Eastern Wayne High School terminates head basketball/football coach Phil Gray

By Brandon Davis
Published in Sports on February 3, 2016 1:48 PM

• Print
• Email

Eastern Wayne heads into the final stretch of its varsity girls' basketball season minus a familiar face on the bench.

Wayne County Public Schools officials confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that head coach Phil Gray has been terminated from the athletic staff. The decision occurred last Friday, according to a statement sent to the News-Argus by Ken Derksen, director of communication/public information officer for Wayne County Public Schools.

"In accordance with North Carolina personnel privacy laws, any additional information about Mr. Gray's dismissal cannot be released until all avenues for due process and appeals are exhausted," stated the release.

Gray was also the head varsity football coach.

The News-Argus first learned of Gray's absence during Monday's non-conference home game against Kinston. A News-Argus reporter asked about Gray and was told that he was no longer the head coach.

School administrators, when questioned, said they could "neither confirm nor deny any information at the time."

Bombarded by telephone calls and text messages, the News-Argus contacted Eastern Wayne administrators again Tuesday. They stuck by their original statement and directed any additional questions to Derksen, who sent the release after he returned a message left by the News-Argus.

Calls placed to Gray's cell phone were immediately directed to his voice mail.

Gray was hired by Wayne County Public Schools in 2012 as a cafeteria worker and athletic coach at Eastern Wayne. In 2013, he was named an EC Jobs Coach at the school.

He was an assistant varsity football coach for three seasons and helped guide the Warriors to consecutive appearances in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A eastern regional finals in 2013 and 2014. When Bubba Williams resigned last February to become head coach at Corinth-Holders, Gray applied for the job.

Gray was named head coach nearly two months later. Once he took over the program, he made it a point to get his players involved within the community. His football and basketball teams assisted Habitat for Humanity and served lunch at the Community Soup Kitchen.

The Warriors finished 4-7 on the gridiron this past fall.

During his two seasons as basketball coach, the Warriors compiled 36 wins and advanced to the eastern regional in 2015. EW is currently 10-10 overall heading into Friday's game at Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference foe D.H. Conley.

The school has not announced when it plans to begin a search for Gray's successor in either sport. Neither job vacancy has been posted on the NCHSAA website.