Published: May 08, 2008 10:13 am         

Holmes hires new men’s basketball coach

GOODMAN — After 12 seasons as head basketball coach and three state titles in the last six seasons, Todd Kimble has decided to step away from the sidelines. His head coaching whistle has been passed to his assistant coach and former Ole Miss standout Jason Flanigan.

The board on Thursday, April 17, approved Kimble’s move from head coach to workforce development coordinator at the Ridgeland Campus, a job which also includes MET coordinator and MyBiz coordinator for Holmes CC. The board also named Flanigan as the successor to Kimble.

Kimble, who grew up in Goodman and graduated from East Holmes Academy, took over as head coach in 1996 after his dad, long-time men’s coach, Bennie Kimble, retired. He led the Bulldogs to state titles in 2002 and back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

To go with the state titles, the Bulldogs won the 2003 North Division title and finished second in the Region XXIII Tournament. Kimble received the MACJC Coach of the Year as well as the MAC Coach of the Year honors in 2003. The Bulldogs have also made trips to the State and Region XXIII Tournament in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. He finished his Holmes career at 182-116 and was 127-62 over the last seven seasons.

He played for the Bulldogs for a season before finishing his career at Delta State University, where he earned a degree in mathematics. Before coming to Holmes, he served as the boy’s and girl’s basketball coach at Manchester Academy in Yazoo City. His boy’s teams accumulated a record of 123-39 while the girl’s team was .500. He won state championships in 1995 and 1997 with the boy’s team.

Kimble said he plans to spend more time with his family and maybe return to school. “To spend more time with my family is probably the biggest reason,” Kimble said. “I also have been doing nothing but basketball my whole life and that is what most people identify me with.”

“I think that it is just time to do something else. I have put everything that I have into coaching basketball for 16 years. I just need to step away and enjoy the game from the other side of the fence.”

He credits the state titles to the great players on those teams. “When I have had players that worked hard and bought in to what I was teaching, we were very good,” he explained. “That is what has happened in the last seven years here. Probably one of the things that I am most proud of about all of that is that we very seldom had the best team. I could look down other teams’ rosters and we usually did not match up talent wise. I think that we won because we out worked people and all of those players will have that in them the rest of their lives. I have just been the person lucky enough to be their leader.”

Kimble and his wife, Audra, have one daughter, Sidney, and they live in Madison.

Kimble said Flanigan is a great choice for head coach. “I have had the opportunity to work with and become great friends with Coach Flanigan,” he said. “And I can tell you that we share the same passion for the game. His ability to communicate, recruit and teach is exactly what it takes to be successful in this league.”

Flanigan said he has the same respect for Kimble. “The most important thing I loved about working with Coach Kimble is he trusted me and my opinion/views about things,” Flanigan said. “The relationship and friendship that we have established is very special because we trust, respect and value one another.”

The fact that the both of them had coaches for fathers and both played point guard made it easy to work together. “So, as you can see we were born to play and coach the game of basketball. Therefore, our philosophy on the game of basketball was much alike, and that’s the one thing I will miss next year is not having him around, but I know he will only be a phone call away.”

Flanigan, the Little Rock native, just finished his third season as the Bulldogs assistant coach. He was a member of the senior class in Ole Miss Basketball history with the most wins at 88. While playing four seasons at Ole Miss, the Rebels posted winning records and advanced to the postseason each year (3 NCAA, 1 NIT). He was also a member of the 1998 and 2001 Ole Miss squads that claimed the Southeastern Conference Western Division titles. He played in 127 career games and averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds. The 127 games played are the third most by a Rebel in the program’s history. His senior year, he hit a free throw with two seconds on the clock to seal a 59-56 NCAA Tournament second round victory over Notre Dame and propelled Ole Miss to the program’s first “Sweet Sixteen” appearance. Flanigan graduated from University of Mississippi (May 2001) with a bachelor of arts degree in Leisure Management.

Prior to Holmes, Flanigan was an assistant coach at Xavier University in New Orleans and a graduate assistant under Rod Barnes at Ole Miss.

Flanigan is married to former Kisha Fields of Memphis, a school teacher for Madison County School District.