Scott Douglas Cherry (born February 18, 1971) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and the former head men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach at

High Point University High Point University (HPU) is a private university in High Point, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in ...

. He replaced Bart Lundy in 2009. Cherry is a native of

Ballston Spa, New York Ballston Spa is a village and the county seat of Saratoga County, New York, United States, located southwest of Saratoga Springs. It is part of the Capital Region. The population of the village, named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregational ...

.High Point University – 2010–11 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
/ref>
/ref>

High school career

Cherry played for the Saratoga Central Catholic High School Saints in

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...

. He played under coach Bob King who is widely considered Spa Catholic's greatest basketball coach of all time. University of North Carolina basketball head coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball Coach (basketball), head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North C ...

visited the Spa Catholic gym to sign Cherry in 1988.

College career

Cherry played for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team under

from 1989 to 1993. He was a senior captain on the Tar Heel team that won the

1993 NCAA Tournament The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Pre-coaching career

Following his college career, Cherry played one season for AEL in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

, Cyprus. He then returned to the U.S. and subsequently became a forklift salesman for three years.

Coaching career

Early Coaching

Cherry began his coaching career in 1997 as an assistant coach at Bishop McGuinness (NC) High School.Dana O'Neil: A little blue blood, a little blue-collar – ESPN
/ref> He then spent one season as a women's basketball assistant coach at Middle Tennessee State. In 1999, he began the first of two stints as an assistant to Jim Larranaga at

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

. He left the Patriots in 2002 and spent one year as an assistant at

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University (commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech) is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie, the name unde ...

. He returned to George Mason in 2003 and participated in the Patriots 2006 run to the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

. In 2007, he joined the staff of

Darrin Horn Darrin McKinley Horn (born December 24, 1972) is an American college basketball head coach at Northern Kentucky, having previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Texas and a head coach for the Division I (NCAA) programs at Wes ...

as an assistant at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

. Cherry followed Horn to

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

for the 2008–09 season. He was named the head coach of High Point on March 26, 2009.

High Point

Cherry was hired as High Point Men's Basketball Coach on March 26, 2009. His first season in High Point, HPU finished 15–15, a 6-game winning improvement for the previous season. The next season in High Point, Cherry lead his team to a 12–19 record, and a semi-final spot in the Big South tournament, something High Point hadn't accomplished in 3 years. Cherry finished the 11–12 season with a 13–18 record, and High Point ranked 6th in the NCAA in three-point percentage. The next season, High Point played non-conference games at Wake Forest (L 60–71) and

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

(L 70–73). The Panthers finished 17–14, and won the Big South north division, earning them a spot in the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, this was the schools first postseason appearance since becoming an NCAA division one school. Cherry was given a 3-year contract extension running through the 16–17 season. Cherry again led the Panthers to a Big South north division championship, and the outright regular season championship, another program first. The Panthers were invited to the 2014 National Invitation Tournament, losing in the first round to

Richard Pitino Richard William Pitino (born September 16, 1982) is an American college basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at Xavier University. He was previously head coach at Minnesota from 2013 to 2021, and New Mexico from 2021 to 2025. ...

's Minnesota's team. Cherry led High Point to the best start in school history in 2014–15 campaign, starting the season 14–3. High Point lost in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, but received a bid to play in the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The Panthers earned their first postseason D1 victory with a 70–64 win over Maryland Eastern Shore. Cherry become the winningest coach in the D1 era, passing Bart Lundy, in a 93–69 win over NC Wesleyan on Nov 15, 2015. It was Cherry's 97th win at High Point. On March 7, 2018, Cherry and High Point mutually agreed to part ways.

Head coaching record

References

External links

High Point University – 2010–11 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Scott 1971 births Living people Basketball coaches from New York (state) American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American women's basketball coaches Basketball players from New York (state) College men's basketball head coaches in the United States George Mason Patriots men's basketball coaches High Point Panthers men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in North Carolina Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders women's basketball coaches North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players People from Ballston Spa, New York Place of birth missing (living people) South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches Sports in Capital District (New York) Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen