Matt Luce
Matt Luce isn’t out to change much. The Wapahani boys basketball coach has been approved as the school’s new athletic director, and his goals revolve around maintaining the athletic culture the Raiders already have in place. Luce will remain in his coaching role while also serving as assistant principal/athletic director. He replaces Mark Fahey, who was recently named the school’s principal.
“We’ve been fortunate to have two great leaders in (former principal) Dr. Chad Briggs and Mr. Fahey, and the goals remain the same, to continue to provide opportunities for all of our student-athletes,” Luce said. “And continue our successful ways in the classroom and on the athletic field.”
Luce has gone 135-45 in eight years as the Raiders’ boys basketball coach. He has won two sectional titles and three Delaware County Tournament titles during his tenure. He is a Wapahani graduate, and he played baseball at Purdue following his playing days as a Raider. Now he will be serving the school in a new capacity.
“It’s a great honor,” Luce said. “It’s a great feeling, the same that I had eight years ago when I was chosen as the boys basketball coach and a math teacher. So nothing changes for my family and I besides the fact that I’m going to be working with kids in a different angle and working with kids outside of the classroom and maybe more on the athletic field or the athletic court. But I pride myself (on) not only being around the kids from the boys basketball program but all of the kids. I’ll continue to do the same thing.”
Fahey said Luce is well-respected by a variety of members of the Wapahani school community, a big plus in the search process.
And his longstanding ties to the school were evident in the interview process. Fahey said Luce made mention of the coaches who had an impact on his life when he was a student at Wapahani, and how he wanted to have a similar impact on the current students.
“To me, that just kind of spoke volumes of what type of guy Matt is,” Fahey said. “He’s a giving, caring guy and he really wants to be part of Selma and part of the community.”
Luce plans to continue teaching math for the remainder of the year before fully launching into his administrative duties.
Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at (765) 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.