BLADENBORO-The Bladen County School Board put the final stamps on coaching changes for the upcoming school year at West Bladen. Bladen County native, Alvin Thompson replaces Brian McCleney as the new girls basketball coach and he is also going to be an assistant on the football staff. Thompson’s last high school coaching job was when he coached East Bladen’s boys team to the 2001 NCHSAA State Championship in the last season before the consolidation of the high schools. He also coached Pop Warner Football in Wake County in 2017 and has years of experience working with the youth of Bladen County.
Jerry Singleterry will also join the football team as an assistant coach alongside Thompson this season. Singleterry is also a Bladen County native and a graduate of Bladenboro High; he was a part of the Bladenboro High team that made it to the 1992 Eastern Regional Championship game. Singleterry spent the last 15 seasons as the Whiteville Wolfpack head basketball coach where he accumulated over 200 wins and grabbed a couple Coach of the Year Awards in 2020. His experience ranges from basketball, football, and baseball but he’ll mainly be focused on helping new head football coach Preston Worley as an assistant.
Singleterry will also be in charge of the girls track and field team come Spring season. Coach McCleney will continue to coach the cross country team this fall and he’s been named the coach of the bowling team, as well as adding golf to his responsibilities next season. Josh Allen replaces Kaitlyn Sykes as the head coach of the softball team. Sykes led the Lady Knights to the postseason in her only season in charge after replacing the retired Pam Stephans a year later in spring 2024.
The Lady Knights will now be under Allen going into next season and he brings years of experience as a youth coach in baseball. He’s also a native to Bladen County and he was a member of the 1999 Bladenboro team that won the NCHSAA 1A Eastern Regional Final. Skyes will continue coaching the girls volleyball team this fall. Wade Pait will be replaced as head baseball coach by West Bladen alum, Clint Allen. Pait stepped in on the vacant coaching job weeks before the 2023 season and under his guidance the Knights made it to the playoffs two years running.
The Knights went 25-20 in their two seasons under Pait and his team went from fourth to second in the Southeastern Conference in a year’s time. Allen will take over in the dugout next season for his alma mater alongside Jason Bryant as his assistant coach. Bryant will also be the head coach of the Knights junior varsity baseball team next season.
East Bladen named Walt Williamson as the new bowling coach for the upcoming season and the rest of their coaches stay in place for the upcoming year. Try-outs for the fall season begin on Wednesday July 31st and the first official games for some sports will start in the third week of August.