Jessica McBrayer is ready to roll in Black and Gold.

Cullman officially hired Wallace State’s women’s basketball coach to the same position — the move was met with board approval on Friday morning — where she replaces Jonathan Hayes after just one return season.

McBrayer, who recently finished her sixth campaign with the Lady Lions, couldn’t be more pumped to take over the Lady Bearcat program and start building a strong foundation brick by brick.

“I am very excited to have the opportunity to be at Cullman High School for several reasons,” she said. “There’s an excitement for girls basketball and girls athletics in general — and that’s really important to me. Over the past few months, I had a sense of wanting to connect with younger kids. We brought in some youth teams at Wallace and showed them around, and a part of me thinks that God was leading me in this direction.

“When I got the call and the opportunity it was the easiest yes, but the hardest no to walk away from Wallace. But the leadership at Cullman is focused on girls athletics and pushing it forward. I’m excited to be a part of that and to try and catapult that in this new direction. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

McBrayer, a 2007 Hartselle alum, played basketball at Wallace State under the late Larry Slater from 2007-09.

She then returned to the program in 2014 and served as an assistant for three seasons before eventually being named interim head coach for the 2017-18 campaign. The label was then removed that summer after she guided the Lady Lions to a 23-8 season.

McBrayer accumulated a 125-31 record in six seasons at Wallace State, twice notching ACCC Co-North Coach of the Year honors. She also led the Lady Lions to the ACCC Tournament title game in three of the past four years.

As for what she plans to bring to Cullman, that’s easy enough to share.

“Our biggest things will be culture and competitiveness,” McBrayer said. “Doing the small things. Games are won by inches. We will focus on being detail-oriented and competitive. If we can build on that foundation, the skills will come later. But it’s culture and competitiveness from the get-go — and I expect us to be the hardest-working program in the state.”

In a statement released by the school, athletic director Mark Stephens praised McBrayer’s experience and résumé.

{p class=”p1”}“Coach McBrayer’s body of work at Wallace makes her a candidate to lead any high school program in the country,” Stephens said. “Our standard is to pursue the best, and we have done just that. We have some outstanding talent in our girls program. I’m excited to see our players develop under her leadership.”