Hawthorne (Florida) head girls basketball coach Cornelius Ingram steps down; Sherika Jackson named as replacement

Ingram has led the Hornets for the past eight seasons, finishing with a career record of 149-40. Ingram also led the Hornets to three girls' basketball state championships in 2020, 2023, and 2024.

Coach Cornelius Ingram points to a player in the fourth quarter as they mounted a come behind win Hawthorne Hs Hornets vs the Graceville Tigers at the FHSAA Girls 1A Championship at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland Fl. Saturday March 2nd 2024, 2024 Photo by Calvin Knight / Calvin Knight / USA TODAY NETWORK

According to The Gainesville Sun's Noah Ram, Cornelius Ingram has stepped down as the head girls basketball coach at Hawthorne High School.

Ingram still plans to be the coach of the Hornets' football program for the upcoming season where they will kickoff the 2025 season on August 15.

The former University of Florida tight end spent the last eight seasons coaching the girls basketball program where he led the Hornets to three state championships (2020, 2023, and 2024) along with two football state championships (2022 and 2023) as well as making four Final Four appearances and winning five district championships finishing with a 149-40 career record and a (.788) winning percentage with the Hornets.

Hawthorne was quick to find the new face to lead the girls' basketball program as they named Sherika Jackson, who served as an assistant with Team FLY and Tre Mann Elite in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit, bringing in over 20 years of coaching experience as she announced in a Facebook post she will be the new coach. She was also the head freshman girls basketball coach at Williston Middle High School during the 2016-2017 season.

Ingram's son (CJ) committed to play collegiate basketball at the University of Florida last winter where he was a four-star recruit at Hawthorne High School playing quarterback on the school's football team for three years before moving onto play his senior season at national-powerhouse Montverde Academy this past season.

Jackson will takeover a Hawthorne squad that had just nine players on its 2024-2025 roster, and lose their top two scorers due to graduation, including three-time Gainesville Sun Player of the Year De'Mya Adams.

The Lady Hornets finished the 2024-2025 season with a 12-5 record and reached the rural-classification regional semifinals before having their season come to an end against Williston back on February 13.

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