Full circle: Green earns 400th win at former coaching home

February 19, 2025 by Ken Lay

Sports often have a way of bringing irony to the forefront, and that was the case last week when Oak Ridge High School boys basketball Coach Aaron Green reached a career milestone.

Green, who played college basketball at Tennessee under head coaches Kevin O’Neill and Jerry Green before later coaching under Bruce Pearl, secured his 400th win as the Wildcats’ head coach in a 72-47 road victory over Cleveland on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Fittingly, the milestone came at Cleveland, where Green spent seven seasons before joining Pearl’s staff at Tennessee.

He led the Blue Raiders to a 155-72 record before making the jump to the college ranks.

“It’s kind of ironic how it happened,” Green said. “It happened at the place where I used to coach. These are the only two high schools I’ve coached at.

“Then, I coached three years with Coach Pearl. This says a great deal about the great players I’ve had and all the great coaches I’ve worked with. That includes my dad and several others — so many that I can’t name them all, or I’d leave somebody out.”

Now in his 14th season at Oak Ridge, Green entered the week with 556 career wins between his time at Cleveland and with the Wildcats.

A former standout player, he played for Tennessee from 1995-99 and won a state championship at Sweetwater under his father, Danny Green.