Longtime AAU coach Boyd taking over Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball program

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

Stacy Boyd has accomplished many impressive things, on and off the basketball court.

Some 30 years coaching basketball, the last 16 as founder and CEO of an AAU program, the Spokane Elite Basketball Club.

Before that, he was a policeman in Moses Lake for nearly 17 years.

More recently, he’s been a campus safety manager for Spokane Public Schools for the past 11 years, overseeing nearly 60 schools and some 36,000 students in the school district.

But he said there’s one thing missing from his resume.

“My goal and aspiration is taking a high school team to a state championship,” said Boyd, who earlier this week was named head girls basketball coach at Coeur d’Alene High.

Boyd, 54, succeeds Nicole Symons, who resigned after five seasons to spend more time with her family. Her daughter, Madi, recently completed her freshman season playing basketball at Wyoming; her son, Caden, is a football and basketball standout at Coeur d’Alene High. And her husband, Corey, is the men’s basketball coach at North Idaho College.

Under Nicole Symons, Coeur d’Alene won state 5A championships in 2023 and ‘24.

“I’ve been telling my family, there’s some big shoes to fill,” Boyd said. “Taking over where she left off, and trying to keep that winning culture … I’m just blessed to have that opportunity to get these girls back to state.”

Caden played in Boyd’s AAU club program, and Boyd said played rec basketball with Corey for years.

“We are excited about the future of the Lady Viking basketball program under coach Boyd’s leadership,” Coeur d’Alene High athletic director Victoria Beecher said. “His experience, dedication, and passion for the game will undoubtedly inspire our athletes and help them reach new heights.”

This will be Boyd’s first head coaching job in high school basketball. He was a boys assistant at Shadle Park under Arnold Brown, who is now a boys assistant at Coeur d’Alene High. More recently, he was a boys assistant at Ferris under Sean Mallon.

“I’ve been waiting for a head coaching position,” Boyd said.

Boyd oversees a Spokane Elite club program that boasts eight boys’ and four girls’ teams, ranging from 12U to 17U.

And some of those teams boast several players from North Idaho. His 14U boys team had eight players from North Idaho.

Stacy Boyd graduated from Rogers High in Spokane in 1989, where he played football, basketball and soccer. He played one year of soccer at Whitworth.

“I wanted to coach soccer and ended up coaching basketball, and this is what I’ve been doing since I was 24 years old,” Boyd said.

He got into coaching basketball when his son, Tre’, was in second grade; now Tre’ helps him with Spokane Elite.

“I’m a big man (-to-man), ball-pressure coach. I like to full-court press,” Boyd said of his coaching philosophy. “I like to get everything out of each player. Every player has a role.”