STEENS — When making dinner arrangements with Columbus businessman Billy Thomas, you might want to call well in advance.
In addition to being a owner of Benco Foods, Thomas devotes quite a bit of time at his other job: boys basketball coach at Immanuel Christian.
“We were headed to the State Games and I was making some notes,” Thomas said. “I added it up. From last May to March, we had played 102 games. I posted a message on Facebook that we had played that many games. I think everybody was kind of in shock. Sometimes, when you are having fun, you don’t pay attention to how many times you do something.”
Completing his sixth season as coach of the Rams, Thomas has built his program into a perennial contender. The Rams finished 29-11 this past season and advanced to the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA state tournament.
For that success, Thomas is The Dispatch’s Small Schools Coach of the Year.
“I have always been pretty intense in whatever I do,” Thomas said. “I try to be the best at everything. What we have here is a group of guys and a group of parents who are willing to make a commitment. When these players start out in junior high, they aren’t driving. It is mom, dad, grandparents that have to make sure everybody is carried back and forth.
“Basketball goes on 10 months out of the year around here. It is a major commitment. At Immanuel, you don’t play basketball because you like it; you play basketball because you love it.”
While the Rams play a challenging regular-season schedule, they may make their greatest strides in the summer. Fighting off the small-school mentality, Immanuel Christian schedules up and plays numerous games against public schools and larger academies.
“We mainly play public schools during the summer, and that is a tremendous learning opportunity for our players,” Thomas said. “We have always fought the small-school mentality. Sometimes, we will play teams who have more students in their 10th grade than we have in our school. Even when we match up with a Class 4A public school, we go in there expecting to win.
“The experience we get from playing these games can not be measured. The goal every year is to get stronger and better as a team each week.”
Senior Ross Moore led the Rams in scoring this past season. As a senior leader, he understands the role the program plays in the school’s culture.
“The basketball program is all about winning,” Moore said. “It is a total team effort. Everybody is involved. Everybody wants to be a part of what we are doing. Basketball players are held to a high standard. We have a high expectation every year, and we really have to work hard to meet those goals.”
For his new players, Thomas explains the framework of the program early in the process.
“Our squads have always been extremely disciplined,” Thomas said. “In the first couple of meetings, we talk about expectations and how things are going to be. Sometimes things that aren’t supposed to happen happen. Some guys don’t want to play for us because of certain things. However, we are fair. Everybody knows where they stand.”
With such a grueling schedule, one can often wonder how the team keeps things fun and how players guard against burnout.
“We tell the parents that the most fun happens on game day,” Thomas said. “We play to win. I think we sometimes push players 6 through 13 harder than we do the starting five. The starting five begins each game with building a big enough lead that we can play the other players. We push the reserve players so one day they can be good enough to be in the first five.
“Even though we work hard, we keep things fun. One day, we broke into some WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) wrestling. We have had water fights. We don’t plan anything out of the ordinary. However, we keep things different and interesting so players do not get burnt out.”
Despite Thomas’ success, his coaching career almost didn’t take place. A content, middle-aged business man, Thomas fielded a phone call from fellow church member Mike McGill, the owner of Mitchell Automotive in West Point.
“Mike was coaching the boys basketball team at Immanuel when he called me,” Thomas said. “Mike knew I had played some sports in college, so he asked if I would come out there and help him coach the basketball team that season. My wife (Rachel) and I talked about it and prayed about it. I told him I would help him out that year.”
That season was McGill’s last as his son, who was on the team, graduated.
“After the first couple of practices, he told me to be careful because I could fall in love with coaching and fall in love with these guys,” Thomas said. “He is a good salesman. I took the job after he left and have loved every minute of it.
“Our goal is simple. We always want to be competitive. We have only had one season where we didn’t win 20 games. We have guys who genuinely love the game. We don’t have to beg them to come to practice. They may talk about me after one or two of our 6 a.m. practices. However, they always show up. They always work hard. We have players who are committed. They do what it takes. And, we do win a lot of ballgames.”
A native of the Mississippi Delta, Thomas played every sport imaginable at Cruger-Tchula Academy. He played football and baseball at Holmes Community College, and completed his undergraduate degree work at the University of Mississippi.
“When I was in school, everybody had to play everything for us to have enough,” Thomas said. “I encourage our kids to play as many sports as possible. Down time is not a good thing. You can learn so much about life through playing sports. You have fun and you build relationships. You may love one more sport than another. However, it is still important to be involved as many as you can.”
This past season was Immanuel Christian’s first in Class AA. While the school continues to see record growth, Thomas expects a move to MAIS’ highest level, Class AAA, soon.
“We offer an outstanding educational experience in a Christian environment,” Thomas said. “It is a great situation for male and female students. The school has been around for a long time and continues to see steady growth. A lot of people are excited about some of the things that are going on at our school.”
While the school grows, it is a safe bet the basketball programs will grow, too. Fortunately, Thomas has an understanding boss.
“I work part time,” Thomas said. “If I worked for somebody else, I would have been fired a long time ago.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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