By Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s Richard Duease and EJ Dampier – the 2026 Tatum and Wade/MSB Metro Jackson Boys Basketball Coach and Player of the Year – accomplished their goals to finish with the gold ball and another MAIS Overall Tournament championship.
Duease wanted to win another Overall title – an MAIS record 16th (14 boys and two girls) – in his final season of his brilliant career, his 51st overall and 44th at MRA, and ride into the sunset as a champion.
Dampier – a 6-foot-10 sophomore center and son of former Mississippi State and NBA star Erick Dampier, now an MRA assistant coach – wanted to do his part and help his coach get there.
Dampier averaged 15.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.4 blocked shots and 1.2 steals and led MRA to a 37-2 record – the best boys record in Duease’s career – and won the Overall title. Dampier was dominating in the 65-53 championship over Jackson Academy with 25 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 8 blocked shots. MRA is ranked No. 2 in Mississippi and No. 100 in the country by MaxPreps.
It was a satisfying accomplishment for Duease and Dampier, especially after last season when MRA finished with a 17-13 record, the worst boys record in Duease’s 44 years at MRA and were eliminated by Madison St. Joseph in the first round of the MAIS Class 6A tournament.
“We weren’t a bad team last year,” Duease said. “We had some close losses to some good teams, we just couldn’t finish it at the end. I was thinking maybe its time to retire after last season, but I couldn’t quit on that. I was fortunate to have two returning seniors (Will Bizot and Evan Carr) and they wanted the best for themselves and for me. They refused to lose. Evan and Bizot handled tough situations, were great under pressure, were leaders and winners this season. We had a mature team. They mentally understood what we wanted to do. I told my players that this is not personal. I’m trying to make them better. It would be an injustice to their mom and dad if I didn’t push them to the max and get the most of them. That’s my job.”
Carr made a dramatic improvement. He averaged 8.1 points, 3.8 assists and only 1.4 turnovers per game. He improved his scoring average by three points per game and cut his turnovers by more than half.
“Evan had a rough year last year,” Duease said. “It was his first year to start. He had some good games and some bad games. He went out for football this year and like I told (MRA head football) Coach (Herbert) Davis, Evan found out I’m not the only bad guy. In other words, Evan found out I wasn’t the only coach who would push him because we wanted the best for him. Football toughened Evan up and when he came out for basketball, he was tough, played hard, was mature and played like he was capable of playing. He had a great year and I think he has a shot of playing college basketball. He was a difference maker this year.”
Bizot is the only athlete to play football, basketball and baseball at MRA, and has excelled in all three. He averaged 10 points and a team-high two steals per game this season.
“Bizot was tougher mentally this year,” Duease said. “He was more of a leader. He just wasn’t another player out there. Bizot was a big factor in us winning the Overall, not only with his leadership, but with his ability to knock down shots, run the floor, great passes and good defense.”
And then there was 6-2 junior guard Jack Dalton and 6-2 sophomore guard Camden Harvey. Dalton averaged 9.2 points and Harvey averaged 10.3 points and made a team-high 63 3-pointer this season. Dalton had career-high 20 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in MRA’s first round win over Rossville, Tenn. Christian in Overall tournament.
“Those two guys had great years,” Duease said. “Jack started this year and had a good season and Harvey was a sophomore who played junior high last year. Both were big for us this season.”
Junior point guard and Northwest Rankin transfer Zavian Carr (no relation to Evan), and sophomore forward Aiden Thompson were the top two players off the bench. When Evan Carr broke his jaw against Jackson Prep in the Class 4A state championship game and had to have surgery the next week and missed the Overall Tournament, Zavian Carr started in his place and played solid basketball from the point guard position, especially in the Overall championship win over JA. Carr had 13 points (5 of 6 from the field, 1 of 2 from 3-point range), and six assists. Thompson averaged 4.5 points and 2.9 rebounds and played an average of 11.1 minutes per game this season.
“Zavian had his best game of the season,” Duease said. “I was very proud of him. He started when Evan was playing football and took a role coming off the bench and has been starting since Evan got hurt. Zavian stepped it up last night and got to the rim quick.”
