Junior Rachel Hollivay wants to end her career at Heritage Academy with a girls basketball state championship.
Hollivay already is one of the top recruits in the state of Mississippi, but she knows she must improve her ballhanding and outside shooting if she is to achieve her lofty goals.
Many of the goals Hollivay wants to accomplish as a senior mirror the ones her new coach, former WNBA player Yolanda Moore, reached as a standout at Port Gibson High School.
Moore, who was introduced Thursday afternoon as Heritage Academy”s new middle school and varsity girls basketball coach, won three state championships at Port Gibson High. She graduated as a Parade All-American and one of the highest-rated seniors in the nation en route to a career at the University of Mississippi.
Sounds good to Hollivay.
“She can be a mentor to me,” Hollivay said. “I want to accomplish the same thing she”s accomplished, and even more. It will be really good for me.”
Hollivay is one of six juniors who is expected to return for Heritage Academy, which lost former coach-athletic director Bruce Allsup due to budget cuts.
Moore, whose daughters are friends with Hollivay, has watched her play at summer tournaments and has seen footage of her during her days at New Hope High.
“I know what she can do in terms of running the floor, blocking shots,” Moore said. “She understands she needs some work with her offensive skill development. She”s like a sponge. She wants to get better.”
One of the main aspects Hollivay said she must improve is her work ethic. At times, she added, she just doesn”t feel like working out. It”s a weakness she is working on. After all, she arrived at her new coach”s press conference ready to play basketball.
“I”m trying to do it all,” Hollivay said. “I”m doing it all every day. You see I got my gym clothes on. I”m about to go in the gym now.”
Moore hopes her work ethic — one that allowed her to rise from a developmental squad player with the Houston Rockets to a contributor on two WNBA championship teams (1997-98) and earn a spot in the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 — will serve as examples for Hollivay and her teammates.
“Some of them may not even want to play basketball after high school,” Moore said. “Some might want to go on to be attorneys or scientists. You still have to have that same work ethic. You still have to have that same motivation, the will to persevere.
“That”s what I want to instill in them. Things aren”t just going to be given to you. You have to work for it.”
Moore”s motivation tactics also could occur on the court. She said she”s not too old to trade the high heels she wore at the press conference for basketball shoes.
“I may even, depending how my oxygen flow is, run up and down the court a couple of times,” Moore said in between laughs. “You never know.”
While Moore has coached summer programs and assisted with high school programs, this position will be her first as head coach at a school. It also will mark the first time she will coach her daughter, Ashley Washington, who will be a freshman at Heritage Academy in the fall.
“She told me I had to call her coach,” Ashley said.
That”s the least of the concerns of someone who knows Moore”s coaching tactics.
“It”s kind of scary,” she added, half joking. “She”s a tough coach, a really, really tough coach. I”m just ready for the challenge.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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