Country Day basketball coach David Carrier resigns. Who’s his replacement?
One of Mecklenburg County’s most successful boys’ basketball coaches is stepping down.
Charlotte Country Day’s David Carrier, one of a handful of Mecklenburg County coaches to get to 500 wins, is retiring after six years at the school.
Carrier, 61, also coached at Providence Day, Kerr-Vance Academy in Henderson and Westchester Country Day in High Point. His teams reached four state championship games, winning two.
Carrier will remain at Country Day as an athletic facilities and game operations manager. He will also be a mentor to the school’s new coach, Kenny Hairston.
Carrier, who just finished his 37th season coaching, thinks Hairston will do well.
“He’s just the greatest guy,” Carrier said. “I’m excited Kenny is taking over. We haven’t won a state championship or anything like that, but I like where we are. We compete and we’ve built a good culture and I think Kenny will develop that.”
Hairston has been an assistant coach under Carrier for four seasons, including the past three as head junior varsity coach. Hairston led the Bucs’ JV team to three straight conference championships and a 54-11-1 record.
Hairston graduated from Davidson Day School in 2015, where he was an all-conference and all-state player. He later became an all-conference player at NCAA Division II Limestone in Gaffney, S.C., where he ended his career among the school’s top 10 scorers.
Hairston will take over a rebuilt Bucs’ program from Carrier, whose first team was 1-17. The Bucs have posted winning records in four of the past five seasons, including a 20-win finish in the 2022-23 season. That was the most for the Bucs in 15 years.
Carrier said he still loves the game, but just felt the time was right to get out of coaching.
“I’m just 61 and I just really felt like it was time for me to have a different role and still be involved in the game,” Carrier said. “The players I’ve had at Country Day and this whole place is a big community. I love it here and I’m lucky I get to stick around.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 4:05 PM.
