Former Arp head coach Brian Malone now leads Kilgore basketball program

Published 9:48 am Friday, July 25, 2025

KILGORE — Kilgore ISD recently tapped Brian Malone to take over the boys basketball program and the new coach filled the gym for three days of youth camp this week, giving some future and current young Bulldogs a taste of high school level basketball.

Malone comes to Kilgore from Arp, where he coached for three years. He’s been coaching boys basketball for about 25 years total, including a six-year stint at Tatum and 10 years at Jefferson. He inherits the Kilgore program from Jeff Coleman, who stepped down after leading Bulldogs Hoops for nine years.

“I knew they had a good program over here, and I like the environment and I like the location. And I knew Coach Coleman. I had some friends tell me about it and I thought hey, I’ll give it a shot. And it’s a good fit,” says Malone.

After a tough first season at Arp where the Tigers went winless in district, Malone led them to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Kilgore had a 13-14 record last year, missing most of its roster until after Christmas due to the football team’s run to the state championship game. Once they had the full varsity squad back, the Bulldogs went 11-3 for a second-place finish in District 16-4A and ended the season as area finalists.

It’s safe to say there’s plenty of athletic talent to mine in Kilgore.

“Yes. You’ve just got to bring them out,” agreed Malone. “They’ve got to come out and come to the gym… I’ve been seeing the guys over the summer. We played a little summer league and I know they’re waiting to get out here. I think it’s going to be on the up and up.”

Malone’s coaching philosophy is all about a fast-paced defense, he says.

“This defensive-minded toughness. I’m trying to bring toughness to this bunch and I think they’re going to buy into it,” he says.

That kind of approach was something Malone also emphasized to his 4-9 grade campers this week as they trained the fundamentals and played scrimmages against each other. The camp had only a week’s notice but drew about 20 players excited to better their game.

“It’s just where you build it. Right here,” says Malone.