Stahler’s offensive prowess puts him in elite status

By Kevin Taylor

Alma Schools

Prolonged winning doesn’t happen overnight. It’s that way for the Alma Airedales’ basketball program, too.

But for the past 22 seasons, Darin Stahler has quietly sat in the background. And that’s just fine with him.

The laid-back Alma assistant can be loud without raising his voice.

“A good program not only has to have good players, but also has to include good leaders,” Alma coach Cody Vaught said. “Coach Stahler has been fantastic since Day One. A head coach is only as good as the coaches around him.”

Two weeks ago, Vaught was ready to wave the white flag and replace his starters with four minutes left to play on an otherwise forgettable night in Farmington.

But Cardinals coach Johnny Taylor wasn’t about to pull off the gas. With two minutes left, rather than insert his junior varsity team, Stahler leaned over and encouraged Vaught to leave his starters in the game. “He’s (Taylor) trying to score a hundred,” he said.

Now, 2 ½ weeks later, all was good with the Airedales as Alma closed out its 2025-26 home slate with back-to-back home wins over Siloam Springs and Mountain Home. Then, on Tuesday at Van Buren, Alma punctuated its big season by sweeping the season series with the Pointers and clinching the No. 2 seed at next week’s state tournament.

During his 22 seasons as an Alma assistant, the Airedales have been postseason play 14 times.

“Our league is loaded with really, really good coaches and good staff,” Stahler said. “Greenwood, Harrison, and Siloam, they all try to make us play a little differently, and we’ve adapted really well to it. It shows our kids we can win any style.”

Seniors Shep Newcomb and Braden Kimes put their stamp on the team’s home finale by combining for 38 points in Alma’s 79-60 victory over Mountain Home.

Stahler, with much of his family celebrating afterward, could smile.

“In this league, even though records are different, they’re all good teams, and they’re all well, well coached,” Stahler said. “They (coaches) watch a lot of film and game-plan. They’re going to try to take your strengths away and try to make you play a different way, and the last couple of games, that’s what we’ve had to deal with.”

“He (Stahler) works tremendously hard and wants our program to be successful without wanting anything in return,” Vaught said. “He is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. Having great assistants is invaluable because they see things the head coach doesn’t always see.”

Veteran coaches

Stahler and his older brother, David, have almost three-quarters of coaching experience between them; this is Darin’s 36th season overall, and David Stahler will finish his 24th season as Harrison’s head coach this week — and his 40th as a high school coach.

Darin Stahler spent four seasons as the head coach at Paris High School before taking a job as Stan Flenor’s assistant in 2004-05, which just happened to be the first season Alma ran the table and claimed its first state championship.

“Coach (Stahler) came in 2005, and if you look at our history the last 50 years, that explains a lot of it,” Flenor said. “He has been a pillar of success in coaching basketball for our program. Being a former head coach, he brought tons of experience to Alma, but what we developed after his arrival was just a cornerstone of our success.”

Vaught knew Stahler from afar while coaching at West Fork more than a decade ago. “I knew he was a longtime assistant at Alma, because when I was at West Fork, we played in the Alma Christmas Tournament,” Vaught said. “I also knew he was well respected in our program, as many of my colleagues spoke very highly of him.”

Vaught is the third Alma coach Stahler’s stood next to, following 17 seasons with Flenor and four more with Dominic Lincoln.

The 2025-26 rendition of the Alma Aireales has more of a balanced offense than you’d expect, even though the aforementioned Newcomb leads the team with 22.5 points per game.

“They know they can’t become a good shooter just by practicing,” Stahler said. “They spend a lot of time after hours shooting and working on the game, and it has shown.”

Despite graduating all five starters from a year ago, the Airedales are right back where they were — with an even better playoff seed.

“I think (all teams) have their own characteristics,” Stahler said. “I think, with this group, we can shoot it really, really well, and that’s a big key. To compete in this league, you’ve got to be able to shoot it. You have to keep it simple, too. If you can shoot it, then they’ll (opponents) have to guard you, and you can do other things with it (the ball).”

Three of the team’s five starters (Carson Curd, Luke Stogsdill, and Lawson Adams) have played together since second grade; that includes reserves Brody Johnson, Cade Moore, Sammy Moore, and Landon Taylor.

“They’re very easy to coach,” Stahler said. “The thing about this team is they all grew up together, and most of them played together, and they get along really well together. I think the chemistry is really, really good.”

Dribble-Drive

Stahler’s offensive prowess is what separates him, Vaught said.

“I know he helped coach Flenor with defense at times, but I believe he was the architect behind Alma’s offense through their time together,” Vaught said. “He implemented the dribble-drive, which was the offense they used in their last two state championship appearances (2011-13). I knew from coach Flenor when I came to Alma how important he (Stahler) was to their success, especially on the offensive side.”

Vaught had no trouble handing the offensive reins to Stahler.

“I asked him late in the summer if he wanted to take over the offense, and if so, what he wanted to do,” Vaught said. “He has made all of our offensive decisions and helped tremendously in improving our players' individual strengths.”

“Fundamentally developing offensive players to fit our implementation of dribble-drive was cutting edge, and simply no one else had the instincts to go all in,” Flenor said. “He became, just plainly, the best offensive coach in our area and league. His dedication and desire to build a great program and develop young people. I miss our daily interactions, even five years later.”

Film study

The game of basketball has progressed during Stahler’s 3 ½ decades on the bench. Yes, the basketball goal is still 10 feet high, and players must be conditioned to dribble, jump, and defend.

But video presence has been a game-changer.

This is one of Stahler’s strengths.

“You’ve got as much film as you want to watch at your fingertips,” Stahler said. “Back in the old days, we’d have to drive three hours to pick up a VCR tape.”

“Coach Stahler is constantly watching film, videos, and reading books on how to give us an edge on the basketball court,” Vaught said. “Coach Stahler and his wife (Bridgett) have also been very supportive of my large, young family, which has made my job much easier at Alma.

“It has been an honor working with him these past 10 months.”