Deidrich Gilreath knew soon after his high school basketball career he wanted to be a head basketball coach for a varsity program. Now, at long last, he will be.
This week Annandale selected Gilreath to lead its basketball program. Gilreath replaces Matthew Behne, who resigned after the Atoms’ first-round loss to West Potomac in the Conference 7 quarterfinals.
Gilreath is a Wakefield graduate and played for current coach Tony Bentley at the school almost 15 years ago. After attending Norfolk State a few years later, Gilreath contacted Bentley and told him he wanted to coach. “He told me to take some time and make sure it was what I wanted,” Gilreath said. “But it didn’t take long for me to know that it was.”
Bentley hired Gilreath in 2010 as an assistant and he has been with the Warriors since then. He was the freshman head coach from 2011-2014 and the JV head coach 2014-2017, also serving on the varsity bench during that span. After honing his craft for years in the very successful Warriors program under Bentley and longtime coach Horace Willis, Gilreath felt he was ready to take the reins at Annandale.
“I’ve coached several fantastic kids over there through AAU,” Gilreath said. “I really was attracted to the job because of the great kids they have over there and the Annandale community. I’m excited to be a part of a program that has a lot of potential.”
Annandale suffered through a disappointing 8-15 season last year, again finishing last in deep and talented Conference 7, where the 6A state champion (W.T. Woodson) didn’t even win the regular season title (West Potomac). The Atoms seemed on the cusp of a breakthrough all year with talent that included the likes of Dontae Johnson (York College), but never could quite put it all together. They were often competitive, however, losing nine games by ten points or less. Gilreath feels good things are ahead, although the Atoms lose a talented senior class.
“There’s a lot of talent and athleticism over there,” he said. “I couldn’t be more excited to work with it.”
Gilreath becomes the second Wakefield assistant to land a varsity job in two years. Mike Robinson was hired as South County’s head coach last year. A Warrior through and through, there’s no real mystery what Gilreath would love to do with the Atoms–he wants to get up and down the floor like Bentley’s teams.
“I want to run and pressure,” he said. “That’s how I played and I want to definitely take that style to Annandale.”
It has been an amazing past year for Gilreath, who teaches kids with autism at Wakefield during the day and has worked with kids for his non-basketball career since 2007. He got married last year and he and his wife recently welcomed a baby girl, Nia, into the world.