Four-year coaches shop MACJC games
By By Marty Stamper/EMG sports assistant
April 6, 2002
PHILADELPHIA As expected, quite a few four-year school coaches found their way to Choctaw Central High School Thursday night for the 25th-annual Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College All-Star Basketball Games.
Coaches attending the games included Glenn Schmidt of MUW, Craig Roden of West Georgia, Rick Petri of South Alabama, Andy Stoglin and Chris Giles of Jackson State, John Stroud of Millsaps, Steve Rives of Delta State, Nate Kirkland of Mississippi Valley State, Don Lofton, Caroline McQueen, Paul Allen Duke, and Kenny Bizot of Mississippi College, Billy Evans of Belhaven, Duane Padgett of Arkansas-Monticello, LaRon Brumfield, Teco Hicks, and Frank McCormick of William Carey, Eric Dumas of Southeastern Louisiana, Ron Marvel and Charles Hervey of Central Arkansas, Jeff Britt of Bethel College, Rick Reedy and Chris Coker of West Alabama, Jack Mason of Blue Mountain, Jeff Walton of Cumberland (Kent.), and Paul Peck of Cumberland (Tenn.).
Also represented were Louisiana-Monroe, Tougaloo, and Mobile College.
Haynes wins dunk comp
Wesley Haynes, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward from Southwest Mississippi, won the slam dunk competition, beating East Central's James Denson in a two-man dunkoff after both were tied at the end of their first two dunks.
Denson, the hometown favorite after playing football and basketball at CCHS, missed his first attempt in the dunkoff, forcing him to go for a spectacular dunk over a player on his second try. The second attempt also misfired.
Judges for the event were veteran official Paul Lyle, Philadelphia mayor Rayburn Waddell, and former East Central and Ole Miss player Ray Waddell.
Haynes went on to score a team-high 21 points for the South in its 128-123 loss in the men's game.
OU's out, T' ain't staying
Walter (T) Wilson, girls' basketball coach at Choctaw Central, was one of thousands who attended the NCAA Final Four semifinals Saturday night in Atlanta.
When Wilson's beloved Oklahoma Sooners bit the dust, it was time to sell the tickets to Monday's championship game and head on back to Philadelphia.
Wilson, a native of Oklahoma, also attended the Orange Bowl two years ago when the Sooners won the national championship.
Knocking them down
East Central's Nikki LaCour and Lori Cumberland showed off their free-throw shooting skills in the South's 97-70 blowout in the women's game as they combined to make 14-of-15 attempts.
LaCour, who was named MVP and is expected to sign with Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday, was 8-of-8, while Cumberland was 6-of-7.
Cooper liked what he saw
Itawamba men's coach Marty Cooper was fresh off an appearance in the NJCAA men's national championship at Hutchinson, Kan.
The Indians beat Coastal Georgia in their first game before losing to top-ranked Schoolcraft (Mich.). ICC finished 1-2 in the event. Cooper previously coached at East Central.
