JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Bradford head coach Sampson Jackson won the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A coach of the year award for boys basketball on Thursday, after leading the Tornadoes to their first-ever Florida High School Athletic Association championship.
Jackson, in his second season as head coach, now enters the statewide voting for coach of the year.
He led the Tornadoes past Hawthorne in the state semifinal and Paxton in the Class 1A championship game in Lakeland, as Bradford became the first Northeast Florida team to win a boys hoops state title for six years.
Jackson's James Collins finished as runner-up in Class 4A coach of the year voting, with Ponte Vedra's Kevin Whirity coming in second in Class 6A.
Orange Park senior guard and Jacksonville University signee Josiah Sabino was the runner-up in player of the year voting for Class 5A, behind Tampa King forward and University of Florida signee Tony Livingston.
The overall award winners will be named in April.
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.