Northeast
Sports
Athletic Director Ricky Ford
Former Northeast women’s basketball coach Ricky Ford left his “built Ford tough” mark on many Lady Tiger teams since coming to Northeast in 1981. After the 2010-11 season, Ford decided to hang it up and went into his victory lap through the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC). On March 7, 2011 Ford announced he was stepping down as women’s basketball coach at Northeast. Ford ended his career at Northeast with an overall record of 588-226. While wins have not been on the coach’s mind, the satisfaction of a job well done kept Ford going at Northeast for 30 seasons. Building success on and off the court was what Ford did since coming to Northeast Mississippi Junior College in 1981. During his 30-year coaching career, Ford only had four sub-.500 seasons and the first of those did not come until his 2002-03 Lady Tigers finished 11-12 but even it finished as the North Division runner-up. Within five years since taking over the Lady Tiger program in 1981, Ford had transformed the Lady Tigers into national title contenders that included a national runner-up finish in 1986 and a national championship in 1987. During Ford’s illustrious career, the Lady Tiger basketball coach led his team to 15 North Division titles, nine MACJC State
Championships with 6 (six) of those state championships being consecutive and three Region XXIII crowns while leading the Lady Tigers to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) national basketball tournament on three separate occasions. Ford went to the national tournament a final time in 2005-06 as the Lady Tigers captured the North Division, MACJC State and Region XXIII titles and finished the season as the nation’s No. 21-ranked team after appearing in the national event in Salina, Kan. Following his final national tournament appearance, Ford was honored as the Division I, District O, Region XXIII Coach of the Year - an award that is given to the head coach of each of the 16 regional championship teams. One year after his national tournament appearance, Ford continued his success in the MACJC as the veteran mentor led the Lady tigers back to the Region XXIII tournament
for a twenty-fifth straight year as the Lady Tigers once again captured the North Division - their fourth straight division title - and successfully defended their 2006 MACJC State Title. Ford was appointed Dean of Student Services at the beginning of the 2011 spring semester following the retirement of Kenneth Pounders, and is currently in his sixth year as athletic director for the college. His responsibilities as athletic director has Ford overseeing the day-to-day operations of an athletic department that features eight varsity sports, an all-female cheerleading squad and also coordinates the annual MACJC AllStar Football Classic game that is held each year in December. Prior to coming to Northeast, Ford built successful basketball programs at Booneville High School coaching the Lady Blue Devils for four years and the Blue Devils for a pair of seasons. Ford’s overall careen record stands at 676253 and carries a winning percentage of 72.7 percent into retirement. An alumnus of Northeast and former Tiger basketball player under Kenneth Lindsey, Ford earned a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree from the University of Mississippi. Ricky and his wife LuAnne have four children, Aaron, Lauren, Suzanne, and Ben.
Letter from the Athletic Director Parents, Fans, Supporters, Alumni, On behalf of the Athletic Department at Northeast Mississippi Community College, I want to welcome you to this athletic event. We hope that your visit today will create an interest that will encourage you to come back. As we strive for excellence in the classroom and in the athletic arena, we would like to encourage every one of you to become involved in all aspects of our athletic department. As we try to reach the highest level with all of our sports programs we must continue to work very hard to be the very best we can be. We are looking for all avenues of resources to build on our already competitive programs. Within the last five (5) years, we have steadily improved every one of our athletic teams. We now have great leadership in all of our athletic programs and we are very excited about what the future holds for all of them. We would like to invite you to become a part of our Athletic booster club and help us as we strive to reach the highest level. Our goal is to educate our student/athletes to a level that will put them at the very top in their perspective sport. In addition, we want our athletes to be some of our most productive citizens. Again, welcome to the NEMCC campus and we hope you have a very enjoyable visit and we welcome you back at any time either to visit our campus or to attend another athletic event. Thanks! Ricky G. Ford 6
Northeast Mississippi Community College