green High School where he will replace Mark Kinsley, who retired last month.
“After an extensive process, Green Local Schools is excited to bring Mitchell into our Bulldog family,” Green Local Schools Superintendent Jeffrey L. Miller II said in a statement provided by the district. “His character, dedication and willingness to put effort into everything he does was evident during the interview process.
Miller will recommend Spotleson’s hiring to the Green Board of Education at the April 29 meeting.
Three finalists, from a pool of 15 interviewees, were required to present a top-down development plan for the basketball program’s athletes and a video containing five offensive and defensive “cuts” that best showcased their coaching philosophies.
According to a district press release, Spotleson impressed the interview panel with evidence of success in program building, community involvement and player development. The panel included individuals from district administration, Green All Sports Booster Club alumni, Green Youth Basketball and Kinsley.
“Coach Spotleson has continually emphasized the importance of preserving the rich history of Green basketball under Mark Kinsley, but also strengthening relationships in our middle school programs, with our alumni and the youth basketball program greens,” Green Sports Director Erich Muzi said in a released statement. by the district. “His goal is to build a basketball brand that this community will be proud of for many years to come.”
Spotleson takes over a team that went 18-6 last season, part of a 114-35 mark over the last six seasons under Kinsley’s leadership. He spent 26 seasons at the school and compiled a 390-213 record while making Green one of the area’s elite programs.
Kinsley, who has coached for a total of 29 years and earned his 400th career victory last season, guided Green to three straight Federal League titles and five in the last seven years. The Bulldogs won district championships in 2019 and 2022 – the program’s only two in its history.
“It is with great respect and admiration that I wish Mark the best as he retires, having left a profound impact on our children, our staff and our community,” Miller said in a statement .
Spotleson played a key role in a similar run to Lake as a player when he led the Blue Streaks to their first-ever district title in 2014. He was the centerpiece of a team that won the first two championships of the Federal Men’s Basketball League.
As a senior in 2014, Spotleson was named Player of the Year by the Stark County Repository, by area media for the Northeast Inland District, and by Federal League and District 4 coaches Spotleson averaged 19.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. that season earning first team All-Ohio honors and reaching a regional final. He later played at Malone University.
He graduated from Malone and Mount Union universities and was a teacher and coach at Lake. Spotleson and his wife Andrea reside in Uniontown.
“Coach Spotleson will be an elite basketball coach and I look forward to watching his teams play,” Kinsley said in a statement released by the district. “The students and athletes he interacts with on a daily basis will appreciate the relationship he builds with each of them.”
Spotleson is the son of longtime area coach Frank Spotleson, who was head coach at Canton South where he guided the Wildcats to a 20-2 regular season in 2012-13.
“Thank you to Green’s administration for this opportunity, and to my wife for her support in this endeavor,” Spotleson said in a statement. “I am very excited to take over a program as successful as Green and continue the tradition that I have known and competed against for so long. I look forward to meeting the team, beginning to develop relationships and beginning our offseason program.
.