Whitefish basketball head coach resigns

Dean McFadden, the head coach of the Whitefish High School girls basketball team, resigned from his position Thursday after nine seasons in the program, six of which were as head coach.

"We're going to the next chapter, and the next chapter is family," McFadden said of his reason for resigning.

McFadden is married to Lucy McFadden and has two daughters —Mandy, a senior at Whitefish High School, and Kelsey, a fifth-grader at Muldown Elementary.

"The biggest person I want to thank is my wife, Lucy," McFadden said. "She supported all my basketball endeavors. She followed me all the way to Argentina and supported me as a coach."

McFadden, a former professional basketball player, has been with the Bulldog program since 1997 and became the head coach during the 1999-2000 season.

During his tenure, the visibly competitive McFadden racked up a 95-40 record. When asked what the best part of coaching was, McFadden said the best part was winning, the worst, losing.

McFadden never had a losing season. During his time as a Bulldog head coach, he took his team to a second-place finish and two third-place finishes at state.

McFadden's teams have won the divisional title three times and placed second twice. The state title, however, proved to be elusive.

"We tried, we got close," McFadden said. "The girls did the best that they could possibly do, and that's all I could ever ask of them."

McFadden said he is confident the Bulldogs will continue to have a strong basketball team.

"I really feel the program is going in a positive direction, losing only two seniors. They should be very strong next year," he said.

McFadden said his assistant coaches, Mike Caldwell and Jeremy Anderson, were influential in the program's success.

"If I had to go to a fight, I'd take them with me," McFadden said. "They're all about winning and putting things in a positive perspective. They did everything I asked them to do, and they did it very well."