Wes Luther (Courtesy photo)
ASHEBORO — Wes Luther sees the challenges ahead for the Asheboro girls’ basketball program but also envisions the possibilities.
So that was enough to put him back in charge of a high school varsity team as a head coach.
“The job came open,” Luther said. “It gives me an opportunity to lead a program again and put my stamp on it.”
Luther is a former boys’ coach at Providence Grove. He spent the past two seasons on the staffs with Asheboro’s football team and boys’ basketball team.
This is Luther’s first assignment with a girls’ basketball team. Mike Headen had a three-season record of 15-58 with the Blue Comets, who went 5-18 during the past season.
Luther spent four seasons as Providence Grove’s boys’ coach. That included 2021-22, when the Patriots won the regular-season championship in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.
“I felt like we put that program in a better position than we found it,” he said.
Luther, a 2008 graduate of Southwestern Randolph, had ties with Asheboro as the junior varsity boys’ basketball coach from 2013-19. He returned to the Blue Comets and was JV coach again in 2023-24 before assisting with the varsity last season.
Since reaching the Class 3A state final in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season under coach Don Corry, the Asheboro girls have a record of 19-78.
“We were just in a need to hit a refresh button,” athletics director Wes Berrier said.
In the last four-year cycle in the Mid-Piedmont Conference, the Blue Comets held a 7-33 regular-season league record.
One of the first areas to address will be building confidence in the players, Luther said.
“It’s going to be different switching from boys to girls,” he said. “I’ve never backed away from a challenge. It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to attack it.”
Restoring roster numbers in the program will be a priority, though Luther said having a JV program in recent seasons was encouraging.
Luther said offseason team workouts will begin after spring break.
“It’s going to be a job,” he said. “The standard is the standard. A complete culture shift.”
Some of that might be cosmetic as he’ll seek locker room renovations along with new jerseys and gear.
Luther, 35, will no longer be on the football coaching staff, though he’ll remain involved as an assistant coach with the boys’ basketball team.
