Oak Ridge’s Green calls it a career
One of East Tennessee’s top high school boys basketball coaches will not return for the 2026-27 season.
Oak Ridge High School Coach Aaron Green announced his resignation from coaching Monday, May 4, and said he isn’t looking to return to the game.
“I have no desire to coach again,” he said. “When you look at my coaching career, counting college, I’ve been coaching for 27 years, and as you get older, your priorities change.
“You never say ‘never,’ but as you get older, things change. That’s why I’m calling it a resignation and not a retirement.
“While I have time, I want to spend time with my family, and I have some things that I want to do for myself,” Green said. “The good Lord never promises you tomorrow.”
During his 16-year tenure at the helm of the Wildcats, Green’s teams never had a losing record. He also guided Oak Ridge to a pair of state championship games in 2014 and 2025.
Green won 456 games at Oak Ridge. He also won 156 games as head coach at Cleveland.
Between high school coaching stops, Green served as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee under Bruce Pearl from 2007-10.
He also played for the Volunteers under Coach Kevin O’Neill. He won a state championship as a player at Sweetwater High School and was named the state tournament MVP.
Green has no plans to return to the game, but the decision to walk away wasn’t easy, he said.
“It was a hard day and an emotional day,” Green said. “Basketball has been my life ever since I could walk, but basketball and coaching take up a lot of time.”
