Hartselle High School announced the hiring of Josh Golden, the former Mortimer Jordan head boys basketball coach, as its new head coach.

Golden replaces Faron Key, who resigned to become the new men’s basketball coach at Wallace State-Hanceville after 10 years leading the Tigers. Key led Hartselle to 174 of his 299 career wins that included a stint at Arab High.

Golden has a career record of 377-246 coaching at Mortimer Jordan (2016-24), the Thompson High girls team (2013-16) and Sylacauga’s boys (2011-13). He also won two AISA state championships at Tuscaloosa Academy and led Sylacauga to an AHSAA final four.

“I am honored to be named as the varsity boys basketball head coach at Hartselle High School,” Golden said in a news release. “Hartselle has a tradition of excellence in basketball and has obviously been very successful in all sports. It is also one of the top overall high schools in the state.

“Coach Key did an outstanding job of growing the basketball program and I am excited about continuing to build on the success Hartselle has had in recent years,” he said.

“Mortimer Jordan High School is a special place. I will forever be grateful for my time at MJ and the relationships that were formed. I had the privilege to coach some really good players who were even better young men. I am eager to get started at Hartselle and to begin forming new relationships and get to work with the team.

“We are going to work every day to make sure we make the community proud both on and off the court.”

Hartselle athletic director Jake Miles praised the new hire.

“We are excited to announce coach Golden as the next head basketball coach at Hartselle High School,” he said in the release, “and we are excited about the future of our basketball program under his leadership. Coach Golden has always found a way to help his players compete at a very high level vs. some of the top competition and toughest teams in the state.

“He has been successful at every stop along the way in his career and we feel the match between him and Hartselle High will be a great fit. Hartselle basketball has a deep history of having teams and players that give their maximum effort every time they step on the court and we expect fans will see the same under coach Golden.”

Hartselle principal Brad Cooper said Golden also praised the fit for the school.

“After meeting with coach Golden, it became very clear that he is the right person to lead our program,” Cooper said in the release. “Character, culture and hard work are the cornerstones of our school, and we believe coach Golden exhibits all of these qualities. I am excited to welcome him to Hartselle and have no doubt that he will make a tremendous impact on our student athletes just as he has done everywhere he has been.”