Former New Hebron and Lawrence County High School basketballcoach Bobby Lee will be inducted into the Mississippi Associationof Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday, June 26. The induction banquetwill take place at the Hilton Hotel on County Line Road in NorthJackson at 7 p.m., following the reception at 6.

Lee coached the Lawrence County Cougars to three MHSAA 4A statebasketball championships in a five-year span. His teams claimedstate titles in 1991, 1992, and 1995.

In a 34-year coaching career, Lee coached the New Hebron andLawrence County boys to a total of 551 wins. He also coached girls’basketball and track for a total of 11 seasons.

In the 1990s, Lee carried his Lawrence County teams totournaments in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Florida,and Nevada. In 1992, Lee’s Cougars, the state 4A champions,defeated Jackson Murrah, the state 5A champion, 58-56, in thecelebrated “Dream Game” at the JSU Assembly Center.

Lee’s lengthy list of coaching honors includes multipleconference and division “Coach of the Year” awards, plus numerousarea coach-of-the-year selections from the Brookhaven Daily Leaderand the McComb Enterprise-Journal. Lee was recognized as theMississippi coach of the year by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger in1991, and by the Mississippi Association of Coaches in 1991 and1992.

He also coached in the Mississippi All-Star game in 1992, and inthe Mississippi-Alabama Classic in 1994.

Lee is also an accomplished classroom teacher, having taughtmath in the Lawrence County school system for 37 years. He has beennamed Star Teacher six times, and was Lawrence County’s “Educatorof the Year” in 2006. Lee still teaches math at LCHS.

He is a 1968 graduate of Pinola High School, the valedictorianof his senior class. Along with being an all-conference basketballplayer, he was also a state champion in the mile run. He is a 1972graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Lee has been married to the former Alice Catt for 37 years. Theyhave two adult daughters, Dawn Lee and Cassandra (David) Phillips,and a 3-year old grandson, Braysen. His parents were the lateHerman and Wilma Lee of the Shivers community is SimpsonCounty.

“Integrity, dignity, honor – those words walk with Bob everystep he takes,” said long-time Lawrence County High colleague CraigDavis. “Even though I know very little about basketball, and evenless about math, he’s been very much a role model for me and plentyof other teachers throughout our careers, and a great influence onhis players and students.”

Longtime administrator John A. Flynt of Newhebron states, “Bobbyis an outstanding basketball coach. Having said that, he is also anoutstanding math teacher.

“My philosophy as a principal to have a good school was to hiregood quality people. Coach Lee was an example of that. He has beenan excellent role model for his students and players.

“His passion for the game of basketball did not interfere withhis classroom instruction because he gave 110% wherever he was. Ican only imagine the difference he has made in the lives of so manypeople, shaping and molding, and giving them a vision of what theycould accomplish, not only as a player or student, but with lifeitself.”

In his spare time, Lee enjoys working in his garden and sharingthe crop with the community. He has a greenhouse and startsplanting seeds in January.