BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Jessica Carter is passionate about basketball and passionate about coaching it.
Now, it’s time for her to support her son’s passion for the sport, which he plays at KHHS.
Carter is stepping down as the Keystone Heights High School girls varsity head coach after 15 years, saying that the decision is all about her son, Steven, who’s in seventh grade.
“I knew at some point it was going to happen,” Carter said of resigning. “When I first saw him on the floor, and I saw the love of basketball in him, I knew that it was coming. I wasn’t sure when.”
Carter said she was able to attend most all of her son’s games, but she missed the one when he was pulled up to play in a junior varsity game.
“I’m never going to get that back,” Carter said.
During her 15 seasons, the Indians were district champions three times and district runners-up four times. Keystone won two straight titles in 2016 and 2017, with the first of those being the program’s first district championship in 10 years.
The Indians qualified for the regional playoffs six times under Carter.
As far as record, Keystone’s best season under Carter was 2022, when the Indians went 19-6 and earned their district’s runner-up trophy.
In her final two seasons, Keystone went a combined 35-15, with Carter being named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association District 6-4A Coach of the Year. She was also Clay County’s Coach of the Month in December 2022.
Carter, whose maiden name is Dykes, graduated from KHHS in 1995 and was part of two state-championship basketball teams her junior and senior seasons. The point guard continued playing at Warner University in Lake Wales.
She had several coaching stints at the high school and junior college levels before moving back to Keystone. She coached the KHHS junior high team for three years before taking on the varsity position.
Carter described the opportunity to coach her alma mater as “amazing.” She has also enjoyed her return to the Keystone community.
“It’s totally different from back in the day when I was here, but it’s still Keystone,” Carter said. “It’s a great place to raise kids. It’s a great school. We have something pretty special here.”
Something else that’s pretty special has been the support of her husband, Neil. Carter said they’ve joked each year about how basketball season is their “annual separation,” but in all seriousness, Neil takes care of everything at home so she can focus on coaching. Plus, he’s there at the games as well.
“He’s always supported me,” Carter said. “He’s been right behind me — right behind my bench.”
Carter has been teaching at Keystone Heights High School Elementary School, but will move to KHHS next year.
She may no longer be the KHHS varsity coach, but when you love the game as much as Carter does, you don’t stop coaching. For example, she’ll still be a part of the Youth Basketball Association program, which she has worked hard to build back up to where it was when she was a youth.
“I love coaching,” Carter said. “I’m not going to stop coaching. That’s never going to happen.”
Will she ever return to coach a KHHS team or perhaps coach somewhere else? Carter can’t tell you that. All she can speak of is the here and now.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I do know it was the right thing to step down,” Carter said.
