When it came time to name a successor for Evan Massey, Galesburg decided to keep it in the family.
Lexi Daniels-Demott, a former Silver Streaks player and for the last four years an assistant coach under the legendary Massey, is the new head coach of the Galesburg Silver Steaks girls basketball program.
The District 205 Board of Education approved Demott as Galesburg’s varsity girls basketball coach at Monday’s school board meeting.
Demott, 26, played four seasons under Massey from 2012-2016. She was on varsity teams all four years, and a starter for three seasons.
After graduating from University of Dubuque where she played basketball, Demott joined Massey’s coaching staff at Galesburg in 2020.
She is a junior high school dean of students at Galesburg Jr./Sr. High School.
Demott: ‘I’ve been in their shoes’
“I’m excited and nervous,” Demott said. “But I’m also really proud — proud that I was able to accomplish this for myself, and proud that I’ll be able to continue the legacy of all the things that Coach Massey has created for Galesburg girls basketball.”
Massey, the third-winningest coach in Illinois girls basketball history, submitted his letter of retirement Feb. 26 after a 46-year run as the Streaks girls basketball coach.
Demott will be just the third coach in program history since Galesburg fielded its first girls basketball team in 1972, but she won’t be the first female head coach. Teri Hoehn served as Galesburg’s first coach for the first six years of the program’s existence.
“The same things they’ve done, I’ve done, too. That means more to the girls, I think, rather than just the fact they have a female head coach.” — new Galesburg girls basketball coach Lexi Demott
“I think it will great to have a female coach in a this role, but the bigger thing is, the girls will have a coach who’s been in their shoes,” Demott said.
“I went through the program for four years. I went through all the summer stuff, and put the time in. The same things they’ve done, I’ve done, too. That means more to the girls, I think, rather than just the fact they have a female head coach.”
Daniels-Demott earned all-state recognition for the Streaks following both her junior and senior seasons, a stretch that saw Galesburg post a 57-12 record.
She was voted as a team captain for Galesburg by her teammates and was a recipient of the Amy Crisman Award for Excellence.
One of Galesburg’s best-ever 3-point shooters, Daniels-Demott made more than 100 3-pointers both her junior and senior seasons.
Daniels-Demott ranks No. 22 on Galesburg’s all-time scoring list with 906 career points.
Massey: ‘Streaks basketball is in very, very good hands’
Massey said he is “beyond thrilled” that Demott will succeed him as the Streaks head girls basketball coach.
“I am convinced Lexi will do a great job in this position,” Massey said. “And I’m so excited to watch Lexi help the players grow and excel. Streaks basketball is in very, very good hands.
“No player was more committed and worked harder than Lexi. She has approached coaching the same way.”
Demott said she knew coaching was in her future at a young age, but never could have imagined rising to the level of head varsity coach at Galesburg.
“I knew I always wanted to coach, and I knew I always wanted to coach with Coach Massey, but I did not foresee this happening as quickly as it did,” she said.
Demott said Massey has been the perfect role model to launch her coaching career, and that was her selling point to the search committee and administration tasked with selecting the new coach.
“Coach Massey knows basketball, and he could win a game with the Xs and Os,” Demott said. “But I think he was successful because of the relationships he built with the girls. He was not only able to connect with the girls, he was able to get the girls to connect with each other. They all trusted him, and each other.
“Having the insight of seeing how he did that both as a player for him and a coach under him, I tried to sell that to the committee. Anybody from the outside really wouldn’t have that insight.”
Demott’s basketball knowledge ‘off the charts’
Demott also said she’ll have the advantage of having built relationships with not only returning varsity players, but rising players at the junior high school level.
“The past four years, there wasn’t anything in the basketball program that Lexi was not involved in,” said Massey, “from watching film, developing scouting reports, running large chunks of practice, disciplining players for issues in the classroom, talking with the media, calling set plays, ordering supplies, running our youth camps and helping organize summer league.
“Her knowledge of basketball and her grasp of how to run a basketball program are simply off the charts.”
Massey said Demott is a good fit for the program.
“As a young, Hispanic female, she relates well to the players,” Massey said. “She understands where they are at, and what they are going through as students, players, and young women.
“She has shown an ability to understand when players need counseling, a pat on the back, but also when players need to be disciplined and held accountable. Lexi will help the players grow as students, players, and as young women.”
New coach: ‘I’m a workhorse’
The Streaks graduate all but one starter from last year’s team team that went 26-7 and was ranked in the state poll for the entire season. But Demott said she’s excited about the future and is eager to put her stamp on Galesburg girls basketball.
“Looking ahead to what we gave coming back and what’s coming up, we have a lot of athleticism and quickness,” Demott said. “So I really want us to be a full-court, pressure type of team. And we want quick outlets, not bring it up and try to run a set every time. I really want to get the girls running up and down.”
Demott added, “I’m a workhorse and will do whatever it takes for the girls and the program to be successful.”