Duease, who was MRA’s athletic director from 1996-2022, hired MRA athletic director Ross Hailey as an assistant basketball coach in 1998. Hailey coached with Duease for 14 seasons and also replaced him as AD in 2022. Hailey has been named the Director of Athletics at the MAIS office and begins his new job this summer.
“What else can we say about Richard Duease,” Hailey said. “He gets to go out on top, and it’s so fitting. Coach Duease took a team that played well in spurts last year, but didn’t achieve what they hoped for and helped shape them into one of the best teams this state has seen in several years. His returning players improved, his younger guys fit in well and this team’s chemistry was outstanding. Coach Duease said last summer he was looking forward to doing it his way one last time and he did just that. He was demanding, but caring. He was intense. He got the most out of everyone, and he guided that team through a season ending injury to a senior point guard in the state tournament that could have wrecked a lot of teams. Instead of letting that hold them back, the toughness Coach Duease helped them develop throughout the year showed up, and that team payed one of its best games of the year in the Overall championship game. He’s a coaching legend who will be missed at MRA, and across the MAIS, but we wish him nothing but the best as he looks forward to retirement.”
“I learned a lot from Coach Duease,” said Bizot, whose father, Kenny, who won three Overall championships at Hillcrest Christian and now is the Mississippi College athletic director. “He taught me how to compete each and every day and believe in myself. He has put so much into basketball and we had a chip on our shoulder the whole year to give Coach Duease one last championship.”
The future looks bright for Duease’s replacement, Harper Hudnall, who was promoted to head coach Tuesday after four seasons as Duease’s assistant.
“EJ was going to get better and better and then they will have three sophomores and two juniors coming back next season,” Duease said. “We have a lot of athletes. We have a young team.”
Even though there was a lot of attention on Duease because it was his final year, he tried to focus on the task at hand.
“This year was mainly about our team,” Duease said. “We approach every game and had a great season. The thing that got me was how fast it went by. Every year it seems to go by faster. We had a great time and it was really fun this year because of how talented we were and how hard we played.”
Duease traveled down memory lane and remembered some of his greatest teams.
“I’ve had so many good teams over the years. There was the year when we had Ryan Goolsby and Caleb Miskelly and we pretty much dominated every one (finished 33-2 in 2008-09 season, a team many consider was Duease’s best team),” Duease said. “The year with Neil Berry, Seth Hedglin and Brian Cronin was a great one when we beat Central Private (La.) when they had a great team (1998-99 season). There was the team with Frazier Adams and Andrew Howell where we came in third in the state and won Overall (2007-08 season). That might have been one of the least talented I had who won Overall. Then there’s the team that we lost to Brookhaven and Chris Thurman in triple overtime in the Overall finals (in 1989). Chris had 54 points and we had kid named Jay Aldy who had 27.”
Dampier was the biggest difference this season. He had 27 double doubles. He ranked fourth in Mississippi in rebounds per game and eighth in Mississippi in blocked shots per game by MaxPreps. He had career highs of 34 points against Hartfield Academy, 22 rebounds against Choctaw Central and Simpson Academy and eight blocked shots against JA in the Overall championship game.
Dampier is ranked as the No. 3 player in the country in the class of 2028 by ESPN, was a MaxPreps freshman All-American last season and made the 12-member Team USA Under-16 basketball team last summer.
“Damp is much stronger and his skill level is getting better and better,” Duease said. “He has always been a great passer and has become an even better one. Damp has added some range to his hook shot and can consistently make it from six to seven feet out now. He is getting better and more consistent on his mid-range jump shot. I’m so proud of Damp. He has made major improvements since the eighth grade. Damp doesn’t complain about criticism. He learns from it. Damp doesn’t take it personal. He’s got a great attitude and he want to get better. Damp will do what it takes to improve. Big Erick (Dampier’s father, Erick, is an assistant coach) has done a great job with him. He doesn’t say a whole lot except when he is down with the post guys. He watches the game and speaks up when he needs to. He’s very honest on his opinion on the players and I value his experience. He pushes Damp.”
