Looking back at Aaron Weast’s legendary Comanche coaching career
COMANCHE, Okla. (BVM) – There are plenty of successful sports programs in the world today such as Alabama football, Duke basketball and Kentucky basketball. These programs have been in the spotlight for a while. What is the reason for that? They have had the right person to lead and develop their players.
Another successful program lies in the prep ranks at Comanche High School. Their varsity basketball teams have been the center of success for quite a while. Aaron Weast, who has coached boys and girls basketball, has been leading the charge up until this season. His family has been a part of the Comanche community since 1961. He has coached 31 years at Comanche and has coached a total of 39 years.
For the family, it is all about helping these young kids. They have done it for a long time and it truly is an astounding accomplishment. To show what the Weast name means to Comanche, his father, Tommy, has the gym floor named after him.
Weast did not start coaching at Comanche right away. He made two different stops before heading back to where his father used to coach. He coached at Empire High School for six years and coached at Kellyville High School for two.
It was in his last year of coaching at Kellyville when his dad convinced him to come back and take the reins at Comanche. He applied for the boys basketball coaching job just before the 1990 season. Unfortunately, before Weast’s first game coaching the Indians, his father would pass away.
Before moving to Kellyville, Weast led Empire to the state tournament twice. Coming back to coach at Comanche always seemed like the right thing to do. When he coached the Indians’ boys team, most of their wins were by double digits. One of the highlights of his career was when he was five years into his Comanche tenure. His team made it to the quarter finals in the Class 3A boys state tournament. It was truly a special accomplishment.
When his daughter was freshman, he started making the transition to coaching girls’ basketball. She was part of the first group of girls he coached.
However, tragedy would once again find its way into Weast’s life. His brother, Kenny, passed away in 2010. Weast took a small hiatus from coaching before becoming the assistant for the team his brother had previously coached. He took over the girls teams when the head coach at the time decided to resign.
Weast would continue coaching up until this year. He decided that it was time to hang up the whistle after a successful 2019-2020 season. Finishing third in their district and finishing with an overall record of 18-4, Weast and his players had a lot of good to look back on. In his final playoff game, Weast and his team punched their ticket to the Class 3A state tournament. They would not get the chance to compete because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Just like that coach, Weast’s coaching career was over. With 535 total wins and a handful of championships, Weast leaves a legacy with the Indians basketball program.
In April, Comanche found Weast’s successor in former Oklahoma State University women’s basketball player Megan (Byford) Robbins. She will be tasked with continuing the promised winning tradition of the Indians.
