Health issues the cause of Llewellyn ending his hoops career:
GDW Analysis:
ROGERSVILLE: A well known AHSAA girls basketball coach has announced his retirement from the game.
Brant Llewellyn of Lauderdale County provided the information to media Wednesday.
Llewellyn reported health issues is the reason to end his time on the bench after coaching the 3A school in Northwest Alabama for 25 years.
Llewellyn took over the team following 23 great years under Larry Sinyard.
Sinyard directed the Lady Tigers to 477 victories and 5 AHSAA championships.
Llewellyn kept the winning going and much higher. Lauderdale County has 738 victories with him and eight state championships.
Llewellyn is tied for 2nd in AHSAA coaches winning the state with 8. He shares that honor with Carey Ellison of Pisgah and Ricky Austin of Spring Garden.
Each of them have 1 more state title than Jana Killen of Deshler. She follows this trio with 7.
Hazel Green's Tim Miller ranks tops with 11 titles.
Lauderdale County sits atop in all time girls basketball championships with 13 behind the 8 from Llewellyn and 5 by Sinyard.
The Lady Tigers are 2nd in state championship game participation with 17, one behind Pisgah's 18.
In his final season with Lauderdale, Llewellyn and the Lady Tigers posted 28 wins out of 30 games. His first loss of the season was to 4A state champion Good Hope on January 31 at Wallace State's Tom Drake Coliseum.
His 2nd loss came in the Northwest Regional championship, losing the 3A final to Clements.
The last time the Lady Tigers won the title outright was in 2015/16 with 30 victories and 7 losses.
Lauderdale County was a common team to see each year at Wallace State when the Northwest Regional was held.
Gameday Weekly saw Llewellyn with his team at the AHSAA scholastic camp from the Finley Center in Hoover June 14.
Llewellyn is listed as the administrative coach for the North All Stars when they play in the AHSAA all star sports week on Tuesday from the Cramton Bowl Sportsplex in Montgomery.
Good Hope senior Ava McSwain is on the North roster.
The North coaches are Justin Bowen of Southside Gadsden and Amber Deline from Hartselle.
The process to replace the 52 year old Llewellyn is currently under way by the LCHS administration.
Photo of Lauderdale County girls basketball coach Brant Llewellyn during a game in the Northwest Regional at Wallace State CC.
Photo courtesy of AL.com
