By John Mesh
The Halstead High School district (USD 440) officially welcomed Lonnie Paramore to the staff on its Facebook page.
Paramore will be the new boys basketball coach at Halstead. He made the switch from Haven High School, where he coached the boys basketball team for 17 years.
Paramore also was the head boys basketball coach at Fairfield for 13 years and was an assistant at Sterling College (his alma mater) and Ashland High School.
“I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids,” Paramore said on Facebook. “Sports have played a significant role in my life. I enjoy participating, coaching and watching many different sports. I’m all about Mountain Dew and will only eat chili without beans. I’m excited to wear blue and becoming a Halstead Dragon.”
Paramore played basketball and graduated from Sterling College and was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2024.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Mr. Lonnie Paramore to USD 440,” said USD 440 on its social media pages. “He’ll be joining us as a teacher and coach, and we are so excited to have him on the team. Welcome to the Dragon family, Mr. Paramore.”
During his 33-year coaching career, Paramore has won more than 400 games.
Paramore guided the Haven Wildcat boys basketball team to a 19-4 record in 2024-25. Haven lost to Cheney in the Kansas Class 3A sub-state championship game.
The Halstead boys team posted an 8-14 record in 2024-25.
Last year, the Halstead girls won the Kansas 3A state basketball title and the volleyball team won the 3A state volleyball championship.
Although Paramore will end his 30 years of coaching in Reno County, Halstead has a Reno County connection with former Hutchinson Trinity standout Derek Racette as head football coach and his Dad Sean Racette (the former Trinity coach) as his assistant.
Paramore’s wife Tricia is the president of Hutchinson Community College.