Mychal Greenwood has been named the boys basketball coach at La Vergne High School, succeeding Tony Rutland.
Greenwood grew up in Warrenville, Ohio, a suburb near Cleveland. He said when he moved to Rutherford County years ago La Vergne reminded him of his alma mater.
“Warrenville was near Cleveland and La Vergne is near Davidson County (Nashville) and the people that moved to both places were trying to get away from some of the city problems,” Greenwood said.
And the fact that it was the only school in town reminded him of that, Greenwood said.
He explained his first meeting with Dr. Theowaunna Hatchett, La Vergne Principal, and there were two words that stood out.
“I said this lady is a competitor and she wants to win, win, win. She wants the guys to have good grades and conduct themselves on and off the court with good character.” Greenwood said.
He has a mentoring program, Humble Beginnings, that began in 2009 and became a (501)c3 in 2016 after he read and studied for a while to find out how to start a non-profit among other things.
“I was with the kids during AAU and on the trips around the state and different places,” Greenwood said on starting his organization. “We had conversations, and as they got older we were having more mature conversations, so I thought how I could help some of the kids.
“One of the first things that we did we partnered with Metro Nashville Davidson County Schools (MNPS,” he said. “And we began to visit different colleges opening up to them some of the opportunities, then it expanded into financial aid, networking and how to put together resumes and land jobs. Now some of those early kids are married and raising their own kids.”
Greenwood has lived in Rutherford County for nearly 30 years, and both of his sons played at Oakland High School — Jamal Hughes, a 2010 graduate, and Tarique Hughes, a 2015 graduate, for coach Mike Wright. He also has a daughter at Oakland, sophomore Justyce Greenwood.
“I boxed all of my Oakland stuff up, and my daughter if she wants to eat better knows who she will be rooting for,” Greenwood said.
His son Jamal is now the head men’s basketball coach and athletic director at Vermont Tech, and his son Tarique is a middle school basketball coach in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Greenwood said he has watched some film and is looking forward to the challenge of Rutherford County basketball.
“(Coach) Tony Rutland did an outstanding job at La Vergne and it is my job to keep things moving and build on what he has done,” Greenwood said. “We will work hard and have our players prepared for the regular season to be physically and mentally tough.
“If Rutherford County can get football players into the SEC and the Big Ten, there is no reason why the basketball players can’t be there too.”
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