After hiring Hank Mathews as the men’s basketball assistant coach at North Central Missouri College last spring, Mathews is leaving the Pirates program before a game was even played, accepting an opening on the bench at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois as assistant to head coach George Suggs.
Mathews replaced former assistant coach Taylor Lavery at NCMC, after Lavery left after the 2021-2022 season to become an assistant at Howard College in Big Spring, Texas. NCMC head coach Jeremy Esry has indicated that a new assistant coach is expected to be hired and officially announced by next week’s season opener, but chose not to reveal the identity of the hire until the hiring is made official by NCMC’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday night. Â
At McKendree, Mathews will replaced Trend Blackledge, who recently resigned to accept an assistant coaching opportunity with the NBA G-League’s Salt Lake City Stars. Mathews was hired by NCMC after Lincoln College in Illinois closed its doors at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. His decision to leave NCMC after less than a year returns Mathews to his home state, as he is a native of Peoria, Illinois.
