Scott Douglas Cherry (born February 18, 1971) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and the former head men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach at

High Point University High Point University is a private university in High Point, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in October 1991. HPU of ...

. He replaced Bart Lundy in 2009. Cherry is a native of

Ballston Spa, New York Ballston Spa is a village and the county seat of Saratoga County, New York, United States, located southwest of Saratoga Springs. The population of the village, named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler, ...

.High Point University – 2010–11 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
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High school career

Cherry played for the

Saratoga Central Catholic High School Saratoga Central Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school and middle school located in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany ( la, Di� ...

Saints in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

. He played under coach Bob King who is widely considered Spa Catholic's greatest basketball coach of all time. University of North Carolina basketball head coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...

visited the Spa Catholic gym to sign Cherry in 1988.

College career

Cherry played for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team under

from 1989 to 1993. He was a senior captain on the Tar Heel team that won the 1993 NCAA Tournament.

Pre-coaching career

Following his college career, Cherry played one season for AEL in

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

, Cyprus. He then returned to the U.S. and subsequently became a forklift salesman for three years.

Coaching career

Early Coaching

Cherry began his coaching career in 1997 as an assistant coach at Bishop McGuinness (NC) High School.Dana O'Neil: A little blue blood, a little blue-collar – ESPN
/ref> He then spent one season as a women's basketball assistant coach at

Middle Tennessee State Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together of ...

. In 1999, he began the first of two stints as an assistant to

Jim Larranaga Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including ...

. He left the Patriots in 2002 and spent one year as an assistant at

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

. He returned to George Mason in 2003 and participated in the Patriots 2006 run to the Final Four. In 2007, he joined the staff of Darrin Horn as an assistant at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

. Cherry followed Horn to

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

for the 2008–09 season. He was named the head coach of High Point on March 26, 2009.

High Point

Cherry was hired as High Point Men's Basketball Coach on March 26, 2009. His first season in High Point, HPU finished 15–15, a 6-game winning improvement for the previous season. The next season in High Point, Cherry lead his team to a 12–19 record, and a semi-final spot in the Big South tournament, something High Point hadn't accomplished in 3 years. Cherry finished the 11–12 season with a 13–18 record, and High Point ranked 6th in the NCAA in three-point percentage. The next season, High Point played non-conference games at Wake Forest (L 60–71) and

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

(L 70–73). The Panthers finished 17–14, and won the Big South north division, earning them a spot in the

2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams. Games took place throughout March 2013. The semifinals were played on March 30 with the championship game played o ...

, this was the schools first postseason appearance since becoming an NCAA division one school. Cherry was given a 3-year contract extension running through the 16–17 season. Cherry again led the Panthers to a Big South north division championship, and the outright regular season championship, another program first. The Panthers were invited to the

2014 National Invitation Tournament The 2014 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament started on campus sites for the first 3 rounds, with ...

, losing in the first round to Richard Pitino's Minnesota's team. Cherry led High Point to the best start in school history in 2014–15 campaign, starting the season 14–3. High Point lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, but received a bid to play in the

2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament The 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) was a postseason single-elimination tournament of 32 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I basketball teams. The first round started on March 16, 2015. ...

. The Panthers earned their first postseason D1 victory with a 70–64 win over Maryland Eastern Shore. Cherry become the winningest coach in the D1 era, passing Bart Lundy, in a 93–69 win over NC Wesleyan on Nov 15, 2015. It was Cherry's 97th win at High Point. On March 7, 2018, Cherry and High Point mutually agreed to part ways.

Head coaching record

References

External links

High Point University – 2010–11 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Scott 1971 births Living people Basketball coaches from New York (state) American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American women's basketball coaches Basketball players from New York (state) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States George Mason Patriots men's basketball coaches High Point Panthers men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in North Carolina Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball coaches North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players People from Ballston Spa, New York Place of birth missing (living people) South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches Sports in Capital District (New York) Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches American men's basketball players