Spring Valley state championship basketball coach stepping down. What we know
Megan Assey, who led Spring Valley High to a girls basketball state championship, has resigned after nine seasons at the school.
Assey informed her team of the decision at Thursday night’s end-of-the-year banquet.
“It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve as head coach at Spring Valley,” Assey told The State on Friday morning. “This was an extremely difficult decision to make. That is because of the respect I have for principal Jeff Temoney and athletic director John Combs. Our administrative team has been super supportive in every facet. That made it a really difficult decision.
“This may not be the end for me, but it is for right now.”
Assey will continue to be employed by Richland 2 in her duties at Spring Valley and Richland Northeast.
Assey said a combination of factors went into her decision, health and being more present with her two children and husband Charles, who is the principal at Cardinal Newman.
Assey was diagnosed with breast cancer over the summer and had surgery in July. She coached the entire season this year. The Vikings went 18-9 before losing in the first round of the playoffs to Summerville.
Assey was one of the recipients of this year’s Travis Perry Braveheart Award this year and was presented the honor at last month’s S.C. Athletic Administrators Conference in Charleston. The award, which is named after former Greer coach Travis Perry, recognizes “individuals who exemplify the spirit of perseverance and courage.” Perry died in 2020 after a battle with cancer.
“It is the best decision to be called and fully present at this time and putting my health first,” Assey said. “I am doing exceptionally well with diagnosis. The treatment and plan and protocol my doctors have me on is going really well. Hopefully, it will continue to go in a positive fashion and keep things at bay.”
Assey hasn’t ruled out returning to coaching down the road and possibly would like to mentor young coaches.
Assey won 161 games during her time with the Vikings and guided the program to a pair of state championship appearances in 2018-2019. Spring Valley defeated Wade Hampton, 49-37, for the 2018 Class 4A championship. It was the sixth state championship in school history.
Assey was named USA Today’s S.C. Girls Basketball Coach of the Year that season. The Vikings were ranked No. 9 in the country in the final USA Today poll that season.
“Obviously, there’s a championship tradition of excellence established here,” Assey said after the 2018 title. “I knew that, and it was a big draw for me to take the job, but at the same time, winning and winning consistently is hard. It’s about what you build together. It’s culture, it’s leadership and it’s buy-in. That’s what they brought this year.”
The Vikings made it to the state championship in 2019 before losing in the final seconds to Goose Creek. Spring Valley made it to the 2023 Upper State championship before losing to Mauldin. Assey led the Vikings to four region championships and won 20 or more games in a season four times.
Before Spring Valley, Assey was the first girls basketball coach at River Bluff and coached there for three seasons from 2013-16.. The Gators made the postseason in 2014-15 with a 14-8 mark. She also was the coach at Brookland-Cayce in 2012-13 and an assistant at Charleston Southern.
Spring Valley is the fourth girls basketball opening in the area. Ridge View, River Bluff and B-C are looking for new coaches.
Richardson hired as SC State women’s soccer coach
Assey’s news was the second bit of coaching news at Spring Valley this week.
Andrew Richardson announced he was hired as the new South Carolina State women’s soccer coach. Richardson is currently the boys head soccer coach at SV and will remain on through the rest of season and possibly longer depending on NCAA guidelines, he said.
Richardson is in his first year as SV head coach and was an assistant there last season. The Vikings are off to a 10-2 start this season and are a half-game out of first place in the Region 5-5A standings.
Before arriving at SV, Richardson spent 12 seasons as head boys soccer coach at Heathwood Hall and led the Highlanders to the 2016 SCISA 3A championship game. He also was Heathwood’s girls coach for two seasons.
Richardson, a Brookland-Cayce grad, also has been an assistant coach at Columbia College for the men’s and women’s programs.
Gibson resigns at Ridge View
After more than 20 years in coaching, Terrence Gibson announced his resignation as Blazers girls basketball coach on Saturday.
“To my community and supporters, After a lot of thought and reflection, I’ve made the very difficult decision to step down as Head Coach of Girls Basketball. Stay tuned to see what’s next for me as I embark on this next chapter in my life,” Gibson posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Gibson has been RV head coach for 19 seasons and won 259 games. The Blazers made it to the state semifinals before losing to AC Flora. This year, RV went 20-9 and lost to Ashley Ridge, 64-60, in double overtime in the third round of the playoffs.
The Blazers won 20 games in a season five times under Gibson.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 12:24 PM.
