Montgomery Catholic’s Jill Clark, a highly successful coach in basketball, tennis and volleyball at both Catholic and Montgomery Academy, has been named the Knight’s assistant athletic director and head girls basketball coach.“This is a banner day for the Montgomery Catholic athletic program,” said athletic director Jim Tolbert in announcing the appointment. “Our goal is to have the best coaches in place to give our student-athletes a chance to succeed on the field and off.
“Jill is simply an outstanding coach and an equally outstanding person. She and her husband Jeff have invested so much time and effort in our school as coaches and parents. They are respected throughout the entire community and are such an asset to Catholic.”
Clark has been the head coach of the varsity volleyball and tennis programs at Catholic. She will continue coaching volleyball, which made the Elite Eight in 2005 and has been in the state playoffs the last three years.
She takes over a basketball program that won the area title in 2007 but fell to 4-21 last season.
“Catholic has been a part of my life and my family’s for many years. It’s a special place,” said Clark. “I’m excited about the opportunity to build and improve the girls basketball program and give it some stability.”
“Our goal will be to improve every day on our fundamentals and our understanding of the game.”
Clark began her career at Catholic in 1983 coaching basketball, volleyball and softball. She took the Lady Knights to a basketball Final Four appearance in 1987 and won area championships in 1986 and 1987.
She moved to Montgomery Academy in 1988 where she led the Eagles to 13 regional tournaments, four Final Four appearances and the Class 3A state championship in 1999. She also guided girls tennis teams to seven state titles.
She has earned Coach of Year honors numerous times in both basketball and tennis.
As assistant athletic director, Clark will help oversee Catholic’s growing program which currently has 29 different athletic teams in grades 7-12.
