Best of the Best: Round 2, Region 1 : Basketball

Round one is in the books, and we’ve got an exciting tournament of champions underway. In region one there were some very intriguing match ups that yielded both landslide results, and nail-biting finishesl. In the end, only one coach could advance from each match up, and today we reveal who will be moving on to round two in region one.

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Region #1 Round 2

Bernard Wilkes vs Shelia Seymore-Pennick

These two phenomenal coaches breezed through round one of the Best of the Best Bracket. Now they face each other in an epic Ribault versus Ribault matchup pitting two of the most successful hardwood coaches in the school’s storied history.

Coach Bernard Wilkes has all the accolades under his historic resume.

12 Gateway Conference championships,
21 district titles,
16 FHSAA Finals state tournament appearances
Final record 758-158.
4 State Runner Ups
4 State Championships

Yet what he brought to the boys basketball program was invaluable. As one very prominent Ribault Basketball alumni put it, ” Coach Wilkes was a basketball genius.” His ability to study opponents and draw up game plans to suffocate opponents on both ends was trendsetting. He revolutionized basketball in our area and not many have been able to duplicate it since.

Pennick has certainly set some trends of her own. In a much different era with many different distractions, Pennick has continued to build a basketball factory at Ribault.

Current record (319-63)
13 straight playoff years,
8 Final Fours,
won 4 state titles,
1 national championship
state runner-up once

Pennick is described as more of a players coach than an X’s and O’s coach. She has mastered the art of getting the most out of her players, by maximizing their individual talents on the court. “She puts everything into her players and in return they put out everything on the court” . Her knack for galvanizing talent doesn’t just extend to her players but to her talented staff as well. Each athlete is college ready once leaving a Shelia Seymore-Pennick coached team. Anything less than a 3.0 G.P.A is unacceptable, kinda like anything less than a championship at Ribault is unacceptable.

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Rex Morgan vs Al Austin

Arlington Country Day may be a small school, but Rex Morgan was certainly a giant fish in a small pond.

5 straight state titles (2005-2009),
state runner-up finishes in 2000, 2001, 2010
9 trips to the Final Four.
Morgan (477-83)
(SIAA) state titles in 2012 and 2014.

Consistency is a major hallmark for a coach. Morgan’s five straight state titles is a major feat in any sport, any class, and era. The players changed but the coach did not, and the winning just kept on coming.

When you hear the name Al Austin you think of the word domination. Under Austin’s leadership, Ribault won 101 consecutive games from January 2000 through January 2003, and he never lost more than five games in a season. The stats are staggering.