Head Coach Barry Wortman
Barry Wortman is currently in his fifth year as head basketball coach at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His team just won an unprecedented third straight District 7-AAA Tournament Championship, and is coming off the best season in school history that resulted in a second consecutive Region 4-AAA Championship and its third straight trip to the state tournament. The 2012-2013 team finished with a 30-1 record and was ranked #1 in the polls for over a month. His teams are 81-11 over the last three seasons.
Prior to his current coaching stop, Coach Wortman spent a season as head coach in Oak Ridge, TN. Blackman HS and Oak Ridge HS are considered to be two of the top academic schools in Tennessee. Coach Wortman’s team GPA has averaged over a 3.2 over his twenty-four year career. This is a source of pride for Coach Wortman as he strives to produce responsible and honorable student-athletes.
Coach Wortman has won over 400 games as a high school coach. He has been a part of seven district championships, six region championships, seven state sectional games, and six state tournament berths, including a state runner-up in 1995 and a state championship in 1997 and 2014.
He served as Donnie Tyndall’s Assistant and as Associate Head Coach at Morehead State University for three seasons. Coach Wortman was instrumental in turning the Morehead State basketball team into a success, including an Ohio Valley Conference Championship and two NCAA Tournament appearances. “In my opinion, Barry is one of the best high school coaches in the state of Tennessee. His teams are always prepared and play with a tremendous amount of energy and toughness which results in great, competitive teams” says Coach Tyndall. Coach Tyndall is currently the head coach at the University of Tennessee.
Originally from Newark, Ohio, Coach Wortman earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1989 and a Master of Arts degree from Tennessee State University in 1991 where he served as a graduate assistant on Ron Abernathy’s staff.
Barry has a son, Austin, and a grandson, Eli.
Prior to his current coaching stop, Coach Wortman spent a season as head coach in Oak Ridge, TN. Blackman HS and Oak Ridge HS are considered to be two of the top academic schools in Tennessee. Coach Wortman’s team GPA has averaged over a 3.2 over his twenty-four year career. This is a source of pride for Coach Wortman as he strives to produce responsible and honorable student-athletes.
Coach Wortman has won over 400 games as a high school coach. He has been a part of seven district championships, six region championships, seven state sectional games, and six state tournament berths, including a state runner-up in 1995 and a state championship in 1997 and 2014.
He served as Donnie Tyndall’s Assistant and as Associate Head Coach at Morehead State University for three seasons. Coach Wortman was instrumental in turning the Morehead State basketball team into a success, including an Ohio Valley Conference Championship and two NCAA Tournament appearances. “In my opinion, Barry is one of the best high school coaches in the state of Tennessee. His teams are always prepared and play with a tremendous amount of energy and toughness which results in great, competitive teams” says Coach Tyndall. Coach Tyndall is currently the head coach at the University of Tennessee.
Originally from Newark, Ohio, Coach Wortman earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1989 and a Master of Arts degree from Tennessee State University in 1991 where he served as a graduate assistant on Ron Abernathy’s staff.
Barry has a son, Austin, and a grandson, Eli.
ASSISTANT COACH Curt Bell
Coach Bell begins his second phase of coaching at Blackman High School. He spent two seasons (2011-13) as a Varsity Assistant and Junior Varsity Coach. During that two year period the Blaze had a record of 56-5 with district, region and sectional championships and trips to the state tournament. Coach Bell brings an extensive amount of coaching experience with this being his 29th year of varsity basketball. He spent 13 of those years as a head coach in Indiana. His overall head coaching record is 237-67 (.780) with 9 Sectional Championships, 5 Conference Championships, and 3 Regional Championships. Coach Bell has been named Conference Coach of the Year on 5 occasions and was Area Coach of the Year 8 times. In 2007 he received the honor of being named assistant basketball coach for the Indiana/Kentucky All Star Series. Coach Bell also Coached Indiana Mohr Magic to three consecutive State AAU Championships and two Final Four appearances in the National Tournament. A former All Conference performer in high school, Coach Bell played for and later started his coaching career under Indiana coaching legend Sam Alford at New Castle High School. Curt played college basketball at Manchester University (NAIA) in Indiana where he was team captain and earned his bachelors’ degree. Coach Bell also earned his Masters’ Degree from Ball State University and teaches Wellness at Blackman High School. He has one daughter Kaitlin (23), a senior in college.
Assistant coach Tim Purvis
Tim Purvis is in his first season as an assistant coach on the Blackman coaching staff. He joins the Blackman staff after three years as a varsity assistant and Freshmen / JV head coach at Shelbyville High School. Before his time at Shelbyville, Coach Purvis was at Siegel Middle School for five years, where he was an assistant basketball coach, assistant football coach, and head golf coach. At Siegel, he helped lead the 2009 team to the State Sectional Semifinals and the 2012 team to a regular season Co-Championship, County Tournament Championship, and State Sectional Runners-up.
Coach Purvis graduated high school from Columbia Academy and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee. Coach Purvis is married to Carrie Purvis. They have a daughter, Emma (2), and a second child due in April.
Coach Purvis graduated high school from Columbia Academy and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee. Coach Purvis is married to Carrie Purvis. They have a daughter, Emma (2), and a second child due in April.
Head Athletic Trainer - Clayton Faircloth
Clayton Faircloth graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training from Georgia College & State University in the spring of 2014. Currently he serves as the head athletic trainer for all sports and is in graduate school at Middle Tennessee State University where he will obtain a Masters degree in Sports Management spring of 2016. Clayton is a certified Athletic Trainer by the National Athletic Trainers Association and is licensed by the State of Tennessee.