ROXANA – One week ago, the Roxana High School girls basketball team hosted their next-door neighbor East Alton-Wood River and won a thrilling game 47-46.
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After that game, Shells’ head coach Mike Arbuthnot was recognized and inducted into the coveted Shells Athletic Hall of Fame.
He gave a speech after accepting a commemorative plaque and said that among the many honors he’s received as a coach, this one means the most.
“No doubt,” Arb said in a separate interview after the game. “I’ve had some nice [honors], but this place has always been dear to my heart. It’s a special place. Everything I said in that speech is true.”
“It’s a special place with special people. It’s hard to put a thumb on it. It’s hard to realize why, or how until you actually live here. And once you live here and you’re a member here, then you understand it, because it’s a community filled with so many great people.”
Arbuthnot has a legendary coaching career, one that began in Roxana where he coached the Shells for 12 seasons from 1992-2004 with a 179-138 record. He returned to Roxana for four seasons from 2009-2013 and went 36-67.
After that second stint at Roxana, he began coaching at Highland for six seasons where he had a coaching record of 144-47 and took the Bulldogs to the state tournament in 2015-16 where they finished third.
From there, he coached one season at Triad before landing at Civic Memorial in 2020. He led the Eagles for five seasons with a 106-46 record, leading them to the state tournament in 2021-22 where they finished fourth.
Arbuthnot officially stepped down from CM in March of 2024, opening the door for assistant coach Jeff Durbin to step up, which he later did. At the time, Arb did not mention anything about retirement.
“As of right now, I have no plans to coach anywhere else, but I will never say never at this point,” he said after stepping down from CM.
The news broke that Arbuthnot was leaving CM on March 6. It was later confirmed on March 28 that he was returning home to Roxana.
And on Feb. 7, 2025, he joined some nice company in the Shells Athletic Hall of Fame.
“It means everything,” he said. “It’s quite an honor being on a wall next to Charlie Raich, Bill Smith, Mike Harmon, and Larry Millazo. It’s kind of intimidating because those guys were my idols and my mentors when I got here, and they did so many great things for me. I wouldn’t be here without them. It’s just an honor to be able to represent the school.”
Other inductees include coach Earl McLane and scorer/timer Sam Herndon who were both inducted in 1991. Joe McBride in 2003 as well as athletic director Patrick Hamm and coach Morris Tschannen in 2006 round out the list.
During his acceptance speech, it was clear that Arbuthnot loves Roxana, and the many fans in attendance for the rivalry game shared the love and appreciation.
He said that returning home to Roxana was better than he would have imagined.
“Our kids are amazing, and I love being a part of their lives,” he said. “It’s an honor to be able to come back down here and coach. Yeah, I’m coaching some of my ex-players kids and stuff like that, but that makes it even better.”
