Augusta University

Darren T. “Dip” Metress

Coaching Honors

• CVAC Coach Of The Year, 2001-02
• East Region Coach Of The Year, 2001-02
• Peach Belt Conference Coach Of The Year, 2006-07
• South Atlantic Region Coach Of The Year, 2006-07
• Whack Hyder Georgia Coach Of The Year, 2008-09
• NABC Southeast Region Coach Of The Year, 2008-09
• Peach Belt Conference Coach Of The Year, 2009-10
• Peach Belt Conference East Division Champions, best regular-season record, 2016-17
• Peach Belt Conference Coach Of The Year, 2018-19, PBC regular-season and tournament champions, Reached the Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament
• Peach Belt Conference Regular Season and tournament champions, Reached NCAA National Championship Game 2022-23

Dip Metress enters his 20^th season in 2023-24 at the helm of the Augusta men’s basketball program and continues to bring his team into national and regional recognition while never having a losing season.

He has a 419-146 (.742) record after 19 seasons in Augusta and a 553-239 (.698) overall record entering his 28th season as an NCAA head coach.

Metress continues to succeed in wins, recruits, and postseason appearances. He was named the fifth head coach in program history on May 10, 2004, and wasted little time in rebuilding the Jaguars. He won 19 games in his first season and led the Jaguars to victories over three nationally-ranked opponents.

The 2022-23 team continued on the same winning path. After winning the PBC regular season and PBC Tournament, Augusta University men's basketball team won the PBC Regular season title and PBC Tournament. The Jaguars were the top seed and host for the NCAA Southeast Regional. It marked the Jaguars 15^th selection all time. Tyree Myers, Miguel Arnold, and Tyshaun Crawford were all named PBC All-Conference. Crawford would go on to be named an NABC All-American. During the season, Myers were become the all-time PBC Assist leader and Arnold would talk his place as the all-time PBC three-pointer leader. 

Metress' 2021-2022 team won the Peach Belt Conference regular season and conference tournament titles. The Jags closed the year with a 33-4 record, the most wins in school history.

The 2022 team was the top seed and host to for the NCAA Southeast Regional. It marked the Jaguars 14^th selection all time and the eleventh in the last 15 years for head coach Dip Metress. After falling to top-25 Flagler in January, the Jaguars would go on to win 19 straight games before falling in the NCAA National Championship game. Junior Tyshaun Crawford was Named PBC Co-Player of the Year, first team All-Conference, and D2CCA All-Region. Senior Troy Cracknell was voted second team All-Conference. . Four players averaged double-digit points, while seven Jaguars turned in five or more points each game

Augusta finished second in the Peach Belt Conference in 2020 with a 21-8 overall record. The team entered the PBC tournament on a 10-game win streak. Senior Rafael Monteiro was named First Team All-Conference and the PBC Elite 15 Award Winner. During his first season with AU, sophomore Tyshaun Crawford was named Second Team All-Conference.  Four Jaguars average double digits for the season. ***season ended prior to first round NCAA tournament game due to Co-VID***

The 2018-19 Jaguars finished the season 28-6, the third most wins in school history, and rode a 15-game win streak as one of the hottest teams to enter the NCAA Tournament. Augusta finished the year ranked No. 16 in the nation and the second-seed in the NCAA Southeast Region. After losing a regular-season game on Jan. 30 to rival USC Aiken in Christenberry Fieldhouse, the Jags won 15 in a row and made an epic postseason run all the way to the Sweet 16. Augusta won the 2019 Peach Belt Conference regular season championship and the 2019 PBC Tournament title. AU senior Deane Williams was named All-Region, the Peach Belt Defensive Player of the Year, the PBC Co-Player of the Year, and first-team All-Conference. AU rookie Miguel Arnold was voted the PBC Co-Freshman of the Year, Dip Metress was named PBC Coach of the Year for the third time in his tenure, and junior Rafael Monteiro was named second team All-Conference. Four players averaged double-digit points, while eight Jaguars turned in five or more points each game.

Augusta won the 2017 Peach Belt Conference East Division title and had the best regular-season record across the entire league in the 2016-17 season. A senior in 2016-17, Keshun Sherrill capped off a historic career by becoming the PBC’s all-time leading scorer with 2,333 points. Augusta retired Sherrill’s No. 10 jersey on May 2, 2017. He was a four-time All-American under Metress and was named the NCAA Southeast Region and PBC Player of the Year in 2017.

Competing as Augusta University for the first time in the 2015-16 season, Metress surpassed 400 career wins as the team earned a No. 10 NCAA Southeast Region ranking. HERO Sports named Augusta University men’s hoops the best program in the state and the Jags reached the PBC Tournament Championship game. Sherrill was named All-District and All-Conference in 2015-16 as he surpassed career 1,000 points.

In 2014-15, Metress coached the Jags to a 23-7 overall record and a 15-4 mark in the Peach Belt. The team reached its 11th NCAA Tournament all time and it's seventh under Metress. Keshun Sherrill was named All-American and All-District by the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC), and earned All-Region by Daktronics and All-Conference for the Peach Belt.

