NEWTON—Newton-Conover High School is naming one of its graduates as its next men’s basketball coach, according to multiple media reports, including The Observer-News-Enterprise and the Hickory Daily Record. 

         Matt Wilkinson, who has spent the last 15 years at nearby Bunker Hill in Catawba County with 11 of those as head coach, will take over to direct the men’s basketball program.  He will replace Jonathan Tharpe, who resigned from the position in mid-March after coaching the Red Devils for four years after coaching the women’s team there.

         Wilkinson earned his undergraduate degree from Appalachian State and a master’s degree from West Virginia.