Bio

Beverly Jean Coleman

Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College (1978-1980) / Basketball
Gulfport, Mississippi

Believe it or not, Beverly Coleman did not come to Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College in 1978 to play basketball. Before coming to Perk, the Gulfport native was a standout point guard for three state championship teams under head coach Van Chancellor at Harrison Central High School. However, playing basketball wasn’t on her agenda.

“I had a lot of scholarship offers coming out of high school,” Coleman says. But all of my friends were at Perk, so I decided to go there. Plus, my mom didn’t want me too far away from home. I went there just to go to school.”

That is until Gulf Coast women’s head coach Sue Ross and assistant coach Doris “Blackie” Smith learned that Coleman was enrolled at the college.

“I was in the recreation gym one day playing basketball,” she says. “The coaches invited me to see the team. They offered me a full ride, and I took it.”

Coleman played basketball in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons. She averaged 20 points per game during her time with the Lady Bulldogs and won nearly all of the team awards. She also represented the college at the annual MACJC All-Star Game, in which she earned several honors.

After graduating from MGCJC, she played for the University of South Alabama in Mobile. After college, Coleman went overseas with her family and play professional basketball in Germany, Spain, Greece, and Turkey until 1990.

“Being in Europe gave me a great chance to play,” she says. “I grew up a little bit at Perk, and that helped me in Europe. I played there, got to travel, and I enjoyed it.”

An injury brought Coleman back to the United States. After recovering and settling in the Mobile area, she tried out for the newly formed Women’s National Basketball Association. She didn’t make it, which turned out to be a blessing for thousands of students in Mobile. Coleman then earned her master’s degree and began her teaching career at Mobile County Training Middle School. In 2006, Coleman earned Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year honors.

In 2009, she was the girls head basketball, soccer and volleyball coach at Mobile‘s Vigor High School. In her first season at Vigor, her team went 24-3 before going to the Alabama 5A State Tournament. In the next two seasons, her teams won back-to-back 5A state titles.

Quite a record for someone who wasn’t interested in playing basketball when she came to Perk nearly 31 years ago.

“At that time I remember thinking, ‘No, I don’t want to play,’ but the coaches kept asking me,” Coleman says. “Obviously, I’m glad I went to Perk because I don’t think I would’ve been successful going to a bigger school right off the bat. I had my friends around me, and the teachers there were outstanding and always willing to work with you. It was more like home to me. I enjoyed playing under Coach Ross and Coach Smith. We were like a close family.”