Basketball Coach Jamar Finnie hit the court this weekend for his first game as the Head Coach for Lone Star College-Kingwood, after a car accident that nearly left him paralyzed and almost crushed his dreams of coaching.
And the first game back…was against his former team, the Tomball Timberwolves.
The Kingwood Coyotes took on the Timberwolves Friday night. The women’s and men’s teams fought hard but failed to clinch the win.
Coach Jamar Finnie, known as Coach J, said it was an honor to play against his former team. “I think our guys got a lot of experience playing a different team. It’s our first semester out, so it was a learning process.”
Coach J spent five years as the assistant coach at LSC-Tomball. Friday night during the games, he was honored for his service and gifted with a gold basketball and Tomball jersey.
Tomball Head Coach Christopher DeJesus said Coach J is like a brother to him. “He’s dedicated his time his service, anything for the students and I’m all about anything for the students.”
In January 2023, Finnie was hired by LSC-Kingwood, to help restart the basketball program, which had been on hold since Covid. However, two weeks later, he was struck by a car. Finnie sustained severe injuries and doctors said he would likely never walk again.
“It was touch and go for the first couple of months,” said DeJesus. “When his doctors told him he would never walk again, Coach J just wouldn’t accept it.”
Finnie told us due to five different surgeries, 16 hours apiece, doctors were able to help him regain his ability to walk. “I thank God for everything I‘ve achieved and accomplished. I’ve got a lot more to do.”
Finnie said he recovered at a VA hospital where he was inspired by other patients. “I got to meet a lot of World War II vets and stuff like that, that were amputees who I was in rehab with. So, I try to go up there on Fridays and hang out, they let me know there’s a lot more to life than just basketball.”
Finnie said he looks forward to building the basketball program in Kingwood. “We have all the facilities, we have the backing of the school, the administration’s behind us, I feel the guys have a great attitude, we just need time to build, time to practice and develop to where we want to be.”
You can watch the full interview with Coach J at: https://youtu.be/DtYmIm9humY?si=YYgQupvys_sNWjiq.
You can see pictures from the games here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAW3sw.
The Kingwood Coyotes next games will be October 6th starting at 7pm with the Lady Coyotes versus HCC and and the men’s game starting immediately afterward, versus LSC-CyFair. The game will take place at the LSC-Kingwood Fitness Center. Come out and support your Kingwood Coyotes!
Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Mario K. Castillo, J.D. serves as Chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area. LSC has been named a 2022 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education and recognized by Fortune Magazine and Great Place To Work® as one of this year’s Best Workplaces in Texas™. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.
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