Interview w/ Matt Griggs (HC at Mary Baldwin)

09/14/20 • 59 min

Coach Griggs shares his journey from playing D3 basketball at Centre College to becoming the 1st Head Coach in the history of Mary Baldwin University's Men's Basketball program. After concluding his college basketball playing career he became a Graduate Assistant under Pat Kelsey at Winthrop. After completing his term as GA he was retained as the Video Coordinator and remained there until Clay Nunley hired him as his full-time Assistant Coach at Roanoke College (D3). Coach Nunley eventually promoted him to the Associate Head Coach prior to him being hired by Mary Baldwin University to be their inaugural HC.

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Interview w/ Kevin Carroll (Assistant Coach at Lipscomb)

Coach Kevin Carroll shares his coaching journey. He's currently an Assistant Coach at Lipscomb after spending two seasons as an AC at Virginia Military Institute. He has nearly twenty years of coaching experience, including ten seasons as a head coach at the collegiate and high school levels.

During his time at VMI, the Keydets showed marked improvement, nearly doubling their win total over a two-year span and capturing the program’s first SoCon Tournament victory in sixteen seasons in 2019. He was instrumental in the recruiting efforts of the 2019 SoCon scoring champion and 2018 Freshman of the Year Bubba Parham (ended his career at Georgia Tech as a Grad Transfer).

Prior to his arrival at VMI, Carroll served as the head coach at NCAA Division II member, Maryville University-St. Louis, from 2010-2017. His tenure began on the tail end of the program’s transition from NCAA Division III to Division II and was highlighted by setting a program record for wins in a season and being the only coach in school history to record wins against nationally ranked opponents. After rebuilding the program in his first two seasons, he led the 2012-13 team to the most wins in the 43-year history of the program and the first 20-win campaign in 34 years.

Carroll came to Maryville after serving as an AC for three seasons at the United States Air Force Academy from 2007-2010 under Jeff Reynolds. Before coaching at Air Force he served as an AC at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2006-07.

Before moving to the college ranks, Carroll served as the head coach of St. Pius X High School in Atlanta, Ga. In three seasons as head coach, he amassed a 49-38 record while rebuilding the program into one of the most successful in the state.

Carroll was a four-year member of the men's basketball team at Berry College (Rome, GA) where he earned his degree in math education while helping guide the Vikings to three consecutive 20-win seasons. He played for Lennie Acuff - who is now the HC at Lipscomb.

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Interview w/ Ben Thompson (HC at Emory & Henry)

Coach Thompson shares his journey from HS Assistant Coach to coaching in the ACC, SoCon, SAC and Sunshine State Conference prior to becoming a the Head Coach of a NCAA Men's Basketball program.

He's worked under Mike Madagan, Ben Miller, Seth Greenberg, Josh Schertz, Duggar Baccum, and Mike Dement over the course of his career. Coach Thompson has coached at the NCAA D1, D2, and D3 levels in addition to his HS coaching days during his time as an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech. He was hired as the HC at SUNY Canton in 2016 while still continuing to serve as an AC at Lincoln Memorial University during their postseason run to the NCAA D2 National Championship. After three years at SUNY Canton he accepted the same position at Emory & Henry College, a homecoming of sorts for the Southwest Virginia native.

His father Rick is an accomplished coach as well, his Lebanon HS team won the 1991 VHSL State Championship and was named VHSL Coach of the Year - Rick serves as an AC for Ben at Emory & Henry.