Pictured Above: New Albany Girls’ Head Basketball Coach John Stroud was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in July. Celebrating his accomplishments are administrators from the New Albany School District: (L-R) Jackie Ford, Assistant Superintendent; Jay Foster, NAHS Principal; Lecia Stubblefield, Director of Federal Programs, Curriculum, & Transportation; Stroud; Lance Evans, NAES Principal; and Dr. Charles Garrett, Superintendent.
New Albany Schools has a Hall of Fame Coach! New Albany Girls’ Head Coach John Stroud was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in July. Inducted with Stroud was football coaching legends Jeff Bower and Jim Carmody, former professional football player Tyrone Keys, and PGA Tournament Director Robert Morgan.
Stroud learned that he had been selected for the honor last fall. He traveled to Jackson in September 2008 for a press conference and again in January of this year to make his acceptance speech. His speech was recorded and shown at the induction ceremony this summer.
The weekend included the induction ceremony, an autograph session, and a silent auction fundraising event. Family, friends, and colleagues from both the New Albany and Jackson areas joined Stroud for his weekend of honor. Stroud plans to return to Jackson each summer to participate in the Hall of Fame events.
John began his basketball career at West Union Attendance Center and continued to play collegiate ball at the University of Mississippi from 1976-1980 where he was All SEC for three years and named All American in 1980. He holds the record for most points (2,328) scored as a Rebel player. His professional career includes playing for the Houston Rockets from 1980-1982 and abroad in Spain from 1982-1983.
This past winter, John was named to the All Century Team at the University of Mississippi. This team represented the top twenty Ole Miss players from 1909-2009. He is also a member of the M Club Hall of Fame.
As part of being inducted to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, Stroud had to share his most memorable Mississippi Sports moment. He holds the record for scoring the most points in the Humphrey Coliseum on the Mississippi State University campus. “I scored 42 points there in January of 1979,” Stroud recalled. “I was a junior and we lost to State in overtime.”
His coaching resume includes serving as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama with Wimp Sanderson for one year. He then served as New Albany Boys’ Head Coach from 1986-1988 and led the team to two state championships.
He served as head coach at East Mississippi Community College for two years and at Millsaps College from 1990-2004. Tired of traveling and recruiting, John left coaching, returned to New Albany and began a career in insurance. He was only away from coaching one season before he took over as Head Girls’ Coach at New Albany.
“We feel very fortunate to have someone of Coach Stroud’s caliber working with our girls’ basketball program,” said Jay Foster, Principal of New Albany High School. “He has such a tremendous knowledge of the game of basketball. Having played and coached on so many levels he brings a tremendous amount of respect to our program.”
Foster added, “The thing that you notice about Coach Stroud is that he is extremely humble. With all of his experience and honors, he only uses it to benefit his players and the basketball program and never himself.”
“Coach Stroud has led a Hall of Fame Life both on and off the basketball court,” said Dr. Charles Garrett, Superintendent.
When asked what it meant for him to be an inductee into the Sports Hall of Fame, Stroud gave the honor back to his game – the game of basketball. “When people think of sports figures in Mississippi, they usually think of football greats like Archie Manning, Walter Payton, and Jerry Rice,” Stroud said. “Very few basketball people are in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and to be there representing the game of basketball with guys like Bailey Howell is a real honor.”
