Chris Pilz has called it a career on the basketball sidelines.
At least in Missouri.
Pilz, who has served as Waynesville High School boys’ basketball head coach for the past 13 seasons, has retired from his teaching, coaching and administrative duties at WHS. He notified the school of his retirement Monday, May 20.
And whereas he is retiring from Missouri teaching and coaching, Pilz will continue on in another state.
Days later, Pilz accepted the boys’ basketball head coaching position at Pocahontas, Ark, a Class 4A school located in northeast Arkansas.
“When you are one of the oldest guys in the building, that’s one of the first questions you’re asked, ‘When are you going to retire!’” Pilz joked. “I put a lot of thought into it. I’ve loved my time here. The people here are great to work with, and the players are hard-workers. The administration is great and the support was solid. And one of the best things that happened to us is that all three of our girls graduated from here and received a great education.”
Pilz will complete his current Waynesville District contract, which runs through June 27. He is the summer school principal. In addition, Pilz said his assistant last season, veteran coach in the area Bill Brown, is also retiring from that position.
The search for new Tiger coaches is ongoing.
The Tiger boys finished with a 9-18 record during the 2023-24 campaign. However, Pilz said that didn’t play a role in his decision. In fact, many people felt this past season was one of Pilz’s best coaching performances, as he took a team stripped of a consistent scoring threat and made it very competitive against a strong schedule.
“It was an enjoyable season,” he said. “The kids worked hard. We were competitive against most every team we played, and were close to beating people we had no business being close to.”
Pilz did say transfer decisions that allowed a couple of star players leave in recent seasons were extremely disheartening. Prior to last season Waynesville’s Tyrique Brooks, a 25-point-a-game scorer, transferred to Ozark Conference rival Springfield Central and was an all-state player there in 2023-24. WHS lodged a protest with the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), but it was denied.
“We had good seasons here; we really enjoyed our time in Waynesville. But lately Tuesday and Friday nights have been tough. I’d say MSHSAA dampened my spirits some, with their unwillingness to enforce their policies.”
A 2022 inductee into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Pilz has coached 32 years of high school or collegiate basketball in Missouri and has an overall record of 429-378 (high school/college), a 343-264 high school record and a 168-172 mark in 13 seasons at Waynesville. The Tigers have had three consecutive losing seasons.
Pilz made his basketball mark in the area first as a Frisco League all-state player at Licking High School. He would later play at NCAA Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he was one of the finest players in the history of the Rivermen, earning All-America honors and graduating as the winningest player in school history (72 victories) as a four-year starter at guard. He later returned to his alma mater as its head coach from 2003-10. He has been a member of the Missouri-St. Louis Hall of Fame for more than 20 years.
Waynesville has been Pilz’s longest head coaching stop. He began his high school coaching career at Salem High School and stayed there four years, one as an assistant and three as head coach (1992-95). He was later head coach at Senath-Hornersville (1995-96), Hazelwood Central (1997-2003) and Waynesville (2011-24).
He has led four teams to 20 or more victories, including a 24-3 mark at WHS in 2013-14; had two Elite 8 appearances (2002 with Hazelwood Central, 2021 with Waynesville) and another Sweet 16 berth (2014 Waynesville). His teams won six district tournament championships, and he had two teams participate in the prestigious Bass Pro Tournament of Championships in Springfield (2002, 2015). And one of his Waynesville squads was the No. 1-ranked team in the final regular-season state poll (2014).
He coached seven players who went on to play NCAA Division I basketball, one NBA player (Waynesville’s Juwan Morgan) and one Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year (Hazelwood Central’s Kalen Grimes).
Pilz will have another coaching rebuild job at Pocahontas. The Redskins finished last season 4-18 overall.
