The wooden floor in the Lord Botetourt High School gym will find two new head coaches in charge when the 2024-’25 school year opens. Botetourt has hired Samantha Wilkins to coach the volleyball team and applications are currently being reviewed to name a successor to boys basketball coach Andrew Hart, who recently stepped down.
Wilkins knows her way to the gym. Samantha was head jayvee volleyball coach at LB from 2013 to 2018 and was varsity coach Julie Conner’s assistant from 2013 through last season. The highly successful Conner recently stepped down to spend more time at home, and she’s confident Wilkins can keep the program at a high level.
“Coach Wilkins has been at LB for the past 11 seasons, she knows the program well but, more importantly, she knows the girls, so I think it will be a smooth transition,” said Conner. “I’m excited that she’s been given this opportunity, and know she will set high expectations and will continue the success of the LB volleyball program.”
“I’m very excited about taking over the volleyball program at LB,” said Wilkins. “It has always been a goal of mine to be a head coach and have had opportunities to go to other programs, but Julie and I always worked so well together and we put a lot of effort into this program that it never felt right to leave.”
Samantha played high school volleyball in the Blue Ridge District at Staunton River High School, where she started playing in the eighth grade. She went on to Randolph College where she was a four-year starter and captain.
Wilkins has been with Lord Botetourt for three state championships. She knows the program and doesn’t anticipate a lot of changes.
“I think it will benefit me greatly since I was already with the program and will make the change an easy and seamless transition,” she said. “I have learned so much from Julie over the past 11 years and because of that not a lot will change. She has built such a strong program during her time heading the program and I just need to complement that and keep the ball rolling. We have also built such a strong relationship over the years that we had gotten to the point where we could finish each other’s sentences on the court.”
Samantha will keep the existing staff. Michelle Bower will remain jayvee coach and Alexis Ellis will be her varsity assistant.
Come winter, LB will have a new boys basketball coach after Andrew Hart recently stepped down, also citing a desire to spend more time with his young family. LB athletic director Tim Fulton reports there has been lots of interest from some strong candidates to replace Hart at the end of the LB bench. It wasn’t an easy decision for Andrew to leave his seat.
“There is no doubt that I will miss a lot of what goes into coaching,” said Hart. “The competitiveness, the preparation, practices, games and the relationship with the players and coaches. But, I am also excited to free up some time and energy to devote to other important areas of my life. With three young kids of my own, it is probably inevitable that I will end up back on the sidelines one day, at some level, but I am also looking forward to not having any plans to do so.”
Hart looks back on his time at LB with some great memories.
“In 2019, I was excited to move back to the Roanoke area and take over a program that Coach Chad Conner had done a great job of building since 2011,” he said. “I knew it would be a smooth transition with my familiarity with the school, administration, and basketball program. We had a lot of success during the five seasons, all in part to the talented and hard-working players in our program. It was a pleasure to work with our student-athletes and enjoy the ride alongside them.
“While it will always sting me that we didn’t quite get over the hump to win a district or region championship, I will certainly always remember the big games, the big moments, and many nights we packed the gym at LBHS and got to experience what high school sports is all about.”
Andrew will continue to teach at Lord Botetourt.
“Botetourt is a great community with excellent people and I am looking forward to continuing teaching and leading in different capacities,” he said. “I am incredibly grateful for my time as head coach at LBHS.”
