WS Chronicle

Winston Salem Preparatory Academy has named their new girls basketball head coach. Charles Crews was selected to lead the Lady Phoenix in hopes of returning the program back to past glory.

Crews was officially named head coach of the Lady Phoenix basketball team on May 2. He had been looking for a head coaching position in the area for several years, so when the Prep job came open, he jumped at the opportunity to apply.

“For the last couple of seasons, I have been trying to get a job. I was denied by Glenn twice, I was denied by East Forsyth, and it got to the point I told myself I need to go where I am wanted,” said Crews. “Prep has wanted me for a couple of seasons and we were finally able to make it happen.”

The Lady Phoenix have had a couple of down seasons recently but have a history of winning. Crews is optimistic that he can return the program back to their winning ways.

“First things first, we just got to focus on rebuilding the foundation and once the foundation is built, we just keep building,” he said about his team. “They have some athletes over there, they just haven’t had the coaching, so my overall goal is to gain the trust of the players, develop the players, work the players out and get better as a team and a program.”

Prep is a small school with a small number of students and plays on the 1A level. Crews is not worried about the small number of students as he is confident in his ability to develop talent.

“I do believe we have enough talent to be able to compete, but I am not worried about the numbers at all, mainly because as a trainer and girls coach, I truly believe we won’t have an issue bringing kids to that school,” he said about the small number of students at Prep.

Crews has been one of the most respected names in girls coaching on the AAU circuit, while being one of the more sought-after trainers in the area as well. He is excited to finally get the opportunity to showcase his talents as a coach in a school setting.

“When it was made official that I was going to be the head coach there, it was definitely humbling,” he stated. “I have worked really hard over the past couple of seasons and I’ve had moments where I felt like I haven’t got the credit that I deserve. Prep gave me an opportunity and I fully intend on making the best of this opportunity.”

Crews says the first thing on his agenda is to let the players know he is there for them. He feels there are players at Prep that are capable of playing on the next level. His goal is to make sure he markets his players to college coaches to get his girls recruited.

“A lot of high school coaches in the community don’t reach out to college coaches anymore,” Crews said. “They depend on AAU coaches and my goal is to get those college coaches in the gym to see what we got over at Prep. That’s a part of coaching too, and that’s a part of my job.”

Coaching AAU basketball for several years is going to be a big benefit, said Crews. The fact that he knows how a lot of the young ladies like to play the game will bode well for him.

Josh Pittman was able to come into Prep and take the boys team all the way to the state semifinals in his first year. Crews is hoping for similar success, but says he doesn’t feel any pressure to duplicate that on the girls side.

“No pressure at all, but I will say this: we will be top three in that conference,” he said about his team’s success. “I am as humble as they come, but I know what I am good at and I am good at developing. This off-season we will get better and we will definitely compete in that conference.

“Bishop McGuinness coming off of a state championship and congrats to them. Coach (Brian) Robinson has definitely been a mentor for me, but we will compete in this conference.”

For Crews, he said he doesn’t really think about the schools that overlooked him, but would rather focus on developing his girls at Prep; however, he admits in the back of his mind he remembers the schools that passed on him.

Success is not just measured by wins and losses for Crews. He instead wants to see improvement in other areas for his team, but is confident his team can make the playoffs. 

Michelle Williams, Donovan Mills and John Minga will join Crews on his coaching staff.