This Year's Inductees

Coach Lee Berryhill

Coach Lee Berryhill has led baseball and softball championship programs for 30 years at Wheeler, Eupora, East Webster, and Starkville Academy.  He hails from Eupora where he was an honor graduate, Balfour Athletic Award winner, Presidential Academic Fitness Award winner, Class President, Mr. Eupora High, and a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.  He earned a baseball scholarship to Holmes Community College in 1988 and completed his college education at Mississippi State in 1994.  He launched his 30-year coaching career at Wheeler in 1994.  After one year, he arrived at his alma mater at Eupora and guided their baseball program for 17 seasons.  Coach Berryhill paced the Eagles diamond squad to 5 district titles, 2 North Half crowns, and two state championships in 2000 and 2003.  In 2012, Lee moved to Maben to lead the softball teams at East Webster.  For the next 8 years, he guided the Wolverine fast pitch and slow pitch teams to diamond success.  His slow pitch teams at East Webster claimed 4 district championships, 2 South and 1 North Half titles, a state runner-up finish in 2013, and state championships in 2014 and 2016.  Coach Berryhill’s fast pitch Wolverine teams won 6 district titles, 4 North Half championships, had a state runner-up finish in 2016 and three straight state championships in 2013, 2014, and 2015.  Overall, Lee coached 900 games with a record of 636 wins and only 264 losses for a 71% winning mark.  His diamond squads in baseball and softball racked up a total of 15 district crowns, 9 North or South half titles, two state runner-up finishes and 7 state championships.  Coach Berryhill has received numerous accolades for his team’s championships achievements.  He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2015 and is a three-time Starkville Daily News Coach of the Year in 2010, 2015, and 2016.  He is also a two-time Northeast Mississippi Softball Coaches Association Coach of the Year as selected in 2015 and 2016.  Lee is a three-time All-Star coach with the MAC in 2003 and with the Northeast Mississippi Baseball Coaching Association in 2008 and 2012.  Coach Berryhill has served his profession as a longtime MAC member who served on the All-Star selection committee and the All-State selection committee.  He also was a member of the Northeast Mississippi Association Baseball and Softball Committees.  Lee worked diligently in his community with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Eupora Parks and Recreation and as an administrator with Dizzy Dean baseball.  Along with his MAC Hall of Fame membership, Coach Berryhill was inducted into the Northeast Mississippi Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.  

For over three decades, Coach Mike Chambless has guided championship basketball, softball, track, and cross-country programs at Clinton, Carthage, Richland, and Pelahatchie.  Mike hails from Jackson and is a graduate of Brandon Academy and Mississippi College.  He began his coaching career in 1984 at Clinton Junior High.  He arrived at Carthage High in 1990 and led the girls’ basketball team for the next 7 seasons.  Coach Chambless guided the Carthage ladies to a record of 118 wins and 101 losses with a division title in 1991 and division runner-up finishes in 1992, 1993, and 1994.  He returned to Clinton in 1997 to coach the girls’ fast pitch softball team.  Mike coached the Arrows fast pitch team to a record of 115 wins and 63 losses with 3 division titles and the state championship in 1999.  In 2004, he moved to Richland High where he again guided a fast pitch program to a mark of 115 wins and 66 losses with two division crowns.  Coach Chambless returned to Clinton and paced the Arrows fast pitch squad for two seasons which featured a record of 36 wins and only 14 losses plus two division championships.  After taking a school year off, Mike arrived at Pelahatchie from 2016 to 2021 and paced the fast pitch softball team to a record of 29 wins and 32 losses.  In addition to basketball and softball, Coach Chambless coached 5 division champions in cross country with a state runner-up finish and led his track teams to 4 division titles and 1 South State championship.  Overall, Mike led his fast pitch softball teams to a record of 295 wins and 175 losses and his girls’ basketball teams to a mark of 118 wins and 101 losses.  Coach Chambless’ athletic teams in softball, basketball, track, and cross country combined for 17 division titles, 3 division runner-up finishes, 1 South State title, 1 state runner-up finish, and the fast pitch softball state championship in 1999.   Mike has received a number of coaching awards including Rankin County Coach of the Year.  He is a four-time all-star softball coach with all-star appearances in 1 slow pitch and 3 fast pitch all-star games.  A longtime MAC member, Mike served as MAC President in 2013.

