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On April 4, it was announced that Pike Liberal Arts girls basketball coach Brandon Matthews has accepted the head boys basketball coach position at Greenville High School.

Matthews has been the head varsity girls basketball coach, junior varsity boys basketball coach, assistant athletic director and history teacher at Pike for the past five years.

“I’m really excited about investing in the students at Greenville High School,” Matthews said. “I am really excited about the direction the leadership has taken. I want to give thanks to Mr. (Eric) Burkett and Coach Gene Allen. They are the ones that hired me several years ago. I want to (also) give thanks to current athletic director Rush Hixon for being supportive.

“Pike Liberal Arts is a special place and it was extremely difficult for me to make the decision to leave. I want to also make sure my players I coached here understand how thankful I am for them allowing me to coach.”

Matthews led a young Lady Patriots team back to the AISA Class AAA Final Four this season. Pike Lib Head of School Burkett raved about the job Matthews did at the school.

“I want to thank Coach Matthews for the countless hours he has put in with our athletic program as a whole, but especially with our female athletes,” he said. “We are proud of Coach Matthews and look forward to seeing him have further success at Greenville High School. I have all the faith in Coach Rush Hixon to find the right person for the job.”

Hixon spoke of how proud he was of Matthews and said that the school would immediately search for the next Lady Patriots coach, though he has no timetable to name a replacement.

“We’re extremely excited for Brandon and his family. This is a huge step for him, it’s a huge step for his family and he has worked extremely hard to get to this point,” Hixon emphasized. “We couldn’t be prouder of him. We will do an extensive search to find someone to replace Brandon as our head girls basketball coach.

“This search will not be taken lightly. We won’t put someone in the position just to fill the spot, we are going to get the right person for the job. We want to continue to build on the winning ways of our athletic program, and this will be no different.”