Jay Osborne is the Head Basketball Coach at Nixa High School in Nixa, Missouri. He has 35 years in education as a teacher and coach, 33 years as a Head Basketball Coach, and is currently in his 30th year at Nixa.
In April of 2015, the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association inducted Osborne into their Hall of Fame.
Coach Osborne has a career record of 647 – 242, averaging over 20 wins per season and a .727 winning percentage. His teams have won 12 District Championships, played in three final fours, won 45 tournament titles, including 13 NIT Titles, and 7 Blue and Gold Titles. His 1999 Nixa team won the Missouri 3A State Championship, with his 2002 team placing third, and his 2012 team going 30 -2 and finishing as the Class 5 State runner-up.
Coach Osborne is the All-Time Winningest Coach (75-25) in the 73 year old Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament. From 2010 – 2014, his Nixa teams won an unprecedented five consecutive Blue and Gold Titles. He has twice received the State Coach of the Year award in 2012 and 1999. His Nixa teams have competed in the Bass Pro Shop Tournament of Champions four times, including 2013, when Nixa played #1 nationally ranked Montverde Academy in a nationally televised game.
In December of 2019, the Nixa Boys Basketball Program was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Prior to his position at Nixa, he compiled a 51 – 7 record in two seasons at Pleasant Hope, Missouri, including a 1990 Blue and Gold Championship and a 1992 State Quarterfinal appearance.
His first Head Coaching job was at Solomon, Kansas in 1989-90, guiding that team to its first winning season in over ten years, and a conference championship. He began his career as an assistant for two seasons under Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Brent Colley in Willow Springs, Missouri.
In 2001, Osborne founded the Nixa Summer Shootout, hosting High School and Junior High teams from across the Midwest for team competition. The first year initially had 14 teams competing, and as of 2021 this event has grown to over 150 teams and four separate shootouts. Osborne oversees all aspects, including the scheduling of over 400 games, using up to 7 gyms, and the hiring of over 100 referees, score table personnel, and supervisors.
He served on the MSHSAA Basketball Advisory board from 2008 – 2011. While on the board, he was responsible for drafting the Basketball pre-season scrimmage proposal that MSHSAA currently uses for multiple sports. He was the lead architect of the proposal that member schools adopted in 2012.
Osborne received his Master degree in Education Administration in 2004 from Lindenwood University. He earned undergraduate degrees from Fort Hays State University in 1987, and Hutchinson Community College in 1984.
A native of Nickerson, Kansas, he was a 4 sport athlete. He played Basketball for his father Duane Osborne, with their 1981 team finishing third in the 4A State Tournament. He was selected twice as an All-State Football player, while also being twice selected as an All-Conference Basketball player. He went on to play four years of college football as a wide receiver at the Junior College and NAIA levels.
He is married to Kimberly Osborne. They have three adult children and two grandkids.
Career Record:
1987 – 89: N/A, Assistant Coach - Willow Springs, Missouri
1989 – 90: 12-9, Head Coach - Solomon, Kansas
1990 – 92: 51-7, Head Coach - Pleasant Hope, Missouri
1992 – Present: 584 – 226, Head Coach - Nixa, Missouri
647 – 242 (.728) Overall Head Coaching Record – 31 Seasons
