By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
As good as Highland Park boys basketball has been over the past several seasons, there's one goal that has eluded the Scots -- a Class 5A state championship.
Nate Wallace (right), cheering on Highland Park during the 2025 Class 5A state tournament, has been selected as the Scots' new boys basketball coach, pending approval of the USD 501 school board. [File photo/TSN]
And it's that one missing piece that was a major factor in Nate Wallace's decision to apply for the Highland Park head coaching job, which opened up on May 19 when Mike Williams stepped down after a highly-successful seven-year run.
Wallace, a Highland Park assistant the past three seasons, has been tapped to take over for Williams as the Scots' head coach, pending approval from the USD 501 school board.
"We kept saying, 'The job's not finished,' and that's just a mantra that I'm going to stick by,'' Wallace told TopSports.news. "I still have ties to kids who are growing up and coming through the community. My son's going to be coming up here in the next couple of years, several of the kids I currently coach in the youth leagues are coming up and the guys that are here are still invested, so I felt like it was the right time.''
Williams led Highland Park to five Class 5A state tournament appearances, including top-three finishes the past three seasons and a runnerup state finish this past season.
"I had a long conversation with Mike,'' said Wallace, a former Topeka High standout who also served as an assistant at his alma mater. "He really inspired me and pushed me to come and feels like I could do a good job and keep pushing this job forward. Like we kept saying all year, and for the last couple of years, the job's not finished, so that's what we're hanging our hat on and we're going to keep trying to get that state championship.''
Highland Park, 24-1 last season and 71-4 over the past three years, graduated nine seniors off its 2024-2025 state team, but Wallace is confident that the Scots will continue to put a quality team on the floor.
"We've got some big shoes to fill, graduating so many seniors last year, and so many of our (returning) kids didn't get a lot of varsity experience,'' Wallace said. "But I feel like the kids got a chance to at least see high quality practices and the intensity you've got to play with, so I feel like when it's their turn they're going to show up here every day with their boots on and get to work.
"I feel like with the kids that we have that they're hungry and they want the opportunity that they've been waiting on, so we're going to see what it looks like as we start growing the new crop and getting that younger group ready and getting them into the fire. I feel like those guys that are coming back are going to be ready to show the city, show the state what they're capable of.
"We're looking forward to the challenge. There's already been a great foundation laid in the previous seven years by coach Williams and I feel like all the kids who have embodied that are going to come back and they're going to get on the floor, they're going to run through walls and we're going to play hard, aggressive Highland Park basketball.''
