Enis, who turned in winning seasons at Cartersville for 19 of her 20 years and took the Lady Purple Hurricanes to the Elite 8 three times, said she submitted her resignation Friday at 2 p.m. to school officials and then met with her high school varsity girls basketball team to break the news to them “face to face.”
She described her job offer “as an incredible opportunity” and said she couldn’t pass up the chance to return home to her family and “give back to the people who gave so much to me.”
The coach, who racked up 361 wins during her career, will finish the school year at Cartersville and expects to start picking up the basketball reins at Pickens County this summer and assume her teaching duties — she teaches physical education — there in the fall. She is going to Pickens at a time when it is transitioning to AAAA ball and expects a challenge.
“It was a very difficult decision, personally, because I’m walking away from an unbelievable [Cartersville] team,” she said. “They mean the world to me. They’re like my own children, but I had an opportunity to go to Pickens County. That’s home to me, where I graduated and where my family is.
“This is getting me closer to my nieces and nephews at the school and closer to the rest of my family.”
It also lets her pay back a debt she feels she owes her home county.
“To me, one of the things that’s very important is to help carry on rich traditions. I’ve just finished 20 years in Cartersville and I’ve always tried to maintain a good history and connect to the ones who played before at Cartersville and are giving back to those who are coming after them.
“At this point, I need to give back to where I’m from, and I have an opportunity to give back to the people of Pickens County who have helped me and the opportunity is near the end of my career.”
She said Cartersville means a great deal to her. “It’s been an honor for me to be at Cartersville. I’ve had great kids here for 20 years. The people have been good to me, and I feel honored I’ve been able to coach here.
“There’s something special to me about Cartersville and the people I’ve had the privilege to coach and teach. They’ll always be in my heart.”
She said she turned in her resignation to Jay Floyd, Cartersville High principal, and met with her varsity basketball team so they would hear the news from her.
“I felt they should hear it from me and not another way.”
She said she had already signed up for another year at Cartersville when the opportunity arose to work with a friend she attended school with. “It happened suddenly. Sometimes you think you’ll never have an opportunity, and when it happens you have to take it.
“Things have happened quickly, and I’ve put a lot of thought and a lot of prayers into this the past few weeks.”
She leaves at a time when her Cartersville program is on the upswing. The Lady Canes advanced to the Elite 8 a year ago and they advanced to the state playoffs again this year. Most of the members of this year’s team are returning.