Brimfield is looking to fill its girls basketball head coach vacancy.
Josh McKown has resigned following four seasons at the Peoria County small school. He posted a 74-50 career record (.597) as the successor to Maribeth Dura.
“I’m really going to miss the girls a lot,” McKown told the Journal Star. “I’m going to miss the coaches that I bonded with. Just miss the day-to-day interactions and the competition.”
In his first three seasons, McKown won 60 games highlighted by back-to-back campaigns with at least 20 wins.
“I’m really proud of what we accomplished,” the 1999 Brimfield grad said. “I had good coaches with me. I really, really enjoyed it, loved it, so I will miss it, for sure.”
Putting his family first was the main reason for McKown stepping away from coaching.
McKown, who teaches junior-high science at Brimfield, and his wife, Katie, moved their family to Washington a year-and-a-half ago. This caused McKown to become only a part-time spectator at the activities of his children — a high school freshman, a seventh-grader and a second-grader.
“It was too hard to miss my kids’ stuff,” he said.
During the 2025-26 season, Brimfield made a run to a 2026 Class 1A regional championship, losing to state-ranked Abingdon-Avon. The Indians finished 14-16 overall and are expected to return all-conference players in junior Layni Linthicum and sophomore Katie Doe.
The Brimfield boys basketball program is also looking for a head coach. Scott Carlson retired in March following 28 total seasons, 568 wins and the 2015 Class 1A state championship.
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: ‘I will miss it’: Why the Brimfield girls basketball coach has resigned
Reporting by Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
