By ALEXANDRA SMITH

Staff Writer

On March 22, Athletic Director John Dzik announced that Greg Neeley has been chosen as the new head coach of the men’s basketball program. 

“He has worked with programs that are like Piedmont’s men’s team before,” said Dzik.

“I am disappointed that our men’s basketball program hasn’t had the same success that our other programs here at Piedmont have had. I think Coach Neeley will be able to turn that around.” 

Neeley will begin his work here at Piedmont on March 26. He is not a newcomer to the Piedmont campus. 

Neeley was the graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team from 2007-2009, when he received his MBA at Piedmont College. 

“Piedmont College has always felt like home to me, and I am privileged to return and lead the men’s basketball program.” Neeley said. 

“I want to thank President James Mellichamp, Dr. John Misner and Coach Dzik for the opportunity to come home. I look forward to recruiting and working with student athletes who are a great fit for Piedmont and the basketball program.”

He was also the head coach of the tennis teams at Piedmont for a year before moving to Ancilla College in Indiana. 

This past season, Neeley led the men’s basketball team at Warren Wilson in North Carolina to become National Champions after their most successful season ever. 

Warren Wilson soared over Penn-State Fayette on March 2 by a score of 76-68 to win the USCAA National Championship.

Under his leadership, the Warren Wilson Owls won 19 out of 29 games. On December 6, 2012, Piedmont’s men’s team faced the Owls in Demorest. PC lost 78-72.

“Coach Neeley brings experience, coaching ability and a genuine love for the game and his players, and that’s how I think this program will be better,” said Chris Meeks, a basketball player for PC.

“We all know how to carry ourselves, and we plan to have a good journey to where we want to be, which is conference champs.”

Players are excited about the new coach and the upcoming season.

 They hope the program can recover from the cancelled season that resulted from injuries and disciplinary removal of players from the team. 

“I believe that our biggest problem last year was that guys weren’t buying into the program,” said Alton Honors, a basketball player. 

“We had a good team, it’s just some of the players made bad decisions off the court. The new coach won’t put up with what happened last year.”

Neeley was hand-selected by Dzik to come on as the men’s basketball head coach, and Dzik said he takes full responsibility for this decision.