New Randleman boys’ basketball coach Brad Monroe is a past coach for Uwharrie Charter Academy. (Randolph Record file photo)
RANDLEMAN — Former Uwharrie Charter Academy coach Brad Monroe will be the next boys’ basketball coach at Randleman.
“It really was a perfect fit,” Monroe said. “Our values in what we believe in align.”
Monroe replaces Daniel Mitchell, who previously announced that he was stepping down from the Randleman position to relocate to the western part of the state.
Monroe, who also was athletics director at UCA, coached the Eagles for eight seasons. They ended with winning records in five of those seasons.
“I knew I always had that coaching itch,” Monroe said of returning to that role. “I think Randleman is one of the premier jobs for men’s basketball in the county.”
Monroe, 36, also will be an assistant with Randleman’s football team. He’ll teach physical education.
Monroe’s UCA team won the 2021-22 Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament with an upset of Providence Grove in a game played at Randleman. That was Monroe’s second-to-last season with the UCA team.
Randleman and UCA are no longer in the same conference. Earlier in Monroe’s time at UCA, the Eagles won conference regular-season and tournament championships in the Central Tar Heel 1A Conference.
Monroe is a 2008 Eastern Randolph graduate and later played basketball for Guilford College. His past includes time as a middle school coach in Trinity.
“Eventually, I knew I wanted to get back in the school system,” he said.
After leaving UCA, he worked for Vertical Raise, a fundraising company. He’ll leave a position as strength and conditioning coach at The Point, a charter school in Jamestown, in June.
Monroe said he’s familiar with the culture at Randleman from his time as an athlete at Eastern Randolph.
“If you cut me, there’s still green and gold in there,” he said.
But now his attention is focused on Randleman. He said the fabric of the Tigers’ program provides a great foundation, though there are bound to be subtle changes.
“We want to do it in our own way,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how talented a Randleman team is, they’re going to play a certain way.”
Randleman finished with a 15-10 record during the past season when it reached the third round of the Class 4A state playoffs. That followed a 23-2 mark in 2024-25.
There were eight seniors on this past season’s team. Monroe has spent time with some of his new players.
“We’ve got some hungry guys coming up,” he said. “Guys that are hungry to expand their roles.”
Mitchell led the program for 14 seasons with a 220-110 record.
