Kurt Greene Takes Helm of Lady Hurricanes Basketball Program

It might be his first year as the head coach for the Lady Hurricanes, but it is far from his first year as a head basketball coach. Coach Kurt Greene, who retired three years ago from Mary Persons and has over 40 years of coaching experience, sounds as excited to be coaching this year for the Lady Canes as he must have been his first year of coaching. Even before he took over the reins this year in Monticello, his retirement was short lived.

His three years of “retirement” have included a one year stint as the head coach for Gatewood’s Lady Gators and last year assisting with his former Mary Person’s basketball teams.

A newlywed of four years and his first time married, Coach Greene credits his wife Lonna for his newest coaching job, telling me that his wife wanted him “to do something” over the winter. Hanging out at his lake house and cutting all of his grass, both fun hobbies for the coach, apparently are not enough to keep him busy during the cold months, so at his wife Lonna’s urging he reached out to Jasper County High School about the Lady Canes’ coaching job.

With the season now under way for the Lady Canes, Coach Greene is ready. “We’ve played two games and lost them both handily,” he shared. “They’re good kids and they’re trying hard. I’d like to see more effort from them at practice at the basics like dribbling with both the right and left hands and to play with their heads up instead of playing with their heads down, “ Coach Greene added.

Though he does have players that have been on the Lady Canes’ varsity team, only one of those players has had real playing time so he feels his team is a little behind as far as playing time goes.

“We were drilled our first two games,” he said. But, he quickly added, “they’re trying and I’m trying to get them to focus at practice like they do in a game. What’s getting us killed is ball handling and catching the ball. By the end of the year, hopefully we will be better.”

Coach Greene has a reputation of building stable programs, having left his previous teams in a good place. When he retired from coaching in 2017, he retired with a career as a girls head basketball coach of 606-319 wins and losses and several Final Four visits.

Coach Greene is a resident of neighboring Jones County (he’s lived there his entire life except for his time away at college at Georgia) with his wife. He shared that his wife, who works full time as a nurse in Macon and who has two grown children, treats the team as her own children, caring for them already and even baking them cookies.

Welcome to Monticello and the Lady Canes, Coach Greene (and Lonna)—looking forward to your first year with the Lady Canes!