The most successful coach in Orange Men’s Basketball history is leaving.
On Monday, Greg Motley completed an agreement to become the post-graduate head coach at Mt. Zion Christian Academy in Durham. He will depart Orange at the end of the academic year.
“It’s been a great place,” said Motley via text message on Monday night. “I will miss coaching there but excited about the new opportunity, as well. So there are mixed emotions.”
Orange won three conference championships during Motley’s run. In 2016, behind Connor Crabtree, the Panthers captured the Big 8 Tournament Championship, beating Southern Durham 68-65 in an emotional title game at Chapel Hill High. It was Orange’s first tournament conference championship since 1998.
The 2016-17 season was Motley’s best Orange team. They finished 23-7, winning the Big 8 regular season championship. Along the way, they won the Eastern Guilford Holiday Hoops Championship, beating Eastern Guilford 74-60 for the title in its own gym.
In the 3A state playoffs, Orange cruised past Gray’s Creek and Southern Guilford. In the third round against Triton, Orange looked like a team of destiny. Behind Crabtree and Logan Vosburg, Orange surged to a 28-2 lead just six minutes into the game. Late in the first quarter, Crabtree tore a ligament in his right ankle while going for a defensive rebound. He never played for Orange again. While the Panthers would defeat Triton 67-47, they fell to Northern Guilford in the state quarterfinals 56-48 three nights later. The same Eastern Guilford team that Orange defeated in December wound up playing for the 3A state championship.
Motley replaced Frank Meadows at Orange in 1997. He took over a dormant program that failed to have a winning season since the early 1980s. His first season, Orange won the PAC-6 Tournament and defeated Lee County in the 4A state playoffs during an emotional time for the school. Longtime assistant coach Bob Lewis had been diagnosed with cancer. At the time, it was thought to be terminal. 20 years later, Lewis is still living.
Suddenly, Orange had a winning basketball team. The student section was rebranded “Motley’s Crew.”
Many things changed during Motley’s tenure in Hillsborough. Orange went from 4A to 2A to 3A. He started when East Chapel Hill High School had just opened as Orange County’s third high school. Now, there are five.
As successful as 2016-17 was for Motley, this past season was tumultuous on and off the floor. They finished 9-16. Motley’s final game was a 74-29 loss to Hillside in the Big 8 Tournament.
In the end, Motley demanded loyalty from his players. More often than not, he received it.
The night after Motley’s final game at Orange, he received a text message from a player. It read, in part: “Thanks for the opportunity. I would probably be in trouble or in jail. You brought me through so many tough times with my problems and the passing of my grandma. I will always have your back.”
Having the most wins of any coach in Orange history will be a point of pride for Motley to live on the rest of his life.
But those types of texts are his legacy.