Coach Eugene Collins Retires As The 2nd Winningest Coach in PHS History Updated 3/1/23

Submitted by trojan7 on Tue, 06/07/2022 - 23:40

With a 72-61 win over Coal Grove on 1/14/20, Coach Eugene Collins passed Richard "Red" Hopkins into 2nd place on the all time winningest coach list in Portsmouth HS history. Collins, whose career record is now 169-87, broke a tie with Hopkins, who went 168-58 from 1926-1936. Collins took over as head coach of the Trojans in the 2009-2010 season, and immediately turned the fortunes of the program around, going 12-7. The previous decade before his arrival saw the Trojans compile the worst record for a decade in school history, going 100-121. The decade from 2010-2019, all under Collins tenure, was the 2nd winningest decade in school history, with a record of 163-80. That mark was only topped by the decade of the 1980's, in which the Trojans went a remarkable 197-50. Collins' 11 year career at PHS is tied with Red Hopkins for the 2nd longest in PHS history, with George Heller having the longest coaching career, guiding the Trojans from 1952-1968. Heller went 224-137 in those 17 years, with a Class AA state championship in 1961.

Update 2/24/20: With the conclusion of the loss to Eastern Brown in the sectional final, Coach Collins record now stands at 173-93 for his 11 year career. Averaging 15.5 wins per year.  11 straight years of at least 10 wins.

Update 9/3/20: Coach Collins will be returning for his 12th season, which will make him the 2nd longest tenured coach in PHS history, only behind George Heller's 17 years (1952-1968).

Update 1/22/21: Coach Collins is now 178-98, as the Trojans have posted a 5-5 mark to date. There are 10 games remaining on the schedule, with quite a few postponements, so the non-conference games remaining may not be played.

Update 2/22/21: Coach Collins is now 180-103 as the Trojans have posted a 7-10 record, with the sectional tournament game vs. Belpre and a regular season makeup game with Rock Hill still on the schedule. If the Trojans beat Belpre, they will play at Fairland on 2/26.

Update 2/27/21: Coach Collins record is now 181-105 after going 8-12 this season. The season ended with an 85-47 loss to Fairland in the sectional championship.

Update 3/6/21: Coach Collins will return for his 13th season as head coach of the Trojans. Good conversation with him last night about summer basketball and next season. He said the team will play a lot of basketball this summer, which they didn't get to do last year.

Update 2/12/22: Coach Collins is now 192-116 after an 11-11 season. He has averaged a record of 15-9 during his 13 year career at PHS.

Update 3/1/23: Coach Collins retired after the 2023 season with a career record of 201-130.