PRCC finds a new men's basketball coach

|Stan Caldwell, PRCC Sports Information

Poplarville, Miss. - Pearl River Community College has confirmed Chris Oney as its new head men’s basketball coach.

Oney’s hiring as the permanent head coach was approved by the PRCC Board of Trustees at its January meeting on Tuesday. Oney replaces longtime head coach Richard Mathis, who retired earlier this season for health reasons.

“Chris has done a wonderful job with our young men,” said PRCC president William Lewis. “I’m very proud of how he’s handled himself with our program. He’s a great addition to our college. He represents himself well and represents this institution well.”

Oney, 39, has been at Pearl River for five seasons as an assistant coach, coming to PRCC after a year at Grambling State.

“It’s been great here,” said Oney. “I’ve had opportunities to leave, but I didn’t even think about it. It feels like family here. I don‘t plan on going anywhere.”

He is a 1994 graduate of McCall High School in Tallulah, La., where he was district MVP for four seasons. He spent a year at Texas A&M before transferring to Ole Miss, where he played from 1995 through 1998. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ole Miss in 1998 and a masters in education from Louisiana College in 2008.

Oney began his coaching career at Nicholls State, where he spent one season. He spent four seasons as an assistant at Louisiana-Monroe before getting his first head coaching job at Carroll High in Monroe, La. In his two seasons there, his teams were 60-15.

He moved on to a two-year stint as head coach at Grambling Lab High School, where his teams were 43-12, before taking on a position as an assistant at Grambling State.

Oney and his wife, Christen, have a seven-year-old daughter, Camryn, and a one-year-old son, Caleb.