CINCINNATI — The scenario seems difficult to grasp more than 15 months after Oyler High School named Kevin Mitchell as its boys basketball coach.
The truth is Mitchell didn’t plan to become the Madhatters coach in fall 2023. Had he not listened to his father, the late Mark Mitchell, there is no saying where the Cincinnati Public Schools program and its student-athletes would be at this juncture.
“I didn’t want this job at all,” Kevin Mitchell said last week. “My dad, he took it upon himself and said, ‘Hey man, go get this job.’ When I went to go get this job, it took a toll on me, but I ended up getting it. And then when I got the job, he was invested every single day.”
That commitment from the players and coaching staff is paying dividends this season.
Oyler (21-1) has its best record in program history, according to athletic director Gage Bley.
The Madhatters, a No. 2 seed in the Division V Southwest District tournament, won the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference Blue division championship Feb. 7 for the first time.
Kevin, 33, still hears his dad's voice as he continues to turn around a program that won five games last season.
“What he has done in a very short amount of time of being here is very remarkable with the boys – not just on the court but off the court, too,” Bley said. “I’m very much appreciative of what his efforts are every single day for these boys and I see that’s reciprocated from the boys to him, too.”
Oyler plays a "rugged, rough and fast" brand of basketball. It's a signature of a Mitchell-coached team.
“It’s rewarding because we’re growing and we’re developing,” Mitchell said. “We’re building a program. A program I want to be built to last forever. So here we just put in the work. One thing my dad left me is shut up and work. And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.”
Mark Mitchell, a longtime high school and college coach, died in March 2024. He was 56. Mark Mitchell coached Kevin at Taft and more than a decade later helped his son with coaching guidance at Oyler, which is located in Lower Price Hill.
Father and son would talk daily about Oyler. Kevin knew his dad had experienced similar coaching situations. Kevin trusted his advice.
“It’s just been real rough because he’s not there,” Kevin said. “That little silent spot in my life in my life is looking for a place or a person to fit it. But, nobody’s going to be able to touch that no time soon.”
Kevin, a 2010 Taft graduate and a sibling to Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, is driven by his dad’s wisdom about basketball and life.
“I heard his voice every single day since he died,” Kevin said. “Every single day. Different things on the court. I hear him. It’s kind of real tough on me. But, I’m here.”
Junior point guard Devohn Ealy misses being able to connect with Mark Mitchell. He knows Kevin is carrying on his dad’s legacy this season while elevating the lives of the Oyler student-athletes at the same time.
"I feel like Coach Kev, he’s like a brother," Ealy said. "But he’s also like a father figure towards me. He took some gems from his dad most definitely. I think that’s what makes him as good of a coach as he is.”
The Madhatters invested time and energy since last summer in the gym. A special bond has formed this season.
“It’s always been beyond basketball for me,” Kevin Mitchell said. “Ever since I got this job it’s just been not about basketball. It’s always been about how can I prepare myself, how can I stay organized. How can I fix the problems that’s in the school?”
While there is joy at basketball practice and in setting a program record for wins, Mitchell also understands the adversity his players face outside the school.
“My program faced a lot of challenges," Mitchell said. "We got a lot of addictions. We got a lot of homelessness. We’ve got a lot of hungriness. Just wondering what we’re going to do next. What’s our next move. A bunch of that.”
Ealy said the gym is where he finds inner peace. He shares the same passion for the game as his coach.
“It’s deeper than just basketball,” Ealy said. “He wants to see us be great and go to the next level. Even if it’s not basketball, he always just wants us to be the best version of ourselves. Since day one he always showed that 100% commitment towards us. He never gave up. He don’t got to be here. He could’ve stepped down anytime. But he decided to stay with us."
Kevin says a prayer of gratitude each morning. He thinks of his dad throughout different points of games.
"I know he’s proud of me, " Kevin said. "I really do want to tell him thank you because I wouldn’t want to be able to do this without him. “Him dropping them little gems in my life is the reason why I’m here right now.”
