After 10 years on the job as head of the Cape Fear Academy boys basketball team, Loren Baysden decided this past week to step away from coaching the Hurricanes’ program.
“Loren has been a valuable leader within our athletic program and is a great person,” said CFCA Athletics Director Chris Meehl. “I am sad to see him step down, but it has been a great 10 years. I am glad he will be remaining at Cape Fear Academy in a teaching capacity. Loren is a great friend of mine.”
Hired in his twenties, Baysden never thought he would have been shaping the minds of young men for a decade. A former basketball player himself, Baysden credits the environment at Cape Fear Academy in assisting him to help each student-athlete reach their potential in every area of their life.
“I started coaching basketball because it was a passion,” Baysden said. “Coaching actually still is a passion of mine in generality. But in this day and age, you really need to a have a passion for the game itself, and that for me has waned over the years. My enjoyment of the game, the leadership and friendship of Chris, and most of all, the relationships that were fostered through this game with my players kept me here and made me very happy and feeling very blessed.”
In his send-off letter sent to media outlets in Wilmington, Baysden noted that his drive to help his players as people before assisting in their game is one attribute his successor should have.
“My only hope is that their next coach cares about them as people, not just players, as much as I do,” Baysden added. “I hope they always felt that. A shifting of passions tells me that I feel the Lord is leading me in a different direction. As I continually seek ways to commit my life to Him, I need to have faith that he is steering my passions. That faith is sometimes scary. But I have never been disappointed by following Him, and my faith tells me that will continue to be the case.”
There’s no word yet on a decision or timetable to name a new coach at Cape Fear Academy.
