High school, junior high and community college coaches haveconverged on the Capital City this week with notebooks in hand.They have gathered at the Hilton Hotel for the 55th MississippiAssociation of Coaches All Sports Clinic. It’s a homecoming andfamily reunion for many of the participants.

They’ll have an opportunity to compare notes, ask questions andlisten to a number of college coaches on the how-tos of successfulcoaching. In football, Alabama head coach Nick Saban, plusassistant coaches Bo Davis and Jim McElwain, will share theirknowledge. They are fresh from coaching the Crimson Tide to theNational Championship.

In basketball today, Auburn’s Tony Barbee and Nell Fortner willprovide input, along with Billy Kennedy of Murray State, andretired Mississippi State University coach Richard Williams.

In baseball, Southern Miss head coach Scott Berry and two of hisassistants, Chad Caillet and Michael Federico, are in Jacksontoday. Alabama’s Mitch Gaspard and Kyl Bunn talked Wednesday aboutthe diamond sport. Wade Simoneaux of Louisiana Tech is speakingtoday.

Also on tap today is the MAC’s High School All-Star TennisClassic at Parham Bridges Tennis Center. Admission is free to thepublic. Too bad Brookhaven didn’t have any players selected.

The MAC convention is final tune-up for the coaches before theybegin the long school year. Incredibly, preseason football practicebegins July 26. Some schools are in jamborees on Aug. 13. Classicgames are scheduled Aug. 20 for the Mississippi High SchoolActivities Association members. It’s also the first playing date ofthe regular season for the Mississippi Association of IndependentSchools.

Lawrence County and Jackson Callaway are getting a head startthis season, playing a Classic game Thursday, Aug. 19, at NewellField in Jackson. Both teams are expected to be strong so it shouldbe an exciting contest. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.

Make sure you bring your sunscreen and canteens to that one.

In case you missed it, the South boys and girls prevailed inlast Saturday’s MAC All-Star Basketball Games. The girls, led byRichland star Kendra Grant’s 17 points, beat the North 84-64. Thewin ended six years of North dominance in Mississippi College’sA.E. Wood Coliseum.

The 5-foot-11 Grant also had eight rebounds, three steals andthree assists as the South won for the first time since 2003.Forward Vintrice Briggs represented Franklin County in the clash oftalented rising seniors and scored eight points in the South’svictory.

In the boys game, Meridian standout Rodney Hood sparked theSouth to a 121-120 overtime triumph with a game-record 34 points,including the decisive putback in the final second. Hood, a smooth6-8 forward, is drawing recruiting interest from a number ofschools. He broke the 50-year-old record of 32 points, held by DougHutton of Clinton.

The MAC’s Coaches Hall of Fame increased its membership to 197with its latest class of inductees. They include Mike Bain,championship cross country and track coach at Pontotoc; Bobby RayFranklin, national and state championship juco football coach atNorthwest Community College; Milton Kuykendall, championshipbasketball coach at Nettleton and Horn Lake; Jimmy Guy McDonald,championship basketball and baseball coach at Houlka and Kossuth;and Isaiah Peterson, legendary championship boys basketball coachat Broad Street and Coahoma County.

The Coaches Hall of Fame was created in 1973 and has become apopular goal for ambitious men and women who are making a career incoching.

Write to sports editor Tom Goetz, c/o The DAILY LEADER, P.O. BOX551, Brookhaven, MS 39602 or e-mail sports@dailyleader.com