Thomas Jefferson boys basketball coach Kyle Templeton resigns

Kyle Templeton sent in his letter of resignation as the boys basketball coach at Thomas Jefferson the day his team capped an 11-13 season with a loss to Yelm in the first round of consolation in the 4A West Central District tournament.

Templeton, a 1995 graduate of Jefferson, guided his team to three district tournament berths in the past four years. It reached the regional round of the state tournament in 2013 — its third state appearance in school history and first since 1979.

The reason for his resignation, he said, was because of travel between his home in Snoqualmie and more time to spend with his three children, ages 7, 5 and 2. He said he had been planning this to be his final year for the past year and a half, with the team set to lose 11 seniors to graduation.

“I’ve made no secret of my love for TJ not just with the basketball program,” Templeton said. “I am the No. 1 TJ fan when it comes to anything … that goes for the football team, to the speech and debate, to the math team to girls tennis —it doesn’t matter. I’m a TJ fan through and through, but life changes as we get older.”

Jefferson won 70 games in those seven seasons, despite the program having had only one 10-win season since 1985 — that came in Templeton’s senior year.

He said he’d still like to coach, but will pursue a job more close to home.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Thomas Jefferson boys basketball coach Kyle Templeton resigns."