On June 24, Baldwin County High School introduced new boys basketball coach Jimmy Fields. Fields replaces previous head coach Ben Smith, who led the Braves to three-straight postseason appearances, including a 2024 Final Four run.
Fields brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Baldwin and arrives not only with high hopes but high expectations for himself, and for the entire Braves community.
Fields has experience at both the high school and college level, including time spent as an assistant at the University of Alabama. He previously coached as an assistant at Lovejoy High School before becoming head coach of the girls basketball team at Rockdale County, where he led the Lady Bulldogs to an Elite Eight appearance.
During a recent community meet-and-greet event, Fields spoke with players, faculty, parents, media, and others about himself and his excitement to be at Baldwin.
“You’re not getting a rookie coach; you’re getting somebody with experience who has been there and done that,” Fields said. “I’m not using Baldwin as a steppingstone to a bigger job, I have a bigger job. This is my last stop; this is it for me.
“What you can expect from me, and my team, is that it’s not all about basketball,” he continued. “It’s about the classroom, getting your grades, discipline, character, and hard work.”
Fields emphasized to the players in attendance, the importance of classroom accountability. He stressed that academics, character, and behavior are the most important things to him, as well as discipline, teamwork, and character – shown on and off the hardwood.
“Let me show the emotions; I want you [players] to just play,” he said before turning to the parents and fans attending. “When you see our kids in the neighborhood, they’re not just representing themselves, they’re representing you, they’re representing Baldwin.”
Fields added that from what he has seen so far, the Braves have a young but talented group for the 2026-27 season “Everybody has a clean slate with me,” he said. “Y’all don’t have to worry about any favoritism; I don’t know anybody.
“But what I did tell them (players), if you can’t play man-to-man defense, and you’re not mentally tough, you won’t be able to play. That’s it. We’re gonna’ have to get after it, we’ve got to play together, play tough.
“But I need support. I need support from the community; I need the support of the parents. Like I told them (players), it’s not all about wins and losses. Yes, we want to win – nobody wants to win as bad as me – but I also want to develop young men and teach them how to be adult grown men.”
Fields also mentioned his friendship with former Baldwin head basketball coach James A. Lunsford, whose name is above the entrance to the Braves’ gymnasium. During Lunsford’s long coaching career in Milledgeville he won more than 1,000 games and in 1981 led Baldwin to its lone boys basketball state championship title. Lunsford also mentored Fields and was among the many in attendance for the new coach’s introduction.
Fields told players and their families that they will begin conditioning in September to prepare for the season, which officially will start this November.