Guilford College Adds Parke, Ridge to Men's Basketball Staff

Greensboro, N.C (10/25/06). -- Guilford College Athletics Director Marion Kirby announced the appointment of Matt Parke and Matt Ridge to the Quakers' men's basketball coaching staff Wednesday. Parke will serve as the associate head coach to fourth-year mentor Tom Palombo, while Ridge will be the team's second assistant.

Parke makes his second stop at Guilford after assisting Butch Estes' teams from 2001-03. With Parke on the bench, the Quakers tied the school record for wins in a season (15) and reached two Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournaments. He left Guilford in 2003 to join Dave Odom's '65 men's basketball staff at the University of South Carolina as a graduate assistant coach. While earning his master's degree in business administration, Parke helped South Carolina to a 2004 NCAA Tournament berth and the 2005 National Invitational Tournament title. He moved to the University of Alabama for 2005-06 and served as the director of basketball operations on coach Mike Gottfried's staff for the NCAA Tournament-bound Crimson Tide.

A native of Bangor, Maine, Parke earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Colby College in 1997. He started his coaching career as the head boys' basketball and assistant boys' lacrosse coach at Derby (Mass.) Academy from 1997-99. Parke made his first move to Greensboro in 1999 and spent two years as a coach and instructor at Oak Ridge Military Academy. After posting a 3-18 record in his first season, Oak Ridge went 17-6 in 2000-01 and won the school's first Triad Athletic Conference Tournament title. A veteran of the summer basketball camp circuit, Parke has coached camps at North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame and Northeastern.

Ridge makes his college coaching debut following a successful stint as the boys' basketball coach at East Davidson High School in Thomasville, N.C. He turned the Golden Eagles from a bottom dweller into one of the Central Carolina Conference's top teams over his six seasons. East Davidson went 72-69 in his tenure, including 57-24 in the last three years. In his final campaign, the Golden Eagles won the school's first Central Carolina Conference Tournament title, a school-record 21 games and reached the second round of the state 2A playoffs for the second straight season. He coached Guilford freshman Justin Strickland and helped the guard set the school scoring record with 2,122 career points. Ridge also coached golf at East Davidson and guided the team to a fourth-place finish in the 2005 state 2A tournament.

After graduating from Ledford (N.C.) High School, Ridge attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in secondary mathematics education. He played two seasons on the Tar Heels' junior varsity men's basketball team before spending his final two seasons as the team's student assistant coach under Phil Ford and Dave Hanners. Ridge served as an assistant coach at Southwest Guilford (N.C.) High School from 1996-98 before joining the boys' basketball staff at High Point Central. The Bison went 13-13 under Ridge in his head coaching debut and reached the second round of the 2000 3A state playoffs.

Parke and Ridge are preparing the Quakers for the upcoming 2006-07 season. Guilford returns 10 letter winners from last year's 13-14 club that reached the ODAC Tournament semifinals. The Quakers open their season Nov. 18-19 at the Jimmy V Classic hosted by Roanoke College.