So much for retirement.
Roy Hazzle is back on the bench for the Aberdeen High School boys basketball team for the 25th consecutive season, despite stepping down after last season.
“I retired, but they asked me if I would just come back to coach, and after talking it over with my wife (Mary), I told them I would,” Hazzle said. “It’s a love now, not a job. I’m doing what I was created to do.”
Starkville Academy girls basketball coach Glenn Schmidt understands Hazzle’s feelings. She is in her ninth season at the school and 24th high school season. She spent 11 years as women’s basketball coach at the Mississippi University for Women in between.
“I really love teaching basketball and watching players develop,” Schmidt said. “When you are a high school coach you know what you have to work with and you know what your limitations are. That leads to a lot of strategy.”
Retirement isn’t something Schmidt has on her “to do” list.
“I guess how long I coach is up to the Lord and the people here (at Starkville Academy),” Schmidt said. “Since I’m the athletic director, I guess I could keep hiring myself. I have no end in site. I will go as long as I feel like it.”
Hazzle hopes he can go out as a champion. The Bulldogs were one win away from reaching the State tournament in Jackson each of the past two years, and Hazzle said this year’s squad has a chance to make it to make it there if it continues to improve.
“I have about nine football players that will come out once that season is over,” he said. “We have some guys who are really leading the team and are playing very well.”
Junior point guard Jakeese Walker, senior shooting guard Cedric Fair, and senior combo player Thomas Rodgers are leading the team until the full squad comes together.
“We also have a great group of juniors who have a lot of quickness and speed,” Hazzle said. “We have the ability to pressure the ball. We are looking for great things. Maybe we can get another championship.”
Hazzle’s Bulldogs won the title in 2008.
Schmidt’s Lady Volunteers are off to a fast start on what they hope will be a title run. The team won its first three games last week at the Heritage Academy tournament and will feature a team that has a lot of experience returning to the court.
Anna Prestridge and Norah Katheryn Carroll will get the starting nod at the guards, while Sallie Kate Richardson will be in the post. Junior forward Anna Lea Little and classmate Tiffany Huddleston also are expected to play key roles with April Burney, Lauren Atwell, Brittany Jacks, and Julianne Jackson. Sophomores Maridee Higginbotham, Peyton Scrivner, Shelby Marsh, and Lauren Temple also will contribute.
While longevity is the centerpiece of Hazzle’s and Schmidt’s bodies of work, coaches moving from one school to another is a fact of life.
Starkville Academy has a new boys basketball coach in Mark Alexander, while Murray Woody has taken over as the girls basketball coach at West Point after a one-year stay at Ethel High School. Prior to that, he was the girls basketball coach at Hamilton High.
“It can be tough,” Alexander said of players getting adjusted to a new coach. “Preferably, a school would have the same coach for a long period of time. I’m with the third boys coach here in three years. It’s just hard to build a program with that kind of turnover.”
Alexander coaches the junior high and varsity boys, which he counts as a plus.
“When you do that, the players become familiar with your coaching style and the system you want to run,” he said. “It really helps with player development. I love basketball and being at the gym. It’s not a problem coaching both teams. It’s something I prefer.”
Alexander will count on three transfers to help the Volunteers be competitive in a tough Class AAA league that includes South Division rivals Jackson Prep, Hillcrest Christian, East Rankin, and Copiah Academy.
Starkville Academy also will also have to deal with Madison-Ridgeland Academy, which has won 77 consecutive Mississippi Association of Independent Schools games — and Jackson Academy.
“It’s a tough, tough league,” Alexander said. “We’ve just come in and tried to get things organized and pay a lot of attention to detail.”
Two of those transfers are 6-foot-5 senior forward Calvin Young, the son of former Starkville High School and East Mississippi Community College standout Latoya Weaver, and Carnail Minor.
“He’s a major pickup,” Alexander said of Young. “He will be one of the top players in the Academy league.”
Young proved his worth Saturday, scoring 39 points in a 74-70 season-opening win against Marshall Academy.
Minor will play point guard for the Volunteers until football season is over, when he will likely move to the two guard as Alexander expects up to six players to join the squad. One of those will be point guard Brandon Sharpe, a junior. Sharpe attended Starkville Academy in the eighth grade, transferred, ad returned this season.
Alexander also will count on are senior shooting guard Austin Kinard and senior post Zack Thomas, who will compete for playing time inside opposite Young.
“Once we get those football guys out, we will have some depth and that will help,” Alexander said.
Woody, comes to West Point following a season at Ethel that saw the Lady Tigers go 26-3 and win the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A South State Championship.
“I learned a lot last season,” Woody said. “I mostly learned it’s good players that win games. When you win games, it’s the players and when you lose it’s the coaches.”
Woody said he is excited to take over a West Point program that has been improving the past three years. He said getting adjusted to a new team and helping the players transition to a new coach can be interesting, but mutual trust goes a long way to making the move smoother.
“Once the kids see you are honest, there will be respect,” he said. “Everybody’s a little nervous at first as you get to know each other.”
While Woody didn’t get a chance to work with his team until the first day of school, he likes the way it has progressed.
“Other than one player, we have pretty much the same team they had last year,” Woody said of the Lady Green Wave. That one player is Kelsei Ewings, who is now on the roster at North Carolina A&T.
Woody said Nekiesha Walker is expected to play point guard, while Wilma Davis will play at the other guard spot. The three spot belongs to Taylor McCrary, with Kenyatta Pitman and Adrianna Billups playing in the post. Senior Ashton Robertson will come off the bench.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.