Hoogendoorn Says He’s Back as Coach After Heated Board Meeting
Schulenburg Basketball Coach Richard Hoogendoorn told the Record on Wednesday that Schulenburg I.S.D. reinstated him as the head boys basketball coach for next year.
The Record reached out to school administrators to confirm the news, but they have not responded by the time of this publication.
Hoogendoorn, one of the winningest coaches in high school basketball, announced earlier this month that the school’s new athletic director, Clay Ferguson, had decided to remove him as the boys head basketball coach. Since then, Hoogendoorn supporters rallied against the reassignment.
At the Schulenburg School Board meeting Monday evening, May 19, four people spoke out against the move, including Hoogendorn himself.
“Have you ever been the victim of a witchhunt or run out of town based on false accusations or evidence?” Hoogendorn said during the meeting. “Have you ever been the victim of a powerplay or fickle fans? Jesus understands. He’s been there. The athletic director has been on a mission to attack me and my success since he got here.”
Hoogendoorn holds a career record of 874 wins and 554 losses, including 500 wins for the Shorthorns. He’s been the Shorthorns’ head boys basketball coach for the past 25 years.
About a dozen of Hoogendoorn’s supporters attended the meeting Monday night. Fellow coach Bobby Lantelme spoke in Hoogendoorn’s defense, along with David Oldham, a former professional sports executive, and his son Josh Hoogendoorn.
“When Coach Hoog informed me a few weeks ago about the decision for him to not return as coach this year, I said, well, they must have hired Gregg Popovich,” Oldham said. “Because that’s about the only Texas legend who could replace Coach Hoog.”
Lantelme spoke about coaching alongside Hoogendoorn as the Shorthorns made two trips to the state tournament (in 2015 and 2021).
“I coached for 40 years,” Lantelme said. “When a new AD and head football coach comes in, if he has a man who coached with him on his staff and he wants to bring in, and lets say he’s a defensive coordinator or an offensive coordinator, and that guy just so happens to be a head basketball coach, then I can kind of see it.”
Lantelme turned to Ferguson and asked, “Is that the situation?”
“No comment,” Ferguson said.
“So you don’t have a guy you’re bringing in?” Lantelme asked.
“I can’t discuss that,” Ferguson said.
“If that was the situation, then I could kind of understand that,” Lantelme said. “Because if I was the AD and head football coach, I would want to bring in people I know I can work with. I’d understand that. But I don’t think that’s the situation. I think we’ve got a big display of, almost, nepotism. Could be, I hope that’s not the case.”
In an interview with reporters after the meeting, Schulenburg’s new superintendent Lee Hafley denied the accusation of nepotism. Hafley’s son, Jordan, has been a coach in Schulenburg for the past two years. The school board began searching for a new superintendent back in January after former superintendent Julie Motomura resigned to take a job in her hometown. The board named Lee Hafley as the lone finalist for the superintendent job on April 9. He officially started on Thursday, May 1.
“My son was already a coach here,” Hafley said. “He’s been here before this job opened up. I have no intentions.”
Concerning Hoogendoorn’s reassignment, Hafley said it was an administrative decision based on the athletic director’s evaluation. However, he appeared to leave the door open for a possible reversal.
“Nobody got fired,” Hafley said. “The reassignment is something the athletic director and I will discuss at the end of this year.”
Hoogendoorn publicly announced his reassignment while speaking at the Schulenburg High School Sports Banquet on Sunday, May 4.
At the school board meeting Monday night, Hoogendoorn said he has met with Ferguson four times since the school hired the new athletic director back in early March.
“Our first meeting was two weeks after he arrived,” Hoogendoorn said. “He wrote me up for a paperwork issue. I’ve been here 25 years and never been written up by an administrator. The second meeting two weeks ago, (Ferguson said) I don’t coach with enough energy. Sounds like age discrimination.”
Hoogendoorn said Ferguson informed him he would coach cross country and golf but not boys basketball.
“The reasons given were the community wants it and the board is 100 percent in favor,” Hoogendoorn said. “I told him as I walked out the office that he was wrong. The third meeting a week ago, no change. He said I didn’t work hard enough. I told him I work smarter, not harder. Again, he told me, the community and board wanted a change. The fourth meeting, this afternoon, (Ferguson said) ‘You don’t work hard enough. Kids want you gone. The community wants you gone. And the board wants you gone.’” Hoogendoorn went on to recite a number of his accolades: fifth most wins among 1,200 current high school basketball coaches in Texas, 24th most wins among active coaches in the nation, and 88th in all-time wins in the nation.
“(Ferguson) said he worked with great coaches and knows basketball, but none of the coaches he’s worked with are on that list,” Hoogendoorn said.
Hoogendoorn’s son Josh, who graduated from Schulenburg High in 2003, also spoke in his father’s defense, quite emotionally.
“I think one of the most important leadership attributes is empathy,” he said, turning to Ferguson. “You have to put yourself in the shoes of other people, what they feel like. You have to understand what your decisions are going to do to them. And sir, you didn’t put yourself in the shoes of my father one time, or in the shoes of the community, or the shoes of the students who love him. You didn’t.”
“I want to coach for a couple of more years,” Hoogendoorn said at the meeting. “I don’t need any more wins. I just love kids. I like what I’m doing … It would be a miracle of God if you restored me. I believe in miracles.”
On Wednesday morning, May 21, Hoogendoorn told the Record, “I am the Schulenburg basketball coach for 2025-26. Praise the Lord.”
We asked Hoogendoorn how he was informed. He stated, “No further comment.”
We reached out to Ferguson for comment on the change, but directed our questions to the superintendent.
We left messages for Hafley Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, but he has not responded. A receptionist at the school said Hafley was at a meeting in Austin on Wednesday.
School board president Mike Zweschper had not responded to our inquiries, either.