February 6, 2025
Gardner-Webb remaining silent as head coach Scott Merritt is dismissed
After less than two seasons on the job in the Big South, Scott Merritt is out as Gardner-Webb's head basketball coach
In less than two years on the job at Gardner-Webb University, Scott Merritt is out as head coach.
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That much is clear, as Merritt is no longer listed as the head coach on the Big South Conference program’s website. Former assistant coach Katie Nelson now carries the tag of “acting head coach.”
But Gardner-Webb — based in Boiling Springs, North Carolina — is remaining mum as to why Merritt was dismissed.
“The university does not comment on personal matters,” Gardner-Webb Assistant AD for Strategic Communications Matthew Farris wrote in an email in response to several questions about Merritt.
However, multiple sources familiar with the situation confirmed to The Next that Merritt has indeed been removed as head coach.
Judging by the public game notes available to media on Gardner-Webb’s website, the change at head coach happened sometime in mid-January. Merritt is listed as the team’s head coach on game notes for a Jan. 15 game against Radford, but on the game notes for the Jan. 18 game against USC Upstate, Nelson is listed as the acting head coach. And according to photos and videos on the team’s Instagram, Merritt seemingly wasn’t on the sidelines for the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ Jan. 11 win over High Point either.
After working as an assistant coach for nine seasons at Marquette, Wisconsin and Illinois, Merritt was hired as Gardner-Webb’s head coach in April 2023. The Runnin’ Bulldogs went 7-24 last season and are off to a 9-13 start so far this year. Merritt was a standout player for the Marquette men, finishing his career as the program’s all-time leader in games played and as a member of the 2003 Final Four team that featured Dwyane Wade.
It wasn’t that long ago that Gardner-Webb was once a proud women’s basketball program. In the 2022-23 season, the Runnin’ Bulldogs went 29-5, winning the Big South regular season and conference tournament titles and appearing in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history under the direction of Alex Simmons. Following that success, Simmons was hired at Memphis, opening the door for Merritt to succeed her.
Gardner-Webb has yet to make a public statement about Merritt’s removal.
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