In October 2024, Qnotes ran a story on Matt Lynch, an openly gay college coach. Specifically, he coaches the men’s basketball team at the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie campus. He was hired in December 2022.
The prior year, the team had been disbanded. Lynch built a team from scratch and posted a winning season in 2023–2024. He was named Coach of the Year by the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division 1 Atlantic District.
Men’s Health magazine also profiled Lynch in 2025, saying that he turned what was often called “the worst job in college basketball into a dream job, complete with a first-year junior college championship.”
He is also the only openly gay coach in U.S. college basketball. And now he’s getting married to the love of his life.
Qnotes also reported the following year that Lynch was being more open about his relationship with his boyfriend.
Last month Lynch popped the question to his boyfriend, the tennis coach at Ashley Ridge High School in Summerville, SC. And the fellow coach, Cody Aaron, said yes.
The two men met when both were on a trip to Washington, D.C. Lynch told the website Outsports it was “love at first sight.” In fact, he delayed his return to South Carolina several times just so the couple could spend more time together.
Aaron, who was coaching in Texas at the time, was convinced by Lynch to return home via South Carolina. Lynch told Outsports that “I did what I do best; I recruited him. I’m the best recruiter this side of the Mississippi.” Eventually, Aaron took the job in Summerville.
Lynch officially proposed on September 25, also known as Dolly Parton Day. His soon-to-be, Aaron, is a self-identified superfan of the late singer, LGBTQ+ ally and icon.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
