Brian Buchanan is going to Goddard.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Brian Buchanan, who is the all-time winningest boys basketball coach in Wellington High School history, has accepted an administrative position at Goddard High School.

Buchanan will become the new Goddard High School assistant principal and athletic director. He will not be coaching basketball at Goddard.

Buchanan came to Wellington in 2003 where he took over the helm as the Crusader coach. In 2007, he then took over as activities director at Wellington High School. Eventually, he would become the Wellington Middle School activities director as well.

He has had an active and diverse role in Wellington. One of his last acts at WHS was hiring a new Crusader football coach – the third in his tenure.

“I was not actively pursuing another job,” Buchanan said. “The opportunity presented itself and I decided to take it.”

Buchanan is an alumnus of Goddard High School, having graduated in 1993. However, he denies that is the reason why he decided to accept the position. This will be a reunion of sorts with former WHS girls basketball coach Kevin Hackerott, who took over the reins as the girls head basketball job in 2013.

The resignation will become official at next month’s Wellington school board meeting.

Buchanan’s resignation comes during tremendous turnover in WHS athletics. In the past year, Wellington has accepted the resignation of the head football, head volleyball, head track and now boys basketball coach as well as activities director.

“I just want to thank the community of Wellington,” Buchanan said. “It has been a tremendous time for me and my family for a community I have called home for many years.”

Buchanan had spent three years at Altoona-Midway, a Class 1A school in southeast Kansas, before accepting a head coaching job at Wellington in 2003. The Crusaders had just completed a 2-19 season and had just one winning season since 1993-94.

After two losing season, Buchanan would achieve his best records at WHS in the mid 2000s, where he was 13-9 in 2005-06; 16-7 in 2006-07; and 11-9 in 2007-08. Overall, Buchanan would end with a 125-156 record in his 13 seasons.

Buchanan coached one team to the Class 4A state tournament in 2014-15 when the Crusaders beat Rose Hill in the Winfield Regional.

Records of boys basketball team since 1993:

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