Calling a timeout, Jeremy Autry draws up a play for the girls’ varsity basketball team during a game at Davie High School. The players in the huddle watch with determination, focusing on the marker as it squeaks aggressively across the court replica on the board. While Mary-Ann Autry sits at the scorer’s table after her JV team’s win, she now keeps the book and watches in support as her husband strives for victory.
Jeremy has proudly taken on this new coaching role with plans to rebuild the Davie High women’s basketball program following the departure of Coach Lindsey Adams. His wife, Mary-Ann Autry, is thrilled to be coaching the JV girls alongside him. While both spouses are tied together through love, they have basketball tangled into that knot, too.
The Beginning of Forever
Having shared interests in a relationship is what makes it stronger, and for Jeremy and Mary-Ann Autry, this aspiration has been met at a high level. The two have been married since mid-2025 and have already taken on the role of head coaches together.
Jeremy has worked at Edward Jones for several years, but before that, he had been working as Mary-Ann’s parents’ financial advisor before the two met. Later in life, the two were joined together through coaching, marking the beginning of their love story.
After years of dating, Jeremy asked for Mary-Ann’s hand in marriage in October 2024.
Jeremy had surprised Mary-Ann during a trip to Ireland, dropping to one knee and popping the question in front of a beautiful lake. The newly engaged couple ended the night at an Irish pub, where the future groom sang and played guitar for his future bride in the presence of the entire crowd.
Finally, they exchanged vows on August 22 of last year, and the new chapter for the couple began.
Basketball Biography
Just as their relationship developed off the court, both Autrys were building resumes that would lead them to Davie High. Jeremy Autry has a rich history in coaching basketball, having spent the past 14 years coaching both boys and girls. He began his head coaching career as the JV boys’ head coach at Southwest Guilford and later at Northwest Guilford. He later head-coached women’s teams at Westchester High School and then at East Forsyth High School, leading both to win a conference championship.
Mary-Ann is just as familiar with this sport as her husband. After playing high school and travel basketball throughout her childhood, she later became interested in coaching women’s basketball as well. She took on several positions, including being the assistant varsity girls coach for St. David’s School of Raleigh and at Calvary Day School. Mary-Ann then made her way as the head varsity girls coach for Westchester Day School and a coach at East Forsyth.
Finally, after all of their past coaching positions, the two have landed at “The Nest” where they inherited a program in transition.
Soaring as Coaches
With the departure not only of the former coaching staff but also a star upperclassman, the coaches needed to establish new routines while also building connections with their players. As the season progresses, the two have a number of key goals and ambitions they want to meet.
“That’s what I’m most excited about with my team, is just like seeing everybody grow fundamentally, and just getting them prepared for the varsity program one day,” Mary-Ann says.
A big part of Jeremy’s coaching revolves around one central philosophy: “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.”
“As a high school player, you only get four years,” Jeremy says. “And every year’s special, and it’s something we want to make even more special each year for each kid.”
For the Autrys, their shared passions for both basketball and the athletes they work with have reflected positively in their own relationship. As the season has progressed, both coaches have found themselves growing more and more fond of each other, especially getting to see each other thrive throughout their coaching journeys. Mary-Ann points out how watching each other coach makes their relationship even stronger.
“We get to see each other at home, but seeing each other work with kids and care about kids — It’s just really fun to get to see your best friend out there doing what they love,” Mary-Ann says.
Jeremy echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of he and his wife having so much in common with each other.
“I think our core values are very similar,” Jeremy says. “And a lot of our core values came from the lessons we learned playing basketball and working together as a team, helping each other, having each other’s back.”
Calvin Davis, an assistant coach for this year’s varsity girls team, has worked with the new head coaches for the past two years at East Forsyth. Davis is confident that Jeremy and Mary-Ann Autry will guide the players in the right direction.
“They’re going to do a wonderful job with the kids,” Davis says. “They’re gonna treat them like they’re their own kids.”
As the 2025-2026 Davie women’s basketball season soars, the newlywed couple has taken this family of girls under their wings. They are excited to see where this phase of their lives, and the lives of their girls, will take them. But as Jeremy emphasizes, it’s not the destination that matters.
“You want to win, but that’s not what it’s about,” Jeremy says. “It’s about helping every kid win at the game of life and helping develop them.”
