Northeast Mississippi Community College Men's Basketball

Wright more than tripled his win total from his inaugural year with the Tigers during the previous campaign. He took Northeast to the postseason for the initial time since the 2010-11 season as well. The Tigers went 17-9 and captured regular season wins over eventual National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament participants Columbia State (Tenn.) Community College and Holmes Community College. Northeast also defeated reigning national champion and then-No. 16 Jones County Junior College in the opening round of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Tournament for its first playoff win since 2008. Dimario Jackson received NJCAA All-American honors under the tutelage of Wright. The University of North Alabama signee averaged 18.9 points and 3.8 assists per game for the Tigers. Wright has helped six former Tigers achieve their dreams of playing at the four-year level since arriving on the Booneville campus. Among those Northeast standouts is Reggie Patterson, who is playing in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) at Mississippi State University. He claimed his first victory with the Tigers in dramatic fashion on November 4, 2013. Sophomore Marcus Hogan, who signed with Voorhees (S.C.) College after an excellent year, connected on a half court desperation attempt that bounced off the backboard and through the hoop to give Northeast a 79-78 win at Gadsden State (Ala.) Community College. His inaugural triumph inside the MACJC North Division was just as thrilling. Keldrick Lesleys free throw sent the game into overtime and Jackson drained the second of two attempts from the charity stripe with under a minute left to seal a 90-89 decision over Mississippi Delta Community College on January 27, 2014. Cameron Shorty, Dexter Stafford and Jackson were each chosen to participate in the annual MACJC All-Star Game on the campus of East Central Community College after completing excellent seasons with Wright as their leader. Wright came to Northeast from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where he served as an assistant coach on Keith Richards' staff for three years. However, Wright knew the community college environment and the Hill Country region very well. Before joining the Louisiana-Monroe staff, Wright served as an assistant at the North Alabama under headman Bobby Champagne.  While with the Lions, Wright helped them earn a pair of berths to the NCAA Division II Tournament. In 2006, Wright and the Lions earned a bid into the NCAA's South Regional. It was the first appearance by North Alabama in the NCAA Tournament since 1996.   Wright helped guide the Lions back to the NCAA Tournament one year later when they advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight after posting a solid 27-9 record. Under Wright's tutelage, a quartet of North Alabama players were elected to the All-Gulf South Conference (GSC) first-team including Kenny Johnson, who earned the league's Player of the Year award in 2009. In addition to four first-team honorees, five Lions were named to the All-Gulf South second-team and three earned Academic All-Gulf South recognition under Wright's leadership. Before becoming a full-time member of the Lions staff in 2006, Wright spent a pair of seasons as a graduate assistant (2003-05) for Champagne while earning a Master's degree in health promotions and human performance. Wright coached at Spartanburg Methodist (S.C.) College for one season before going to North Alabama. He got his coaching career started as a student assistant coach at his alma mater of Limestone (S.C.) College. The Lafayette, La., native was selected as an All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (now Conference Carolinas) selection and an all-conference academic honoree during his two years with the Saints.   In addition to his All-CVAC selections for his work on the hardwood and in the classroom, Wright paced Limestone in scoring and rebounding while earning a Bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in biology. Wright got his collegiate playing career started at Danville Area (Ill.) Community College where he starred for the Jaguars from 1997-99. He was a threat beyond the arc for the Jaguars and ranked as the second-best three-point shooter in the country as a sophomore. When not busy coaching, Wright works a variety of basketball camps throughout the country at locations in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Wright is also a founder of the "Yours in Hoops" basketball camp. Wright, who graduated from Saint Thomas More (La.) Catholic High School, is a dedicated family man. He and his wife Kelly have two sons, Cooper and Cannon.

