Longtime Prince Edward County High School Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach James Scott surprised the community Thursday night by announcing before his team’s game against visiting Goochland High School that this will be his final season leading the Eagles.

“I’ve made my run, and I’m not getting any younger, and I was really tired, because I give it a hundred percent,” Scott said in an interview Monday, “so I feel that it was time for the kids to get some young energy, because we have a strong program, and we want to keep it going, so I just felt that it was time.”

Prince Edward Athletics Director Rodney Kane said the low-key nature of the announcement was completely in character for Scott.

“He’s not doing it for his accolades,” Kane said. “… So it didn’t really surprise me the way he did it, but I really did not know he was going to do it or I’d have had a big banner made up and a basketball with the years of service, the years that he was here and how many games he had won and all kinds of stuff. We’d have tried to do something big …”

Kane noted that Scott has coached the Prince Edward Varsity Boys Basketball team for 34 years and led it to 524 victories.

Describing part of his conversation with Scott after Thursday’s game, Kane said, “He said, ‘I’m still planning on teaching, and I’m still planning on coaching tennis,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ I said, ‘You know I’m not running you off one way or the other.’”

Kane reflected on what Scott has meant to Prince Edward and its students.

“He has been an icon here at Prince Edward County High School for many, many years to all of our students, not just his players, but all of our students, and he will definitely be missed on the basketball court,” Kane said. “Luckily we’re going to get to keep him around for awhile teaching-wise, but he will be sorely missed by everyone on the basketball court, because the time that he put in …”

People see him on the court during a basketball game, Kane noted.

“They don’t see all the times practicing, taking these kids to camps, taking them to clinics, taking them to summer league games in Richmond, taking all this time out of his schedule,” Kane said.

As of Tuesday morning, a Thursday Farmville Herald Sports Facebook post that broke the news of Scott’s announcement had drawn 348 shares, 276 reactions and many comments from former players and students and people in the community, giving testimony to the impact he had, many noting how he would call his students “son.”

Cordero Baker wrote, “We appreciate the years you put in, Coach, hard work, dedication, mentor on and off the court. We wish you nothing but the best, son!!!”