“HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COACHES IN THE SWAC TO USE THE ZONE DEFENSE EFFECTIVELY. IN FACT, WE WON A SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP BECAUSE OF THE ZONE DEFENSE WE PLAYED. HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST XS AND OS COACHES YOU COULD FIND.” — AARON SELLERS, WHO PLAYED FOR PAUL COVINGTON FROM 1964–68 Paul Covington, former Jackson State University head basketball coach and athletics director, will be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame during ceremonies of the 46th Annual BancorpSouth Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Weekend on Aug. 1–2. “It’s a tremendous honor for me,” says Covington. “To be selected ... is a humbling experience. It’s the culmination of my career.” The Lexington, Ky., native spent almost a half century as a player, coach and athletics administrator at JSU. A three-sport letterman at Douglas High in Lexington, Covington was recruited to Jackson State in 1952 as a guard on the basketball team by Harrison B. Wilson, a native Kentuckian who was the Tigers’ head basketball coach at the time.
Paul Covington served as the Tigers head basketball coach for 19 seasons. Paul Covington and his wife, Mariam, have three children: Sheryl, Paul Jr. and Vivian. They also have four grandchildren: Paul III, David, Dana and Patrice. Covington will join 11 other former JSU athletes who have been inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. They are Robert Brazile (2007), Jackie Slater (2003), T.B. Ellis (2002), Purvis Short (2000), Walter Reed (1999), W.C. Gorden (1997), Walter Payton (1993), Marion Henley (1993), Harold Jackson (1989), Lem Barney (1986) and Willie Richardson (1979).
How Wilson enticed Covington and three other Kentucky prep stars to leave the Blue Grass State and head south to Mississippi may have involved a small degree of deception. “He showed us some pictures of palm trees and beaches,” Covington says, laughing. “I am still looking for the palm trees and beaches.” ‘COACHING WAS JUST A PART OF ME’ Covington, a point guard, played four years
for the Tigers and was named All Midwestern Athletic Conference two years. The Tigers were 95–19 during Covington’s tenure as a player. Jackson State won 20 or more games each year he played. He helped lead the team to a 29–4 record his senior year. After graduating in 1956, he spent two years in the Army. He married his high school sweetheart, Mariam, in 1957. Covington took his first coaching job in 1958 at Higgins High in Clarksdale, Miss., where he won three conference titles in four years. His next stop was at Coahoma Junior College in Clarksdale, where he promptly guided his team to the state championship. After the championship season at Coahoma, Wilson called on Covington again. This time no deception was necessary. Wilson offered Covington an assistant coaching job on his staff; he jumped at the offer. “It was like throwing a rabbit in the briar patch,” says Covington. “That’s what I wanted to do – coach basketball on the college level. I loved the atmosphere, the environment – coaching was just a part of me.” Mariam says they took a salary cut to come to Jackson State. “We felt it was best for Paul’s career, so we were happy to make the move.” ‘MORE THAN A COACH’ During the four years Covington served as Wilson’s assistant, the Tigers were 88–27. In 1967, Wilson left Jackson State and took the head basketball coaching job at Tennessee State University in Nashville. T.B. Ellis, thenJackson State athletics director, tapped Covington to replace Wilson. Covington served as the Tigers’ head coach for 19 seasons, compiling a 327–190 career record. His teams won or tied for six Southwestern Athletic Conference championships, made several trips to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics District 27 playoffs, and were 20-plus game winners seven times. He won back-to-back SWAC titles in 1973– 74 and 1974–75. His other conference titles came in 1968 and 1970, and he tied for the league crown in 1982. His 1974–75 team was ranked No. 1 in the nation for several weeks by most of the NCAA Division II national polls.
That team finished the year with a 25–4 record. He guided the Tigers to a winning record 14 of his first 15 years as head coach. During his coaching career, Covington gained a reputation as an innovative coach and an outstanding recruiter who could relate to his players. “Covington was more than a coach,” says Aaron Sellers, who played for Covington from 1964–68. “He was a great motivator, a friend, a family man and he was very smart. “He was one of the first coaches in the SWAC to use the zone defense effectively,” continues Sellers, who served as a graduate assistant coach under Covington for two years. “In fact, we won a SWAC championship because of the zone defense we played. He was one of the best Xs and Os coaches you could find.” BECOMING ATHLETICS DIRECTOR During Covington’s tenure as head coach, he signed some of the top blue-chip players in Mississippi. He recruited brothers Eugene and Purvis Short, two highly sought after forwards from Hattiesburg, Miss. The Shorts went on to become first-round NBA picks. He also signed widely recruited brothers Sylvester and Audie Norris of Jackson, Miss., who also were drafted into the NBA following their collegiate careers. Other prep superstars Covington brought to JSU included Sellers, John Shinall, Robert Wash, Al Smith, Kenny O’Banner, Henry Ward, Ricky Berry and Glendale Jones. He also landed Jerry Patton from Holly Bluff, Miss., who averaged more than 40 points per game during his senior year in high school. After retiring from coaching in 1986, Covington served as the Tigers assistant athletics director until 1995. He dealt primarily with compliance, and he was highly regarded for his knowledge and interpretation of NCAA and conference rules. He was selected as Jackson State’s acting athletics director in 1995 and was named athletics director in 1996, a post he worked until his retirement in 1999. So, what does Covington do now to keep himself busy? “I play golf almost every day it doesn’t rain. I cut the grass and I do everything my wife asks me to do,” Covington says, smiling.