Adam Gray played high school basketball at Northside and has been an assistant coach at William Byrd for the last six years.

Now he’s trying another Roanoke County school on for size.

Gray, 29, was named the boys’ head coach at Glenvar on Thursday night, entering the head coaching ranks for the first time.

A 1996 Northside graduate, Gray said he was mildly surprised to be filling the job left vacant in February by the departure of veteran coach Rick Crotts. Gray’s qualifications as a social studies teacher matched an opening at Glenvar.

"It was a surprise to me," Gray said. "There were some outstanding candidates. I know the experience issue is a question mark, but I’m the kind of person who likes to dive in and get my hands dirty. I think being young and being new to the situation worked in my favor. I can bring an infusion of enthusiasm."

Byrd head coach David Culicerto vouched for Gray’s reputation as a hard worker.

"I think that’s one of his best qualities," Culicerto said. "He’s not afraid of work. He was undersized as a post man at Northside and you always thought you had an advantage there before you realized it wasn’t an advantage."

Gray was Byrd’s head JV coach in 2007-08 as well as a varsity assistant. He played on two VHSL Group AA final four teams at Northside under Bill Pope then graduated with a history degree in 2001 from Virginia Tech in 2001, where he also received a master’s degree in education.

Gray said he plans to meet with Glenvar’s prospective returning players early next week. The Highlanders finished 7-17 this winter. Crotts posted a 102-122 record at Glenvar, taking the program to back-to-back Group A quarterfinal appearances in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Gray said his coaching style will be to play aggressively.

"I’m very defensively oriented," he said. "You’ve heard it a million times, but the keys to winning are defense and rebounding, especially in high school basketball."

Gray said one of his priorities will be to get Glenvar in some summer team camps. He also said he is unsure about the makeup of his coaching staff.

"From what I’ve heard, the staff right now is me," he said.

Gray said he is ready for all the ancillary duties of being a head coach, from the mountains of organizational work to dealing with parents.

"I’m kind of used to that already by being a teacher," he said. "Coaching is teaching. There’s really no difference in teaching and being a coach."

-- Robert Anderson