Brent Kelley is returning as the head boys basketball coach at Whitehouse High School.

WHITEHOUSE — A familiar face will be roaming the sidelines at Whitehouse’s C.L. Nix Wildcat Arena beginning next basketball season.

It’s one that was there for eight seasons previously.

Brent Kelley, who won 142 games as the Wildcats’ coach from 2013-21, is returning to be the head boys basketball coach at Whitehouse High School.

“It’s exciting,” Kelley said. “Transition is always tough, but it’s easy to come back to this place. My family, my wife and kids, we’re excited. And we’ll be back in a couple of months.

“We had eight really good years here, good years in basketball and good years for my family. The kids grew up here. My wife loved it, too. You look back at the relationships that we created that are still there. There’s basketball and wins and losses, but the bottom line is it boils down to having good relationships, and that’s the main reason we’re coming back.”

Kelley left following the 2020-21 season to become the head boys basketball coach at Wylie East.

“Obviously leaving Whitehouse, with the relationships we’ve built there and the success we’ve had over the years, that was tough to leave,” Kelley said in April 2021 when he announced he was leaving. “But the opportunity at Wylie East and getting to work for Coach (Marcus) Gold and be near the metroplex area, that was a big deal. It’s been a long week for my family and some tough decisions, but it was one we made together and decided to take the opportunity.”

Kelley took over a Wylie East program that was 7-20 the season before he arrived. The Raiders won 14 games in Kelley’s first season and then tied a school-record with 20 wins this past season. Wylie East was 34-28 in two seasons under Kelley.

“It was a great experience,” Kelley said. “We moved off, away from friends and family, but it was a good opportunity to work for Coach (former Whitehouse football coach Marcus) Gold. I feel like we had success there. I wish we would’ve gotten into the playoffs this year. That didn’t happen because we lost our last game.

“You look at where it was and where it is, and I’m proud we got to 20. They’ve only done that one other time in school history, so I’m proud of that. I think it’s in a better place right now.”

Whitehouse has been coached by Michael Ostlund the past two seasons. The Wildcats went 5-25 overall with an 0-10 district mark in 2021-22 before improving to 16-16 overall and 6-8 in district this past season.

Ostlund announced his retirement following the season due to health reasons.

Kelley is a 2001 graduate of Garrison High School and a 2005 graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University.

He coached at Shepherd High School as an assistant football, basketball and baseball coach in 2005-06 before going to Jacksonville High School in 2006.

He became the head basketball coach of the Indians in the 2009-10 season, leading them to a record of 24-7 and an undefeated district mark.

In four seasons with Kelley as the head coach, Jacksonville went 106-30 and reached the regional tournament. In his final season in 2012-13, the Indians posted a 32-game winning streak and finished with a record of 33-2.

Kelley took over at Whitehouse in 2013-14, and the Wildcats went 27-6. In 2017-18, Whitehouse went 28-7 and advanced to the regional tournament. Whitehouse had a record of 142-112 in eight seasons under Kelley.

“There’s a great tradition in the basketball program here,” Kelley said. “We were able to keep that going while we were here during those eight years. It’s a great situation. We want to keep winning basketball games and get back in the playoffs.”

Kelley has a career record of 282-160 with six district championships and two regional tournament appearances. Kelley has been a six-time district Coach of the Year. He was the All-East Texas Coach of the Year in 2012-13 and 2017-18. He was a finalist for the Don Coleman Outstanding Coach Award in 2013-14, and he was the Jacksonville Daily Progress Sportsman of the Year in 2012.

“I competed against him for a long time, so I have a lot of respect for him as a coach,” Whitehouse athletic director Don Newton said. “I have a lot of respect for the program he built here. He had a lot of success at Jacksonville. He’s as good as a coach I’ve been around, so I’m thrilled to have him back. I think he’s happy to be coming back and excited about what hopefully we can build here for years to come.

“We were very fortunate. We had some unbelievable applicants, some really good guys. But to check all of the boxes Coach Kelly checks with already knowing what he’s getting into, so to speak, and already having proven success here, I couldn’t be happier.”

Kelley was at Whitehouse on Tuesday to officially sign his contract and he got to talk to the players in the basketball program.

“I knew every kid today,” Kelley said. “I knew their names, and I knew a lot about them. The juniors were freshmen, and the sophomores were eighth-graders when I was here. That program feeling that’s here from little dribblers on up through the junior high program, that’s a big deal. It helps the transition period when you are familiar with everybody.”

Kelly and his wife, Abbie, have three kids — Aniston (seventh grade), Boston (fourth grade) and Blair (third grade).