After 16 years of coaching high school basketball, boys varsity basketball head coach, Chip Sodemann, has marked himself as a Liberty Legend.
On Friday, Jan. 30, Sodemann earned his 200th career win as a high school basketball coach after a 55-35 win over Lutheran St. Charles.
This is the biggest coaching milestone reached in Liberty history. After the game Sodemann was surprised and honored with a plaque and poster with pictures from his career dating back to his first ever year being head coach at Washington High School.
“It was a really special situation, it was nice to be honored,” Sodemann said. “It was obviously something those guys didn’t have to do, my whole staff they were involved and it was neat to look back and see how much I’ve aged.”
Sodemann has an extensive experience when it comes to basketball. Starting in high school at Parkway West and leading them to a district title his senior year, to attending Truman where he had a very successful four years. Soon after graduating from Truman State, Sodemann made his way back to his alma mater, where he coached the Longhorns of Parkway West under his dad Bill Sodemann.
“I’m really blessed along my journey because I’ve had great coaches along the way, my dad was a tremendous coach, he’s in the Hall of Fame, and those are huge shoes to follow the footsteps,” Sodemann said.
After his time at Parkway West was done, a head coaching job opened up at Washington High School, which he took without question. He coached for three years there posting a 41-37 record with the Eagles, including a district title one of those years. After spending three years as head coach at Washington, an opportunity came up that Sodemann found very appealing. It was 2013 and a new high school had just opened up in the Wentzville School District. With a new high school built, meant a new basketball program needed a coach. Without hesitation, Sodemann took the job, and started a new Eagle Basketball program building it up from the ground.
“It’s been so cool to kind of open this building, because I’m fully responsible for ever part of it, and while that’s a big task, it’s something I really take a lot of rid in,” Sodemann said. “It’s getting young men to believe in themselves, getting young men to believe in something bigger than themselves, play for a purpose and pride.”
The first year that Liberty had a basketball team was in 2013-2014. Although it was just a freshman team, the program still made a name for itself. However the next year, the first year of a varsity schedule didn’t go as planned. Sodemann and the Eagles had a low record of just 4-13, and have risen and fell throughout the past 12 years of the program.
Building an entire basketball program from the ground up doesn’t just mean building a team of players. It also entails building a coaching staff. Not only that, but a coaching staff that is good and respects their head coach; which the Liberty coaching staff does well.
For the last five years, Scot Purcell has ben alongside Sodemann, with great respect for everything that he does not only for the school itself, but also the community around the school.
“Just the amount of how involved he is in Coaches vs. Cancer, and our program and how we give back to the community is cool,” Purcell said. “We do our three vs. three for our youth programs, I mean if you look at Coach Sodemann, he’s always up here doing something with his kids, or the kids on his team.”
The Eagles are at a 6-11 record on the season so far which three games left to play, which Sodemann strives to try and win the last three against some difficult matchups.
