His first time as a varsity head boys basketball coach this winter, Mark Kovach is going to have plenty of reunions with some of his mentors.
Kovach, a 2009 College Park High School graduate, will go head-to-head with Cavaliers coach Clifton McNeely and assistant Terence O’Connor, the pair who inspired him to get into the coaching business.
He’ll also go against Oak Ridge’s Randy Appiah, the reason Kovach is at Caney Creek in the first place.
Kovach was promoted this past May to lead the Panthers boys basketball program after another of his mentors, Aundre Branch, left to take over at Dekaney.
“It was kind of surreal,” Kovach said of when he learned the Caney Creek job was his back in May. “I felt like I was going to get the job, but just in the back of mind, I figured someone else would come along and beat me out. When Dr. (Terri) Benson, our new principal, offered me the job, I was just so excited.”
Kovach, who proudly states he was born and raised Conroe ISD, was introduced to baseball at a young age and that was his first love. Basketball came later.
“Growing up, my dad was big in baseball,” Kovach explained. “So the first sport I ever played was baseball. All the way up until the sixth grade, I was a baseball player. I started dabbling with basketball at my church with Upward Basketball and I enjoyed playing it at school. Baseball was what I was competitive in.”
Kovach, who stands about 6-foot-7 as an adult, literally grew out of the game. Standing in the batter’s box, Kovach was tired of filling up so much space and getting plunked by the ball that he became frustrated.
By junior high, Kovach was running around the basketball court and played on the seventh grade ‘B’ team.
“It was a lot more fun,” he said.
When Kovach reached high school age, he made a choice that went against the grain of his older brothers.
His mother Linda Kovach taught at The Woodlands and was the debate coach (for over 35 years). His three oldest brothers – a football player and two basketball players – were Highlanders as well.
As a freshman, Kovach decided to go to the brand spanking new College Park High School with a neighbor buddy.
“I was the black sheep,” Kovach said with a laugh. “I didn’t want to go to the school my mom taught at.
“I was part of the first freshman to senior year class at College Park. I was there when it first opened and was a part of the first full graduating class.”
It was at College Park where Kovach had to grow up quickly.
His father Robert Kovach was diagnosed with stage-four brain cancer when he was a sophomore. With his parents divorced, Mark took on some of the responsibility of taking care of his father.
It was during that time period in his life that McNeely and O’Connor stretched their roles beyond coaches and were there for Kovach.
“McNeely and O’Connor, they really kind of filled that role for me,” Kovach said. “They didn’t treat me any differently than the other guys. But they cared for me and they would check in on me. They would still hold me accountable and push me to be the best that I could be.”
College Park was gaining steam on the basketball scene as well.
“We made the playoffs and lost,” Kovach said about his sophomore year. “The following year, we went (four) rounds deep. My senior year, we were ranked as high as fourth in the state. I think we were the first team at College Park to go undefeated in district.”
Kovach was a self-proclaimed third stringer his senior year. But as the Cavaliers were blowing out opponents en route to a 27-11 finish and a district title, Kovach played in garbage time frequently.
Including in a playoff game at the end of his senior year.
Texas Lutheran University coach Tommy Jones was there and Kovach would receive a chance to play in college.
“I got to play four years at TLU because of two minutes of garbage time,” Kovach said. “I was a bench player, but I still got an opportunity because I worked hard and had two D1 athletes in front of me.”
As his time in high school progressed into college, Kovach’s father overcame the initial cancer diagnosis. Mark remembers hearing that Robert was one of three recorded cases of that specific brain cancer at the time to beat it. But Robert, who eventually moved to Florida, had constant complications. He was bedridden for years and died from pneumonia in the spring of 2015.
Kovach graduated from TLU in 2014 and when he returned home, he helped with a College Park basketball camp and later that year, became the freshman ‘B’ head coach for the Cavaliers and the team won a district title.
His father passed away near the end of that school year and Kovach remembers McNeely and O’Connor once again being there for him.
“They were there when he was diagnosed and they were there to help me get through his passing,” Kovach said. “It’s crazy how life works that way.”
Kovach initially had thoughts of going into some form of law enforcement growing up. McNeely and O’Connor’s presence in his life steered him to coaching.
“That feeling that they gave me kind of pushed me where I think I want to coach,” Kovach said. “I want to give back to others what they gave to me. They’re my inspiration. They took a kid who was going through one of the worst situations that a kid could go through at one of the worst times.”
Kovach remained in Conroe ISD coaching at Irons Junior High for two years before his next big opportunity. He joined Magnolia head coach Deriek Cain’s staff as first assistant in 2017.
“I learned how to be a high school basketball coach from the first assistant side of things,” Kovach said. “We had really good teams those two years I was there. We had Jackson Moffatt go to Baylor and he was on the national championship team (in 2021).”
From there, Kovach met up with Appiah and joined the staff at Caney Creek as a freshman coach.
“I met Randy Appiah at College Park when I was there,” Kovach said. “He was the JV coach at the time. He had been wanting me to (come to Caney Creek) for awhile. An opportunity to work with him was pretty appealing.”
Appiah departed Caney Creek in 2020 to take the job at Oak Ridge.
For the experience of it, Kovach interviewed for the head job at Caney Creek along with another assistant in Branch. The former Baylor Bear standout in the 1990s and Harlem Globetrotter got the job and Kovach was promoted to first assistant.
“He’s another mentor,” Kovach said of Branch. “I worked with him for four years. Just learning how he did day-to-day stuff. Just drills, how to teach this part of the game. Just a different perspective from someone who played at the highest level.”
Kovach is proud to be the next head coach of the program. He already has developed relationships with the returning members of the team and they have hit the ground running.
“I love the kids that I’m coaching,” Kovach said. “It’s so rewarding to coach at Caney Creek. These kids – when they buy in – they’ll run through a brick wall for you.”
The Panthers, in their second year at the Class 6A level, have some work to do off a 4-27 campaign last winter.
Kovach feels that effort and defense are already there.
“My immediate goal is we have to improve our skills,” Kovach said. “One of the things that’s holding us back in close games – I think about The Woodlands game, the first time we played them last year at their place – with about three minutes left, it’s a six point game. They have Shey (Eberwein) who can create his own shot and score. Meanwhile, we’re having to work a lot harder because we don’t have a guy who can just take over and go and get his own points.”
Kovach is proud to be a part of the Caney Creek athletic program under football coach and campus athletic coordinator Kendall Hineman’s leadership.
“The culture with the athletic program that he’s building has us trending in the right direction,” Kovach said. “To add to that with basketball – I’m just grateful, humbled and excited to get to put my mark on Caney Creek basketball.”
