26/05/2026
ADAM RUTLEDGE TAKES OVER FOR KEVIN GARST AS VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL COACH AT SALEM HIGH
One of only a handful of coaches in the Commonwealth to win a state title as a player and then steer his alma mater to a championship as a coach is officially stepping down at Salem High School. Kevin Garst was a key member of the Spartans’ first state title basketball team in 1994, and nearly 20 years later he coached the school to the Division 4 crown in 2013.
Garst is retiring after 19 seasons in Salem and, appropriately, he is being replaced by another one of Salem’s state championship players from the past. Adam Rutledge was a starter on the 1999 title team that beat Gate City at the Norfolk Scope.
“It is always tough to transition from a job and a sport that have meant so much to me throughout the years,” says Garst. “However, I am thrilled Coach Rutledge will be the next head basketball coach at Salem High School. He loves the school, he is a student of the game, and I know he will do everything in his power to make his hometown proud of the program.”
For the past three years, Rutledge has been the head coach of the Andrew Lewis Middle School team compiling a record of 44-4, including an undefeated 16-0 season in 2023-24. Rutledge and Garst were both coached at Salem High School by Charlie Morgan.
“I am honored and humbled to be the next head basketball coach at Salem High School and continue this legacy,” said Rutledge. “I am truly grateful to the School Board, Superintendent Hicks, and our administration for giving me this unique opportunity to lead the Salem Spartans. The foundation is in place, and I cannot wait to get started.”
Garst graduated from Salem High School in 1995 and almost added a national title to his list of accomplishments while in college. Hampden-Sydney finished second in the nation in 1999 in Division III, ironically losing at the Salem Civic Center to Wisconsin-Platteville in the title game.
After assistant coaching stops at Cave Spring and Patrick Henry high schools, Garst was hired to take over his alma mater in 2006. His Salem teams won 263 games during his tenure.
“Any success I have experienced is largely due to the people around me,” said Garst. “Our assistants, the players and the administrators made it possible to achieve our team goals. I feel very lucky to have coached my high school for nearly two decades.”
Rutledge inherits a varsity program that won 19 games this past season and advanced to the regional quarterfinals. As a basketball coach, he channels many of the same attributes that made him not only a standout player and all-state performer, but one of most respected music teachers and LIVE music performers in the region for decades.
“When I was playing basketball, I was always taught to envision the whole game and play it out in your mind ahead of time, and I always tried to do the same thing before I went on stage,” Rutledge said. “There’s no question, the two are very similar.”
He played four years of high school hoops before graduating from Salem High School in 1999. In the Spartans’ three state tournament wins in 1999, Rutledge averaged just under 20 points a game, and in Salem’s quarterfinal win over Grundy he drilled six three-pointers in the first half alone as he dropped 26 on the Golden Wave.
“Coach Morgan taught all of us the importance of discipline,” said Rutledge. “Because of him I’m a stickler for being on time and just doing things the right way.”
Garst, who is retiring from coaching on his own terms, will continue to teach as a valued member of the business department at Salem High School.
Rutledge is a Roanoke College graduate who holds a business administration degree. He and his wife, Kelly, have three children.
The Salem School Board formally approved the appointment at its May 22 meeting.