Longtime MAC supporter Gene Delcomyn is being recognized with membership into the MAC Hall of Fame for his immense contributions to the coaching profession.  Gene recently retired as Senior Executive Vice President of BankPlus where he worked for the past 25 years.  Gene has been in the banking and finance industry for over five decades. A native of Forest, Gene is a graduate of Forest High, East Central Community College, and Ole Miss.  He has completed banking schools at Vanderbilt University Advanced Commercial Banking Management School, the University of Oklahoma Commercial Lending Graduate School, the University of Virginia Executive Development School, and the Northwestern University Graduate School of Corporate Banking.  Gene has been an active member of the business community who served as Treasurer of the Mississippi Automotive Manufacturer’s Association, Treasurer of the Wilson Research Foundation at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, Board member of the Jackson State School of Business, and a member of the Mississippi Home Corporation Board of Directors as appointed by former Governor Phil Bryant.  His vast community service includes:  Board Emeritus for over 30 years at the Salvation Army; Past President of the Jackson Touchdown Club; Game Chairman of the 1987 Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic; Past President of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Mississippi; Past President of the Greater Jackson Mississippi Partnership and Arts Council of Mississippi; Past President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Jackson, Mississippi; Past President of the Barnett Reservoir Foundation; and Past President of New Stage Theatre.  Gene has been honored by numerous athletic and charitable organizations including:  the Mississippi Baseball Congress Commissioners Award; the Robbie Webb Award for Contribution to Junior Golf by the Mississippi Golf Association; the Volunteer of the Year Award from Goodwill of Mississippi; the Joint Volunteer of the Year Award with his wife, Bettie, from the Junior Auxiliary of Rankin County; the Joint Television Community Award from the Mississippi Broadcasters Association with Stuart Kellogg of WAPT-TV for their scholar-athlete program; and the Elsie Meadows Hood Circle of Honors Award from the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi.  Gene and his wife Bettie reside in Brandon and are members of the Pinelake Baptist Church.  Gene’s hobbies include car collecting and restoration as well as attending numerous high school and college sports events.  

Championship Coach Michael Fields has been leading successful track & field programs at Utica, Raymond, Hinds AHS, and St. Aloysius for 36 seasons.  Born in Vicksburg, Michael was raised in Utica and was a two-time All-Capital Athletic Conference football star at Utica High.  He captured the Class BB state long jump championship in 1981.  He continued his football and track career at Hinds Community College where he won the state titles in long jump and triple jump in the 1984 Mississippi Community College track meet.  Michael then again played football and participated in track for Mississippi College where he was a division 2 All-American and two-time All Gulf South Conference first team kick returner in 1984 and 1985.  He led the nation in punt return average with 21.4 yards a return in 1984.  He was also selected as a division 2 All-American long jumper in 1985.  Coach Fields holds the distinction of being voted to the Gulf South Conference’s 1980’s Football Team of the Decade.  Upon graduation, he launched his 36-year career at Utica High in 1988 where he returned to his alma mater as head track coach.  Michael’s Utica track squads claimed 6 district and 5 South State crowns with a state runner-up finish and 4 state championships.  He moved to Raymond in 1994 and paced the Rangers track squad for 8 years.  Michael guided the Rangers track team to 7 district crowns, 5 region titles, 6 South State championships, three state Class 3A runner-up finishes, and 2 class 3A state championships plus one indoor state title.  Coach Fields returned to Hinds AHS in 2002 and spent the next 12 seasons churning out championship track squads while coaching football, powerlifting, and cross country.  Michael guided the Bulldogs to an astonishing 11 district titles, 11 region crowns, 10 South state titles, 4 state runner-up finishes, 2 Class 2A state championships, and 3 Class 1A state championships.  He led the Hinds AHS football team to a perfect 10-0 regular season in 2005.  Michael then coached at St. Aloysius in Vicksburg from 2014 through 2020 pacing the Flashes track team to a district, region, South State, and Class 1A state championship in 2015.  He returned to Raymond in 2021 where he coached through the 2024 season.  Coach Fields’ overall track record is phenomenal as his teams have won 25 district titles, 17 region crowns, 22 South State titles, finished state runner-up on 8 occasions, and claimed 1 indoor state title plus 12 state championships.  He has the amazing distinction of winning a state championship at 4 different schools.  Michael has received numerous honors for his coaching achievements including being named MAC Track Coach of the Year three times in 1993, 1996, and 2006 and the National Track Boys Coach of the Year in 2014 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association.  A longtime MAC member, he served as an All-Star coach for the South team in the 2006 Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic and was named Teacher of the Year at Raymond in 1996.  Michael’s famed motto is put God first and everything you want to achieve is possible.

Coach Harold Liggans led championship programs in girls’ basketball and track for 35 years at Liddell High, Addison Junior High, and Port Gibson.  A native of Port Gibson, Harold graduated from Addison High in 1964 and from Jackson State in 1968 where he served as bookkeeper for the Jackson State Tigers basketball team.  His 35-year coaching career started at Liddell High in Fayette in 1968 where he was assistant basketball coach for three seasons.  He would then work as head girls’ basketball coach and track coach for 18 years at Addison Junior High.  His 1987 track team claimed the Class 3A State Championship.  Coach Liggans then arrived at Port Gibson where he would coach the Blue Waves for 17 years on three different occasions from 1989 to 2012.  Harold’s greatest coaching success was leading the Lady Blue Waves from 1990 through 1996.  His hoops squads earned 3 district titles, 2 South State crowns, and two state championships in 1991 (Class 3A) and 1992 (Class 4A).  During his career, Coach Liggans coached in 502 basketball games with his teams winning 341 and losing only 161 for a 67% winning mark.  From 1998 to 2006, Coach Liggans served as video coordinator for the WNBA Champion Houston Comets under legendary coach Van Chancellor.  Over the years, Harold has received several coaching honors including District Coach of the Year in 1996.  He was also named MAC Coach of the Year for Girls Basketball in 1991 and served as an all-star coach for the 1992 Mississippi High School All-Star basketball game and the 1998 Mississippi/Alabama All Star basketball classic.  He is an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and has participated in that organization’s Coats for Kids and Toys for Kids programs over the years.