Dec. 30. Beau Maye surely made his parents proud last spring, landing his first job before he even finished his master’s degree at the University of North Carolina.

What made it even sweeter for the Maye family was that he got to return to a place he loves — home.

This winter, Maye is pacing the sidelines as the newest coach of the Hough High School boys basketball team, where he once excelled as a player.

“I love where I’m from,” said Maye, whose father, Mark, joins him on the bench as an assistant. “I love this area and this community and everything it’s done for me, and that’s why I wanted to come back.”

Hough High is something of a family affair for the Maye boys.

The oldest, Luke, starred for Hough before winning an NCAA championship at UNC. Next up was Cole, who excelled in baseball at Hough and won a national championship at the University of Florida.

Beau, the youngest, was an all-conference, two-time captain for the Huskies, averaging 16 points a game as a junior before multiple knee surgeries derailed his dream of playing in college.

Learning the ropes

Beau attended UNC to pursue a career in teaching and became a walk-on for the Tar Heels at the urging of head coach Hubert Davis. Another knee surgery forced him to step away after one season, and he spent his final two years working under Davis as a graduate assistant.

Not a bad mentor for a new coach.

“Coach Davis has so much passion for the sport, but even more than that, he loves his players and the place he coaches,” Maye said. “He always says, ‘Love what you’re doing, where you’re doing it, and the people you’re doing it with.’”

Maye recounts the mantra with the youthful exuberance you’d expect from someone at the outset of his career.

“I’m about as fresh out of college as you can be, and I see that as a strength,” he said. “It’s cool to be able to relate with the players in that sense.”

One lesson he learned from Davis that he has brought to Hough: no cursing on the court.

“I love coaching basketball and teaching, but I’m in the business of building young men,” he said. “I want them to represent this community, and I want them to be upstanding young men.”

Looking ahead

Maye takes over a young team that went 13-13 last year and 6-8 in conference play, and graduated its top three scorers.

The roster returns only four varsity players and one starter from last season: 6-foot-6 junior forward/center John Slusher, who averaged 5.9 points and 4.7 rebounds a season ago.

Maye expects big things from 6-foot-3 junior guard Tre Ratliff and 6-foot sophomore point guard Jaylen Byers, among others.

While statewide conference realignment has posed issues for other Hough sports, it hasn’t been as impactful in basketball.

The Huskies no longer have two matchups against perennial powerhouse North Meck, for example, but added home-and-away conference games against South Meck, always a tough opponent.

The team started the season with two losses but rebounded with six straight wins and currently hold a 6-3 record.

Brotherly love

This season the Huskies will also face Myers Park, where the second-youngest Maye brother, Drake, was a standout basketball and football player after transferring from Hough his freshman year.

Asked who Drake — who went on to star in football at UNC and in the NFL — would be rooting for when the Huskies face the Mustangs, Beau didn’t hesitate.

“He loves Myers Park, but he’s rooting for Hough,” he said, before pausing. “If you asked him, he may say something different, so it might be wishful thinking on my part.”

Beau said he hears from his brothers frequently about the upcoming season.

“They’ve taken a pretty big interest in it, which is a testament to how close we are and how much they care about this place,” he said. “You get me, and you get the whole Maye family. We all want to give back to this community.”

Did his brothers offer any advice?

“Drake is never short on tips,” he said, laughing.