Casey Sorrell has resigned from the head coaching seat as the Holy Cross boys’ basketball coach.
Sorrell coached the past two seasons with the Indians, guiding them to a 42-18 record and leading them to the All “A” state championship game this past season.
Sorrell cited family health concerns, his newborn daughter developing a growth in her throat below her vocal chords called hemangioma, which was affecting her breathing.
“Basketball has always been my passion. Most of the decisions I’ve made in my life were basketball first. Right now, my family needs me to be be family first. I want to thank Mike Holtz and Anne Julian for the opportunity of a lifetime. I will forever be grateful for their loyalty and support over the last two years. My wife and I look forward to remaining a part of the Holy Cross community and will be baptizing our daughter in the church this summer,” Sorrell said.
While a hemangioma is common, the one formed on Sorrell’s daughter is rare since it’s on the throat.
“She was having trouble breathing last week so we went down to our doctor and they immediately sent her to Children’s (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital),” Sorrell said. “Less than 1% of kids have this condition. Over the next 12-18 months, they’ll need to evaluate the growth with constant testing and evaluation. With my wife working full-time as a physical therapist, in full faith I can’t continue to coach and need to focus on my family at this time.”
Coaching basketball isn’t an October to March gig anymore. It’s basically a year-round job with offseason workouts, summer camps, scheduling and fundraising.
“I’m a teacher first, but you can leave your teaching job at three o’clock and take care of these things. You spend 40 hours a week on teaching and then as a coach sometimes you spend 40 hours a week coaching,” Sorrell said.
Sorrell parts from a Holy Cross team that was senior heavy and will have several players headed to play at the next level in a variety of sports. Jacob Meyer will graduate as the all-time leading scorer in the Ninth Region and will head to play at Coastal Carolina in the fall. Sam Gibson has a variety of Division II and III offers and will be making his decision soon. Matthew Dreas is headed to Akron to play soccer while Javier Ward has his options open to play football or basketball at the next level. The Indians had six seniors on the roster.
Holy Cross posted a 21-8 record in 2022-23, winning the Ninth Region All “A” title for the second straight season, but were upset in the district tournament by Beechwood, putting a surprising end to their season.
Prior to his stint at Holy Cross, Sorrell was an assistant at Covington Catholic under Scott Ruthsatz from 2016-20. In those four seasons on staff, the Colonels won the KHSAA state championship in 2018 and three 9th Region titles.
Sorrell played collegiately at Erskine College and continued his education at Winthrop University as a graduate assistant. He’s a 2010 Simon Kenton graduate and had his brother Corey on the Indians’ staff.
Once things trend towards the positive on his daughter over the next 12 to 18 months, Sorrell didn’t close the door on coaching again.
“Basketball has always has been in my passion, every decision I make and surround myself with came through basketball. Right now I need to be family first and not basketball first,” Sorrell said. “I was 29 years old when Holy Cross gave me the job, and I’m extremely appreciative of them for that.”
Sorrell’s departure leaves the second 35th District head coaching job that will have a new face on the sidelines. Beechwood recently named Ross Hart as its new coach, taking over for Erik Goetz, who retired after the season.
