Also serving as basketball coach

Fuqua School recently name Mike Edwards as its new director of athletics and varsity boys basketball head coach. He officially started Monday.

“To have this opportunity at the Fuqua School means a lot,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get into this kind of role for the longest time. I’m happy that Fuqua is willing to have an eager individual who wants to be the best he can be and help the school and its students strive to be the same.”

The athletic director (AD) and coaching positions had become vacant recently when Charles Thomas transitioned to become a full-time men’s basketball assistant coach at Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC) after three years with Fuqua.

Head of Fuqua School John Melton said, “As much as I hate to see Chuck go, because he’s been fabulous at what he’s done, I understand that he wants to move on to a different opportunity. But that then creates an opportunity for us to go back to previous candidates as well as new opportunities, and I spoke to about four different folks and interviewed those four individuals regarding this (AD) position before deciding to move forward with Mike.”

Edwards, who is 33 years old, was one of those previous candidates.

“Mike was the co-finalist with Chuck Thomas when we did the search for a new athletic director three years ago,” Melton said, “and what he really brings to the table is a strong background (as) the director of intramurals at Hampden-Sydney, as well as experience as an assistant coach for the Hampden-Sydney basketball team and having been an outstanding player for the team as well. So those were all very positive aspects of his candidacy.”

Melton also noted Edwards is a product of an independent school, like Fuqua.

“He graduated from Steward School in Richmond, so he understands the independent school community and how it operates,” Melton said. “Since his time at Hampden-Sydney, he has been involved in basically flexing his business skills in his previous career, so he has strong organizational skills, he can run a budget, he has good interpersonal skills, so all of those things make him a strong candidate for this position.”

This will be Edwards’ first time serving as an athletic director, but he cited previous positions that have helped prepare him for the challenge.

“My experience as a high school head coach, (at) Steward School, college coach, (at) Hampden-Sydney, and my experience as the intramural director at Hampden-Sydney will help me excel in the athletic director and basketball coach roles,” he said.

Fuqua’s athletics program has done well over the past three years under Thomas’ leadership, and Edwards said he is prepared to keep that positive momentum going.

“I know I have some big shoes to fill, but I’m definitely up for the challenge,” he said. “My goal is to keep our teams in the hunt to compete for state championships. I want to be able to provide the students a memorable experience that they will always remember.”