“I improved my touch around the rim and my mental game,” Dampier said. “Just being able to get past a missed shot, or a mistake took me a long way.”
Dampier shot 69.6 percent from the field, second in the country among the top 200 players in field goals made this season, according to MaxPreps.
“Erick’s improvement from last year to this year was incredible,” Hailey said. “His body changed so much, and his skill level just gets better and better. It’s a testament to the work he’s putting into his overall game, both in the gym and in the weight room. He’s the best passing big man I’ve seen, whether it’s an outlet pass or pass out of a half court double team, and the fact that he can take a defensive rebound and run the fast break himself makes our team so dangerous. That’s just basketball. He’s a great young man in the classroom, as well. When you look at him, it’s hard to remember that he’s not even driving yet, but he just loves being with kids and hanging out. He makes our school a better place, not just our team.”
“EJ was a pleasure to play with and it’s been cool to see how he has developed since he was in the eighth grade,” Bizot said. “He’s getting better and better and there’s no doubt we will be watching him play on tv soon.”
“The most dominating part about Dampier is his size,” said Jackson Prep coach Zach Allison, whose Patriots lost to MRA four times this season. “Nobody in our league can compete with that. The most impressive part about his game is his defensive ability. He is a great rim protector because of his size and his length.”
Dampier said he has offers from Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Jackson State, Purdue and San Diego so far. Expect more to come, though, as Dampier continues to improve and more schools get interested.
Dampier averaged 13.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots per game last season as a freshman, the only freshman to make the 20-player Tatum and Wade/MSB Metro Jackson Team last season.
Dampier is the son of Erick and Yolanda Dampier. Erick played basketball at Lawrence County and Mississippi State and played in the NBA for 16 seasons and is now an assistant boys basketball coach at MRA. Yolanda played basketball and ran track and field and cross country at Callaway and received a scholarship for basketball to Jackson State. Dampier has two sisters and one brother. Sister Alyssa plays volleyball and basketball and is a senior at MRA and signed with Southern Miss to play volleyball. She helped MRA win the volleyball state championship this season. Sister Ayanna basketball and volleyball and is in the seventh grade at MRA. Brother Derick plays basketball and is in the fourth grade at MRA. Yolanda’s father, Marvin Brown, is in the Jackson State Hall of Fame for basketball. Dampier’s first cousin is Germantown High senior center and Gonzaga signee Sam Funches.
Duease isn’t sure what all he will be doing with his free time.
“I will be at Kim’s store (his wife, Kim, an artist, owns Kim Duease Designs in Madison),” Duease said. “I will be helping her. We might be traveling some, too. And we will seeing our daughter and grand daughter (Ann Taylor, her husband Kyle, and their son, Cobb, live in Pensacola) more. And who knows. I might be a junior high coach at some school in Florida.”
While Duease will be finding things to occupy this time other than basketball, Dampier will be in basketball mode this summer.
Dampier – who was the second youngest player on the USA Basketball Under-16 Team last summer – will be trying out for the under-17 team this summer. He was one of 36 players who tried out for the Under-16 team last year. Dampier turned 16 on Oct. 22. He helped the Under-16 team win the gold medal at the 2025 FIBA Americup last summer.
The 2026 USA Basketball Men’s U17 National Team training camp is scheduled for later this spring and the 12-player team will play in the FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup, scheduled for June 27-July 5, in Istanbul, Turkey.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
METRO JACKSON BOYS COACH OF THE YEAR
2025: James Crain, Central Hinds Academy
2024: Tony Tadlock, Raymond
2023: Joshua Luckett, Northwest Rankin
2022: Tim Wise, Jackson Prep
2021: Bo Clark, Lanier
2020: Brian Cronin, St. Andrew’s
METRO JACKSON BOYS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2025: Mike Williams, Germantown
2024: Mike Williams, Jackson Academy
2023: Josh Hubbard, MRA
2022: Josh Hubbard, MRA
2021: Deshaun Ruffin, Callaway
2020: Deshaun Ruffin, Callaway
