It may have taken 20 years and 625 games to achieve, but McComb coach Hilton Harrell can finally call himself a state champion.
When Harrell’s McComb Tigers defeated the Raymond Rangers 68-48 in Saturday’s 4A boys state championship, one of the final missing pieces to the coach’s already-impressive legacy was put into place. Harrell is no longer a good coach, a reputable coach or even a great coach.
Now, he’s a champion, immortalized among the basketball giants of the Magnolia state.
“It’s absolutely awesome,” Harrell said after winning the championship.
In the moments immediately following the monumental victory, most eyes in Mississippi Coliseum were on the players as they danced and celebrated the victory together. But amidst all the postgame chaos, one of the first things Harrell did after the game was race across the floor to the stands on the far sideline to gather his wife to share the moment with him. He then returned to his team, which celebrated in a mob on the floor as it awaited the trophy presentation ceremony.
As each player of this year’s squad was named, a roar from the crowd followed. Harrell’s name was read last as he claimed the coveted Golden Ball, and his roar was the loudest.
Following the game, the coach had a hard time making it off the floor among the sea of neon-green-clad McComb fans seeking their piece of the championship-winning coach. Harrell was the most popular man in the Coliseum, and his popularity is unlikely to dwindle.
Not long after the game finished and fans and players cleared the court, McComb Mayor Whitney Rawlings offered his congratulations to the team — and especially to Harrell — who has been a major figure in the community for two decades as both a pastor and a coach.
“I want to congratulate coach Harrell and the team on a great season,” Rawlings said. “Coach Harrell has given McComb a number of great years. I am thrilled for the team and for Coach.”
McComb athletic director Malcolm Jones said he is confident the school and community will hold “a big celebration” for the team in the coming weeks. And once again, Harrell is likely to be the most popular man in the room.
When he arrived at McComb in 1993, the school was more than 30 years removed from its last state title. And while it took Harrell 20 years to win the Golden Ball, he’s already changed the culture of McComb’s program.
“This signifies that McComb has a good basketball program,” Harrell said. “Good athletes, good kids, good community, good support. It signifies all that.”
