Murfreesboro native Michael Couey named boys basketball coach at Providence Christian

Cecil Joyce
Murfreesboro Daily News Journal
Murfreesboro native Michael Couey has been named the head boys basketball coach at Providence Christian.

For the past eight seasons Murfreesboro native Michael Couey has been associated with a highly successful basketball program at Christ Presbyterian Academy.

Providence Christian Academy hopes he carries that success into the 2018-19 season as he takes over the Lions program.

Couey, a former basketball standout at Oakland and Belmont, has been hired to take over the PCA boys program after David Farrar retired less than a month ago.

"I’m excited," Couey said. "It is a work in progress with a lot of upside. The foundation is there. Coach Farrar did a great job building a foundation to who and what they are. I’m excited to come in behind a guy like that with that much experience and expertise in the coaching profession.

'"The kids who are back will have tons of basketball knowledge they might have had if not for coach Farrar. Luckily I am able to come in behind him and be able to take over program he helped build from the ground up."

Couey will lead the team into its third season in TSSAA in 2018-19.

"We feel like he’s a great fit overall," said PCA athletic director Tara James. "We were looking for a local guy with a great coaching reputation that was connected in the area and also a great track record in coaching. Coming from CPA, he understands the private school setting."

This will be Couey's third head coaching stop in the area. He was Cannon County's head boys coach from 2005-07 and headed the La Vergne boys program from 2008-10.

He had been an assistant head coach and director of middle school basketball at CPA under head coach Drew Maddux since 2010.

More:David Farrar retires as Providence Christian boys basketball coach

Couey has also been a head coach at Bartlett (2007-08). He had assistant coaching stints at CPA (2001-04) and La Vergne (2004-05).

He will finish the school year at CPA before joining the Lions this summer.

"He understands what it means to build a program," said James, who has built the PCA girls program into one of the top Division II teams in the state. "That was appealing to me. He helped build CPA and he’s done it in a private-school setting."

Couey, 41, was a two-sport star at Oakland prior to his graduation in 1996. He was one of the program's top basketball players, leading the Patriots to a AAA semifinals appearance in 1996 and was the No. 1 singles player on the Patriot tennis squad, reaching the state semifinals in 1996.

He also played both sports at Belmont, being a three-year starter under Rick Byrd in basketball while also playing No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles on the Bruin tennis team as a freshman before dropping tennis in 1997.

More:Live updates: TSSAA Boys Basketball State Championships, Day 3

His best season with the Bruins was his freshman year, averaging 13.3 points while leading the team in assists, steals and free throw percentage. A knee injury hampered him the remainder of his career.

He said the fit and similarities to his job at CPA were selling points for CPA.

"Providence is a very similar job to CPA," Couey said. "That’s the draw for family, me as a coach. They line up spiritually and culturally with who we are as a family. It's a very familiar situation.

"That’s what I keep describing to people. I’ve seen CPA in its younger days. I know what that looked like. We have every opportunity to take PCA to that level a lot quicker than we may think."

Couey has also been heavily involved in youth basketball, founding the Elite Amateur Basketball (EAB) program.

His father, Ron Couey, was a successful longtime head boys basketball coach at Central Middle School.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.