Renown former girls basketball coach passes

ASHEBORO — It has been stated the true worth of a person’s life can be measured by those he lifted around him. 

Whether it be in the classroom or on an athletic field, it’s easy to see the importance Jeff Stutts played in the lives of all those he taught and coached at Jordan-Matthews and Asheboro high schools.

Stutts, who resided in Asheboro and spent most of his coaching career and his entire teaching career at J-M, passed away July 20 from cancer. He was 62.

After a long coaching career at J-M, which included a girls basketball state championship in 2012, he was a coach for the AHS girls varsity basketball program.

Former J-M boys basketball coach and administrator John Phillips spent 25 years with Stutts at J-M.

“There was a friendship, a bond I can’t articulate,” Phillips said. “He left a legacy. He was a consummate professional. He understood what had to be done and how to get it done. He was detail-oriented and very knowledgeable.”

PJ Lowman knew Stutts as a teacher and then a coaching colleague.

“He was my ninth grade Civics teacher, so I’ve known him since I was 14,” said Lowman, the former J-M and current Apex Friendship boys basketball coach who was at J-M from 2004-2016. “After college, I went back to J-M and he’s coaching the girls team and I’m coaching the boys. It was kind of a unique transition from teacher to colleague.”

Lowman said he, Stutts and Phillips spent many nights in the gymnasium after practices and games. 

Stutts graduated from Trinity High School in 1980 and then went to the University of North Carolina, where he earned a degree in education. He secured a position at J-M, teaching History and Civics and spent years coaching football, track and basketball.

There were some lean years as far as wins on the basketball court, but never in his commitment to his student-athletes. That was evident by the hundreds of messages left on his personal Facebook page and those on the Jordan-Matthews High School Booster Club page.

Former J-M athlete Keisha Reives Best wrote:

 “Coach Jeff Stutts, you will be sorely missed! Couldn’t have asked for a more amazing coach! You impacted a lot of lives throughout your years of coaching. You will forever be remembered! 

Taylor Paige left a heartfelt message: 

I could say so many things but I’ll say that I am so proud to be one of yours! The laughs, the hard work we put in to make you proud! You said you were done coaching after we won the state championship, and I asked you to stay for my senior year and you did. You will not be forgotten. God bless your family during this time. Once a Jet always a Jet. Fly high Coach. 

The state championship year came in the 2011-12 season when Aquilla Mateen, Mylia Garner, Erin Bristow, Paige and others finished undefeated at 31-0. J-M defeated Wilkes Central 56-39 for the title.

“He had a really good collection of talent that year, but there were some unique personalities on that team,” Lowman said. “Stutts was the perfect person to be around that group because nothing fazed him. He was the perfect person for the job.”

Garner, a junior who averaged nearly 20 points per game that season, left this on Facebook.

“With me it was different. We never discussed the accolades, the championships or the wins until it was over. None of it was really important. It was about being the best version of yourself. We'd have practice & I would be put on the second string team. At first I was hot, I won't lie. He pulled me to the side and said "they need you to believe in them." That day created a leader in me I didn't know existed. That day and everyday after, my intentions were to make everyone around me better. Finally, days came where me and the second string were kicking butt. 2011-2012 we all got better no egos, no pride just love and believing in one another. The intangibles he instilled in us won those games & they won the championships. I just hope he knows he changed my life.”

Like so many others.