Jared Sale leaving Putnam County girls basketball program to take over PC boys

For the past 16 years, Jared Sale has coached in the girls basketball program at Putnam County.

Sale was an assistant coach for six years and has been the Panthers’ head coach for the past decade.

Now, Sale will take over the program he played for as a high schooler. Sale accepted the Putnam County boys basketball head varsity job pending school board approval May 20.

“It’s obviously an exciting feeling,” Sale said. “I’ve been with the girls program for 16 years. That program has obviously meant a ton to me. I basically grew up with the girls program. It was a tough decision to make because of all the memories, but when the opportunity came up to coach the program I played for and was part of some really successful teams in, we talked about it at home, and it was just something we felt it was the right time to jump at it and try to get it rebuilt.

“I’m excited and eager to get to work.”

Sale was the longest tenured coach in the history of the PC girls program and won the most games with a 141-143 record.

“Throughout his tenure, coach Sale has demonstrated an exceptional ability to connect with student-athletes, build strong, trust-based relationships and foster a positive team culture grounded in accountability and respect,” PC athletic director Chris Newsome said. “His deep commitment to developing players both on and off the court has left, and will continue to leave, a lasting impact on our program and our school community.

“Coach Sale also brings a unique talent for engaging the broader community – rallying support from families, alumni and local stakeholders in a way that strengthens the bond between our athletic programs and the community we serve. His leadership, vision, and passion for the game make him the ideal choice to guide our boys basketball program into its next chapter.”

Sale takes over for Harold Fay, who led the Panthers to a 95-145 record and one regional championship over the past eight seasons.

“We are confident that coach Sale’s transition into this new role will bring continued growth, enthusiasm and success to PC boys basketball,” Newsome said.

The Panthers were 8-54 over the past two seasons, including 1-29 last winter.

“There’s been a lot of turnover in the coaching staff across the board, so it’s getting together with our youth coaches and trying to figure out a plan moving forward on how we’re going to get things going,” Sale said. “Whether it’s focusing on skills, implementing the same offense, things like that. We want everybody on the same page and just have a coordinated attack on how we’re going to do this thing.

“It’s getting the kids to buy back into it. It’s building our summer program back up. That’s something the last four or five days I spent a ton of time on just trying to make sure we’re using our summer program to get the best out of the kids so come November we’re not behind the eight ball.

“We want to try to implement everything we possibly can this summer. We want it to be a refresher in November. We’re really going to attack the month of June to try to get those building blocks in place.”

Sale said he’ll use some of the same schemes with the boys program that he did with the girls, but with some changes.

“Schematically, basketball is basketball, so we’re going to take some things that I know worked well on the girls side and try to implement them,” Sale said. “Obviously, there will be some things that need to be tweaked. I have to look at skill set from the guys we have coming back and figure out what’s going to suit them best to hopefully put them in the best spot to be successful.

“There are things that I trust and I know work, so you kind of lean on those things a little bit, but at the same time, you have to be open-minded.”

Sale hopes to restore the PC boys program to its former glory. The Panthers have three state appearances and 11 regional titles.

Sale played under John Slingsby, who coached the Panthers to a 168-70 record, five regional championships and a state berth from 2000-08.

Sale was a junior on PC’s 2006-07 state team and was a senior when the Panthers went 22-6 and reached a sectional final in 2007-08.

“You take a lot of pride in that,” Sale said. “Maybe you don’t realize it when you’re 17, 18 years old. When you get into coaching and look back on that, you take a lot of pride in that success. I think it brings the community together when you have a good product on the floor. People want to come out, and they want to support because they have that shared goal.

“It would be huge to get R.M. Germano [Gymnasium] back to what it used to be. When I was in high school, that place was packed every night. I would love to get back to that point. I think it’s possible. This program has tradition, and it’s had a lot of really good teams and a lot of really good players. I’m excited for the challenge.”