The reigning Big Seven 4A/5A Conference boys’ basketball Coach of the Year is returning in new colors.

J.F. Webb hired former Seaforth coach John Berry to lead its boys’ basketball program. The Granville County Public Schools Board of Education approved the school’s decision in a meeting Tuesday night.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to coach at J.F. Webb,” Berry said. “I think that there’s some pieces over there that we may be able to do something with. And if we focus in and put our heads together and work together as a team, I think there’s some very, very positive things that can happen from it.”

The finalization of Berry’s new position came nearly two months after Seaforth fired him.

“I definitely love the Seaforth community,” Berry said. “I love the players, and the parents and just the overall community because they did nothing but support me there, and I wish those guys nothing but the best of luck.”

Said Berry, “I want to thank Larry Ferebee, who is the principal over at J.F. Webb. Also the thletic director Keionte’ Gainey. Those were the two that really believed in me and wanted me to come over to J.F. Webb and coach this program. So, I can’t do nothing but thank them for the opportunity.”

For the first time, Berry will coach at the high school level outside of Chatham County. He coached at Woods Charter in Chapel Hill for over a decade, leading the boys’ team from 2007-17 and the girls’ team from 2016-19. At Seaforth, Berry coached Seaforth’s junior varsity boys for two seasons, and he spent one year as the senior advisor for the varsity girls. He coached the boys’ varsity team the past two years.

“From the community standpoint, it’s a little bit different,” Berry said. “In Chatham County, everyone already knows you. I’ve lived there since 2006. I’ve been running basketball related programs going back to Youth Hoops at Woods Charter starting back in 2008. So by the time I got to Seaforth, everybody already knew me.”

Said Berry, “In the case of J.F. Webb, they don’t know me quite the same. Where they know me at is they know they played against me last year when they played Seaforth, and they realized our philosophy, our style, our approach. And the one thing that attracted them to me was the discipline and just the attention to detail that we have when it comes to playing the game.”

Last season, Seaforth swept J.F. Webb in conference play, beating the Warriors 57-50 in the first meeting at home and defeating them in a 52-51 thriller on the road. The Hawks went on to notch their best single-season win percentage and their first conference tournament title in addition to winning the regular season conference title.

Webb finished 12-13 overall and third in the conference last winter.

Berry hopes he can repeat that kind of success at his new home.

“I expect to coach hard, try to put these guys in the best possible position, and hopefully at the end, we can compete for a conference (title), we can compete for the tournament, and hopefully, we can make the state and make a little bit of noise there,” Berry said. “That’s ultimately what the goal is.”