Burkley Named Top Coach for 2023

Middleton High School Basketball Coach James Burkley was named the Basketball Coach Association of Tennessee Coach of the Year for 2023 in Class Single A Boys Basketball.

Middleton went 30-2 on the season.

Burkley, who is nearing 700 career wins with both his boys and girls teams, took his team to the state championship game for the third time in his career in 2023, falling 51-43 in the final game.

His first championship came as girls head coach in 2015, as the Lady Tigers went 35-0. The following season the Lady Tigers won their first 32 games before falling in the state semifinal to Gibson County. The 67-game winning streak was the longest in the state of Tennessee at the time. Photo: Burkley was named District Coach of the Year this year as well. Photo by Johnny Davis.