Tom Cole
Varsity Head Coach
Tom Cole is in his 18th season as Lady Panthers varsity head coach in a nearly 30-year career of coaching youth in Missouri and Oregon. Under Coach Cole, South Medford has become a perennial state and nationally recognized program, earning South Medford Lady Panthers basketball the distinction as a Nike Elite high school program. Prior to Cole’s arrival, the Lady Panthers had gone 1 and 48. Within five years, the program won its first state championship, finished nationally ranked and became the only team in Oregon large school classification history to finish a perfect 30 and 0.
Coach Cole’s record over 17 seasons is 373 and 99, which includes winning four state titles , while also leading the Lady Panthers to the final eight state championship tournament in 14 of the past 15 seasons. The Lady Panthers have accomplished 12 undefeated SWC league championships with a conference record under Cole’s tenure of 186 and 28. Cole has been named SWC coach of the year 11 times, OSAA coach of the year in 2012 and 2024 and Oregon Coaches Association coach of the year in 2012, 2013, 2020 and 2024. In 2024, Cole is a finalist for the NFHS national coach of the year.
The Lady Panthers have celebrated over 35 student athletes moving forward with college scholarships during his tenure, with many of them at the highest NCAA levels.
Coach Cole’s true passion is the empowerment work of Kids Unlimited, a nonprofit youth development agency he helped start nearly 25 years ago. Kids Unlimited today provides more than 2,500 students representing vulnerable communities with preschool, charter school, afterschool and summer programs.
Ted Curtis
JV Coach
Coach Ted has been a dedicated coach and mentor to kids for over 18 years coaching AAU and high school teams for the South Medford girls’ basketball program. He’s coached Frosh, JV2 and JV at the high school level for 15 years.
Ted’s commitment to kids has made a huge impact on the success of the program at all levels. Ted continues to coach at the AAU and development level for younger kids. Ted’s teams are always competitive. Ted is the owner of Curtius Plumbing, and both have been generous contributors to Panthers sports for nearly two decades.
Yaremi Mejia
Varsity Assistant Coach
Yaremi Mejia is in her second season as an assistant coach with her alma mater, South Medford High School’s Lady Panthers.
Yaremi previously assisted the Lady Panthers basketball team in the 2021 season, when South Medford finished the season undefeated and won a state championship.
Yaremi was a two-time All State point guard at South Medford, helping South win its first state championship in 2012, finishing a perfect 30-0 season and earning South its first top-10 national ranking. Yaremi became the first Latina in Oregon history to receive a Division I basketball scholarship, playing at Portland State University before transferring to Southern Oregon University in her senior season, where she was recognized with All-American honors.
She completed her master’s degree at Eastern New Mexico University, where she also was an assistant coach at the NCAA Division II level. Yaremi is a behavior specialist at Kids Unlimited, working with students ages 3 to 12. Yaremi also is a member of the Rogue Valley Basketball Officials Association.