Kenyon Ross' successful run as boys and girls basketball coach at Louisville has come to an end, but a pair of newcomers are excited about their opportunities to keep the hoops program on the upswing.
Louisville has promoted Kylan Tippett as boys coach and hired former Neshoba Central coach Frederick Morris for the girls. Both are graduates of Noxubee County High School.
Ross left Louisville to become girls coach at Northwest Rankin, a 6A school that struggled with 8-17 and 9-18 seasons the last two years.
“Coach Ross kind of spoiled us around here,” said Hilute Hudson, Louisville's principal and athletic director. “He took our basketball teams to new heights.”
That's especially true of the girls team, with a two-year record of 54-7. The Lady Wildcats were 27-3 for the 2017-18 season, with a loss to Byhalia in the 4A semifinals. This year's team went 27-4 and won the state championship.
He took over a boys team in 2015 that had gone 15-51 in the previous three years and compiled a four-year record of 57-52. The Wildcats were 37-19 the past two years and this year's team reached the third round of the playoffs.
Louisville decided to hire separate coaches for the teams. “Coach Ross was a very, very unique individual,” Hudson said. “People like coach Ross who are able to coach both boys and girls at a high level are rare. We wanted to make sure the programs continue on with the best chance of success.”
Hudson said the school received numerous applications for both positions, but Louisville officials felt that Tippett and Morris were the best candidates.
Tippett was an assistant to Ross for four years while also coaching the junior high team. “We felt he would be the best transition for the program,” Hudson said.
“I feel it is an honor and a privilege to coach at Louisville,” Tippett said. “It’s a really good time to be a coach here.”
After graduating from Noxubee County, Tippett attended East Mississippi Community College, where he played football for one year, then Mississippi State, where he received a degree in physical education and kinesiology, the study of the mechanics of body movements.
Before joining the staff at Louisville, he was a football and basketball coach at Noxubee County, Aberdeen and East Oktibbeha.
Tippett is optimistic about the Wildcats coming season. “We’ll have a really good team.”
He has been coaching the volleyball team, but is unsure if he will continue doing so. “We’re looking for a person but we haven’t found one yet.”
At Neshoba Central, a 5A school, Morris turned a losing program into a very successful program. The Lady Rockets were 6-15 and 7-10 the two years before he got there. Neshoba Central went 17-5 his first year, 2011-12, and compiled a 125-79 record for his tenure there, including a state championship in 2017.
Morris said he decided to make the move because he was looking for a new challenge. “I love challenges. The Louisville program intrigued me. It’s one of the top programs in the state.”
Morris is a graduate of Fresno Pacific University, an NCAA Division II school in California, where he received a physical education degree.
He played professional basketball in the Netherlands for eight years and coached the sport throughout Europe and Asia before returning to the United States where he coached boys basketball for one year in California and four years at Grace Christian.
Morris became a girls coach when he arrived at Neshoba Central in 2011. “I was looking for a job and the girls position was open there.”
He said his championship team was undersized. “But it was a team with a high basketball IQ and a great defensive team.”
As for his coaching style, Morris said “It all starts with defense.” Offensively, he preaches player movement and ball movement.
Morris is taking over a team that should be a contender for another state title with the return of four starters.
“He brings championship experience,” said Hudson. “It was a perfect fit.”
