West Montgomery High School has announced the hiring of a new head boys’ basketball coach, Chris Burgess. Burgess comes to the Warriors from Brighton High School in Brighton, Tenn. where he was an assistant varsity basketball coach and head junior varsity coach.
“I’m very excited about coming to West Montgomery,” said Burgess, who holds degrees from Appalachian State University and the University of Memphis. “I grew up in North Carolina and I’ve always wanted to get back here to be close to my family. My mother lives in Matthews and it will be great to be near her. I’m really looking forward to getting started and will have open gyms during the summer, along with going to summer camps. I want the team to get used to the way I do things before the season starts.”
Burgess, who will also be an assistant football coach, takes over for Henry Panzer, who stepped down as head coach after guiding the boys’ program for eight years and coaching the Lady Warriors’ basketball team for two seasons. Panzer will continue his duties as the head coach of the volleyball team that has won five straight conference championships.
Burgess said he expects to play an up-tempo brand of basketball with an emphasis on defense. “I’ve done some research and the team went 10-11 last year and we have everybody back, so I’m excited about the prospects,” said Burgess. “My main focus will be defense and we have a lot of speed and quickness on the team and it would be a waste not to take advantage of the athletes we have. So far I’ve liked everything I’ve seen about West Montgomery, the staff and administration have made me feel welcome. I was really impressed with the football and weight room facilities here at West. I’ve met the players on the team and I’m ready to get started and building a successful program.”
West athletic director Elbert Thomas said, “We had good number of applicants and we were looking for the right coach to come in here and develop a top basketball program. We feel like with Coach Burgess, we have that coach. I’m excited about the prospect for the team and I look forward to working with Coach Burgess and maybe I can learn some things from him that I can use for the football program.”
