Meet the Kirkwood Pioneer Coaching Staff

Head Varsity Basketball Coach

Bill Gunn

 

Coach Gunn begins his sixth season at the helm of the Kirkwood Pioneers. The Pioneers are 70-64 during his tenure, earning a district championship in 2009.

Prior to taking over Kirkwood, Gunn spent four years as the Head Varsity Coach at Northwest High School turning around the Lions basketball program into a group that could compete for league, tournament, and district titles.  Gunn spent four valuable seasons as an assistant coach at Jefferson City and served as a head coach at Hillsboro, and Cuba.

Gunn holds a Masters Degrees from William Woods University in Educational Administration, Athletic Administration, and is a graduate of the University of Missouri, graduating in 1992.  A native Missourian, Gunn grew up in Central Missouri and graduated from Cuba High School.

Married to Brandi, and has three children, Sam (13) Abby (11), and Connor (7).

 

Varsity Assistant Basketball Coach

Armeake Estes

 

Coach Estes enters his third season at Kirkwood High School serving as the Kirkwood varsity assistant.  Estes is a graduate of Mehlville High School where he earned numerous honors.  He played in the tradition laden Moberly Greyhound basketball program, and for the Columbia College Cougars where he earned his Bachelors Degree.

 

 

 

Coach McBride  Head Junior Varsity
Basketball Coach

Graham McBride

 

McBride enters his 11th season coaching in the Kirkwood Basketball Program. McBride is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and is a Spanish teacher at Nipher Middle School in the Kirkwood R-7 District.   Mcbride is married to Julia and has a new son named Miles.

 

Junior Varsity Assistant
Basketball Coach

Corey Dowden

 

Dowden is entering his third season coaching basketball, first at Kirkwood High School.  A native of Chicago, he will serve as an assistant to JV and varsity teams.  Once, a member of Texas Tech's 2005 Big XII conference championship track and field team; Dowden earned a Bachelors Degree in Sociology and currently working towards his Masters in Youth Development.  Coach Dowden will coach track and field in the spring at Kirkwood. 

 

Head
Freshman Basketball Coach

Ben Woolf

 

Coach Woolf is a proud 2001 graduate of Kirkwood High School and a former member of the Kirkwood basketball program.  Woolf will serve as the Head Freshman basketball coach for the first time in his fourth season on the basketball staff. Woolf graduated from Westminster College in 2006 with a degree in business administration and is currently pursuing a degree in secondary education.  Woolf was a two-year member of the basketball program and a four-year letterman in football for the Westminster Blue Jays.

 

Freshman Assistant
Basketball Coach

Nelson Taylor

 

Coach Taylor joins the Kirkwood Basketball Program in his first season. Taylor, a native St. Louisan, who has a passion for the game played basketball at Parkway South.  Coach Taylor is a 1998 graduate of Hampton University, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Psychology.  He went on to complete his Masters Degree in Professional Counseling from Webster University in 2005.  Coach Taylor currently serves as a Educational Support Counselor at Nipher Middle School in the Kirkwood R-7 District.  Nelson and his wife Sheila have a two year old son, Noah.