Hilary Allen Retires From Meridian Community College

From School Reports

Hilary Allen, the Athletic Director and Women’s Basketball Coach at Meridian Community College, announced his retirement from coaching. Coach Allen retires from MCC with the most wins in school history, amassing 249 victories in 12 seasons. The Lady Eagles won the Region 23 Championship during the 2012 season and advanced to the NJCAA National Tournament.


“I wish to express my deepest appreciation to Dr. Scott Elliott for giving me the opportunity to continue my athletic career at Meridian Community College,” said Coach Hilary Allen.

Coach Allen spent 30 years as a college coach, included 23 years as a head coach. Coach Allen was the head coach at the University of Tampa, Edison CC, Chipola JC, and Meridian CC. Coach Allen has also served as the assistant for the men’s team at Meridian CC for several years. During those 23 years as head coach, Coach Allen came away with 424 victories.

“I grew up in a small town in Kentucky and people just love basketball in Kentucky. So did I. It has been beyond any of my dreams to think that I have been on the bench as either the head coach or as an assistant coach for over 1000 games,” said Coach Hilary Allen.

The Lady Eagles, known for their high power fast break offense, had five players score over 1000 points during their two year career under Coach Allen. Four of these Lady Eagles were local high school stars; Monique Horner from Southeast Lauderdale, NaDosha Strickland from Bay Springs, Tiara Parker from Meridian, and Norianna Haynes from Northeast Lauderdale. Chasity Kearney, from Batesville, graduated this past year and left as the all time leading scorer in school history with 1207 points.

“I don’t know of another school in Mississippi that had a 1000 point scorer, much less five,” said Coach Allen.

The Lady Eagles also hold the current longest streak of advancing to the Region 23 play-offs by any college in the region. The Lady Eagles have advanced for the past 8 years in a row to the Region 23 Tournament. The Lady Eagles won the Region 23 Tournament in 2012, finished runner-up in 2007 and 2011, and finished in third place in 2001, 2006 and 2009. Overall, the Lady Eagles advanced to the Region 23 Tournament 10 out of Coach Allen’s 12 years at the helm.

While Coach Allen is extremely proud of the accomplishments of his women’s basketball teams, he is equally as proud of the other teams at MCC and their accomplishments under his leadership. Of the 104 athletic teams that started their season at MCC with Coach Allen leading the way, 59 teams either won the region or came in as runner-up. This means 57% of the time, MCC was in the hunt for a Regional Championship.

During the 12 years as the leader of the Athletic Department, the Eagles won a National Championship, finished as National Runner-ups on two occasions and finished in third place on three occasions. Twelve other teams finished in the top 10 in the nation at the end of the season. Another twenty-two teams at MCC finished in the top 20. This is quite an accomplishment for a school with one of the smallest budgets in the state.

“While our budgets might have been small, we had some great coaches that worked hard in developing their teams,” said Coach Allen.

The successes in the playing arenas speak for themselves. Another indicator for the success of the MCC Athletic Department is the recognition given by the yearly Halbrook Award. The award is based on a comparison of the graduation and completion rates of the student-athletes for all the community colleges in Mississippi. Meridian Community College had a better than 90% rate every year and was always one of the top finishers for this award.

“This goes to the credit of what a great college MCC is. The instructors work really well with the student-athletes,” said Coach Allen.

“I want to thank all of my former players and coaches, especially my Associate Head Coach, Celia Allen, for a great run. I had a blast!”

Coach Allen plans to move back to Florida in the near future.