Basketball holds a place of unrivaled prestige and success amongst sports at Christ School.
With a lineage that goes back more than a century, the Greenies have won nine state championships since 2005. More than 50 alumni have continued their careers in college and 15 former players have reached the professional level.
Now, a bold move for the basketball program comes with the mindfulness of staying true to the Christ School experience and its guiding mission to produce educated men of good character, prepared for both scholastic achievement in college and productive citizenship in adult society.
The Greenies have accepted an invitation to join the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) Scholastic Conference for the next two seasons.
What happens now?
This will not only mean a heightened level of competition on the court, but the school in general should benefit greatly from the national exposure of high-profile games, some televised by ESPN. It’s a proverbial slam dunk in the eyes of Athletic Director/Program Director Josh Coley, who is the fastest varsity basketball coach in school history to reach 100 wins and has a record of 101-23 in four seasons.
“This is an honor, incredible, and a dream come true from a competitive standpoint,” Coach Coley said.
“The competitors on our team will embrace playing the very best, and that’s what this is when you look at the players who have come through this league and the rich history of these programs. I think what we’re most proud of is having mission-fit kids who will not just represent themselves and their families well, but the school. That’s a big deal and holds great weight when you have the confidence that they will represent Christ School the right way.”
Nike promotes the EYBL Scholastic League as “a preeminent collection of high schools committed to high level, national basketball competition.” All EYBL institutions are nationally accredited, four-year high schools. There were 14 teams in the league for the 2024-25 season, including names that many followers of high school sports will know like Montverde Academy (Fla.), IMG Academy (Fla.), and Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
Christ School’s Board of Trustees, Head of School Dr. Sean Jenkins P’29, Coach Coley, and the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) were all involved in reviewing Nike’s invitation. Mason Plumlee ’09 and Marshall Plumlee ’11 gave their approval in the consultation process. The two brothers were McDonald's All-Americans in high school, and along with Miles '08, led the Greenies to four state championships.
School leadership was adamant that a move to the EYBL would not sacrifice our values or negatively affect our standing with the NCISAA. Varsity players will be expected to maintain the same standards as every student with their academics, attendance, and citizenship.
"At Christ School our students are elite across a range of interests and activities, including in academics, in music and in the arts, in aviation, and in athletics," Dr. Jenkins said.
"Our student-athletes have shown, year after year, that they are elite on the basketball court. The invitation to compete at the highest level on a national stage is an external acknowledgment of their continued success. They wish to compete amongst the country’s best, and so we are excited to support them."
Christ School will keep its competitive structure for basketball intact – offering varsity, JV, freshman, and middle school teams. All other sports will continue vying for state championships in the NCISAA. Varsity basketball will forego the traditional state playoffs for EYBL postseason tournaments instead, as well as 5-6 weekend events per season. Nike covers all travel expenses, and the expectation is that Arden will be put into the rotation for host sites.
The NCISAA will allow varsity basketball to return to the state playoffs in the future without any stipulations, provided Christ School no longer has a contract with Nike. Coach Coley said the Greenies plan to keep their rivalries with Carolinas Athletic Association schools Asheville Christian Academy, Asheville School, Carolina Day, and Rabun Gap (Ga.).
Christ School is the three-time defending state champion in the NCISAA’s largest classification (4-A). The Greenies have earned a postseason top-100 national ranking from MaxPreps each of the past three years – No. 19 in 2025, No. 61 in 2024, and No. 32 in 2023.
Christ School won on the road at EYBL member Legacy Early College (S.C.), 58-43, last November, and showed more proof it could compete with a third-place finish in March’s Nike Invitational Postseason Tournament. Nike representatives were impressed with the way the Greenies carried themselves, on and off the court, which contributed to their EYBL invitation.