February 20, 2025
Wildwood Boys Basketball Head Coach Richard Jackson Named Rural Coach of the Year
By Kyle Coppola
Wildwood Boys Basketball Head Coach Richard Jackson Named Rural Coach of the Year
WILDWOOD, Fla. — Wildwood High School head coach Richard Jackson has been named the Lake & Sumter Style Magazine Class Rural Coach of the Year for 2025 after orchestrating one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Florida high school boys basketball in 2025.
Jackson, in just his second season at the helm, helped guide the Wildcats from a 4-18 record last year to a stellar 20-8 season in 2024-2025, flipping the program’s trajectory in dramatic fashion. The Wildcats, once struggling to find consistency, became a force in the rural classification under Jackson’s leadership.
(Coach Jackson and his staff have been instrumental to the complete turn around of Wildwood Middle High Boys Basketball. Photo Credit – Joe Ott.)
“Last year was challenging for everyone involved but we challenged the kids to really live in the gym and work at their craft and they responded to that. We got back to some of the basics and worked from there. They bought into the culture we as a staff were trying to build,” says coach Jackson
Wildwood’s resurgence was fueled by a mix of returning players and new talent, all of whom embraced Jackson’s philosophy and disciplined approach. The team saw vast improvements in scoring, rebounding, and overall execution, culminating with a trip to the FHSAA Playoffs. Although Wildwood lost in the first round, just to make it back to the playoffs was a huge victory for the program.
Jackson’s leadership did not go unnoticed. Opposing coaches, players, and community members lauded his ability to turn a struggling program into a contender in such a short span. Its been a joy to watch the Wildwood Middle High boys basketball turn around and Richard Jackson and his staff are a huge reason for that success. This is a program with a lot of history in our area and we are so glad to see the program headed in the right direction.
For much of the season Wildwood was among the top scoring offenses in FHSAA Class Rural. Players like freshman Damarius Knight who led the team in points with 12.3 per game along with juniors Louis Brown and Traeston Armstrong really helped this team excel this year.
Jackson and the Wildcats will look to build upon their success in the seasons to come. We want to send a big congratulations to coach Jackson, his staff, players and the community for getting behind the team this season. Well done!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
