New Big Walnut boys basketball coach Matt Winters resigns just days after hiring
Frank DiRennaMatt Winters resigned as Big Walnut boys basketball coach days after being hired for what would have been his first head-coaching job at the high school level, athletic director Brian Shelton announced Thursday.
Winters' hiring was announced by Big Walnut in social media posts Tuesday, and he met with his new team Wednesday at the school.
Winters recently completed his fifth season as the lead assistant for the Otterbein men's basketball program and had been promoted to associate head coach. His brother, Andy Winters, is Otterbein's head coach.
"The decision to resign had nothing to do with Big Walnut," Matt Winters told The Dispatch. "It's a great school system, great community, great kids. It was really just a personal decision for me and my family, and a desire to want to stay in college."
Winters said he "had not resigned from Otterbein yet."
Big Walnut's previous coach, Brett Bartlett, stepped down in February after nearly nine seasons because of personal reasons, according to Shelton. The Golden Eagles went on to finish 16-7 overall and 9-5 in the OCC-Capital under interim coaches Ric Cavicchia and Brady Prugh.
Winters previously was an assistant for three seasons at Ohio Northern, one year at Rhodes College and two at Denison. He also has experience as a high school assistant, spending three seasons at Hartley.
He graduated in 2004 from Watterson and 2009 from Ohio Dominican, playing basketball at both.