Panthers hire basketball and cross country coaches

By Roger Lee

Special to the HSSR

Summerville – Pinewood Prep Athletics has a new head coach for two of its programs entering this school year.

Panthers Athletic Director J. W. Myers has named Beth Greenlee to head its Girls Basketball program and added the position of head cross country coach to the responsibilities of Jake Birdsong.

Greenlee, a former Summerville standout who participated in multiple sports including softball and basketball, replaces Anthony Weston who stepped down from the position. Weston headed the program the last four seasons, but joined the program as an assistant in 2013.

“He felt like he couldn’t give the time the team needed so it was a mutual parting,” Myers said. “I think a lot of it is he wants to be able to sit back and watch his daughter player, which I don’t think he has done in a while.”

Greenlee was already a history/government teacher at Pinewood who formerly spent time in the business world. She is a College of Charleston graduate who played for the Cougars Softball team and trained with the colleges’ basketball players during the offseason.

“She has a background in basketball but also we liked having someone who is on campus and has a general sports background,” Myers said. “She already knows the girls and we think she will do a good job running and revitalizing a program. She is excited about getting to work with our athletes outside the classroom as well as in the classroom.”

Birdsong was already the Panthers’ head track and field coach and an assistant cross country coach. He takes over the cross country program from Tony Bulford, who stepped down after more than 15 years of coaching at Pinewood. He led the program to multiple region championships.

“Tony did a great job building a course on our campus and growing that program,” Myers said. “Jake helped with that so it was a natural fit and he will continue with that growth.”

In the past, Birdsong also served as the head JV Girls Basketball coach. He is a Pinewood alumni who ran for Presbyterian College. He led the Pinewood boys’ track team to a region championship in the spring. Myers says he has all the cross country and track teams on an upward trajectory.

Pinewood also has some veteran coaches. In addition to the above region titles, the Panthers claimed region titles in boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer, baseball and football last school year.

Pat Eidson has been the boys’ basketball coach for more than 30 years and has led Pinewood teams to multiple region and state championships. He has more than 900 coaching wins.

Gail Osborne has been the Pinewood girls’ soccer coach since 2005 and led the program to multiple region championships and eight state championships. Her team finished the 2024 season with a 22-1-2 record and captured its fourth straight SCISA Girls Soccer Championship. Osborne has more than 300 career coaching victories and is an eight-time time region coach of the year.

Boys’ soccer coach Luke Williams led the Panthers to the past two SCISA 3A Boys Soccer State Championships.

Competitive cheerleading coaches Merrell Mann and Dee Devlin and swimming coach Jessica Archambault have all coached for the school for more than 15 years while baseball coach Jay Buddin has been with the school for more than 10 years.

Mann and Devlin have lead the Panthers’ cheerleaders to multiple state titles, including the past three SCISA AAA Championships.

Archambault and Buddin have also led their program to multiple region championships. The baseball team claimed its third straight region title in 2024.

Other Pinewood head coaches returning are Andy Morgan (lacrosse and girls golf), Rob Dudley (sporting clays), Brandon Brown (boys’ golf), DeVonte Holloman (football), Tuesday Abernathy (girls’ volleyball) and Jarriel King (strength and conditioning).