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There is a new sheriff in town when it comes to the Lakeland girls basketball program.
Former Lake Gibson head girls basketball coach Antonia Bennett is now Lakeland’s head girls basketball coach. The job was open at the end of last week and Lakeland made its hire Thursday.
“It feels weird. It feels weird a little bit, but ready to see what we can do, jumping back out there. I had some time off. Just needed some time to myself for my peace. … Took that time and now I’m ready to get back…,” Bennett said.
Bennett’s destiny was always to get back — though she was the assistant at Lakeland as a boys assistant last year — especially after her stint at Lake Gibson where she helped the program get to a state appearance after winning the regional championship in 2023. During this time, it was the first final four appearance in school history. Having been at Lake Gibson 2015-23, her teams won four district titles. She was also The Ledger’s 2023 Co-Coach of the Year.
Hall of Fame: Antonia Bennett to be inducted into the Florida A&M Basketball Hall of Fame
State Basketball: Lake Gibson's Antonia Bennett, Braves set for state semifinals
These accolades were a culmination of learning as an assistant coach at Bartow the year before joining Lake Gibson and navigating as the junior varsity head coach at Kathleen the year prior to Kathleen. But to the core, she is a player, achieving the MEAC Player of the Year award as a player at Florida A&M before being inducted into the college’s hall of fame.
With all these experiences under her belt, folks were constantly asking her when she would return as a head coach once more, but the situation needed to be right. After all, she left Lake Gibson because of the lack of interest from student-athletes in girls basketball at the program. Even at the program’s height, there were just seven players on that final four team, and the next year Bennett sensed that players weren’t as passionate about the game as she was.
With the program not garnering as much support as what she would have liked, she took a step back and coached at Lakeland as an assistant. But she concluded that the Lakeland girls program had the support it needed, though the program went 0-22 just last year.
The lowest of the lows for the program led to the handwriting on the wall, and the job became available just last week. Now she plans on forging a plan of action.
“The plan is just to get the program back reputable," she said. "Unfortunately, they were 0-22 last year, which is kind of defeating. … Hopefully (I) can get some of the kids back that decided not to play last year.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland lands Antonia Bennett as new head girls basketball coach
Continue reading...
Former Lake Gibson head girls basketball coach Antonia Bennett is now Lakeland’s head girls basketball coach. The job was open at the end of last week and Lakeland made its hire Thursday.
“It feels weird. It feels weird a little bit, but ready to see what we can do, jumping back out there. I had some time off. Just needed some time to myself for my peace. … Took that time and now I’m ready to get back…,” Bennett said.
Bennett’s destiny was always to get back — though she was the assistant at Lakeland as a boys assistant last year — especially after her stint at Lake Gibson where she helped the program get to a state appearance after winning the regional championship in 2023. During this time, it was the first final four appearance in school history. Having been at Lake Gibson 2015-23, her teams won four district titles. She was also The Ledger’s 2023 Co-Coach of the Year.
Hall of Fame: Antonia Bennett to be inducted into the Florida A&M Basketball Hall of Fame
State Basketball: Lake Gibson's Antonia Bennett, Braves set for state semifinals
These accolades were a culmination of learning as an assistant coach at Bartow the year before joining Lake Gibson and navigating as the junior varsity head coach at Kathleen the year prior to Kathleen. But to the core, she is a player, achieving the MEAC Player of the Year award as a player at Florida A&M before being inducted into the college’s hall of fame.
With all these experiences under her belt, folks were constantly asking her when she would return as a head coach once more, but the situation needed to be right. After all, she left Lake Gibson because of the lack of interest from student-athletes in girls basketball at the program. Even at the program’s height, there were just seven players on that final four team, and the next year Bennett sensed that players weren’t as passionate about the game as she was.
With the program not garnering as much support as what she would have liked, she took a step back and coached at Lakeland as an assistant. But she concluded that the Lakeland girls program had the support it needed, though the program went 0-22 just last year.
The lowest of the lows for the program led to the handwriting on the wall, and the job became available just last week. Now she plans on forging a plan of action.
“The plan is just to get the program back reputable," she said. "Unfortunately, they were 0-22 last year, which is kind of defeating. … Hopefully (I) can get some of the kids back that decided not to play last year.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland lands Antonia Bennett as new head girls basketball coach
Continue reading...