The 2013-14 season featured a massive road win, time bouncing about the top 25, a game-sealing block and their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Jags finished 24-8 and 15-4 in the PBC in 2013-14, taking second place in the East Division. Metress guided Keshun Sherrill to Peach Belt Freshman of the Year honors, while senior KJ Sherrill and Ryan Weems earned All-Conference.

Metress found success early when he added 15 wins in his second season and then, in just his third year, guided the Jaguars to what was, at the time, its second-best season in school history in 2006-07.

Not only did the Jags win 24 games and a PBC regular-season championship that season, Metress was named Peach Belt Conference Coach-of-the-Year and Augusta earned a No. 1 regional seeding. The Jags served as hosts of the NCAA South Atlantic Regional, advancing to the semifinals and earning a season-ending No. 18 national ranking.

In 2007-08, it got even better. Metress guided Augusta University to what was, at the time, the top season in school history, posting a 27-7 record and advancing all the way to the NCAA Tournament’s National Championship game and a national television appearance on CBS. Along the way, the Jags achieved the highest national ranking in school history at No. 5 and clinched their first South Atlantic Region championship, earning their first berth in the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass., in the process.

A season later, Metress guided the Jags to a 30-5 record in 2008-09 that included a then school-record No. 3 national ranking, a sweep of the PBC regular-season and tournament championships, a second straight NCAA Regional Championship, and a return trip to the Elite Eight. Augusta lost in the National Semifinals to Cal Poly Pomona (74-70), but garnered more national respect with the selection of Garret Siler and Ben Madgen as All-Americans, and finished the year with a No. 4 national ranking.

In 2009-10, the Jags ascended to the top of the national rankings, earning the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history on two separate occasions and posting their third Peach Belt Conference title in the last four seasons. Ben Madgen was one of three finalists for National Player-of-the-Year and an All-American for the second straight season while the Jaguars posted a 29-4 record and made its third consecutive Elite Eight appearance.

Metress may have saved his best coaching job for the 2010-11 season. Faced with the daunting task of replacing all five starters responsible for 116 wins the previous four seasons, Metress guided the 2010-11 Jaguars to the winningest season (in terms of percentage) in school history at 30-4 (.882).

Augusta claimed both the PBC regular-season and tournament titles and hosted an NCAA Regional for the fifth consecutive season. Only a 75-73 overtime loss to Anderson in the NCAA Southeast Regional title game kept the Jags from making their fourth consecutive trip to the Elite Eight.

Equally successful on the recruiting trail, Metress’ eye for talent has translated into three Jags winning PBC Freshman of the Year honors over the last five seasons while AJ Bowman -- Metress’ first recruit when he accepted the Augusta head job -- won back-to-back PBC Player of the Year honors in 2006-07 and 2007-08. He was also named Player-Of-The-Year in the state of Georgia and was the first player in Augusta University history to be voted a two-time All-American when he earned national accolades as both a junior and a senior.

Metress returned to Augusta following a highly successful, eight-year stint as head men’s basketball coach at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C. During his tenure, Metress guided his alma mater to a 134-103 (.565) record, including a 117-66 (.639) mark over his last six years.

In his last four years at the Abbey, the Crusaders posted a 40-8 (.833) record at home and an overall mark of 84-35 (.706), and in the last three years, they were 68-23 (.747). He also served as Compliance Director at Belmont Abbey from 1997-2004.

Metress guided Belmont Abbey to a pair of CVAC (Carolina-Virginia Athletic Conference) Tournament titles in 2001-02 and 2002-03. The Crusaders made a pair of Division II NCAA Tournament appearances during that span, advancing to the East Region Semifinals in 2002. They earned the highest national ranking in school history in 2002-03 when they stood 11th in the final poll.

Metress’ 2001-02 Crusader squad caught the attention of college basketball fans when it defeated Division I College of Charleston 70-67 in Charleston, S.C., snapping the Cougars’ 22-game home winning streak, which ranked as the fifth-longest in the nation.

During that magical campaign, Belmont Abbey won the CVAC regular-season and tournament titles, earned a final No. 3 East Region ranking and posted a 25-6 record. Metress earned CVAC Coach-of-the-Year and East Region Coach-of-the-Year honors.

A former Augusta assistant, Metress served on the Jaguars’ coaching staff under former head coach and current Director of Athletics Clint Bryant from 1989-1995. During those six seasons, Metress oversaw preseason and postseason workouts, monitored academic progress and coordinated the Jags’ recruiting efforts under Bryant. Metress has also helped spur the careers of several assistants. His former aides who have continued their coaching careers include: Jeff Brookman, head men’s coach at Anderson University; Nate Dixon, an assistant men’s coach at UMBC, Ganon Baker, player development assistant for the Nike Skills Academy; and most recently Jamie Quarles, the new assistant coach at the University of Buffalo.

A 1988 graduate of Belmont Abbey with a B.A. in Political Science, Metress earned his M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision from Augusta State in 1992.

Metress is married to the former Heather Bradford of Lincolnton, Ga. They are the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth Margaret - current Director of Women's Basketball Operation at Coastal Carolina University