Coach George Jackson (1981 - 2001)

As an alumni athlete, Coach Jackson lettered in Basketball in 1973 and served as Team Captain in 1974. He also played Baseball with teammate Ron Oester under the legendary Coach Tom Chambers.

Coach Jackson was the Varsity Boys Basketball coach at Withrow High School from 1981 to 2001. During this period, his teams recorded 312 wins and 152 losses, which is the highest number of wins in the school's history. Over his tenure as Head Coach, his teams had three seasons with more losses than wins. The program achieved 13 League Championships in 20 seasons and reached Division 1 Final Four twice, in 1994 and 1998. Before Coach Jackson took over in 1981, the team had a record of 5-14.

Over the subsequent 16 seasons, the Tigers Boys’ Basketball program achieved an impressive record of 312 wins and 105 losses, resulting in a .716 winning percentage. The team secured 12 League Championships and made two appearances in the Ohio State Final Four, where both times they were defeated by the eventual state champions. In 1994, the team barely lost to Westerville North in the Division 1 State Final game during overtime. The 1998 squad fell to Lakewood St. Edward in the semifinal round.

In addition to being inducted to the 2016 Cincinnati Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame, Coach Jackson is nationally known as a coach and role model whose teams at Withrow demonstrated discipline and determination despite not playing home games on our campus due to non-regulation court dimensions and an overhead track that affected three-point shots from the corners. He has assisted over 70 athletes in obtaining college basketball scholarships. Three of his former players—Rick Calloway '85, Tyrone Hill '86, and Brandon Hunter '99—progressed to careers in the NBA.

Coach Jackson is retired from both high school and collegiate basketball programs and currently lives in West Orange, NJ with his wife of 40 years, Melanie.