By Loyd McIntosh
Photos by Jordan Wald
The 2025-2026 girls basketball season is underway, and Homewood and Vestavia Hills have new coaches roaming the sidelines this year. Homewood’s Jason Harlow and Vestavia Hills’ Crosby Morrison bring with them a history of excellence and a vision to take their programs to new heights.
Harlow comes to Homewood following seven years as the head girls coach at Chelsea High School—his first head-coach position—where he turned around a Hornets program that won only five games in 2017-2018 to 16 wins and an Area championship in the 2018-2019 campaign, his first season at the helm. Harlow’s teams had winning records each year and won more than 20 games in each of the last six seasons.
During his tenure, Harlow amassed a record of 172 wins and only 55 losses and led Chelsea to significant postseason success, including five area championships, four AHSAA Elite 8 appearances and three Final Fours. Last season, Chelsea advanced to the 6A AHSAA Championship Game for the first time, falling to Park Crossing 49-39.
Harlow appeared to be in the process of building one of the premier girls’ basketball teams in the metro area, which leads to the obvious question: why leave a successful program to take over at Homewood?
While the history of success and future potential of Homewood’s girls basketball program were factors, his answer has more to do with family and the community. “It’s a good question. I’d been at Chelsea for seven years, loved the community and loved what we were building, and there were very few places I would consider leaving that for,” says Harlow, “but at the top of that list has always been Homewood.”
Harlow and his wife have two children, ages two and four, and believe Homewood City Schools to be the best option for their growing family. “I feel like it’s one of the best academic institutions in the South, which is important to me,” Harlow says. “Homewood just seemed like the right fit. These two kids are a blessing. It was God’s timing, and I’m just thrilled to have this opportunity.”
Harlow has the Patriots off to a great start this season. At the time of this writing (December 6), Homewood is 7-4, including a four-game winning streak, with solid wins over Helena, Pell City and Spain Park.
Morrison takes over at Vestavia Hills following the departure of John David Smelser, who accepted an assistant-coach position with the Homewood boys team in April.
Now in her 10th year as a head coach, Morrison comes to Vestavia Hills after seven successful years at Pelham High School. Prior to Pelham, she spent two seasons at Baldwin County High School in Bay Minette.
Morrison rebuilt a Pelham Panthers program that endured six consecutive losing seasons, including a three-win campaign during the 2016-2017 season, into one of the elite 6A teams in the metro area. During her tenure, Pelham won four consecutive Area Championships, three straight Elite Eight appearances and a Final Four run in 2021-22.
While Vestavia Hills does not need rebuilding—the Rebels went 29-4 last season and advanced to the Final Four in 2021-2022—Morrison sees similar dynamics that she worked to instill at Pelham. “The standard is the standard,” Morrison says. “My staff and I had a lot of success at Pelham. We took a team that had won five games in three years and were able to find success early by investing in young kids and creating the right mindset and the right culture. The culture at Vestavia Hills is primed to have success.”
The move to Vestavia Hills elevates Morrison from 6A to 7A, where she’ll lead the Rebels against area rivals Hewitt-Trussville, Oak Mountain and Hoover, winners of the last five AHSAA state championships. Having faced Vestavia Hills in the past, Morrison is familiar with the program’s history of success and is excited for the opportunity to coach the Rebels. “I’ve had the experience of playing Vestavia when I was at Pelham. You can’t beat their heart,” Morrison says. “Vestavia is a very special community, and I think it is the truest form of what high school sports should be.”
Morrison continues, “These kids have played with each other since rec, OTM (Over the Mountain) and middle school, and they’ve grown up playing for each other and playing for their community, their family.”
Vestavia Hills is 6-4 at the time of this writing, winning four straight games over Paul W. Bryant, Dora, Central Phenix City—a Final Four team last season—and Minor.
As of 12/29, Homewood’s record has improved to 11-6, and Vestavial Hills stands at 10-6.
