Banks resigns as Smith basketball coach
By Jeff CarltonStaff Writer
Friday, Jan. 11, 2008 3:00 am
Credit: H. Scott Hoffmann/News & Record
Gene Banks
GREENSBORO -- A few days after Smith jettisoned its football coach, the Eagles lost the first-year coach of their struggling boys basketball team.
Gene Banks met Wednesday with athletics director Charlie Barnes and principal Noah Rogers and told them he was resigning as basketball coach, less than five months after he accepted the job.
The Eagles were 1-12 after dropping their Metro 4-A Conference opener Tuesday against Northwest Guilford. Barnes said Thursday that Banks was not asked to resign after those early struggles.
"It was pretty much his decision to do that," Barnes said. "He could have stayed as long as he wanted to."
Brian Jones, Smith's junior varsity coach, is now directing the varsity on an interim basis. His first game in that role is tonight against Page.
Barnes and Rogers began their search for a football coach after they asked Jon Oakley to step down late last week, less than two years into his tenure. Oakley was 0-11 in 2007, his first full year on the job. Oakley, a former Page and Northwest assistant coach, took over midway through the Eagles' one-victory season in 2006.
Smith has not had a winning football season since the late Tony McKee departed in 2004 to take a coaching position in Georgia.
"With that school, you need time," Oakley said. "That's the challenge. Sometimes you think you've got it, and you don't have it."
Several attempts to reach Banks by phone the past two days were unsuccessful. He spoke after the 46-42 loss to Northwest about his difficulties adjusting to the high school game -- dealing with parents and the immaturity of teenage players, for example.
Banks was an All-America high school player in Philadelphia and was similarly honored during his playing career at Duke in 1977-81. He had coached semipro teams overseas as well as two college women's teams -- Division II Bluefield State and D-III Bennett -- before taking the Smith job last summer.
Barnes said Banks cited the recent deaths of his mother and a close friend as primary reasons for stepping aside.
Just as in football, Smith has had trouble establishing coaching continuity in boys basketball. Reggie Peace had success in two stints with the Eagles, but he returned to Lee County to be closer to his wife's place of work last June, ending his second tour after two seasons.
By Jeff CarltonStaff Writer
Friday, Jan. 11, 2008 3:00 am
Credit: H. Scott Hoffmann/News & Record
Gene Banks
GREENSBORO -- A few days after Smith jettisoned its football coach, the Eagles lost the first-year coach of their struggling boys basketball team.
Gene Banks met Wednesday with athletics director Charlie Barnes and principal Noah Rogers and told them he was resigning as basketball coach, less than five months after he accepted the job.
The Eagles were 1-12 after dropping their Metro 4-A Conference opener Tuesday against Northwest Guilford. Barnes said Thursday that Banks was not asked to resign after those early struggles.
"It was pretty much his decision to do that," Barnes said. "He could have stayed as long as he wanted to."
Brian Jones, Smith's junior varsity coach, is now directing the varsity on an interim basis. His first game in that role is tonight against Page.
Barnes and Rogers began their search for a football coach after they asked Jon Oakley to step down late last week, less than two years into his tenure. Oakley was 0-11 in 2007, his first full year on the job. Oakley, a former Page and Northwest assistant coach, took over midway through the Eagles' one-victory season in 2006.
Smith has not had a winning football season since the late Tony McKee departed in 2004 to take a coaching position in Georgia.
"With that school, you need time," Oakley said. "That's the challenge. Sometimes you think you've got it, and you don't have it."
Several attempts to reach Banks by phone the past two days were unsuccessful. He spoke after the 46-42 loss to Northwest about his difficulties adjusting to the high school game -- dealing with parents and the immaturity of teenage players, for example.
Banks was an All-America high school player in Philadelphia and was similarly honored during his playing career at Duke in 1977-81. He had coached semipro teams overseas as well as two college women's teams -- Division II Bluefield State and D-III Bennett -- before taking the Smith job last summer.
Barnes said Banks cited the recent deaths of his mother and a close friend as primary reasons for stepping aside.
Just as in football, Smith has had trouble establishing coaching continuity in boys basketball. Reggie Peace had success in two stints with the Eagles, but he returned to Lee County to be closer to his wife's place of work last June, ending his second tour after two seasons.
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