Family ties lure Bluffton’s new boys’ basketball coach from Upstate

Since taking over the Nation Ford boys’ basketball program three seasons ago, Michael Tew told colleagues there was only one job that would prompt him to leave the Fort Mill school.

As fate would have it, that position came open in February when Brett Macy left Bluffton to become May River High’s first athletics director.

“Lo and behold,” Tew said, “the opportunity presented itself and I’m coming to Bluffton.”

Tew, a veteran of 18 seasons at five different head-coaching stops, becomes the third coach in Bobcats history. The job is something of a homecoming — his daughter and her family live near the school, with a chance to coach his grandson.

In addition, Tew’s son lives an hour away on James Island and a sister lives in Savannah.

“It’s a real blessing from God to get our family closer together,” Tew said. “Really out of the blue, very surprising, but very appreciated.”

Tew went 38-37 in three years at Nation Ford, twice taking the Falcons to the Class 4-A playoffs. They reached the second round this year before getting eliminated by eventual state champion Byrnes.

Before Nation Ford, Tew spent nine years at Colleton County, which included a run to the Lower State quarterfinals in 2006. He also produced playoff teams at Manning and Bamberg-Ehrhardt.

“It seems like I’ve been from one end of the state to the other,” Tew said, adding that his familiarity with the Bluffton job from his previous years at Colleton County might have helped him in the application process.

Tew was offered the position on May 9, and he accepted on the spot.

“If not,” he quipped, “I would have had to fight every woman in my family — my wife, my daughter, my daughter-in-law, my sister. So it was a done deal when they gave me the official offer.”

Tew takes over a Bobcats squad that went 12-10 last season and lost their playoff opener, but return a strong 1-2 punch in playmaker Jermaine Patterson — The Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette’s Player of the Year last season — and sharpshooter Tyrese Sandgren.

He even got a firsthand look at his new team during last December’s Bobcat Classic tournament — a 67-58 Bluffton win, as Patterson scored 27 points and Sandgren added 17.

“Jermaine Patterson was one of the best, if not the best, point guards we faced all year,” Tew said. “And Tyrese Sandgren is a very capable scorer. I know those two guys will be back. I’ve met some of the kids, and I’m anxious to get down there as soon as possible to get going on summer workouts.”

And there’s the chance to work with grandson Lee Kirkland, an incoming freshman who also plays football and baseball.

“This is going to be it,” Tew said. “I’m going to finish up my career in Bluffton. My family’s really excited about it, and I’m excited about the possibilities with the players I’ve got.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Family ties lure Bluffton’s new boys’ basketball coach from Upstate."