Published: 09:37 PM, Tue May 15, 2012
Justin McClendon named Fayetteville Academy boys' basketball coach
Scholastic sports editor
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Justin McClendon, a traveling basketball coach who has experience working with college coaches such as Jeff Capel III and Rusty LaRue, has been named boys' basketball coach at Fayetteville Academy.
McClendon, 33, replaces David McManus, who is leaving the Academy program after two years to pursue other opportunities.
Academy athletic director Chip Bishop called McClendon "a real energetic, motivated young man. We're excited about hiim being part of our program.
"We know he'll not only be a hard worker himself, but will motivate our young men to work hard. I think he'll be a big asset to our program.''
McClendon is a 2006 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth. He served as a graduate assistant at VCU under Jeff Capel III and later worked at Greensboro and St. Andrews Presbyterian colleges.
In recent years he's headed the Carolina Titans Basketball Club, which based in the Winston-Salem area.
"This is the first opportunity I've had to create a basketball program and really build a program,'' McClendon said. "I am familiar with the area. My grandparents lived there for over 45 years and my wife's family lived there. We like it and the people that live there.''
McClendon plans to come to Fayetteville later this week and meet with his new team for the first time on Thursday.
"We're going to try and have a team camp scheduled for June,'' he said. "We've got a couple that we're looking at. We also plan to have a two-day training camp before we got to team camp. Right now, that's all we've got scheduled.
"I'm really excited to be the one chosen to come on board and help build the program. This is definitely a great school.''
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.