USA TODAY High School Sports is unveiling the 2016-17 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Boys Basketball Teams as selected by Jim Halley with input from USA TODAY Sports’ Jason Jordan, high school coaches and recruiting experts.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Michael Porter Jr., Nathan Hale (Seattle)
MORE: FIRST TEAM | SECOND TEAM | THIRD TEAM
Jack Doss, the head coach of Jemison High School in Huntsville, Alabama, watches his players practice. (Photo: Amanda Inscore, The News-Press)
COACH PROFILE:
Name: Jack Doss
School: Mae Jemison, Huntsville, Ala.
Details: Won his 10th state title this season, a state record. He’s won state titles at four schools (Hayes in Birmingham, Butler in Huntsville, J.O. Johnson in Huntsville and now, Mae Jemison), with an all-time record of 812-329.
My players say my best quality is: Caring about their best interest or reaching their potential..
Greatest achievement: Working with young men. We’ve had more than 40 Division I players and we’ve helped them succeed, to use basketball as a vehicle to get a college education.
Failure I learned from: My first game of coaching in middle school. I put in a press breaker but we just went over it once or twice. In the fourth quarter, we were getting beat by 40 points and I thought I could have done a better job of having them break a press.
Favorite class: Naturally, physical education. I wasn’t really good in math, English or science. That narrowed it down really quickly.
Outside of sports, I’m inspired by: Gen. George Patton. He was a great motivator. He had a plan. He walked by vision, not just by sight. He was so well-respected. I still enjoy talking to different people who served under him.
I’m likely to sing along to: I grew up listening to the Beach Boys and I think Brian Wilson wrote the best song ever written, God Only Knows.
Typical breakfast: The breakfast of champions, Honey Bunny chocolate milk or Krispy Kreme (donuts) with chocolate milk.
Last movie I saw: Hacksaw Ridge, which is the story of Desmond Doss and we may be distant kin.
Favorite teacher: Hugh Carter. He was the principal of a small middle school in the country (at DeArmanville, Ala.). He was also the history teacher and the basketball coach. His name was Hugh Red Carter. When his face started turning red, you knew to stop what you were doing. He kept me in line and I really appreciate the values he put into me.
Could play my story: I like my wife’s version, but I’m not sure if she has cataracts. She says Pierce Brosnan. I would like Sean Connery. He has that presence.
Funniest thing to happen recently: I see something funny every morning when I look in the mirror. That is about as funny as it gets.
A year from now, I will be doing: Whatever the Lord’s willed in my life. That’s exciting about every day, what direction I’m led in. My goal when I first got in it, was to win five state championships. Somebody at that time had won four. Now, I’m blessed with 10. The Good Lord can make things happen that we don’t think can happen.
Biggest names on my phone: Eric Bledsoe, who’s in the NBA, and Buck Johnson, who was in the NBA for six seasons. (Butler played for Doss in an All-Star game and Johnson played for Doss at Hayes). Also, there’s Edgar Welden, a successful businessman who brought the World Games to Birmingham.
Favorite app on my phone: The Bible. I get the daily food that I need from that.