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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

HOMEWOOD – The Chelsea Hornets are now in search for a new girls head basketball coach following a season that ended in a state championship appearance.

Following seven years at the helm of Chelsea’s program, Jason Harlow is now taking over the head coaching position of the girls basketball team at Homewood High School. He follows in the steps of former coach Gavin King, who led the Patriots for the last four seasons.

Harlow was approved as the next coach of Homewood during a Homewood Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 22.

Harlow, a resident of the Birmingham area, discussed that the decision was made with his family in mind, knowing that Homewood is closer to home for him and provides a multitude of opportunities for his kids.

“When I made the decision to go there, it was partly because of what Homewood has to offer, and it was also due to the fact that my kids are 1 and 4 years old,” Harlow said. “I got to a point in my career where I started thinking about time and where I was spending that time. I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything possible to spend adequate time with my kids at home.”

During his seven seasons, Harlow’s teams tallied a 172-55 record and never missed the postseason. The Hornets made the Elite Eight in four of the last five seasons, two trips to the Final Four and a trip to the Class 6A state championship game in his most recent campaign.

To add on to that, Harlow was named the Shelby County Coach of the Year in girls basketball for the second consecutive season at the end of this year and was recognized as the 2025 Class 6A Coach of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

While going through the interview process, Harlow knew the tradition that the Patriots carried, stating the respect he has for the program’s buy-in to basketball.

“When I first got to Alabama, Homewood was kind of the standard on the girls side,” Harlow said. “Homewood was one of those schools that had won the state championship two out of three years, and obviously had shown that they had a lot of tradition at the school, and I always admired that.”

With Harlow’s success at Chelsea, he did not hesitate to express his gratitude for what his time within Shelby County did for him and his coaching career.

“You’re honored that (Homewood) would reach out with a potential opportunity,” Harlow said. “You also know that you feel very good about what you’ve built at Chelsea over the course of the last seven years, being one of the most winningest programs in the state winning percentage-wise… You knew you had a big decision on your hands, and what you do is confide in the people you respect the most and you pray about it and you consult the people that you love the most, and ultimately you hope that you made the best possible decision for your family and your children.”

Leaving a place where he created a giant legacy, Harlow thanked the Hornets for the impact they made on his life—an impact he will carry with him for the rest of his life.

“I’m just really really grateful for the opportunity that they gave me there,” Harlow said. “We made the postseason seven years in a row. That was a heck of run full of memories that will last for the rest of my life, and hopefully relationships with unbelievable people who came through that program—unreal student athletes, and I know I’m a better person for the time that I spent there.”