With the departure of Vice President for Student Life and Athletics Natasha Wilson on March 4, Central Methodist President Roger Drake opted out of a long national search, stating, “we have plenty of talent, right here on this campus.”

With that being said, Drake looked to longtime men’s basketball coach Jeff Sherman and promoted him to the position of Athletic Director. Sherman, who has been the head coach of the Eagle basketball squad since 1985, will step down as basketball coach and hand the reins to his son and 2015 CMU Hairston Hall of Fame inductee, Matt Sherman. The younger Sherman will become the 22nd head coach in the 117-year history of Central basketball and only the third since 1977. In comparison, the University of Missouri, once the hiring process is completed to retain its next coach, will be hiring its eighth coach since 1977.

In addition to the position changes being made by the Shermans, more administrators will be moving.  Dr. Joe Parisi, who along with Drake launched the wrestling program at Central three years ago, will become the Vice President for Enrollment and Athletics. Parisi will guide the overall direction and culture of athletics. The current dean of students, Brad Dixon, will also be promoted to Vice President for Student Life.

“We have a great depth of leadership here to take us into the future,” Drake said. “I’m looking forward to what’s next.”

The 61-year old Jeff Sherman began his basketball career at De Beque High School in Colorado, playing for his father Al Sherman in a gym that would later be named the “Al Sherman Gymnasium,” in honor of his illustrious career. While playing for the Dragons, Jeff played on three teams that qualified for the Colorado State Championships and finished with an 80-9 record. While in high school, Sherman scored more than 2,000 points, including three games of over 50 points. In his final home game as a senior, he scored 60. 

Following high school, Sherman attended Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado on both basketball and track scholarships. He was a member of the 1978-79 team and the 1979-80 teams that qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament. While at NEJC, Sherman played under Hall of Fame coaches Roy Edwards and Lowell Roumph. 

In the fall of 1980, Sherman began attending what was then known as Central Methodist College. During the 1980-81 season, he helped CMC earn its first Heart Conference Championship in more than 25 years. The following season, although hampered by a knee injury, he helped the Eagles to another 20-win season. During those two seasons, Sherman played under head coach Ken Ash.

After college, Sherman landed the head coaching job at North Nodaway High School in Hopkins, Missouri in 1983 and led the Mustangs to conference championships, both in basketball and football where he served as an assistant coach. 

After the season was over, Sherman received a call from CMC Athletic Director Jim Luetjen and Ash, asking in he was interested in becoming the school’s first graduate assistant of the men’s basketball program at CMC. Taking that position meant Sherman would attend graduate school at the University of Missouri, and be the head coach of Central’s junior varsity team and a varsity assistant coach.

“I decided I was going to come back and do that,” said Sherman. “I thought, ‘Man, I get a chance to coach in college.’ I was 23 years old and I came back and spent a year as an assistant.”

The next summer Ash accepted a head coaching position in Kansas, and Sherman helped begin a national search for a new head coach and signed a contract to become the head coach at Warrenton High School.

“I was getting married, and we almost put a down payment on a house,” Sherman recalled. “Then (CMC) president Joe Howell and Dr. Luetjen called me in and started the process of asking if I would consider staying as the head basketball coach. 

“The offer had some restrictions. first I had to be able to get out of my contract at Warrenton, and they also wanted to talk to my wife. They didn’t want to surprise my wife with any extra duties or anything like that. I was so fortunate that the president and Dr. Luetjen had enough trust and faith in me, at 24, to offer me a head coaching job. They were so impressed with my spouse, the president offered her a job on the spot, She’s been elevated a number of times here in the 35-plus years, but I’ve remained the same, until my 38th year.”

“Dr. Luetjen was the A.D., he is still one of my dearest friends and one of my biggest supporters,” said Sherman.

Julee Sherman is now Vice President for Finance and Administration at Central.

Over his career, Sherman has amassed 668 wins at Central along with 18 wins in his one season as a high school coach for a total o 686. The 668 college wins rank fifth among current NAIA coaches and places him at 25th all-time in the NAIA.

Sherman has established a very large coaching tree during his tenure at Central. At this point, there are more than 75 former players who have pursued coaching positions at all levels, NJCAA, NAIA, and NCAA Divisions I, II, and III all across the country. “One of my favorite times of the year is attending the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association coaching clinic where I can see over 50 boys’ and girls’ high school coaches that have graduated at Central,” said Sherman.

Now Sherman will be able to add one more NAIA head coach to the ranks of former coaches and players he has mentored, his son Matt.

Matt inherits a team that is fresh off a national tournament appearance and a 20-win season. He has served as an assistant on Jeff’s staff for seven seasons.

