We reported this as a rumor a few weeks ago – it’s now official…
Motlow College has hired former William Jewell College assistant coach Matthew Sligh as its new men’s head basketball coach, according to Tori Raby-Gentry, interim athletic director.
Sligh has spent the previous three seasons as the top assistant with William Jewell, located in Liberty, Mo., and has been instrumental in the success of the Cardinals over that time. During his first season, Sligh helped lead Jewell to a 25-8 record and a berth in the NAIA DI National Tournament. Last year Jewell moved up to the Division II level of NCAA competition and completed a 13-14 record.
"I am humbled, honored, and thankful to be the head men’s basketball coach at Motlow College," said Sligh. "I would like to thank the Motlow administration for giving me this opportunity. I understand and embrace the program’s basketball success over the past six years and look forward to continuing the focus on academic success and the tradition of excellence."
Sligh is indeed familiar with Motlow, having recruited multiple former Bucks to play at William Jewell. Mark Mason played at Motlow in 2010 and became an all-conference guard at Jewell. Sligh was also instrumental in landing four players from Motlow following the 2012 season – Ricky Tisdale, Andrew Scofield, John Taylor and Chris Jordon.
"We are very excited to have a coach of Matt’s caliber to take over our men’s basketball program," said Raby-Gentry. "Matt has proven himself to be an outstanding recruiter at William Jewell. He is familiar with Motlow and the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association, and he knows the quality of player it takes to win in this league."
He is a 2005 graduate of Covenant College (GA). While at Covenant College, Sligh participated on the men’s soccer, basketball and golf teams. During his only season with the golf team, Sligh played the #1 position, earned a tournament victory, and was named an all-conference selection. He was a two-time academic all-American at Covenant.
Preceding Covenant, Sligh graduated from Lakeland (Fla.) Christian School in 2001. During his time at LCS, Sligh lettered in four varsity sports including basketball, soccer, golf, and track. He finished his basketball career with 1135 points, currently fifth on the school’s all-time scorers list. He was an all-state selection in both basketball and soccer, and was a four-time all-conference, all-district, and all-county golfer.
He graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Covenant College in May 2005 and earned a master’s degree in health and physical education from Northwest Missouri State in August 2012.
He becomes the 11th coach for the Motlow Bucks since the school began playing men’s basketball in 1969, and inherits one of the nation’s most successful junior/community college programs over the previous half-dozen years. Motlow men’s basketball has a 131-43 record during the past six years, a 75-percent winning percentage.
Sligh comes into a challenging situation at Motlow. The Bucks won their first TCCAA tournament championship in 30 years last season and made their first-ever trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament. Half the 2012-13 team graduated, and it is unclear how many eligible players from last year will return for the coming season.
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