Morris was instrumental in the Tigers phenomenal improvement one year ago. Northeast went 17-9 with an impressive 11-2 ledger inside historic Bonner Arnold Coliseum. The Tigers also earned their first postseason win since 2008 with a 67-62 decision over reigning national champion and then-No. 16 Jones County Junior College in the opening round of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Tournament. The Dayton, Ohio, native helped instruct Dimario Jackson, who was selected as Northeasts 16th National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American after averaging 18.9 points and 3.8 assists per game. Morris enters his ninth season in the coaching profession at Northeast following successful stops at his collegiate alma mater, the University of Pikeville (Ky.), and the University of North Alabama. Morris landed his first position as an assistant coach at Pikeville during the 2007-08 season. He guided the Bears to a solid 22-9 record and fourth-place finish in the Mid-South Conference. Pikeville compiled an impressive 14-game winning streak that spanned three months. The Bears defeated their opponents in that stretch by an average score of 77-53. Under the tutelage of Morris, Jeff Ferguson was named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Honorable Mention All-American while William Harris, Justin Hicks and Morris each earned all-conference honors. After an outstanding campaign at Pikeville, Morris travelled further south and accepted a post at North Alabama. He served as an assistant coach for the next six years and aided in the Lions return to countrywide prominence. Morris and Wright worked together in Florence, Ala., from 2008-10. The duo pushed the Lions to a pair of Gulf South Conference (GSC) Tournament appearances at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven and also coached Kenny Johnson, who is one of only four mens basketball players in North Alabama history to receive All-American status. The 2010-11 edition of the Lions tallied a 13-16 mark, but still had two athletes in Ricky Davison and Marcus Landry tabbed to the All-Gulf South Team with Wes Long obtaining GSC East Division Freshman of the Year recognition. North Alabama improved to 15-12 one season later with sweeps of league rivals Delta State University, Valdosta State (Ga.) University and the University of West Georgia. Beaumont Beasley and Theron Jenkins, which both averaged 16 points per outing, grabbed All-Gulf South Team prestige for their actions during that campaign. Morris left his imprint on North Alabamas history books by guiding the Lions to back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournaments in his final two years on the sidelines inside Flowers Hall. Following an eight-game winning streak to open the season, North Alabama drew an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament with a 19-9 record and 12-6 mark versus conference foes. The Lions were eliminated in the opening round by NCAA South Regional host Florida Southern College. North Alabama eclipsed the 20-win plateau during the 2013-14 campaign with victories in nine of their final 10 league contests. The Lions used that momentum near the end of the year to capture the sixth Gulf South Tournament championship in program history. Rashaun Claiborne nearly notched a double-double with 28 points and eight rebounds in North Alabamas title matchup against Christian Brothers (Tenn.) University. Claiborne was designated as the Most Valuable Player of the event while teammate Bruce Adams garnered Gulf South All-Tournament Team accolades. The Lions, with Morris on the bench, entered the NCAA South Regional in Lakeland, Fla., as the No. 4 seed. North Alabama outscored the University of Tampa (Fla.) 47-37 in the second half to claim a close triumph and advance past the first round for the initial time since 2008. Former Northeast guard Tyler Pritchard started and Adams dropped in a team-high 21 points, but the Lions could not overcome Tuskegee (Ala.) University in their second round game and were eliminated from the tournament. After the conclusion of the season, Claiborne was chosen to participate in the 2014 Reeses NCAA Division II All-Star Game in Evansville, Ind., at the Ford Center. He is one of only four players ever from North Alabama to compete in this event. Overall, North Alabama amassed a record of 101-70, or a winning percentage of 69, during Morris tenure at that institution. His primary responsibilities with the Lions included developing exercise routines, individual skill development, recruiting and to monitor the academic progress of their student-athletes. Morris lettered at Pikeville for three years and was named an Academic All-Mid-South Conference selection. Before his collegiate career began, he won three Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Ohio state championships for Dayton Salvation Army. In his spare time, Morris works a variety of basketball camps across the nation, including at the University of Dayton (Ohio), the University of Tennessee, Wright State (Ohio) University and Capital (Ohio) University. Morris background in community service is extensive. He organized a Red Cross blood drive while at North Alabama, volunteered at both the Salvation Army and the Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) and spoken to junior high school students during Red Ribbon Week about the dangers involved with drugs and alcohol. A graduate of Springboro (Ohio) High School, Morris holds a Bachelors degree from Pikeville and a Masters degree from North Alabama.