BAY MINETTE, Alabama — Alabama’s winningest basketball coach and Bay Minette native Jack Robertson has been tapped as the grand marshal of the 33rd annual Christmas Fest parade in Bay Minette.

When the Christmas parade rolls at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 12, Robertson will be in a prime spot near the front of the procession.

Mayor Robert A. “Bob” Wills said the city is excited to have Robertson as the grand marshal. “Coach Robertson has had an extremely successful career as the head basketball coach at Faulkner State Community College for many years. He and his entire family have been pillars of the Bay Minette community for several generations,” Wills said. “We will see what kind of arm he has in throwing candy.”

Robertson grew up in Bay Minette and graduated from Baldwin County High School. He continued his education at Marion Military Institute and completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Alabama and his masters’ degree from Troy University. He began his coaching career at Robertsdale High before moving to Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida.

During his 42 seasons as head basketball coach at Faulkner, Robertson has guided the Sun Chiefs to 832 wins and 440 losses. He ranks top among all-time coaching wins in the state of Alabama and fourth among active coaches and ninth among all-time coaches in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Robertson’s teams have won three state championships and been runner-up three times. They have also won 14 Southern Division Championships. In 1991, Robertson’s team won the state championship and then finished sixth in the nation at the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.

In 1997 he was inducted in the Baldwin County High School Hall of Fame in 1997 and the NJCAA Region 22 Hall of Fame in 1997. He was inducted in the NJCAA Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2010.