Paul Lambert Coach of the Year Award goes to Lee’s Summit’s Blake Little

Blake Little, who led the Lee’s Summit High School boys basketball team to a 29-2 record and a fourth-place finish at the Missouri Class 5 state tournament, is the recipient of the Paul Lambert Coach of the Year Award.

The award, which honors the Kansas City-area high school boys basketball coach of the year, was presented to Little by William Jewell College men’s basketball coach Larry Holley in a ceremony at Lee’s Summit High School.

During the regular season, Little led his Tigers squad to championships of the Blue Valley Tournament, the Lee’s Summit Tournament, the William Jewell Tournament (Patterson Division) and a Suburban Conference Gold Division title. The Tigers’ 29 victories rank second all-time in school history.

The Paul Lambert Award is named after Paul Lambert Jr., a 1956 graduate of William Jewell College, who died in a hotel fire in 1978. Lambert’s coaching career began at Moberly (Mo.) High School and he later coached at Drake University, Pittsburg State, Hardin-Simmons (Texas) and Southern Illinois. He had just accepted the coaching position at Auburn University at the time of his death.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Paul Lambert Coach of the Year Award goes to Lee’s Summit’s Blake Little."