Two of Pike County’s own were honored as the Wiregrass coach of the year and a member of the Super 12 basketball team earlier this year.

Pike County High head basketball coach Doug Holland was honored as coach of the year and Kamari Jackson, a junior at PCHS, selected for the Super 12 team, both presented by The Dothan Eagle.

“It’s very humbling to know that we have done something positive in our community and in our school,” Holland said.

Holland said this was his second time of being honored as Coach of the Year and said it was nice to see his hard work of pushing his players to be their best pays off.

“I want the kids to know that I expect a lot out of them,” Holland said. “They know that I want them to work consistently and I’m going to work consistently for them to be successful. I told them at the beginning of the year that I ‘ll take the losses, and they can take the win. It’s a family atmosphere.”

But, Holland pushed the spotlight off him and said that he wouldn’t be where he was as a coach without his players, especially Jackson.

“It’s definitely a humbling award,” Holland said. “When you have great players as a coach it makes the job that much easier. You just put them in the right situation. It’s more of a team accolade. Without the wins I probably wouldn’t be considered. It feels good because I was also an 08-09 Troy Messenger coach of the year, so it’s definitely humbling when you’re named twice.”

While Jackson is just a junior, Holland said he hoped for bigger and better things in Jackson’s future.

“He is a great kid, first of all,” Holland said. “He’s a member of the academic academy on campus. He’s a two-sport athlete. He’s definitely going to get some looks coming up in football this year and in basketball. Over the last few years, I’ve been able to see him grow. He’s definitely gotten much more mature. He’s grown athletically.”

Holland said Jackson had done a lot of things to help push his name into the Super 12, but nonetheless he was proud of the player he has been able to coach.

“He did a lot of things that helped his cause to help him make the Super 12,” Holland said. “I was surprised when they called us about it. I said, ‘Whoa that’s good. It’s been a while since we’ve had someone make the super 12 here.’ And, it has been a while. It’s been seven or eight years since we’ve had a Super 12 winner in Pike County.”