Ben Lyles, a 1997 graduate of Smith-Cotton, was a team captain and three-year letter winner for the Tigers in both basketball and football. He also earned a football letter at the University of Missouri-Columbia as a wide receiver/defensive back. He has 14 years of coaching experience, serving as head coach of the Sacred Heart High football program from 2011-2017 and assistant head coach for the Sacred Heart boys basketball program from 2015-2018. He is the founder and head coach of the Sedalia Burners youth basketball traveling team and was head coach for MO Team Carroll Premier (now MPJ Elite) based in Columbia from 2016-2017.

“For me, goal No. 1 is to put a more competitive brand on the floor," he said. "I want to see us win the games we should be winning, be more competitive in those games where we are pretty evenly matched and close the gap significantly with the teams on the upper end.”