PARCHMENT, MI – Back at the turn of the century, Larry Logan was known as a riveting, high-flying Southwest Michigan basketball talent that propelled Loy Norrix back on the hoops map.
Now, he’ll look to do the same at Parchment –– only this time, from the sidelines.
The Knights basketball legend was hired as Parchment’s next girls varsity basketball coach late last month, stepping in to take over for Kevin Lillibridge after he stepped away after three seasons.
Logan has been Panthers’ junior varsity girls coach for the past three seasons, and not only established a rapport with the Parchment basketball community, but also the program’s players –– a large reason why he’s confident in leading the program.
“I’m confident in accepting this role because I already have a relationship with the players,” said Logan, a 2003 Loy Norrix graduate. “I’m passionate about the game and a lot of the players are excited I got the job because as soon as they heard about it, they were asking me ‘are you gonna be the coach?’ and I still had to go through the entire process. But the biggest thing for right now is that I need my players to be committed.”
Logan takes over a Parchment program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2015, and last won a district title in 2014 –– the same year they made a run all the way to a state quarterfinal.
Logan says he’s aiming for that same type of success under his watch, but it’ll take commitment from his players to turn the program around.
“We can be as good as we want to be, we just have to be committed and put the work in,” Logan said. “That’s the only way we’re going to get better.”
After enjoying an illustrious Loy Norrix career, which culminated in the school’s first-ever Class A No. 1 ranking, along with an undefeated regular season record (20-0) and a district championship, Logan went on play at Owens Community College in Ohio before transferring to Centenary College of Louisiana for his junior and senior seasons.
He’d play semiprofessionally overseas for a handful of years but came back home and landed his first coaching job at Milwood Middle School in 2008, where he’d coach their eighth-grade boys basketball team to a 13-1 record and a championship in his first season.
Logan spent numerous years as an assistant coach at Loy Norrix, most recently helping his sister-in-law, Kendra Logan, as an assistant on the Knights’ girls varsity team.
All that led Larry to Parchment in 2021, and ultimately, land him the keys to the girls program.
“The opportunity was there to coach girls and I told myself in college that if I can’t continue to play at a higher level, I want to be able to teach the game to the younger generations,” Larry said.
What are his keys to success at Parchment? Priority No. 1: change the culture.
“The last three years, there’s been a lot of drama and a lot of politics in the program,” Larry said. “With me, I’m going to treat everybody equal from the best player to the last player, everybody gets treated equally. I want these girls to have a different mindset of not thinking we’re bad –– we want to get out of that.
“We have the talent to be good,” he added. “The talent has been there, but it has to be developed and people have to be willing to come out of their shell and be vocal. Parchment can be a real good basketball program, and we just have to the right mindset.”
Parchment hasn’t won more than seven games in a season since its last winning season in 2015 and has gone a combined 34-129 during that stretch.
To get back to winning ways, Larry says it’ll take both a positive mindset and a belief in playing for one another.
“I tell my teams every year that you’re not always going to make shots,” he said. “Steph Curry has airballed before, Michael Jordan and LeBron James have missed layups before – it happens. But we can’t put our head down and get discouraged. I want these girls to have a positive mindset and stay motivated no matter what.”
Above all, Larry believes Parchment basketball will look a look different in the future –– and fans can expect a hard-working and hustling style of basketball from his team starting next season.
“It’s going to be different, a lot different,” he said.
Parchment begins its season on the road at Fennville on Dec. 3 before their home opener against Constantine on Dec. 6.