Brigance will be head coach for Ohio boys
Matt Brigance has had plenty of experience coaching basketball teams at Ohio County High School.
He was the boys’ head coach for one season. He was the girls’ head coach for six seasons total, three each in two different times on the job.
Brigance has been an assistant boys basketball coach for the last three years for head coach Paul Decker, who recently retired from the coaching job.
That means Brigance will gain more experience as the new head boys’ basketball coach for Ohio County.
“This will be the eighth year as a head coach for me here,” Brigance said. He had been boys head coach for one season, had taken two years off after his former wife passed away after a battle with cancer.
“It’s just something I’ve always done,” he said of basketball coaching. “I always played and coached. I like the teaching of the game, being competitive. We want to continue to build on the success we’ve had the last few years.”
Ohio County was 19-13 in a season where it had to navigate a lot of injuries. The Eagles got on a hot streak late, losing to eventual 3rd Region champion Butler County in the regional semifinals.
“At the end of the year we were playing our best basketball,” Brigance said. “It was a battle all year long, when you’re not healthy and with a tough schedule, but it got us ready for tournament time.
“The first month of the season it was a new lineup every day, but settled in at the end of the season.”
Ohio County will have to replace about 90% of its scoring from this season.
Experienced guard Carson Kennedy will hope to return after back problems knocked him out of this season.
Brigance played high school basketball at Apollo and coached there. He said his father, Jeff, will help coaching next season.
Ohio County will play around 20 games during the summer season and it is going through workouts now.
He knows the Ohio County fan base is passionate about basketball, and Brigance is ready for a new challenge on the team’s bench.
“What I love about coaching at Ohio they love basketball,” Matt Brigance said. “There’s pressure to win, and that’s a good thing. You want to be at a place where they care about the team and the program.”
