TRENTON, Ga. — Greg Brown is returning to Northwest Georgia, and the veteran girls’ basketball coach wants to rekindle the type of atmosphere he witnessed three decades ago as a student-athlete at Dade County.
A 2000 graduate of the high school in Trenton, Brown was approved by the Dade County Board of Education this week to succeed Katie Burrows, who coached the Lady Wolverines for two seasons and compiled an 11-41 record.
Brown brings with him a resumé that includes 327 wins as a head coach, 155 of them the past seven seasons at Jefferson, where his teams won five region titles and made four appearances in the GHSA state quarterfinals. Six of his teams won 20-plus games.
Prior to that, Brown coached at Northwest Whitfield, leading the Lady Bruins to 149 wins and two region titles after taking over that program from Margaret Stockburger.
In his prep basketball days at Dade, Brown would watch as the Lady Wolverines, led by legendary coach Gene Durden, would thrill fans and frustrate opponents with a fast-paced style not seen in the area before.
It’s a style Brown adopted when he began coaching, and he’s excited to bring it back to Trenton.
“The atmosphere here was great,” Brown said. “You just knew whenever the Dade County girls took the floor they were going to come out and play hard the entire game. Just like then, we will play fast and really hard. We are going to get after it and play with a high level of intensity.
“I can’t guarantee a number of wins or titles, but I can guarantee you we will play hard.”
Durden’s teams won seven region titles in 14 seasons, made the playoffs 13 times and reached the state finals on three occasions. The program’s most recent 20-win season was 2016-17, which is also the last time Dade won a state playoff game.
Brown said leaving a successful program at Jefferson was tough, but the timing was right.
“We are at a point with our family that we’ve been away from family for so long that it’s something we kind of needed right now,” he said. “When the Dade County job came open, it just made sense for us.”
Brown spent Wednesday at the school, where he reintroduced himself to the administration and teachers and later had a meet-and-greet session in the gym for student-athletes, parents and anyone in the community who wanted to become involved or just hear about his plans for the program.
“I’m looking forward to really digging in and going to work,” Brown said. “This place has always supported the program in a big way, and that was a big deal to me when making this decision.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.