EMCC’s Thompson, Begley attend NJCAA symposium
From school reports
SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College’s Sharon Thompson and Billy Begley participated in the inaugural TopConnect NJCAA symposium for head men’s and women’s basketball coaches last week.
Identified by the TopConnect NJCAA advisory team as top candidates nationally, EMCC’s Thompson and Begley, both Mississippi State University alumni and former Bulldog basketball players, are one of only four head coaching tandems from the same community college to be selected for the honor. The other two-year colleges jointly represented are Shelton State (AL), Eastern Florida State and Tallahassee (FL).
This year’s inaugural class of 41 TopConnect NJCAA attendees is comprised of 30 head men’s basketball coaches and 11 head women’s basketball coaches. Men’s coaches Bryan Bender of Southwest Mississippi Community College and Yusef Fitzgerald from Hinds are the other coaches representing the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC).
Entering her 20th year overall among East Mississippi’s athletic staff and 16th season as head women’s coach, Thompson jointly serves as the college’s director of athletics as well as continuing her role as the Lady Lions’ head basketball coach. In guiding the EMCC women to their first conference championship since 1983-84 with last year’s 24-3 overall record, Thompson was named 2019-20 MACJC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year and also received the Agent of Change Award in Sports from the Columbus-based African-American Leadership Caucus for her dedication and commitment to excellence.
Set to begin his sixth season as EMCC’s head men’s basketball coach, Begley owns a career record of 75-51 (.595) with the Lions, including a combined 35-17 (.673) mark over the past two seasons with back-to-back postseason appearances. Two years ago, Begley’s 19-8 EMCC squad enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in program history by capturing the school’s first conference championship in men’s basketball since the 1930s along with winning the Lions’ first MACJC North Division regular-season title in six years with a 10-2 division mark.
The presenters for the inaugural TopConnect NJCAA include former junior college coaches Buzz Williams (now at Texas A&M), Steve Forbes (Wake Forest), Brian “Penny” Collins (Tennessee State), Jay Ladner (Southern Miss), Dr. Brittney Ezell (East Tennessee State), Chris Jans (New Mexico State), Keitha Adams (Wichita State), Ryan Ridder (Bethune-Cookman) and Chanda Rigby (Troy). In addition to the former junior college coaches speaking, a panel of NCAA Division I athletic directors will discuss their expectations of a coaching staff, and a panel of current Division I assistant coaches will share their thoughts on transitioning from junior college to their current roles.