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School Bio:  

​​Coach Gatz is in his fourth year as the head boys basketball coach at Newnan High School. Coach Gatz who has over 10 years of coaching experience led the Cougars to the Elite 8 of the playoffs last year. The Cougars under the leadership of Coach Gatz have won 36 out of their last 54 games... Before joining Newnan he was an assistant coach at Mountain View High School in Gwinnett County under head coach BJ Roy. Before joining the Bear staff coached for 5 years in Missouri including multiple 20-win seasons and a district title at Raymore-Peculiar High School in the Kansas City area, as well as 2 years as an assistant at Athens Christian School including an appearance in the state title game.

Coach Gatz played high school basketball at Fruitland High School in Idaho before going to William Jewell College (MO) to play basketball in college. Coach earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in social studies education from the University of Georgia. 

Family: Trent is married to Courtney Gatzemeyer. She is an on-air meteorologist at WRBL Channel 3 in Columbus, GA. Courtney is from Wichita, KS and is a graduate of Oklahoma University. 

Coaching Philosophy: "Basketball is an exciting and fast paced game built on small details that provide so many life lessons. I enjoy the consistency of the game and the mental and physical challenges it provides for our student-athletes. We love the opportunity to compete and to constantly challenge ourselves to learn, develop and improve. Our game day experience is like no other, but coaching provides me an opportunity to experience much more. This team provides a bond for life and learning opportunities to help shape our players. We focus on constant improvement through attention to detail and building relationships and teamwork that goes beyond th basketball court."

Why Newnan: "Newnan is an amazing community that provides great support and opportunities to our students and our program. We have talented students at Newnan with a toughness, resiliency and a level of high integrity that represents our area. I'm excited to help our student-athletes achieve the success they deserve on the court, classroom, community and beyond in their lives. We are excited to build on the tremendous culture and pride that is here at Newnan High School and create a successful long-term program that is a tight knit family for life."