Legendary Whiteface Head Girls Basketball Coach and Athletic Director Jason Blankenship is retiring after 30 years as a head coach and three years as the Lady Lopes Head Coach.
The decision to walk away comes after a lot of thought and consideration from Coach Blankenship, but upon reflection he was confident it was the right one.
“Coaching multiple sports like I really have for most of my career starts taking a toll. You’ve got to know yourself and what your limits are, and when you’re ready to move on,” Coach Blankenship said. “When these decisions present themselves, you have to weigh them. There are things I’m sure I will miss, but there comes a point where the grind outweighs the benefits. I think I got to that point where I’m like ‘okay, I’m ready to move on.’” Coach Blankenship will be stepping completely out of any coaching or teaching role, and stepping into a fulltime position at Camp Blue Haven, which is a Christian youth camp in New Mexico.
He walks away confident in where he’s leaving the Lady Lopes’ basketball program, and rightfully so, as the Lady Lopes went 96-11 in his three years as head coach. This past season, the Lady Lopes went 33-3 overall and 12-0 in 2A District 5, bringing home three Gold Balls.
Coach Blankenship noted that his favorite thing about his success with the program was how they established themselves as a top team in Texas even after being moved up to 2A in the 2024-25 season. He praised his kids for their ability to not only transition up, but to thrive as a little school in a bigger division and gain respect in the South Plains area.
Now as the Lady Lopes depart back down to 1A, they’ll do it without Coach Blankenship, as the thriving program will now be in the hands of Clay Barnett.
Barnett was announced as the Lady Lopes’ new Head Basketball Coach this past Thursday via the Whiteface CISD Facebook.
Coach Barnett is no stranger to success as during his previous 12-year coaching tenure at Levelland High School he coached the Loboettes to a 352-66 record and an 84% win percentage, while winning eight district championships, making four regional tournament appearances, reaching the regional finals twice and achieving seven 30-win seasons. He also holds 575 total victories as a head coach.
Barnett took a gap year after departing from Levelland and went to help a friend that took the women’s basketball job at Howard Payne University, helping him start up the program.
That job helped Barnett stay involved in basketball, and now he’s hungry to continue his history of high school winning with a dominant program.
“We’re going to try to build on the success that they’ve had, but at the same time, we’re going to try to knock the rearview mirrors off and focus on what’s in front of us,” Coach Barnett said. “As far as what they’ve done and what I’ve done, that’s kind of in the past. If they’ll work hard to get better, I think we’ll have an opportunity to do some special things.”
While Barnett will take over the Lady Lopes basketball program, Whiteface’s own Jeff Jones, current Head Boys Track & Field Coach, will be promoted to Athletic Director.
Blankenship was also Whiteface’s Head Tennis Coach, and his replacement is yet to be officially determined.