Jeff jokes that Matt was “born and raised in Puckett Field House.” But the truth is, he spent some time in a few other gyms along the way. Obviously a native of Fayette, Sherman received All-State honors his senior year of high school from the MBCA, helping guide the Fayette Falcons to a quarterfinal appearance in the Class 3 state playoffs for the 2005-06 season.

He finished his career as an Eagle with 1,545 points, making All-Conference four times, All-District three times, and was a two-time KRES All-Star.

Following high school, Matt continued his career at Central Methodist. After helping the Eagles to a 17-14 record in 2006-07 during his freshman season, Sherman helped guide Central Methodist to three consecutive 20-win seasons. The Eagles posted a 28-7 record in his junior season and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament where they were able to defeat No. 4 ranked Georgetown (Kentucky) in the opening round.

During his senior season in 2009-10, Sherman led Central Methodist with 15.9 points per game and made 131 3-point shots, a single-season school record that still stands. His career mark of 433 made 3-pointers also still stands as a school record. The Eagles posted a 24-9 record during the 2009-10 season and won the Heart's regular-season championship, advancing to their second-straight NAIA National Tournament. Central Methodist lost to Texas Wesleyan University in the first round of the national tournament. That game also marked the final game of Sherman’s Central Methodist career, finishing with an 89-42 record in four seasons playing for the Eagles. Matt earned the Estes Award and received a gold watch which represents, and honors, the top senior athlete on the campus of Central Methodist.

Sherman received NAIA All-America honorable mention honors in both his junior and senior seasons at Central Methodist. He finished his college career with 1,817 points, ranking sixth on the Eagles' all-time scoring list. He graduated from Central Methodist in May 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. In September of 2015, Matt joined his father, Jeff, as a member of the CMU Hairston Hall of Fame.

Sherman began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and spent two seasons there while completing his master’s degree in Health and Human Performance with an emphasis in Sports Administration.

Sherman returned to the Heart of America Athletic Conference in 2012 when he was hired as an assistant at Graceland. While there, Sherman earned his first win as a head coach when he was forced to fill in due to an illness to the head coach. Unfortunately for Jeff Sherman, the win came at his team’s expense, as Graceland defeated CMU 46-42.

Matt moved on to William Jewell College for the 2013-14 season where he worked as an assistant coach under Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee and the all-time winningest coach among all Missouri four-year college basketball programs, Larry Holley. Sherman spent two seasons with the Cardinals before accepting the assistant head coaching position at Central Methodist.

At Central, Matt has served as the recruiting and staff coordinator and is the director of player development while overseeing the team’s academic success program.

Matt believes he is where he belongs. “I think lots of people take their first head coaching job, and it’s usually a program that has struggled if they’re hiring a first-time coach, or it’s a school where they don’t have a lot of resources,” he said. “I feel pretty lucky where we are coming off a national tournament appearance, a 22-win season, and we have a lot of support from the administration and resources. Not many people get that in their first head coaching job.

“I’ve never taken a job that I didn’t think was the right spot for me to be in at that moment,” said Matt. “And you make sure it is the right spot for your family, too. My wife works here. Our two kids get to be around my brother and his kids and, obviously, my parents. My wife’s parents are close by. There are a lot of things that came into the decision. I feel like I’ve gotten a good taste of coaching jobs. I’ve coached for 12 years at different levels. This is a place I care about and a place I want to be. It would be hard for me to leave here. This isn’t just another job for me. This is home, and I chose to come back after being away.”

Both men are finishing up duties from their old positions before taking on their new duties full time.  

“Everything happened so fast we didn’t get a chance to tell many people,” said Jeff Sherman. “I didn’t even get to talk to my team, I had to text them at about 12:30 a.m. Then, I got a text from Matt, asking if I had told the team because he was getting texts.

“I did get to talk to my dad and he was a little cautious about me taking a new position because coaching is all I’ve ever known,” said Jeff. “But the idea of his grandson getting to take over, I think he’s in another world right now of pride and that type of stuff. I think the main thing is it’s not just about us. It’s still our program, but it’s not up to us all the time. I’m just thrilled that throughout all these years, I was allowed to keep going,” said Jeff.

“We’ve taken our program to where people know about it,” Jeff said. “With our whole athletic program, now people know Central Methodist. I just think Matt is going to do the type of thing that maybe I just wasn’t quite capable of doing. He’s just going to take it to another level. Maybe not wins or championships, but he’s going to put his own flair to it, and it will be what it needs. I won’t say it needed a change, I’ll say it will welcome the change.

“It will only get better.”