Dwyer Coach Fred Ross wins Coach of the Year; Brissett fnishes second in Player of the Year
April 25, 2011
Dwyer boys’ basketball coach Fred Ross was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year Monday.
The 58-year-old Ross coached Dwyer to a 32-1 record and Class 5A state championship, his third in his 20-year tenure at the Palm Beach Gardens high school. He’s the first Palm Beach County basketball coach to ever win Coach of the Year since Florida Dairy Farmers started naming them in 1993.
Ross’ star guard Jacoby Brissett, who will play football at Florida in the fall and was the Class 5A player of the year in hoops, finished second in Florida Mr. Basketball voting to Winter Park’s Duke-bound stalwart Austin Rivers. No county product has ever won Mr. Basketball.
Dwyer had its best season to date in 2011.
In addition to their third state title since 2004, the Panthers beat nationally ranked Findlay Prep of Nevada in the National High School Invitational tournament on national television in what Ross called his program’s biggest victory. ESPN ranked them 13th in its final national high school basketball poll.
Here’s the voting tally:
Player of the Year
1. Austin Rivers (Winter Park) – 107 points, 10 first-place votes
2. Jacoby Brissett (Dwyer) – 65 points, one first-place vote
