McNairy's Jerry Lott gets win No. 800

On Tuesday, McNairy Central girls basketball coach Jerry Lott joined an elite group of coaches in the state of Tennessee as he picked up win No. 800 of his career.

Lott became the fifth coach in the state to reach that milestone

when the Lady Bobcats beat Fayette-Ware 65-44 on Tuesday.

Lott has been the coach at McNairy Central since 1977, and he has an overall record of 800-350.

He is fifth in all-time wins by a high school coach in the state behind Jim Smiddy (Bradley Central) with 1,217; Lamar Rogers (Clarkrange) with 1,121; Jill Prudden (Oak Ridge) with 908 and David Russell (Bradford and Gibson County) with 887.

During his tenure with the Lady Bobcats, Lott has won eight district championships (1985, '93, '94, '95, '06, '07, 2011 and 2014), two region championships (1992 and 2007) and earned 10 trips to sub-state/sectionals.

He also has taken McNairy Central to the state tournament three times (1987, '92 and '93) with one berth into the state semifinals.

His daughter Kristi Lott (Davidson) played for him in high school, and now he is getting the privileged to coach his granddaughter Kailie Lott. Kristi went on to be named The Jackson Sun's Athlete of the Year, the only McNairy County female to earn that honor.

The court at McNairy Central High School is named in his honor.

His first win came in his second game as coach of the Lady Bobcats. He lost his first game to Hardin County but bounced back with a 75-20 victory over Corinth (Miss.).

Of the 1,150 games that he has coached in, three teams have faced him more than twice and have winning records against him. Lott is 0-3 against Covington and Tupelo (Miss.), and he is 3-6 against Crockett County.

Four teams account for more than 200 of his wins as he has at least 50 wins over all four of them. The team that he has beaten the most is Adamsville with 59 victories. He also has 56 wins over South Side, 54 wins over Middleton and 52 wins over Chester County.

The series with Chester County has been one of the closest rivals as the Eaglettes have given Lott his most losses. The series stands at 52-42 all-time. Bolivar has given him his second most losses at 36.

Lott at one time had a 48-0 record against Middleton.