The following story was in todays Fargo Forum:
Basketball at Davies High School now has its first faces of the program.
The school announced the hiring of Tonah Safranski as its first head girls basketball coach and Bart Manson as the first boys basketball coach on Thursday.
“What’s exciting is the fresh start and having to start the program,” Manson said. “One of the reasons why I came over there was to lay groundwork for future years.
“We get to develop a program that’s brand new. Who wouldn’t be excited about that?”
Both Manson and Safranski were the sophomore coaches at Davies this season, and both were previously assistants at Fargo South.
Safranski was an assistant under Craig Flaagan at South for the past 12 years, and also played for him in the early 1990s before her collegiate career at Minnesota State Moorhead.
“Flaagan was my high school coach, and I’m sure that rivalry will be fun,” Safranski said. “…I love the game, and it’s always been a goal of mine to become a head coach.”
Manson has been the head coach at Belcourt and Grand Forks Red River, and assisted at West Fargo and Fargo South.
“Being an assistant under guys like Greg Limke at West Fargo and Mike (Hendrickson) at South has allowed me to take a step back from being a head coach,” Manson said. “I got to see how those great programs were run, and now I come in with my ideas.”
Along with being a longtime hoops assistant at South, Safranski has been the head volleyball coach for the Bruins for the past five years.
“It’s an exciting opportunity because of my love for basketball and my background in basketball,” Safranski said. “It’s been a goal of mine to be a head coach since I started playing basketball.
“It’s a start with a new program, so this was a good time to make that transition.”