Watterson graduate Matt Winters leaves Otterbein to coach Big Walnut boys basketball
After five years on the Otterbein men's basketball staff, Matt Winters is looking forward to his first head-coaching job at the high school level.
Winters has been named boys basketball coach at Big Walnut. He succeeds Brett Bartlett, who stepped down in February after nearly nine seasons because of personal reasons, according to athletic director Brian Shelton.
Winters met with his new team Wednesday morning at the school. He recently completed his fifth season as the lead assistant for Otterbein and had been promoted to associate head coach.
His brother, Andy Winters, is Otterbein's head coach.
“It was a tough decision (to leave Otterbein),” Matt Winters said. “I really enjoyed my time there. Obviously, coaching with my brother, we really built that program from the ground up. It wasn’t easy leaving, but I always thought it would take a special community to leave college coaching and when Big Walnut opened up, I got really excited. They’re at the top of the list in central Ohio and have a great track record of success in athletics.”
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.
Winters, 38, graduated in 2004 from Watterson, where he played basketball for coach Vince Lombardo. He then played at Ohio Dominican, graduating in 2009.
“Coach Lombardo is the best,” Winters said. “He’s a mentor and I’m appreciative of my time playing under him. Being able to reach out to him and his wealth of experience is going to mean a lot to me as a first-time high school coach.”
After Bartlett’s departure, Big Walnut went on to finish 16-7 overall and 9-5 in the OCC-Capital under interim coaches Ric Cavicchia and Brady Prugh.
“(Winters) has already started building relationships with the student-athletes and we are excited to see how he can help them grow and succeed,” Shelton said.
Winters said he wants to bring stability back to the program.
“You have to build relationships to get that mutual respect,” he said. “I’m looking for the freedom to establish my own identity culture from primary grades to junior high school to high school. That’s an opportunity I’m really excited about.”
The Winters brothers guided Otterbein to a 17-9 record this winter. The Cardinals earned their first top-three finish (11-7) in the Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season standings in 19 years.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Matt Winters to coach Big Walnut high school boys basketball team
