North Carolina-Wilmington Basketball

Former UNC-Wilmington men's basketball assistant coach Matt Lynch came out on Friday in an article he wrote for Out Sports.

"I'm gay. Those are two words that 10 years ago I wasn’t sure I was ever going to admit, let alone say out loud," Lynch wrote. "I always thought I would 'die with the lie.' That is how I approached so much of my life, to keep it a secret, to never let anyone know that side of me, to hide and bury all those feelings."

Lynch wrote that he threw himself feet first into coaching, all at the expense of his personal life:

"So as I chased the dream of becoming a basketball coach, I found myself getting lost in my work. I didn't think about being gay or that part of me as much. I didn't date, I didn't talk about it, and it got to the point that I almost began to believe that I could shut that side of my life 'off.'

"I became very good at what I do. When other coaches on the staff would go home at night to their wife and kids, I would stay at the office. I would keep working, keep learning. This helped my career, but I didn't realize the negative effects it would have on my mental health."

Lynch noted that as he continued to suppress his sexuality, he "built up a sort of self-homophobia" and would become depressed once the basketball season ended.

But eventually he began telling people, and when he told one of his closest friends and coaching colleagues, that coach "smiled, got up and gave me a hug, then slapped me on my butt and said, 'You probably like that don't you?' We erupted in laughter. He didn't care, which gave me an enormous amount of confidence to be myself."

Lynch said that coming out publicly was important, to help normalize being gay for other coaches and people in his position who are afraid to do so. He wrote that "the goal isn't to come out of the closet, it's to eliminate the closet."

While that closet still exists, other LGBTQ coaches have also shared their stories publicly. In February, San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers became not only the first woman but also the first out gay coach to appear in the Super Bowl.

She spoke about her own decision to come out in 2017 with Out Sports:

"No matter what you do in life, one of the most important things is to be true to who you are. There are so many people who identify as LGBT in the NFL, as in any business, that do not feel comfortable being public about their sexual orientation. The more we can create an environment that welcomes all types of people, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, the more we can help ease the pain and burden that many carry every day."

As for Lynch, the basketball staff at North Carolina Wilmington was let go this offseason, leaving him currently without a job. He previously held assistant coaching gigs at Edinboro University, with the women's basketball team at Miami of Ohio and at Youngstown State.