By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Current Homewood High School girls’ head basketball coach JoVanka Ward will serve in the same role at Thompson High School after the Alabaster Board of Education voted to approve her hiring during a June 13 meeting.

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the growth that’s going on here,” Ward said. “My immediate plans are to start meeting with some of the players and getting to know them. My first goal is to not stay new for long.”

In her four years as head girls’ basketball coach at Homewood, Ward has compiled a 94-31 overall record, including a 6A state championship during the 2014-2015 season and a 6A runner-up trophy during the 2015-2016 season.

Her teams were ranked No. 1 in the state throughout most of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons. Ward has earned multiple accolades during her time at Homewood, including the USA Today Alabama High School Coach of the Year, the Alabama Sports Writers Association 6A Coach of the Year and being selected to coach the North All-Stars during the 2016 AHSAA All-Star Week in Montgomery.

“She really has a wealth of experience, and she has a very impressive resume both in high school and college,” said Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers. “We are excited about being able to get someone of her caliber at Thompson High School.”

Vickers said Ward’s hire came after he and Thompson High School Principal Dr. Wesley Hester interviewed her, and said she will teach driver’s education at THS.

Ward, who holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in teaching and learning, will take the reins of the THS girls’ basketball program after former head coach Josh Golden stepped down earlier this month to take the boys’ basketball head coaching position at Mortimer Jordan High School.

“I’m really excited to get a coach with the kind of experience she has,” said Alabaster School Board President Adam Moseley. “We think she will take the great foundation we already have and take it to the next level. More than anything, I’m excited for our girls and for the program.”

“Coach Golden certainly left the program in great shape,” Vickers said.

Before coaching at Homewood High School, Ward served as girls’ basketball coach and seventh-grade volleyball coach at Homewood Middle School, and served as an assistant coach at UAB, Alabama A&M, Howard University and Virginia State University.

She played prep basketball at Kecoughtan High School before earning a scholarship to play at Old Dominion University and then Hampton University.