Two Charlotte-area state championship coaches start over at new schools, face off Thursday

For a high school basketball coach, winning a state championship is often considered a career-defining accomplishment.

For a pair of new head coaches in the area this season — Queen’s Grant’s Joe Badgett and Ambassador Christian School’s Scott Taylor — that box has already been checked.

And while more titles may lie ahead, Badgett and Taylor are currently looking to rebuild and build programs, respectively, this season.

At Queen’s Grant, Badgett is having a “Back to the Future” moment as it was he who got the Stallions’ program started nearly 20 years ago.

The school’s middle school coach from 2005-08 and first high school varsity coach from 2008-10, Badgett got the school’s basketball program off to a solid start, as his 43-9 head coaching record would attest.

But the former Charlotte 49ers player answered former East Mecklenburg and Charlotte 49ers star Byron Dinkins’ request to join his coaching staff at Charlotte’s Northside Christian Academy.

State title success followed for Badgett, as the school won three titles when he was Dinkins’ assistant and one more as head coach before he moved on to coach at Carmel Christian.

At Carmel Christian, Badgett guided the Cougars to a 131-18 record and two state championships in four state championship game appearances in four years.

Badgett thought the timing was right to take another coaching turn — this time as a NCAA Division I college basketball assistant at Hampton University with longtime friend Edward Joyner Jr. before the 2023-24 season.

But when Joyner was let go after 15 years with the program in March, the path for Badgett’s homecoming to Queen’s Grant was set.

“I was actually on the school board the last three or four years at Queen’s Grant,” Badgett said of the charter school in Matthews. “So I got involved in a lot of stuff, but especially the design and building of the new gym. I was on the committee for all of that.

“So it just felt like the timing was right.”

Now back at Queen’s Grant, Badgett has already assembled a talented roster of players, including some of whom he knew from his time at Carmel Christian.

Senior Jermaine Moncrieffe (7.9 points and 6.9 rebounds averages) is the top returnee from last year’s Stallions team that went 14-17 overall and lost in the first round of the N.C. 1A playoffs.

Senior Geronimo Clark had been a home school student, senior Ian Howard came over from Concord Academy and had played at Carmel; senior Wesley White came in from Hickory Ridge; senior Charles “Chucky” Smith, sophomore Preston Scott and freshman Chase Smith all came from Charlotte Country Day; sophomore Cannon Deberry from Olympic; and freshman Bobby Montgomery had played at Carmel.

Another expected top player is freshman Mekhi Allen.

“We’ve got a really good, balanced team,” said Badgett, who has a 172-27 head coaching record. “The five seniors are really good. They are what we will use to build a foundation. And we’re also blessed with some young guys and I think all five of them will play at the Division I level.

“It gives us a lot of options and it’s probably one of the deepest teams that the program has had.”

For Taylor, Ambassador Christian School is a blank slate as the school is in its first year in Huntersville.

“That was absolutely one of the attractive parts of this,” Taylor said. “I love the opportunity to build from the ground up. You only get to start a program one time.”

Taylor, who brought Nick Jones, his eight-year assistant coach at Myers Park, with him, brings an impressive resume to the new school. It is fielding 18 sports and hopes to eventually join the Big South Conference of the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association with longtime Charlotte private schools Charlotte Christian, Country Day, Latin, Providence Day and Concord’s Cannon School.

A former high school player at Greenville Rose, Taylor was a manager at Florida State for Seminoles head coaches Steve Robinson and Gastonia’s Leonard Hamilton before coaching at Carson-Newman and Queens. He then became a high school coach at Charlotte’s Providence and Myers Park high schools.

Taylor guided his high school teams to 159 victories in 11 years, highlighted by Myers Park’s first-ever basketball state title in 2023 with a 28-4 record — the most victories in school history.

For Ambassador Christian School, Taylor has a 13-player roster and is playing a challenging 27-game schedule as an independent.

Taylor’s first game (and first home game) will come against Badgett’s Queen’s Grant on Nov. 7.

It’ll be the first time the two have faced off since January 2023, when Badgett’s Carmel Christian team beat Taylor’s Myers Park team 52-51 in an MLK Tournament at Carmel Christian, matching what were then the state’s top public and private school teams.

“We’ll have some growing pains,” Taylor said. “But our guards are good and experienced. Logan (Johnson) and Judah (King) and J.D. (Bowden) have played a lot of basketball.”

Johnson, Bowden and senior forward Dylan Deluca came from United Faith Christian; King from Cannon School in Concord; junior forward Tyler Brown from Cox Mill; junior forward Jeremiah Franklin from Bradford Prep; and junior guard Trey Guess from Charlotte Christian.

Two freshman also are considered potential standouts — guards Rucker Jamison and Justin Golphin.

Jamison is the younger brother of current Myers Park senior guard A.J. Jamison and the son of former North Carolina All-American and NBA All-Star Antawn Jamison.

“We’ve got an opportunity to grow with the program as it gets bigger,” Taylor said. “That the fun part and the challenge of it all.”