Meridian Community College men’s basketball coach James Green announced his retirement Wednesday with officials lauding his successful efforts over the past eight years in revitalizing the Eagles program.

Named to replace Green as head coach was Clarence Weatherspoon, a former University of Southern Mississippi and NBA player who has served as assistant coach for the Jones College Bobcats for the past two years.

During a press conference to announce the coaching changes, MCC President Tom Huebner recognized Green for the impact he has had on the MCC men’s basketball program.

“Coach James Green is a legend. When I say legend, I’m not just talking about wins because he’s had plenty of those,” he said. “But I am also taking about his investment in the hundreds, probably thousands, of young men who are better because of the time they spent with him.”

Green, who officially retires June 30, served as the head men’s basketball coach at Jacksonville State University, Mississippi Valley State University and the University of Southern Mississippi before becoming head coach at MCC in 2016.

Huebner said Green’s team has been known for hard work and discipline and results have followed.

“Coach Green has moved this program from an unknown to a known,” he said.

When he arrived, Green found a struggling Eagles basketball team that had only managed four wins during the previous season. Due to his recruitment efforts, along with an emphasis on teamwork and discipline, the Eagles showed improvement year after year.

Under his leadership, MCC made its first appearance in the NJCAA Region 23 final during the 2020-2021 season for the first time since 1999. Although the team failed to clinch the championship, Green was named MACCC Coach of the Year by his peers for his efforts in turning around the college program.

The following season, the Eagles won the Region 23 Championship and secured a bid to the NJCAA national tournament with Green being recognized as the Region 23 Coach of the Year. The Eagles recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2022 and 2023 and back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Region 23 championship game.

Green said he was grateful to have been given the opportunity to coach at MCC, saying the time was full of wonderful years that tremendously impacted his career and life.

He said he knows he is leaving the program in good hands with Weatherspoon.

“I am so excited because of the direction the program is going to go,” Green said. “I know the program is in great hands.”

A native of Crawford, Weatherspoon earned his degree from Southern Mississippi in 1993. He and his wife, Hazel, have two sons, Clay and Byrant, and a daughter, Simone.

Besides serving as an assistant coach at Jones, Weatherspoon also served as an assistant coach at USM from 2016 to 2022 and as a volunteer assistant coach at Ridgeland High School.

In high school, he was a standout basketball player at Motley High School in Columbus before signing to play for USM, where he played for legendary coach M.K. Turk and scored 2,130 points, the second all-time high in school history. As a college senior, Weatherspoon averaged 22.3 points per game and 10.5 rebounds, leading the Golden Eagles to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990 and again in 1991.

Weatherspoon was selected ninth overall in the 1992 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, setting a rookie franchise record his first year with 1,290 points. He was in the NBA for 13 years, later playing for Golden State, Miami, Cleveland, New York and Houston.

Weatherspoon said he was excited to come full circle in his basketball career from a college player to the NBA to an assistant coach and now to becoming a head coach.

“I’m excited and thankful for this opportunity to become the next head men’s basketball coach at MCC,” Weatherspoon said. “I think I’m ready for the challenge.”

While he hopes to carry on Green’s success with the basketball program, Weatherspoon said he also hopes to have an impact on his players.

“Coaching is coaching, but it is the impact you make, the lives you touch,” he said.