Veteran coach comes full circle
Ahmil Jihad is coming home!
A successful high school basketball coach for the past three decades and a 1984 Minneapolis North graduate, Jihad was recently selected to lead the boys program at his alma mater.
To say that Jihad is an accomplished coach on the basketball court is an understatement. His coaching resume includes years of coaching the STREETS and Howard Pulley AAU programs and seven years as an assistant for the bots program at Minneapolis South.
However, most remember his tenure as coach of the girls’ program at Minneapolis South during the mid-late 2000s. During that time, he coached one of the state’s all-time greats in Tayler Hill—along with teammates Gabrielle Roberts, Sadiqah Jihad and Tyisha Smith—culminating in a Class 4A state championship in 2009.
The University of Minnesota alum went on to revive the boys program at Minneapolis Edison, where he—with all-conference players Mohammed Mohamed, Johnny Spencer and Jabari Langley—was named Minneapolis City Conference Coach of the Year in 2021.
That was then! This is now! Jihad recently agreed to come back to his alma mater to lead one of the state’s premiere boys basketball programs.
An educator in the St. Paul Public Schools since 1991, Jihad adds his name to a list of coaches—Alex Rowell, Tony Queen, Robin Ingram, Willie Jett, Brett McNeal, Broderick “Bo” Powell, Larry McKenzie, and Ricky Davis—all of whom have had successful tenures while leading the Polars.
Davis led the Polars the past two seasons, and his sudden resignation gave Jihad the opportunity to come full circle. Since North’s surprising state tournament appearance under Rowell’s leadership in 1976, the Polars have qualified in each decade since.
Queen (1980, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, and ’86), Ingram (’90, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98 and ’99), McNeal
(2002, ’03), and McKenzie (’16, ’17, ’19, ’21, and ’22) followed the ’76 season combining for 20 more
state tournament births and seven state championships (in bold).
Now Jihad is in a position to add to North’s legacy. If his past accomplishments are any indication of what the future holds, it’s looking bright for the Minneapolis North Polars.
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader comments to mcdeezy05@gmail.com.