GRANITE QUARRY — Mark Flynn has resigned as head boys basketball coach at East Rowan after four years.

Flynn, a schoolboy star in Kentucky and a 3-point shooting star at Catawba College, bowed out after a 6-18 season in 2000-2001.

“I believe our student-athletes represented our school with a tremendous amount of class and always gave a maximum effort,” said Flynn. “In my opinion, the focus of high school athletics should be just that.”

Among the names surfacing as a possible replacement for Flynn is former East star Brian Perry. L ike Flynn, Perry played at Catawba College.

Perry is currently the jayvee coach at West Rowan and serves as one of Mike Gurley’s right-hand men.

Also, Fredrick Hurt, who has family ties at Erwin, has been mentioned as a candidate. He had a successful run at East Davidson and is currently the head coach at North Davidson.

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It was a tough four seasons at East Rowan for Flynn at a school not known for basketball. He inherited a struggling program and finished his 4-year tenure with a 16-78 record. Much of the problem was playing in one of the toughest 3A conferences in the state.

He tried to build with youngsters like Adam Cornelius and Justin Miller, who thrived on the outside game. But a consistent lack of an inside presence kept East near the bottom of the league.

Flynn’s first team lost its first 13 games before finishing 1-20. His only win came at Central Cabarrus, a club that would win the state championship two years later.

That was followed by marks of 5-20 and 4-20.

This year, Miller, Cornelius and Taylor Weber were all seniors and they won the most games during his stay.

“I’m partial to this senior-oriented team because many of these guys played on the varsity the last two or three years,” he said.

Flynn, a P.E. teacher, said he would continue teaching at the school.