The dinner-table conversations in the Chambers household aren’t like those of most other families.
Discussions can center around effective ball-screen coverage, possible inbounds sets, shooting tips or whether to foul up three late in a game.
If it wasn’t already obvious, basketball is at the root of who Alisha and Reggie Chambers are, and the sport has led the couple to Pike County as head coaches of the McComb girls and South Pike boys programs respectively.
The basketball beginnings
For Alisha, her passion for hoops stems from her upbringing.
She was a younger cousin to plenty of boys in her family, and thus she always found herself wanting to be involved with what they were doing. It just so happened that basketball was the activity of choice.
Alisha went on to play at McComb for four years before she landed at Southwest Mississippi Community College to further her career. She wrapped up her playing days at Belhaven University.
And then ironically, Alisha proceeded to take the same path as a coach–just in reverse.
She was asked to be an assistant at Belhaven soon after graduating, and after spending a couple years in Jackson, Alisha took an assistant coaching job at SMCC.
Following a year with the Bears, Alisha held roles within the McComb School District before eventually taking over the junior high basketball program. She worked her way up to earn the head coaching gig with the Lady Tigers’ varsity team, and she just completed her first season at the helm.
Similar to his wife, Reggie had an affection for basketball instilled in him while he was young.
With his family hailing from the famed Queens borough, Reggie’s father played at Marist while his uncle hooped at Hofstra, both D-I programs.
And with basketball being the sport of choice for a cold and crowded place like New York City, it seemed destined that Reggie would call the hardwood home.
“There isn’t much football going on up there, so everybody around me growing up played basketball,” Reggie said. “As long as I can remember, I’ve had a ball around me.”
Reggie’s family moved to Florida for his senior year of high school, and that led to him eventually signing to play for Florida Gulf Coast in college.
Following two years as an Eagle, Reggie then transferred to play for West Virginia-Wesleyan for his final college years. He went on to play professionally for a year and a half before hanging up his sneakers.
But when Reggie put the high-tops away, he exchanged them for a whistle and whiteboard.
The former point guard coached at a whopping eight colleges in 10 years, with his stops ranging from Delta State, to Arkansas State and even Central Wyoming.
“You just have to keep building up with each job you get, so every March someone would hit up my phone and ask what I had going on next,” Chambers said. “It was always about the next step and climbing that coaching ladder.”
Reggie proceeded to take a job as an assistant at SMCC, which is where he just so happened to meet his future wife while she was in the same position.
After moving on to join Co-Lin’s coaching staff for two seasons and spending last year at JUCO powerhouse South Plains in Texas, Reggie felt the pull to come back and be with his family at home.
He was originally going to take a year off from coaching, but the South Pike job opened up during the summer of 2024. Reggie knew former Eagles coach Jake Reed from his days at Co-Lin, and Reed was able to recommend his former colleague for the position.
With it being a coaching role that was close to his family, the South Pike gig seemed like a perfect fit.
And Reggie’s first season at the helm couldn’t have gone much better, as he was named Region 7 Coach of the Year for leading the upstart Eagles to a district title and the MHSAA 3A Final 4.
With it being his first time as a head coach, there was certainly an adjustment period for Reggie as he learned how to handle relations with such a young team. But he only got more comfortable as the year went on and showed why he’s been a part of so many successful staffs throughout his career.
“Being an assistant for so long, your job is to really build a relationship with the players,” Reggie said. “As a head coach you can’t necessarily be as close just because the respect is different, but I figured out how to make it work for me.”
Alisha went through a similar adjustment as she learned in the ins and outs of high school coaching, but she explained that she feels more accomplished when helping younger athletes learn how to pursue their dreams.
"I think it’s more rewarding when you can teach and grow what you inherit at the high school level given the proper time to do it," Alisha said. "A lot of young athletes don’t really understand the mental and physical preparation it takes to be really good and separate themselves from their opponents and compete at a high level, so I’m always trying to get them out of their comfort zones. In order to grow, you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable at times."
The coaching lifestyle
The offseason sees the pair generally act as normal spouses would.
But as one can imagine, the months of November-March are where things get truly hectic.
With both their teams playing multiple games a week and often having to travel around the state, Alisha and Reggie’s schedules are as chaotic as they are time-consuming.
But the good news is that they are each married to someone who knows exactly what it’s like to do what they do.
“It’s great having somebody that one: knows you and your true intentions, and two: is a big basketball mind,” Reggie said.
Alisha and Reggie will often critique or praise each other when it comes to in-game adjustments and decisions, and they have developed an almost telepathic way of being able to understand what each other is thinking on the court.
“It’s fun because we get to bounce ideas off each other and even just watch basketball on TV and dissect certain things together,” Alisha said. “He understands my mindset without us even having to talk sometimes. After a game, he can just look at me and tell how I’m feeling, and vice versa.”
The duo has differing coaching styles as well, with Reggie bringing more fire and energy while Alisha is a calming, even-keeled presence for her Lady Tigers. In the end, they’ve both helped the other become better coaches and leaders.
“She’s been very instrumental for me as a head coach, and she really balances me out,” Reggie explained. “I’m a bit more of a rah-rah guy, while she’s a bit more conservative.”
Of course, with a young daughter in tow, there are plenty of challenges to the coaching lifestyle. Picking the little one up and dropping her off at school can be a day-to-day conundrum given Reggie and Alisha’s schedules, but that’s why it pays to have loving parents living close by.
“I can definitely say that my mom and dad have helped us out a lot with picking our daughter up and bringing her to games,” Alisha said.
“I really commend them for having our backs with that,” Reggie added.
The rivalry’s impact
And with Alisha and Reggie being on opposite sides of it, the rivalry between South Pike and McComb can play a factor in their relationship from time to time.
Alisha’s father taught at South Pike and was an ROTC instructor at the school, and all of his brothers and sisters were Eagles.
But Alisha and her siblings all attended McComb, which prompts their father to joke that they don’t wear “the real green and gold.”
Of course, Reggie is caught up in the middle of that. He wasn’t as familiar with the rivalry prior to coming down here, but he’s more than aware now.
Reggie was impressed by the atmosphere at the game in December and received plenty of probing questions from South Pike girls head coach Candace Felder-Hall about who he would be cheering for when the schools faced off.
Alisha promises she doesn’t make Reggie sleep on the couch or not talk to him if the Eagles win, and the two insist that the rivalry doesn’t play a factor in their relationship.
“When I’m done coaching, I take my coach hat off and now I’m a wife supporting him,” Alisha said. “Karshae Peterson [McComb boys coach} jokes with me for that, but I want Reggie to succeed at everything. Because at the end of the day, we go home together, so win or lose we leave basketball where it needs to be.”
And regardless of the light-hearted banter, Alisha and Reggie are another prime example of how sports can bring people together and create long-lasting relationships.
“Ball really is life in our household,” Reggie said with a grin.
