2-time state champion John Wilkins hired to lead South Gibson girls
After less than a three-week wait, the South Gibson girls basketball team has a new head coach, and it is one that fans in West Tennessee are familiar with.
Two-time state champion John Wilkins returns to West Tennessee to take over the Lady Hornets’ basketball program.
“We feel very fortunate to have Coach Wilkins join our Hornet family,” South Gibson athletic director Mark Dunn said via press release. “His track record speaks for itself in terms of his ability as a basketball coach. However, even more importantly, he is a great human being. John comes from an unbelievable family of basketball coaches, including his father, Mitch Wilkins, and his brothers, David and Mark. He will be a great fit here, and we are excited to welcome John and his family to South Gibson!”
Wilkins replaces Catie Embrey, who resigned last month to become the new girls basketball coach at Moore County.
Wilkins has coached at Brentwood the past two seasons, but he coached at McKenzie for 15 seasons. During his tenure at McKenzie, he coached the boys basketball team for 15 years and added the girls’ job in 2020 for his final four years there.
His McKenzie girls teams went 102-18 and won the Class 1A state championships in 2022 and ’23. His Brentwood teams the past two years went 35-22, making the region tournament both years.
Wilkins has amassed 13 district championships, 6 region championships, 7 district coach of the year awards, A.F. Bridges Male Coach of the Year, 2023 BCAT Coach of the Year and the 2022 TSSAA Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. Over his 19-year career, Wilkins has a winning percentage of nearly 80 percent and has totaled over 400 victories.
This past season, South Gibson went 28-6, beating the Class 3A state champion Dyersburg three times – by 14 points, 16 points and 17 points, but lost in the Class 3A sectionals to Covington after making three straight appearances in the state semifinals.
John Wilkins is the father of daughters: Claire (13) in the seventh grade; Hadley (11) in the fifth grade; and Mille (7) in the first grade, and they are excited to join the Hornet family as well.
John Wilkins is the son of former Gibson County Mitch Wilkins, who retired at the end of the 2025-26 season. His brother David Wilkins led Huntingdon to the Class 2A state championship in March, and brother Mark Wilkins is a former South Gibson boys basketball coach, who was recently named an assistant principal at Page.
