By Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s Richard Duease – the winningest high school basketball coach in Mississippi history and a member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame – was a few years away from winning his 1,000th game, had won three MAIS Overall Tournament championships and been a head coach for almost a quarter of a century before his replacement was born.
MRA announced Tuesday it promoted 28-year-old Harper Hudnall from assistant coach to head coach to replace the 74-year-old Duease, who retired after winning 1,888 games, 42 state championships and 16 Overall titles in 51 seasons, the last 44 at MRA.
While Hudnall is young – Duease has a grandson who is older than Hudnall’s daughter – MRA is very high on Hudnall, even though he has yet to coach his first high school game as a head coach.
“It is a privilege to name Harper as our head boys basketball coach,” MRA head of school Termie Land said. “Harper is a Patriot through and through, embodying the very spirit of MRA from his days as a student-athlete to his championship success leading our junior high program. I am fully confident that he will not only uphold the legacy of those before him, but will elevate our program through his character, mentorship, and deep-rooted love for the school. As an alumnus and proven winner, Harper understands our culture from the inside out. He prioritizes relationships and mentorship above all else, and I am confident he will lead our student-athletes to excellence both on and off the court. Success at MRA is measured by more than just the scoreboard; it’s measured by the character of our leaders. Harper has proven himself to be an outstanding mentor who leads with a servant’s heart. Harper loves the school, his players, and most importantly, the Lord. We are excited to watch him lead the Patriot basketball team program into this next chapter.”
“Simply put, Harper is MRA,” said MRA athletic director Ross Hailey, who was named the new Director of Athletics at the MAIS office and starts this summer. “His family moved to Madison in 2010 where he enjoyed an outstanding career as a multi sport athlete. His blood, sweat and tears are in these hardwoods. As a player and now head coach, Harper has been learning from and been mentored by the very best in Coach Duease. He is a teacher and mentor in his own right, passionate about the student-athlete experience, both on and off the floor. Harper knows what it takes to achieve excellence. He’s a champion.
“Harper’s passion for MRA has been evident since he played for us. I loved getting to coach him in junior high. I loved watching him play for Coach Duease in high school, and I’ve loved getting to watch him shape young people’s lives since he joined our faculty. He’s a solid person who loves basketball, kids, and MRA. He understands MRA basketball’s tradition, and he’s looking forward to seeing that tradition continue.”
“Harper is a very intelligent young man and I feel really good about him taking over the program,” Duease said. “I’m very excited for him and our program. He was a great athlete at MRA. He played on two Overall championship teams, his senior year they were 35-3, and he was a state champion in the hurdles in track. He is highly competitive and tough-nosed. He knows all the players since he has been an assistant here for six years, the last four with me. He is a strong Christian who will lead our players in the right direction.”
Hudnall played on MRA’s Overall championship teams as a sophomore and senior in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 seasons. He was the starting point guard and made All-MAIS in 2016. After graduating from Mississippi College, Hudnall returned to MRA to being his coaching career. He has been spent the past six seasons as an assistant, two with MRA girls head coach Stephen Force and four with Duease. Hudnall was a part of the 2023 MAIS 6A state title team and this year’s MAIS Class 4A and Overall state championship team, which finished 37-2 and ranked No. 2 in Mississippi and No. 100 in the country by MaxPreps.
Hudnall and his wife, Carley, have been married for four years and have one daughter, Elizabeth, who is nine months old. Carley graduated from Madison Central and Mississippi State. She is in her fourth year teaching eighth grade at Madison Middle School.
Hudnall is the son of Joey and Neely Hudnall, who live in Madison. Joey is the CEO of Neel-Schaffer Engineering firm. Hudnall’s brother, Hamp, played basketball for MRA and was a part of the Overall championship teams in 2017 and 2018 and 2019 Class 4A, Division I state title team. He is a MSU graduate.
“I couldn’t be more excited about taking over a program that has poured so much into me,” Hudnall said. “The program Coach Duease has built at MRA is special and he is the best this sport has to offer. I’ve had the opportunity to learn directly under him for the past four years, and I think that’s prepared me for this job better than anything else. Coach Duease has been a great mentor to me and he is someone I will continue to reach out for coaching advice. He’s taught me the importance of competing. How to find different ways to make each day completive, to push guys to become the best player they can possibly be. But most of all, he’s shown me how impactful we as coaches can be outside of our sport. It’s more than the X’s and O’s, it’s the relationships we build within our program. Coach built a tradition of excellence at MRA and I look forward to continuing that moving forward.”
Hudnall has plenty to work with, especially with 6-foot-10 sophomore center EJ Dampier – the son of former Mississippi State and NBA star Erick Dampier who is rated as the No. 3 player in the country in the Class of 2027 by ESPN and was a member of the 12-player USA Under-16 Team last summer. In addition to Dampier, MRA returns starters Jack Dalton and Caeden Harvey, and the top two players off the bench, Zavian Carr and Aiden Thompson.
“Erick, Jack, Caeden and Zavian return next year, all who started for us this season,” Hudnall said. “Erick will be the engine that makes it all go. He’s been a huge factor for us since his eighth grade year, and we were really impressed with the leap he made this past season. He averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds and we look forward to the impact he will continue to make for our program. Jack and Zavian are the two returning seniors who we will rely heavily on. JD continued to improve as the season went on, being a bright spot for us during our postseason run. He stepped upon a big way offensively, averaging 9.2 points throughout the season. Zavian ended the season with his best game of the year in the Overall championship. He put up 13 points and six assists, and we hope for him to step up next year in the point guard position and be the floor general we need. Caeden, a junior guard, shined for us as a sophomore. He averaged 10 points per game, and shot 38 percent from three. He has been and will continue to be a big time player for us over the next two years. We’re excited for what his future holds.”
“We have worked together since the sixth grade,” Dampier said. “We have good communication. We are focused on the same goals.”
“Coach Hud has always been a competitor and has loved to win and it shows when we are in games,” Dalton said. “Being our assistant for two past two years and most of our junior high coaches, we all have gotten close with him outside of basketball, which can definitely help us next year trying to go back to back. With him being the new head coach, he will fit our system perfectly and I’m very excited for it.”
“I have a great relationship with Coach Hud,” Harvey said. “He led us to a state title last year for our junior high team. He has helped me in a bunch of ways on and off the basketball court and helped me grow as a person. He is a very important part of our basketball team and our Overall championship this year for the varsity. I’m very excited about the next two years with him as our head coach and where he can take us.”
With Hudnall’s hire Tuesday, the biggest four schools in the MAIS – MRA, Jackson Prep, Jackson Academy and Hartfield Academy – all have head boys basketball coaches 35 years old and younger.
JA’s Jesse Taylor and Hartfield’s Chris Goodman are both 35, Hudnall 28, and Prep’s Zach Allison 27.
Taylor just completed his fourth season as head coach at JA, Goodman his third season at Hartfield, and Allison his third season at Prep.
Taylor and Allison both won an Overall championships in their second seasons as head coach at JA and Prep respectively. Taylor won in 2024 and Allison in 2025.
Allison took over for longtime college and high school coach Tim Wise. Allison was an assistant to Wise for three seasons then was head coach at Heritage Academy for one season before coming back to Prep. Allison, like Hudnall, was an assistant for an Overall championship team.
“Every situation is different,” Allison said. “I think any transition period can go smoothly as long as you have the right person for the job. I know Harper will do a great job leading their program and representing their school well.”
