Lake Norman Christian’s Mason Padgett, who coaches 5-star Mikey Williams, steps down
Lake Norman Christian basketball coach Mason Padgett told The Observer on Thursday that he has resigned.
Via text message, Padgett, 28, said he was leaving for personal reasons. He said he also resigned from his position as the school’s athletic director.
The Observer reached out to Lake Norman Christian business administrator Scott Claunch and head of school Shane Ridgeway. Via email, Claunch said “We do not wish to comment publicly at this time.”
Lake Norman Christian is a small, K-12 private school in Huntersville, a short drive down Old Statesville Road from North Mecklenburg High, a large public school that won a N.C. 4A state championship last season.
Annual tuition ranges from $10,680 for kindergarten to $12,280 for high school.
Lake Norman Christian came into the regional spotlight this season, which was Padgett’s second.
The basketball team has a winning tradition but has played against modest competition, often lower-level charter and private schools.
From 2014-18, for example, the Storm went 93-25. Last year, the first for Padgett, Lake Norman Christian was 31-2. One of the losses was a 90-50 defeat to Charlotte Country Day, a team that went 9-20 last season.
Before the current season began, Lake Norman Christian added a wealth of talent, including 5-star sophomore guard Mikey Williams, who moved to Charlotte from San Diego. He was joined by AJ Allenspach, a 6-8 forward who played at Hillcrest High in Simponville, S.C. last season; 6-8 forward Joyful Hawkins, who transferred from Georgia; 6-8 Shane Fernald, who played at Hickory Ridge; 7-footer Jonathan Kurtas, who played at SouthLake Christian; and Trey Green, a 5-9 point guard from Vance High.
Lake Norman Christian has played in several nationally televised events and high-level tournaments. The Storm (8-2) was scheduled to play University Christian (0-2) Thursday night.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 4:20 PM.
