From bench to bench: Sacramento judge comes out of high school hoops retirement
Scott Tedmon is back on the bench, with a practice whistle in hand and a plan in place to inject new energy into a championship program for a small school in Carmichael that savored the taste of the big time last February.
Tedmon is one of the region’s top high school basketball coaches of this generation, beloved for his results, the relationships he has developed, his personality and his boundless energy. His day job is heavy with important work on another bench, too.
As in, a judicial bench. Tedmon is in his ninth year as a judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento County after a previous career as a local lawyer.
He has dabbled in local high school coaching for more than 35 years at various stops and thought that journey ended two years ago.
Tedmon on Monday will lead his first practice as interim coach for the Sacramento Adventist Capitals girls, a team that is the defending CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI champion and sits at 15-3 with the second half of the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League schedule looming. Tedmon’s sheer will and coaching chops were the driving force in leading the Sac Adventist boys to record heights, in helping shed light on the smallest-enrollment schools that compete and care just as hard and as much as the larger schools.
Tedmon coached the Capitals boys to five consecutive league championships, the first in program history, from 2017-21, and his teams won a section crown in 2018 and a Northern California championship in 2018. He retired from coaching, so he thought, following the spring COVID-19 season of 2021, though he continued to watch and follow or even broadcast on the streaming NFHS Network Capitals girls games, coached by a man he helped mentor in Kenny Johnston. Tedmon has also been a panelist for The Sacramento Bee’s weekly “Pick the Preps” football during high school football season.
Johnston stepped away from the program last week.
Sac Adventist principal Matthew Jakobsons in an email to basketball players and parents said, in part, “Thank you for your patience these last few weeks while we have managed the unexpected absence of Coach Kenny. We know that it has been difficult to have him away from the team and we are hoping that he returns soon.”
The principal added that Tedmon will take over, is well known in the community and on campus and will work with existing girls assistant coaches Kris Dunlap and Kelly Sobrepena to finish a season of high hopes with a talented roster ready for another playoff run. The Capitals are led by senior guard Victoria Fowler, junior guard Gwen Rosich, sophomore guard Kyla Friedrich, senior forward Mikayla Meza and senior guard Jasmine Rodriguez.
“Sac Adventist is family,” Tedmon said. “When family needs help, you step up. It’s my privilege to step in and coach these young ladies for as long as needed. It’s all about them.”
Tedmon joked that this is one way for the school to get his copy of a gym key back. The school let him hold onto his copy so he could continue to work with players on drills in the offseason.
In a more serious tone, Tedmon said he will not overhaul what is already a fine team.
“I’m not going to change anything,” he said. “The success coach Kenny has had, what he’s built, is already there. The girls have worked hard this season, and I’ll do my best to help them succeed. This team can do great things. We owe it to them to help them.”
Tedmon said he needed permission for this challenge from one person in particular: his wife, Teri. She was the conditioning coach for the Capitals boys teams and knows the school and league well.
“Teri said yes I should do this,” Tedmon said. “I had a long career as a lawyer, a coach, and now as a judge, but my best career has been being married to Teri for 42 years. We’re ready for this. We’re excited.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM.