Loganville Christian Academy head boys basketball coach Greg Blythe was perfectly content in his previous job. And why not?
As an assistant at Pace Academy in Atlanta for six seasons, he had helped lead the Knights to four state titles and an invitation to a prestigious national tournament televised by ESPN.
But, in the back of his mind, he kept hearing a conversation he’d had with his late father before he passed back in 2020.
“He spoke to me about how he thought I needed to look at getting back to being a head coach again,” Blythe said.
So, whether it was out of respect for his father or out of courtesy to LCA, Blythe agreed to interview for the vacant Lions job back in May of 2021.
“I really didn’t expect anything to come of it,” Blythe said. “But I’ve had so many mentors tell me to never say no right away to an opportunity.”
He remembers like yesterday turning off Highway 81 into the LCA campus.
“Coming around that corner, I thought, wow, they’ve really got something here,” Blythe said.
After an interview and tour of the campus, Blythe climbed into his car, called his wife and told her that he might actually be interested in the job.
Four days later, he accepted the offer to take over the program.
But he almost immediately regretted his decision.
“We had one of those meet the coach things, and when I got there at six, nobody was there,” Blythe recalled. “I texted my wife a picture to show her how many were there. I was wondering what I’d gotten myself into.”
Turns out, the meeting had been moved to 6:30, and by that time, the room was packed.
Thus began the resurgence of the LCA boys basketball program.
With an abbreviated off-season, the Lions struggled last winter, finishing 4-21.
But given a year to build, Blythe led the Lions to four wins less than three weeks into this season. They were 7-4 at the Christmas break.
But it wasn’t until a thrilling, mid-January road win over Lakeview Academy that Blythe knew he was looking at a special season.
The Lions were up by 12 at the half but lost the lead in the third.
“We had already lost some games after leading earlier,” Blythe said. “You couldn’t help but feel like ‘here we go again.’”
Instead, the Lions battled back to earn a 51-48 win.
“That really gave us a lot of confidence, especially playing well on the road,” Blythe said. “It paid off in the state tournament.”
After defeating Westfield at home in the first round of the Georgia Independent Athletic Association tournament, LCA traveled to Macon, where they knocked off Tattnall Square to earn a berth in the final four.
A last second shot by eventual state champ Stratford was all that kept the Lions from playing for a title.
But it hardly overshadowed a 19-win season and foreshadowed bigger things to come for the Lions.
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