WORLAND- Greybull boys basketball coach Jim Prather has decided it is time to step away from coaching basketball.

With 251 career wins, a five-time conference coach of the year and a COY in 2006, five conference championships, eight trips to the state tournament, a regional championship in 2015 and a state championship in 2006, coach Prather believes it is time.

"I've been coaching for 32 years in some capacity and there comes a time when you'd like to try something new and felt now was as good as time as any," said coach Prather.

"I've heard rumors about this thing called the holidays," Prather said jokingly, "It has been a long time since I've experienced them without basketball in some form or capacity. I'm going to look forward to spending the time with my grandkids and family."

While he is stepping away from coaching, Prather will still continue to teach English and government at Greybull High School, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll still be teaching. I've coached multiple sports during those 32 years and I'm intrigued to see what it's like to teach without the extracurricular responsibilities. I look forward to filling that extra time by improving in the classroom and there are other activities a person can be involved in, as I've talked to others who have done the same, it is quite easy to fill up the time," added Prather

Coach Prather still plans on attending basketball games or helping coaches in any way he is able to. "Instead of watching only one team every night, I can spread it out a bit and select the game I'd like to see that night. And in the mean time I can maybe mentor some with coaches that I have a good relationship with."

When Prather arrived to Greybull High School 17 years ago the boys basketball program wasn't in the best of shape. Season total wins were in the single digits and pride in the program was low. One of the first things he wanted to do was have an active summer program with open gyms, camps or tournaments.

"When I got to Greybull kids didn't do a lot in the summer. Coming from Washington that's something all of the successful programs did by playing year round. By doing this we believed it would institute an expectation that if you want to be successful above and beyond the next team. It requires a commitment of effort and I tried to set an example by making myself available with the off-season programs like open gyms and camps," stated coach Prather.

"You have to have a vision and for me it was about consistency and getting the players to buy in. Once the players bought in and the opportunities made available to them, the culture changed quickly. The kids recognized in order to be successful we had to work together and that's been the cornerstone of our program," he added.

Coach Prather also accredited stability and a great working relationship amongst all the coaches at Greybull High School to his success in building up the program. "I came to a great spot and they stuck with me. You can see some programs that have a lot of turnover and the consistency isn't there. Here in Greybull they were patient and I think if more programs showed that patience you'd see things turnaround positively."

"I also had a great working relationship with the other coaches. I came in at the same time as (Mark) Sanford (Greybull/Riverside wrestling coach), shared an office with (Tom) Urbach (retired GHS social studies teach and former football coach) and worked with Jon Cundall (former GHS football coach) in the football program. Amongst all the coaches our shared goal was to get boys to participate in the programs. It was never a competition to have our program succeed at the expense of another," added coach Prather.

Seventeen years at one stop is impressive and one could imagine all memories collected and changes witnessed during that span. For coach Prather winning was always fun and turning the program around was the goal but for him the best and favorite moments were building relationships with the players.

"The relationship with the players has to be the No. 1 highlight from my career. As a young coach when you start you have grandiose ideas how you're going to change the game and become the next innovator. And you lose sight of the real reason for coaching and that's the kids. I've coached over 100 players and teaching them the game of basketball. Watching as they learn the value of hard work, what it takes to be a great teammate and sacrificing for the greater good."

"Those are all skills valued in our society and for me basketball became a great avenue to teach young people those skills ... In visiting with former players it's not about the games won or lost, it's the experience we shared together and for me that's what I'm going to remember most," continued Prather.

Even with all the changes to the game of basketball over the years coach Prather has been open to the tweaks here and there to the rules, "I've always approached the changes with the idea that it's going to make the game better and if we can do these things well it's going to bring us success," said coach Prather.

In talking about change, Prather noted for him as a coach a turning point was the acceptance of failure as a part of the process, something that would benefit his teams as they learned and grew from the letdowns.

He said, "As a young coach you're gung-ho, eager and feel like you have the answers and over time you can be humbled, and quickly. It didn't take long for me to learn that there was a lot about the game I didn't know and for us to succeed I had to accept that and learn from the failures. Embracing the journey as a process made us stronger and more resilient in the long run.

"It helped me and gave the kids a chance to compete and play without feeling like if they make one mistake they don't get to play. And looking back coming to that realization is when the program turned the corner and set that bar of consistency that's been ongoing ever since."

When asked about what he's going to miss the most, coach Prather jokingly said, "At this point right now the things I'm not going to miss is longer than the things I'm going to miss. Well that and the occasional trip to McDonald's or Wendy's."

"Honestly, I'm going to miss the relationships with the players and other coaches. Not being a part of that circle will be different but I'm excited about what's ahead," said coach Prather.

*Editor's note: I am a former player for coach Jim Prather. Having won a championship with coach Prather way back in 2006 it is one of the defining moments of my life. And not because we won but for what that win meant. The work put in by myself and teammates, for that year and years before, instilled what it truly means to be successful. Never being content always, pushing yourself outside your comfort zone and most importantly not being afraid of the hard work. As hated as those line drills were or holding pushup position for a missed defensive rotation was, as an adult I now see their benefit and couldn't be prouder to have had coach Prather as my coach.