The Harrisburg community officially dedicated Coach Combs Court in honor of legendary Bulldogs’ coach Steve Combs on Friday before a packed home crowd. The ceremony took place between the high school girls’ and boys’ games. Harrisburg also honored the 2002-03 boys’ team that kicked off seven years of domination by the Bulldogs.

Combs spent 18 years as head coach of the high school boys’ team. During that time, the Bulldogs won more than 300 games with two state titles, six Final-Four appearances, and nine district championships. 

Coach Combs was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021.

“It’s a great honor. I can’t say enough about how proud I am about the district doing something like this,” Combs said. “It’s a lot of hard work and dedication by a lot of people.”

Combs insisted that the new floor be named “Coach Combs Court” rather than “Steve Combs Court.”

“A lot of things go into being a coach,” he explained. “I had great family support from my immediate family: my wife, my mom and dad. Lots of endless nights with me not being home. The community of Harrisburg letting me coach all those years. When you add all that up, it’s an award I’m sharing with everybody. It’s not just me, it’s the Harrisburg Bulldog program. I’m proud to be just a part of it.”

The idea to dedicate the court to Coach Combs had been kicked around for a few years. The perfect opportunity came along when it became time to finally replace the 20-year-old floor.

“The board made the call. We were going to redo the floor, and we always talked about doing this at some point,” explained Harrisburg school board president Davin Stidham. “He deserves it. He built this place.

“He’s been a great asset to our community. And he’s from here. He brought the hometown feel and put it back into the program.”

Along with the dedication, Harrisburg also decided to honor the boys’ team from the 2002-03 season on its 20th anniversary.

“It’s the first group that finally got it done,” Combs explained. “They were a bunch of kids who we thought were a year away, but they put it all together in an amazing season with an amazing end. They are the ones who paved the way for all those other teams. When I first got here, they were all sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. I’m glad to have them back.”

That team began a run that certified Harrisburg basketball in the history books and included seven 20-win seasons with six conference championships, six district championships, five state Final Four appearances, and two state titles.

Current Harrisburg head coach Kyle Fisher was a freshman on that 2002-03 team. He said it was a great night to bring the team back while honoring Coach Combs. “That team kicked off of a phenomenal seven-year run and really changed the culture around here for a long time.

“Coach Combs has given so much to the program around here. It was good for us to be able to give something back to him. You see how much he means to Harrisburg basketball, with so many former players coming back tonight. And you see how much Harrisburg basketball means to him as well. How emotional he got. We like to think we do basketball right around here.”

When Fisher came back to Harrisburg, he spent seven years as the assistant coach under Combs on the Bulldogs’ sideline. Now, Fisher is in his fifth year as head coach. And this year, Coach Combs returned to the Harrisburg bench as Fisher’s assistant coach.

“It’s something we are both really comfortable with. Obviously, I played for him, so we’re going to share a lot of the same philosophy,” Fisher said. “It’s been nice having a third guy around with his kind of knowledge. I think we have the best staff in the state.” 

The Harrisburg teams honored the new court in spectacular fashion Friday night, winning both games over Sturgeon in the home opener with nearly identical scores. The girls won 61-39, with the boys winning 66-39.

Girls coach Ryan Richardson was not yet coaching at Harrisburg during Combs’ 18-year run but said Coach Combs had become a mentor during his six years leading the Lady Bulldogs.

“I came in, and it was his first year as a superintendent. But I knew about the legacy, and I knew what Harrisburg basketball was about, which is one of the reasons I wanted to coach here,” Richardson explained. “When I got here, Coach Combs took me in like I was one of his own. He’s been such a huge mentor on the game of basketball and on life in general. How to be a husband, a father, a coach, and a professional, all at the same time. He’s completely changed my philosophy about the game. He’s made me a much better coach.”

Combs’s teams not only dominated mid-Missouri basketball during his time as head coach but made Harrisburg one of the toughest places in the state for opposing teams to play. Over those 18 years, Harrisburg was 113-36 at home, during which time the Bulldogs went 59-3 in their home gym from 2003-2009. Harrisburg also recorded a home postseason record of 13-3 with three district championships.

Before Combs returned to coach at his alma mater, he coached for two years at Louisiana High School and served as an assistant coach for three years at Moberly.

All of that coaching culminated with an emotional ceremony Friday night. Coach Combs thanked all of those in attendance, as well as his family, and all of his former players who joined him on the court.

“They always say, ‘you can’t go home and coach.’ We proved them wrong.”