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Drew McBrayer admits he dreamed of one day becoming the boys basketball coach at New Hope High School. He never imagined that day would come so soon. The Lowndes County School Board on Friday approved the hiring of McBrayer as New Hope High’s boys basketball coach. McBrayer, 30, replaces Robert Byrd, who announced his resignation Tuesday after 11 years as the school’s head coach.
Former New Hope High School baseball player Lee Boyd is expected to be named the school’s new baseball coach. Boyd, who spent five years as a player in the New Hope High baseball program, said Wednesday he had accepted a job offer to be the Trojans’ new coach. He declined to comment further pending the approval Friday of his hiring by the Lowndes County School Board.
Robert Byrd is looking ahead. After years working to raise the children of other people and toiling as a basketball coach, Byrd said Wednesday it is time for a change. Byrd on Tuesday resigned as boys basketball coach at New Hope High School, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and to focus on the pursuit of a master’s degree.
The timing proved to be perfect for Laura Lee Holman. As a result, the former New Hope High School softball and girls basketball standout likely will return to her alma mater as a coach. Holman last week accepted a job offer to replace Tim Vaughan as New Hope High’s girls basketball coach. Holman’s hiring is expected to be finalized Friday when the Lowndes County School Board convenes its monthly meeting.
Rachel Hollivay isn’t letting a little disappointment slow her down. In fact, the New Hope High School sophomore girls basketball player is using her experiences this summer to take her game to new heights. In May, Hollivay was one of 34 players invited to travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to attend the team trials for the 2009 USA Basketball Women’s Under-16 National Team.
Mandy Fondren believes there is no place better to learn than close to home. Fondren’s decision to accept a job offer to become East Webster High School’s new girls basketball coach is even more appealing because she grew up in Sherwood, a small community in Choctaw County, and she will have an opportunity to join a school with a tradition-rich athletic department.
Another day didn’t change things enough for Clint Wilkerson and his family. The St. Aloysius High School baseball coach Monday morning declined a job offer to be the new head baseball coach at New Hope High School. Administrators from New Hope High then spoke with Wilkerson later that day and asked him to give them more time to try to work out a better situation for him and his family.
Former New Hope High School baseball coach Stacy Hester said Monday he won’t appeal the decision of Lowndes County School District Superintendent Mike Halford not to retain him as the school’s baseball coach.
The heat index is a number on the mind of more and more high school football coaches. With temperatures and heat indices in the state reaching into the upper 90s and 100s, respectively, in the past two weeks, football coaches around the state are trying to identify the best times and ways to get their players in condition for the start of the season. When state schools and football teams reconvene Aug. 3 for the 2009-10 school year, coaches might have another item to consider.
Each pass brings teams closer to the start of the 2009 high school football season. That’s why more and more teams are trying to get as many repetitions as they can in the next two months before school reconvenes in August. Columbus High School football coach Bubba Davis is going to do his best to make sure his team and others in the area are busy. Davis and the Falcons played host Tuesday to the first of what he hopes are several evenings of 7-on-7 passing competition.
The school colors have been worn for the final time. But New Hope High School graduates Victoria Culpepper, Kristen Harvey, and DeShuni Sanders wouldn’t have closed their careers any other way. The former Lady Trojans closed their high school careers last weekend with a host of other local players at the Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star games at Newton County High School in Decatur.
Stacy Hester said Thursday he plans to appeal the recommendation of Lowndes County School District Superintendent Mike Halford and the vote of the county’s school board that he not be retained as New Hope High School baseball coach. “I want them to man up and tell me why,” Hester said. “It is just amazing (this has happened after) all of the things I have done and have been a part of out in that program. (It is a shame that after) one little incident all of this stuff kind of blows up and you’re gone. I think they are hiding the fact that I had an at-will contract and they don’t have to tell me a thing.”
Latorrence Bivens is an easy-going guy. But don’t confuse Bivens’ quiet demeanor with an inability to set high expectations and an unwillingness to push his players to reach those goals. Bivens hopes that mix of qualities can be part of what will help him transition to coaching girls basketball.
Stacy Hester is still confused, and now he apparently is out of a job he loves. On Friday, Lowndes County School District Superintendent Mike Halford recommended Hester not be retained as New Hope High School’s baseball coach. None of the five school board members asked to have the issue of Hester’s status pulled from the consent agenda, where it could have been up for an open vote. The board then voted 5-0 to accept Halford’s recommendation.
The blank Web page might be an omen for the New Hope High School baseball program. At 3 p.m. Saturday, the www.newhopebaseball.com page on the New Hope High sports and school booster site carried a message “Nothing to See Here Move Along.” The absence of any information on the baseball program’s page comes after Lowndes County School District Superintendent Mike Halford recommended Friday that New Hope High baseball coach Stacy Hester not be retained after his at-will agreement ends June 30.
David Boykin is back at Caledonia High School to see if he can complete some unfinished business. The Lowndes County School Board approved Boykin’s hiring Friday as the football coach at Caledonia High School. Boykin, who coached Caledonia to 3-7 records in 2006 and 2007, replaced Jason Forrester, who resigned his position last month. Boykin served as a volunteer offensive line coach last season under Mark Hudspeth at the University of North Alabama.
MACON — M.C. Miller’s cupboard at Noxubee County High School has plenty left in stock. The veteran football coach will have to find a way to replace 12 starters (five on offense, seven on defense) from last season’s Class 4A state championship team. And while the losses of All-State wide receiver Patrick Patterson, wide receiver Teddy Young, and quarterback Termarcus Conner will be some of the toughest to fill, don’t think for a minute that the Tigers won’t throw the ball a lot in 2009.
STARKVILLE -- Starkville Academy golfer Korakot Simsiriwong has returned to her native Thailand for rest and relaxation before schools starts again in August. She took her golf clubs with her. Simsiriwong wants to keep her game sharp so she can have more success on the course when she returns to the United States. “My dad (Pramoth) got me started playing golf and I love it,” Simsiriwong said. “I definitely want to keep playing.”
Heritage Academy has a new face that lights up the night. The private, independent school in Columbus is putting the finishing touches on a $250,000 construction project that has added more than 3,000 square feet to the school’s gymnasium.
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1. Caledonia pushes into second round HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
2. No. 9 MSU, No. 13 Ole Miss will try to play at home COLLEGE SPORTS
3. MSU men go on road to take on Georgia COLLEGE SPORTS
4. Schaefer pushing MSU to improve COLLEGE SPORTS
5. The W women win; men lose finale COLLEGE SPORTS