Statesboro High School head boys basketball coach Keith LeGree was fired as coach Friday morning – and the Blue Devils legend is at a loss to understand why.
After the tragic death in August 2020 of Hall of Fame Statesboro High basketball coach Lee Hill, former All-American Keith Legree was hired as the SHS head coach. Friday morning, LeGree was dismissed as head coach by SHS principal Keith Wright.
“I was shocked,” LeGree said in an interview Friday afternoon. “Earlier this month, when we started our June summer schedule, I got a call from (Statesboro) Mayor Jonathan McCollar who was very upset about a roster decision. He called and cursed me out.
“The next day, I got a call from Keith Wright who told me some serious allegations were brought up about how I run the program. He said someone called and said I allow drugs and weapons and gang bangers to be in and around our program. I asked if it was Jonathan McCollar who called him and he would not say.”
In his six seasons at Statesboro High, LeGree has a record of 120-33 averaging 20 wins per season. His teams made the state playoffs four times.
When asked if Wright had ever come to him with complaints about his conduct or problems with the program before this month, LeGree said, “No, never.”
“Mr. Wright texted me last week and said ‘Hey coach can you meet with me Friday at 10:30 at the school? I want to briefly talk to you about the program for next year,’” LeGree said. “When I went in, he said I had been relieved of my coaching duties. When I asked why, he said because of the allegations and an incident two years ago at Greenbrier in which I received a technical foul.”
In a phone call and a text message, McCollar neither confirmed nor denied calling and arguing with LeGree or placing a call to principal Wright about LeGree, but he did give a statement to the Statesboro Herald.
“The decision to remove Keith LeGree from his coaching position was made by Statesboro High School and the Bulloch County Board of Education. That decision was theirs to make, and questions about it should be directed to them.”
In a statement emailed Friday afternoon to the Herald, Hayley Greene, director of Public Relations for the Bulloch school district, wrote:
“I can confirm that Statesboro High School has chosen to move in a different direction for that position for the upcoming school year; however, the current head coach is still employed by the district as a teacher at Statesboro High School, and our plan is for him to remain in that role … as this is a personnel decision, we will offer no further comment.”
Also, Greene said the decision to remove LeGree as head basketball coach was made by Wright.
“The employee has not been fired. A principal is the administrative leader of the school and has sole discretion as to where to place their employed faculty. Hiring and firing requires board approval. Placement does not.”
A former player and Statesboro High coach were surprised upon hearing the news of LeGree’s firing.
“He's probably one of the greatest coaches and people who have impacted my life,” said Tyrell Hughes, who played for LeGree at Statesboro from 2021-23. “Everything I'm going through now as a man since leaving high school, he helped prepare me for. He always looked for the best in us. He pushed us, and he always saw the good in us despite what we thought about ourselves.
“He was wanting to help us build our confidence in everything we did. It's just kind of crazy to hear about what's going on and why they could fire him.”
LeGree is the only Statesboro basketball player to ever be named to the McDonald’s All-American team. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins and made in to Class AAA.
In college, he played for Denny Crum at Louisville before finishing his college career playing for Bob Huggins at Cincinnati. He went on to be an assistant coach with Huggins for years before finally stepping out of the college ranks to take over at Statesboro High.
“Keith is one of the finest people I know,” said retired SHS coach Kenny Tucker. “I had the pleasure of coaching him in high school and he is a dedicated, hard-working man with a lot of character. I have never heard anything negative about Keith. As a coach he is disciplined and demanding and, in my opinion, he is the best coach Statesboro has in any sport.”
LeGree was even more upset because he felt he had reached out in the past to help McCollar.
“He grew up just down the road from me and has asked me for help in the past which I have helped him with,” LeGree said.
“(To have someone) call my principal and lie about things around my program like having drugs and weapons around, makes me upset.
“I try and run a clean program and I don’t put up with things like that. I feel like I am disciplined and fair. To not have had any issues about me for five years and then fire me because of what one person said is just sad.”
