Moultrie named boys basketball coach at Hillgrove
May 7—Former South Cobb boys basketball coach Greg Moultrie said he was ready for a new challenge.
After leading the Eagles to two state semifinals, three quarterfinals, four region titles and 165 wins over the last 10 years, he said the time was right to move on.
Moultrie has found his new place to coach, and he will not have to leave the county. He was named the new boys basketball at Hillgrove.
Moultrie takes over for Ed Morris, who retired following the 2020-21 season after serving as the only coach in the Hillgrove program's 15-year history.
"Class AAAAAAA is the top, not that Class AAAAAA should take second fiddle," Moultrie said. "But change is good, and I want to build on the incredible foundation that coach Morris has built here at Hillgrove."
Hillgrove athletic director Johnathan Brown said he cast a wide net when it came to getting applicants for the position, but when he saw Moultrie's application, Brown said he knew from personal experience what the coach could do.
"I competed against him for many years (when I was at Pebblebrook)," Brown said. "I saw what he could do. He built the Eagles program from the ground up.
"It was also important to get someone who knew about Cobb County. He respects the traditions and he's someone that can come in, grow and advance Hillgrove basketball."
Moultrie takes over a team that went 8-12 during the 2020-21 season, missing the state playoffs for the first time since 2007.
This rebuild is not likely to be a strenuous as it was when Moultrie first took over at South Cobb.
It took four years to build the Eagles into a winner, but once the construction job was complete, South Cobb took off. Beginning with the 2015-16 season, Moultrie's Eagles went 120-50, with semifinal appearances in 2017 and 2020, as well as three 20-win seasons.
The best season was 2019-20, when South Cobb went 28-3 and advanced to the semifinals. This past season, the Eagles went 16-12 overall and 13-3 in a loaded Region 6AAAAAA. They entered the playoffs as a No. 3 seed and were one of the few teams to defeat eventual state champion Wheeler.
Now, Moultrie will trade in a loaded region with Wheeler, Kell, Pope and Allatoona for Region 3AAAAAAA with Walton, Marietta, North Paulding, North Cobb and Kennesaw Mountain.
"It will be different and a different style of basketball," Moultrie said, "but it's still premier basketball. It's kind of like going from the ACC to the Big Ten."
Before his tenure at South Cobb, Moultrie spent a year as the head coach at Callaway High School in Hogansville.
