Brandon Clifford is ready for a homecoming as Caldwell basketball coach
GREENSBORO — After five years away, Brandon Clifford had a simple response when asked why he’s coming back to Greensboro to take over as boys basketball coach at Caldwell Academy.
“It’s home,” the Greensboro native said Wednesday.
“This year, in general, has put a lot in perspective for me when it comes to family,” Clifford said. “With COVID-19, living in different areas from my family, I couldn’t see my people. This was a refocusing on what we want for the next several years of our life.”
Clifford also will take over in August as dean of students at Caldwell, an NCISAA school off Horse Pen Creek Road. He replaces Daniel Branon as boys basketball coach and will be reunited with Head of School Tim Holland, who was middle and upper school principal at Knoxville (Tenn.) Grace Christian when Clifford coached there.
Most recently, Clifford served as athletics director at Bluffton (S.C.) Cross Schools, where he also was junior varsity boys basketball coach as the school added a ninth grade this year.
The move back to Greensboro came together “in the last few weeks,” said Clifford, 39. “The more and more I looked into the opportunity it was just one of those things where I had the chance to come home, get back into my old stomping grounds, be close to Mom … It was just a no-brainer for my wife (Christina) and I."
Clifford, who was a basketball standout at Page and went on to play at UNC-Wilmington and Bellarmine, has 10 years of high school basketball coaching experience. He has a 228-96 career record in stints at High Point Christian, Knoxville (Tenn.) Grace Christian and Fayetteville Freedom Christian. Clifford’s teams have reached the playoffs 10 times, and he guided Grace Christian to the 2018 Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Division II-A crown.
Clifford also spent a season as a player development assistant with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, coached for three years in NBA star Chris Paul’s Team CP3 program and was an undergraduate assistant at Louisville. Among the players he coached at High Point Christian was Bam Adebayo, who went on to play at Kentucky and is an NBA All-Star with the Miami Heat.
“Brandon brings experience and a successful track record as a basketball coach to our school,” said Dan Bozarth, Caldwell’s athletics director. “He understands the high school basketball landscape in North Carolina and is committed to excellence and program building.”
Clifford does have some work to do in building an Eagles program that was 5-14 this season overall and 1-8 in the Piedmont Triad Athletic Conference (PTAC), which includes Forsyth Country Day, Greensboro Day, High Point Christian and Westchester.
“Is it an uphill challenge? Yes, but that’s what makes it exciting,” Clifford said. “We’re just going to build a program where we’re not going to celebrate second place. If Greensboro Day is the best, we have to find a way to beat them or we won’t be the best.”
Clifford said he’s already looking forward “to working with the kids who are there, and I look forward to setting a tone in the next couple of weeks. What happens after that with transfers and whatever, that’s not really something I can control. We just have to do things the way that we do them and know that we have a school that will support our success. We’re not going to be ashamed of the fact that we’re going to try to be good.”
As dean of students at Caldwell, Clifford’s duties will include “helping the principal with discipline and helping students who might be struggling, whether academically or behaviorally, and building relationships within the school, building a culture,” he said.
It’s a role Clifford said he’s been interested in since he spent seven years as a teacher because “you get a chance to build relationships with a lot of kids, not just basketball players, and really impact the school from a cultural perspective.”
Daughters Elissa, 10, and Isabella, 4, and son McCarty, 7, will be part of that culture.
“We’re really happy that our kids can be there, and it’s just a perfect fit,” Clifford said. “I’m really excited.”
GREENSBORO — After five years away, Brandon Clifford had a simple response when asked why he’s coming back to Greensboro to take over as boys basketball coach at Caldwell Academy.
“It’s home,” the Greensboro native said Wednesday.
“This year, in general, has put a lot in perspective for me when it comes to family,” Clifford said. “With COVID-19, living in different areas from my family, I couldn’t see my people. This was a refocusing on what we want for the next several years of our life.”
Clifford also will take over in August as dean of students at Caldwell, an NCISAA school off Horse Pen Creek Road. He replaces Daniel Branon as boys basketball coach and will be reunited with Head of School Tim Holland, who was middle and upper school principal at Knoxville (Tenn.) Grace Christian when Clifford coached there.
Most recently, Clifford served as athletics director at Bluffton (S.C.) Cross Schools, where he also was junior varsity boys basketball coach as the school added a ninth grade this year.
The move back to Greensboro came together “in the last few weeks,” said Clifford, 39. “The more and more I looked into the opportunity it was just one of those things where I had the chance to come home, get back into my old stomping grounds, be close to Mom … It was just a no-brainer for my wife (Christina) and I."
Clifford, who was a basketball standout at Page and went on to play at UNC-Wilmington and Bellarmine, has 10 years of high school basketball coaching experience. He has a 228-96 career record in stints at High Point Christian, Knoxville (Tenn.) Grace Christian and Fayetteville Freedom Christian. Clifford’s teams have reached the playoffs 10 times, and he guided Grace Christian to the 2018 Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Division II-A crown.
Clifford also spent a season as a player development assistant with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, coached for three years in NBA star Chris Paul’s Team CP3 program and was an undergraduate assistant at Louisville. Among the players he coached at High Point Christian was Bam Adebayo, who went on to play at Kentucky and is an NBA All-Star with the Miami Heat.
“Brandon brings experience and a successful track record as a basketball coach to our school,” said Dan Bozarth, Caldwell’s athletics director. “He understands the high school basketball landscape in North Carolina and is committed to excellence and program building.”
Clifford does have some work to do in building an Eagles program that was 5-14 this season overall and 1-8 in the Piedmont Triad Athletic Conference (PTAC), which includes Forsyth Country Day, Greensboro Day, High Point Christian and Westchester.
“Is it an uphill challenge? Yes, but that’s what makes it exciting,” Clifford said. “We’re just going to build a program where we’re not going to celebrate second place. If Greensboro Day is the best, we have to find a way to beat them or we won’t be the best.”
Clifford said he’s already looking forward “to working with the kids who are there, and I look forward to setting a tone in the next couple of weeks. What happens after that with transfers and whatever, that’s not really something I can control. We just have to do things the way that we do them and know that we have a school that will support our success. We’re not going to be ashamed of the fact that we’re going to try to be good.”
As dean of students at Caldwell, Clifford’s duties will include “helping the principal with discipline and helping students who might be struggling, whether academically or behaviorally, and building relationships within the school, building a culture,” he said.
It’s a role Clifford said he’s been interested in since he spent seven years as a teacher because “you get a chance to build relationships with a lot of kids, not just basketball players, and really impact the school from a cultural perspective.”
Daughters Elissa, 10, and Isabella, 4, and son McCarty, 7, will be part of that culture.
“We’re really happy that our kids can be there, and it’s just a perfect fit,” Clifford said. “I’m really excited.”
