Newton Co. tabs Tullos as coach

By By Robbie Robertson / EMG staff writer
April 14, 2004
DECATUR Newton County dipped into the well of coaching legends on Tuesday night, naming Willis Tullos as its new girls basketball coach.
Tullos, who won three state championships at Choctaw Central, replaces Natalie Vance who left after four years, including a 13-15 mark in the 2003-04 season.
Tullos brings with him one of the most impressive resumes in Mississippi. He won championship at CCHS in 1996, 97 and 99 before retiring in 2001 and has an overall record of 415-186.
The last seven years of his Choctaw Central stint saw the Lady Warriors go 224-24, including an 85-game home-court winning streak. He was the Mississippi Association of Coaches and Jackson Clarion-Ledger Coach of the Year in 1996 after his Lady Warriors beat then No. 1 and unbeaten West Tallahatchie for the Class 2A crown, the first in school history.
For Tullos, it was an opportunity to get back into coaching and get his son, Michael a rising freshman into a tradition-rich baseball program. Michael will be eligible to play immediately since Tullos is coaching at the school, according to the MHSAA handbook. The younger Tullos is hitting .463 for Choctaw Central as an eighth grader and is 2-3 on the mound with losses to West Lauderdale, Morton and Newton County.
For the last few years, Tullos has been involved in Upward Bound, a program that helps Choctaw students prepare for college.
For the Newton County team coming back, they had better get used to the word practice.