By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Chip Kueffer may be brand new to being a head basketball coach, but the new Cair Paravel Latin coach has spent most of his life around the sport, including more than four years with Hall of Fame coach Bill Self and the storied University of Kansas program.
Chip Kueffer
Now the Baldwin native is looking forward to putting all of that experience to good use in his new position with the Lions.
Kueffer takes over at Cair Paravel from Trey Brown, who recently resigned to accept the head coaching job at Hayden.
"The game has done so much for me and given me countless opportunities, memories and relationships, so this is a phenomenal opportunity for me to give back and pay forward for what's been done for me,'' Kueffer said. "I had so many selfless leaders and mentors pour into my life when there was nothing for them to gain out of it,
"So for me this is just a great opportunity for me to be able to pass on those same lessons and values and morals and everything. It's my passion for sure.''
One of the biggest influences in Kueffer's basketball career have been Self and the Jayhawk basketball progam.
"I was under coach Self for four and a half years,'' Kueffer said. "The first two years I was a student manager and then the last two years I was his head manager,'' Kueffer said. "I got to live every Kansas kid's dream, I would think. Kansas basketball is an unbelievable platform, so for me to just be a small part of that was an incredible opportunity.
"I do feel like I learned an incredible amount of tactical lessons, or strategic lessons, just being a fly on the wall in that gymnasium for four and a half years. I learned quite a great deal from a Hall of Fame coach and getting to be a part of the winningest program in college basketball was pretty darn special.''
After his graduation from Kansas in 2017, Kueffer went on to work for Under Armor and helped out with the Veritas Christian School basketball program in Lawrence. Kueffer currently works for Federated Insurance.
Cair Paravel is coming off a 9-13 season in 2022-2023 under Brown and the Lions return a strong nucleus from that team.
