Anthony Epps resigns as head coach of Marion County girls

Anthony Epps, the former point guard who guided Marion County and the University of Kentucky to championships in the 1990s, resigned as head coach of Marion's girls' basketball team Tuesday.

The Lebanon Enterprise first reported Epps' resignation on its website.

Epps will be taking a full-time special education teaching job in the Campbellsville Independent School district. He was an instructional assistant at Marion County.

"It basically came down to being a classified employee or going over to (Campbellsville) be a certified employee," Epps told the Herald-Leader. "I've been going to school, working on my master's and stuff and I felt like this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

The ex-Cat said he isn't sure whether he'll coach next season. He suggested possibly joining Tim Davis' staff on the Campbellsville boys' team or perhaps just concentrating on his education.

"It's a decision I've got to make, talk to them about and go from there," he said.

Leaving the school he led to a boys' title in 1993 is no walk in the park for Epps.

"It was very hard," hesaid. "I've been torn about it. I sent out a text message to all my upperclassmen and let them know what was going on.

"But I felt like I worked hard to get in position to get a teaching job and I didn't want to be an instructional aid any more. I wanted to be a teacher."

He thinks he's leaving the girls' program in good shape.

"I think in a year or two Marion County will be one of the favorites again to win the 5th Region and get back to Bowling Green," he said. "... Whoever they hire as the next coach, I wish them nothing but the best."

Marion County went 29-30 under Epps. It won the 20th District in 2014 and was runner-up last season.

Epps was the starting point guard as a junior on UK's 1996 national championship team. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.4 assists en route to the Cats' sixth banner.

His daughter, Makayla, is a junior-to-be at UK who was named to the All-Southeastern Conference first team last season.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Anthony Epps resigns as head coach of Marion County girls."