Jade Brown Just Became Florida's 5A Coach of the Year, and It's Because She Delivered the Goods
Booker T. Washington's Jade Brown has officially been named the Florida Dairy Farmers Girls Basketball 5A Coach of the Year, and honestly, it is hard to argue with the decision. She took the Wildcats all the way to a state championship this season, ending a 26-year drought for the program. That is not a small thing.
The Championship Run That Changed Everything
Brown's squad finished the regular season with a 24-3 record and then went absolutely nuclear down the stretch. The Wildcats ripped off a 19-game winning streak that culminated in a 56-54 squeaker over Blanche Ely for the 5A state title. This is the first state championship for Booker T. since 2000. Not only that, but the Wildcats are the first area team to win a state championship since Pine Forest in 2015. That is genuine hardware, and Brown's fingerprints are all over it.
The voting was not even close. Brown pulled in 98 points from voters to edge out Gateway's Robert Giles and Blanche Ely's James Green. Now she is a finalist for the state's Overall Coach of the Year award, competing against elite coaches from every classification across Florida.
Defense and Grit Built This Title
Brown preached one motto all season: "don't get outworked." That mentality showed up on the defensive end, where Booker T. was absolutely suffocating. The Wildcats allowed just 30.9 points per game and held every single opponent under their season scoring average. That is championship level defense right there.
It paid off in the biggest moments too. In the state championship game against Blanche Ely, the Wildcats never led by more than two points in the second half, but they made the plays when it mattered. They did not let up. They competed until the final buzzer. That is what "don't get outworked" looks like when the stakes are highest.
A Decorated Resume
Brown has been coaching at Booker T. for 12 years and owns a 214-110 record overall. But check this out: over the last three years alone, she is 68-11. That is a different level of consistency. Senior Chamiah Francis also got recognition, finishing second in the 5A Player of the Year voting with 57 points, just behind Gateway's Ashlynn Day, who took home the award with 66 points.
This is the kind of coaching job that puts Booker T. basketball back on the map in the Emerald City conversation. Brown delivered exactly what the program needed.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.