Soddy-Daisy hires Bill Eller as new boys' basketball coach

Hamilton Heights basketball coach Bill Eller directs his squad in 2011 at Cleveland.
Hamilton Heights basketball coach Bill Eller directs his squad in 2011 at Cleveland.

Soddy-Daisy High School has hired Bill Eller as its boys' basketball coach. Eller succeeds Reid Daniels, who resigned recently so he could spend more time with family.

Eller's most recent high school head coaching job was at Hamilton Heights. But when the Hawks' program decided to become a national traveling team, Eller left after the 2012-13 season.

He coached one of his sons for two seasons at Hamilton Heights, then enrolled him at Soddy-Daisy, where he graduated two years ago. Eller assisted Daniels for the two seasons his son was at Soddy-Daisy, so he was there as a coach when the Trojans' upcoming seniors were freshmen.

The last two basketball seasons Eller has coached a younger son, first with his elementary school team and last year helping at Loftis Middle. Eller now hopes to get the opportunity to coach him at Soddy-Daisy.

"I want to set a good standard for the kids," Eller said. "Of course that means a foundation in fundamentals. My philosophy is we're going to play good, hard-nosed defense and we'll run a motion offense. The big thing is we want to create success throughout the season. We don't want to just be successful at the end of the season. I'll always want to put the kids in position where they can be successful."

Eller spent six years as middle school coach at Lookout Valley and another 14 at Hixson High School. The last 10 were as the Wildcats' head coach.

Soddy-Daisy athletic director Jared Hensley said Eller is a "no-nonsense guy" and someone school officials feel good about helping rebuild the program.

"We wanted somebody with experience," Hensley said. "That was a big factor in what we were looking for. But at the same time, we just like his approach. He's a character and faith-based guy who can put stock in our program and who'll work to help mold our players and hopefully our entire school."

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.

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