JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — William Miley, Jr. has been appointed head coach of the Jamestown High School varsity boy basketball program. A longtime assistant and junior varsity coach, Miley, a 1999 JHS graduate, becomes the 13th head coach in the program’s history. 

“I am extremely excited and humbled to be appointed the next coach of JHS basketball,” said Miley. “It has been a thrill and a pleasure working alongside Coach Drake and the other coaches the last 20 years and having a front row seat to much of the program’s success. We certainly have a rich basketball tradition here at JHS and I am looking forward to the challenge of continuing it in the coming years.” 

Miley has spent two decades helping JHS to become one of the premier basketball programs in New York state, serving as junior varsity coach for the last 19 years after spending one year as the freshman boys basketball coach. An eighth grade math teacher at Jefferson Middle School, he holds a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Fredonia and a Master’s degree from the University at Buffalo. He resides in Jamestown with his wife, Katie, and his children, Max, Kenzie, and Andi.

“I am thrilled to have Billy take over the program,” said JHS Athletic Director Ben Drake, who served as head boys basketball coach for 25 years before stepping down at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. “I have been very fortunate to have had Billy as my junior varsity coach for the past 20 years. He has been a very loyal, dedicated and hard-working coach. Not only has Billy been the junior varsity coach, but he’s also served as an assistant coach for the varsity games all those years as well. He is a great teacher of the game and he has passion for Jamestown Basketball. I don’t believe we could find a better person to be the next head coach. He’ll be great.”

Since its earliest recorded results in 1900, Jamestown High School has developed a standard of excellence across the region in boys basketball, earning 22 league titles, 14 Section VI titles, three appearances in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Final Four, and two appearances in the state title game. 

Past coaches have included Denton Moon (1928-1937); Roland Taft (1937-1957); Walter Colburn (1957-1959); Vince Joy (1959-1963); John “Dutch” Leonard (1963-1977); Paul Thornton (1977-1978); Joe Piscopo (1978-1980); Felix Muzza (1982-1983); Vere Lindquist (1980-1982; 1983-1992); Bill Hager (1992-1993); Ron Frederes (1993-1998); and Drake (1998-2023).