GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central’s season-opening basketball game on Tuesday will celebrate a simple statement: “We B4 Me,” a fitting slogan to celebrate the life philosophy of a former standout Cougar.
G-C will have a special ceremony Tuesday night in honor of Matt English, the head basketball coach and athletic director for Beech Grove High School. The Greenfield-Central graduate, who was a standout player for the Cougars in the late 1980s to early 1990s, is battling a third bout with brain cancer.
The “We B4 Me: Matt English Night,” will feature a presentation celebrating his accomplishments. It will take place between the junior varsity and varsity boys basketball games against Beech Grove at approximately 7 p.m., said G-C athletic director Jared Manning.
The basketball program will be raising money to assist with English’s medical bills, Manning said. In addition to the presentation with English and his family, “We B4 Me” T-shirts will be for sale, and donation buckets will be available, he said.
Tuesday night’s atmosphere should make for a fun night, Manning said. Beech Grove’s pep band and cheerleaders will join Greenfield Central’s to pump up the crowd, and some of English’s former teammates and classmates will be in attendance to show their support, he said.
“He’s a man of great character,” Manning said. “He’s very well-respected professionally, as a coach and as an athletic director. With his connection to Greenfield, we wanted to pay tribute to him and celebrate what he’s all about.”
After becoming a star on the Cougars’ basketball court, English went on to become a star at Bethel University in Tennessee. He still holds the university’s record in career points (2,530) and rebounds (1,531). English’s name appears in most categories in the Wildcat basketball program’s record books.
English, who was undergoing treatment this week and was unavailable for comment on this story, went on to serve in various coaching roles, including at Center Grove, Speedway, Tri-West and Beech Grove. Beech Grove High School’s basketball court was recently dedicated to English to honor the service he’s provided to the community as well as the courage he’s shown throughout his personal battle.
Beech Grove assistant athletic director Garret Daniel, who was a JV basketball coach under English for several years, praised the coach’s worth ethic and his insistence on making sure others received credit.
“Sometimes, he worked so hard, he ran his fellow coaches into the ground,” Daniel said with a laugh. “But he’s always put others before himself. Even through the ups and downs he’s faced through his cancer, he’s always going to give others recognition first.”
English’s selflessness has inspired his students and fellow coaches alike. He always seems to bring out the best in people, Daniel said.
Wherever English goes, the community he lives in rallies around in support, said Mark Weller, Beech Grove’s head football coach and assistant athletic director. Despite suffering from a baseball-sized brain tumor, English has refused to quit coaching and still makes it to basketball practice in between hospital trips, Weller said.
“He’s exactly the type of role model you want your kids to be involved with,” Weller said. “He’s tremendously dedicated to the community of Beech Grove. His courage in fighting through this three times now has just been extremely inspirational to our students and staff.”
Weller has been friends with English for nine years, he said. It’s always been astounding to watch English show time and again that his primary concern isn’t for himself. It’s for his family. It’s for his friends. It’s for his home.
“He never once, ever, shows any sign of feeling sorry for himself,” Weller said. “He’s the kind of man who always puts himself last.”
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What: Celebration of Matt English, former Greenfield-Central basketball standout who now is battling brain cancer.
When: Between junior varsity and varsity basketball games against English’s team, Beech Grove, approximately 7 p.m.
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