Lebanon
For that reason, Matte will be taking next winter off as Lebanon High’s 21-year head coach in order to “really recharge” before returning to the Raiders for the 2019-2020 campaign. Former Dartmouth College men’s basketball coach Dave Faucher, who has assisted Matte in various capacities for last four winters, has agreed to serve as Lebanon’s interim coach in 2018-19, Matte said.
“It’s been a planned thing, but I didn’t want to announce it until (today) because I had a date to tell the kids (Monday),” Matte added. “I want to see Alexis play, maybe see my son play more. I’m 49 years old. I have an opportunity where I can step away for the year, really recharge and do this for the next 20 years.”
The Matte family — Kieth, wife Chris, son K.J. and daughter Alexis — lives in Lebanon. Alexis will be a senior at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee next season with a shot at reaching 1,000 career points in her third NHIAA campaign with the Knights. K.J. Matte, a 1,000-point scorer at Lebanon who helped the Raiders to the NHIAA Division II state championship as a senior last year, just completed his freshman season as a member of the Bowdoin College men’s basketball program.
Kieth Matte said he raised the subject of taking a season off with Faucher last November, about the time the Raiders were beginning preparations for the season.
“My daughter started two weeks before we started, and I went through her schedule and knew I wouldn’t be at that many games,” Matte said. “I saw all of K.J.’s games up close.
“To be honest, I would have taken the year off after last year, but the team (this past season) was going to be super young. I didn’t want to jump ship until it got to be more than tentative.”
Matte, who owns a 332-137 overall record and a 294-122 mark in NHIAA games since taking over for the retired Lang Metcalf in 1997, guided the Raiders to a NHIAA Class I title in his first season and repeated the feat in D-II a little more than a year ago. This winter’s Lebanon squad went 15-3 in the regular season and held the second seed in the D-II tournament but suffered a first-round upset loss to 15th-seeded John Stark.
Faucher has helped Matte in various capacities since ending a six-year association with Nashua’s Daniel Webster College in October 2014. A West Lebanon resident, Faucher spent 20 years coaching men’s basketball at Dartmouth, first as an assistant to Paul Cormier and later as head coach from 1991-2004. His 136 victories with the Big Green remain third on the program’s all-time coaching list.
“I really enjoy going over there, enjoy the program, love coaching, love the game,” said Faucher, who joined Matte as a bench assistant the past two seasons. “More important, I love the kids. I can’t wait to get there in the afternoons.
“When he asked me, I told him, ‘I’m coming over anyway; I’m just doing the same thing I’m doing,’ ” added Faucher, who will turn 70 during next season. “There’s not a lot of change for me. The only difference is instead of sitting during a game, I can stand.”
Matte’s break — “I don’t like the word ‘sabbatical’,” he said — only applies to coaching. Matte taught physics at Lebanon High for 18 years before becoming a full-time assistant principal two years ago.
“It was totally his idea,” Lebanon High principal Ian Smith said on Monday night after the team’s end-of-season dinner. “He was interested in and hoping he would be able to secure a leave of absence primarily to watch his daughter play; that was my sense. … He’s given no indication that (he won’t return). Although we’re happy to have Fauch be the head coach, we’re hoping Kieth comes back.”
Matte said he may occasionally consult with Faucher and the Raider staff but, for all intents and purposes, he’s happy to be a fan — and a dad — for a year.
“I’m excited to have a break,” he said. “I haven’t followed college basketball in 20 years, so I’m excited.”
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.