Pfeiffer University graduate Brandon Jolly has been named the 2009-10 Associated Press men's prep basketball coach of the year for North Carolina. Jolly, the head coach at Lake Norman High School, led his team to a 27-3 record despite being picked to finish third in its league. The program had never been past the sectional round before this season's run, which ended with a win against Fayetteville Sanford in the Class 4-A final. Jolly earned seven of a possible 22 votes from sports writers across the state to win the award.
Jolly took over at Lake Norman High School as the varsity coach in 2007, after compiling a 56-6 record over three years as the Wildcat’s Junior Varsity coach. At age 27, Jolly was one of the youngest head coaches in North Carolina, and began winning immediately, as LNHS won the 1st Statesville Record & Landmark Holiday Classic Championship in school history, men or women, and eventually lost in the state playoffs to defending state champion Concord. Since that time, Lake Norman has competed for North Carolina State championships under the guidance of Jolly.
“What Coach Jolly has done with the Lake Norman team has been remarkable, said Pfeiffer University head coach Jeremy Currier. “Within three years of Lake Norman having a varsity team, Coach Jolly has made it into a basketball power in one of the best basketball states in America. On behalf of the entire Falcon Basketball Family, I would like to extend Coach Jolly sincere congratulations in his accomplishments on the sidelines. I look forward to having him continue to work closely with our Pfeiffer Basketball program in the future.”
