A new face may be calling the plays, but the expectations are the same for the North Greene boys basketball team as they head into the 2025-26 season.
The Huskies are coming off a 30-5 season in which they advanced to the Class 1A State Tournament for the fourth time in five years, but in July Matt Weems was named the new head coach after Sam Tarlton left to take over at David Crockett.
“We’re excited to get the season started. We have tried to accomplish as much as we could in a short offseason,” Weems said. “I feel lucky to have a bunch of older guys, and that has helped me with the transition. We haven’t had a lot of time together, but they have helped me get acclimated and have brought a good attitude every day.”
Weems is a former standout player for the Huskies and most recently coached at North Greene Middle. He takes a lot of pride in representing the North Greene community and is excited to be the head coach at his former school.
A year ago the Huskies made shutting down opposing offenses and keeping the score low their identity. That will not change under Weems’ leadership, and especially early in the year he expects defense to lead the way.
“We are going to get down and guard you,” Weems said. “These guys take defense seriously, and when they focus on it they can be a pretty good rebounding team as well. We want to be a good defensive team and try to keep score low. I think we have a pretty strong and athletic group.”
One thing that will help Weems most this season is he takes over a squad that has seven seniors. Those include important contributors from a year ago like Tyler Britton, Thomas Darnell, Jaiden Bailey, Isaac Gaby, and Havoc Fair, as well as Justin Tomberg and Frankie Henriquez.
On the offensive side of things Britton is the Huskies top returning scorer and who they will count on to fill up the iron this season.
“Tyler is our guy and he knows that. He has been around the program for a long time. He is great shooter and a skilled offensive player. He knows how to get to his spots, and he is a smart player. In big games he is the type of guy that steps up,” Weems said.
Bailey and Gaby are two undersized guards that will be pests on the defensive end and be counted on to handle the ball and run the offense. Despite their size both will be among the most aggressive players on the floor every night.
“Both of them are guys that would fight a brick wall, and they will get down and guard for 94 feet,” Weems said. “We will go as they go a little bit. Meaning, if they are down defending hard we have a better chance of winning. Those are two guys that I know are going to give me everything they have. It’s really admirable how hard they play.”
On the inside Weems is expecting a big year from Darnell. Darnell brings back the most experience in the paint and is poised to have a big year once he shakes off the rust from football. He is a strong rebounder and is getting better on the offensive end.
“Thomas is going to be our primary scoring threat inside,” Weems said. “He is doing a lot of the dirty work for us right now.”
Fair is the other post player the Huskies are looking to to play big minutes. He has seen limited varsity action to this point, but Weems thinks he can be really effective player if he stays focused.
Juniors Kelson Eastep and Matthew Boyd are another pair of long athletes who the Huskies will expect to add depth to the post rotation.
Nathan Tolley is strong shooter who Weems thinks will help the team this season. Kingston Ricker, and Tyson Collins are other junior guards who Weems feels can earn some playing time. All have spent a lot of time in the gym working to get better over the offseason.
“We have a group that wants to get better and wants to work,” Weems said. “These kids care, and that is all I can ask for as a coach. With some of these juniors I can’t promise that they are going to get a lot of playing time, but they are working hard every day to earn minutes.”
Hanno Gerath is an exchange student who Weems thinks has a chance to help the Huskies as well.
The Huskies will once again be looking to finish on top of District 1-A and Region 1-A, but achieving that goal will be a challenge. University High has been a tough team to beat the last few years and advanced to the state tournament in 2023. Hampton is back in Class 1A, where it won a state championship in 2023. Weems also expect Unaka to be a challenge this season.
“I don’t see any reason why these guys can’t be on top, but at the same time they have to understand this conference got a little tougher,” Weems said. “Hampton is a tough program every year, they are basketball minded and I have tremendous respect for how they do things. University High will be good again. Cloudland will be improved and coach Dugger at Unaka does a tremendous job. It’s a tough conference, but if these guys play to their capabilities we can compete for a title.”
The North Greene Huskies basketball team is ready to kick off after their 2025-26 media day! Be sure to check out all the coverage on https://t.co/R0fg9qAgsM and our social media!#FirstHorizon pic.twitter.com/kbhQHleMtq
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 11, 2025
North Greene Basketball’s newest Head Coach Matt Weems spoke with us at Media Day and detailed the transition to becoming a high school coach and how excited he is for the new opportunity ahead of him! pic.twitter.com/L0x0xzNlxE
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 12, 2025
North Greene’s senior Tyler Britton (@Tylerbritton_10) described his excitement going to his senior season with new Huskies Coach Matt Weems. pic.twitter.com/Majy4wXmn4
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 12, 2025
North Greene senior Thomas Darnell detailed his excitement and expectations going into his final year with North Greene under new leadership with Coach Weems at the helm. pic.twitter.com/0K70NHGfy2
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) November 12, 2025
