COACH 2002-2019

Previously Apex High School’s Men’s Basketball coach at Apex High School, David Neal arrived at Apex in 2002 and immediately turned the Cougars into a powerhouse program. His teams averaged almost 20 wins a season and made the state playoffs in 15 of his 17 years as a coach at Apex High School. Under his leadership, the Cougars won eight regular season (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015) and five tournament conference championships. In addition, he has twice coached his squads to the Eastern Regional Championship, with the 2014 team reaching the peak by winning the 4A State title.

Coach Neal was honored by his peers seven times as the Conference Coach of the Year and was selected to serve as the Head Coach of the East team in the annual NCCA East-West All Star game in 2018. Prior to coming to Apex, Coach Neal coached at Louisburg High School from 1997 to 2002, amassing an amazing 357 wins over his 22-year high school coaching career. In addition to his amazing high school coaching career, Coach Neal was an excellent athlete in his own right. He played football, basketball, and baseball all four years at Sanderson High School and was inducted into the Sanderson Hall of Fame in 2012 based on his outstanding high school accomplishments. In addition, he played for legendary Coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina, including playing in the NCAA Final Four in 1995. In many respects, Coach Neal has emulated many of Dean Smith’s greatest traits. He sent a dozen players on to play in the collegiate ranks. But more important, he created an atmosphere at Apex High School where all of his players invest in something greater than themselves: a team sacrificing for the greater good rather than individual recognition. In July of 2019, Coach Neal became the athletic director at his alma mater, Sanderson High School.