By Robert Wilson
Steve Rives thought time had passed him by. Coaches who were his peers during his men’s basketball coaching career like Mike Jones, Richard Duease, M.K. Turk, Richard Williams, and Steve Knight had been inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
But Rives – who played and then coached in Mississippi for four decades until retiring in 2006 – had about resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t make the prestigious hall of fame until he got a call one Sunday last year.
“I was coming out of church (First Baptist Jackson) and had gotten in my car when (Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame executive director) Bill Blackwell called,” Rives said. “He said, ‘On behalf of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, I am calling to tell you have been selected to be a member of the hall of fame. I was so overcome with emotion; I could hardly talk. I had been retired for so long, I didn’t think it was going to happen.”
The 74-year-old Rives – a former Jackson Wingfield High and Mississippi College point guard who coached at Hanging Moss Academy, McCluer Academy, Jackson Prep, Louisiana College and for the last 20 years of his coaching career at Delta State – was officially inducted into hall Saturday night at the ceremony at the Hinds Community College’s Clyde Muse Center in Pearl.
“I was 54 when I retired, earlier than many coaches, but we had our best team ever in 2005-2006. We went 30-2 and had all seniors,” Rives said. “I figured it was as good a time as any. We won 400 games in 20 years at Delta State and had a good run. When I started there, the Gulf South Conference was the best Division II league in the country.”
Rives credits his players for his success and his connections with high school and junior college coaches.
“We had some great players,” Rives said. “Also, we built a good program and coaches in the junior college league and high school coaches knew if their kids came to Delta State, they would be taken care of so they would push them to us. And we were always competitive. We were in 10 conference finals and won it four times and several other times the other team hit the last shot to beat us.”
Rives was on some special teams at Wingfield, coached by Buddy Bounds. The Falcons were the MHSAA Class AA state runner-up in Rives’ senior season in 1968. Then he played for James Q. Allen at Mississippi College. He and Sue – his wife of 53 years – got married when they were still at MC.
“I tried a few classes in law school but I didn’t like it,” Rives said. “Both of my parents (W.B. ‘Boots’ and Lucy) were coaches at one time and I decided to be a coach. I liked having a group of guys who were fighting for the same thing and had a common goal. I liked coaching after just a few weeks and knew this was what I wanted to do.”
Plus, Rives needed some income.
“Sue and I had gotten married while we were in college and I needed a check to pay the bills,” Rives said. “I took my first job at (Jackson) Hanging Moss Academy and coached there one year. Then I took the McCluer job and we went 28-5 with Bee Bailey, Mike Stoufer and Marty McAlilly.”
After that one season at McCluer, Rives was hired at Prep where he led the Patriots to a 34-0 record and the state championship in his first season in 1974-75. The talented starting five were Scott Roberts, Rob Love, Ricky Covington, Mike Montgomery, and Rusty Ethridge. Rives stayed at Prep for eight years and won five state championships and four Overall Tournament titles. He had an incredible 260-23 record, a 91.9 percent winning percentage, at Prep.
He coached for two seasons at East Central Community College and his first senior college job was at Louisiana College.
“We had a good year in my first year and most of all the players were coming back and we signed four good players, were going to be in great shape for the next season and compete on a national level,” Rives said. “Ed Murphy left Delta State to coach at Ole Miss and Delta State athletic director Brad Hovious called me and asked if I would be interested in the job. I said I would. Sue and I drove to Cleveland and visited with (then Delta State president) Dr. (Kent) Wyatt under the trees. We decided it would be the right move for us. Our family loved Cleveland and it was a good match for us.”
Rives has plenty of highlights from his 20 successful years at Delta State.
He won 388 games, had a 67.3 winning percentage and is the winningest men’s basketball coach in school history. He won four Gulf South Conference titles (1993, ’97, ’98 and 2006) and Coach of the Year four times, NCAA South Region Coach of the Year twice and ABCA National Coach of the Year when Delta State won a school record 30 games in 2006, the year he retired. Rives played in nine NCAA Division II tournaments, made the Sweet 16 three times, Elite Eight twice and semifinals once. He coached 10 Division II All-Americans and 31 all-conference players.
Rives’ players – there were more than 100 who came to the induction weekend – loved playing for him and is grateful for his life lessons.
“Coach Rives is second only to my dad on his ability to shape and make my life what I am today,” said Marty McAlilly, who played for Rives at McCluer. “Sure, he taught how to really play ball, but the life lessons that he taught me I still carry with me in my family and business to this day. Teaching us that if you wanted to be at the top of the heap, you had to work harder than the average person. Coach Rives led by example. I’m proud to be on the ground floor of all his success. He has influenced so many the same way. Coach Rives has been and always will be one of the class acts. He will always have a special place in my heart.”
“Coach Rives knew basketball and even though he came along during an offense only program, he was a huge defensive guy,” said Rob Love, who was a senior on Rives’ first team at Prep that went undefeated in 1974-75. “We were in great shape and ran a fast break on every trip down the court whether they scored or didn’t. Coach Rives always tried to slow us down by saying, ‘be quick, but don’t hurry and have a purpose.’ I have kept up very closely with Steve. Not so much his coaching but life after basketball. I can’t stay I remember many quotes, but he was a big advocate to all who played for him and made the best player and the last guy on the bench feel worthy of their contribution to the team’s success.”
“Coach Rives taught all of us on the 1975 34-0 Prep team that putting in the hard work together as a team, not as individuals but as teammates would pay off if we committed to his program,” said Ricky Covington, a senior on Rives’ first team at Prep that went undefeated in 1974-75. “And boy, did we commit. Ball, me, man. If you keep the ball away from the defender, he can’t take or steal it. Ball, me, man.
“Several of the players on that ’75 team are still great friends and we go to lunch occasionally with Coach Rives and he still tells us new stories we have not heard before. It’s amazing how many lives he touched with his coaching skills. He is a great coach and even greater man.”
“I certainly learned to talk on defense from Coach Rives,” said Kelley Williams, who played for Rives in his last season at Prep (1981-82). “Shouts of ‘double,’ ‘help,’ and of course, ‘dead!’ echoing through the gym during practice and games were staples of the Coach Rives era at Prep. It wasn’t just about playing tough hard-nosed defense; it was also about communicating with your teammates. Beyond running and jumping and rotating down, calling for help when you needed it and responding immediately when a teammate needed help was a skill and mindset that carried over off the floor as well.
“As a sophomore, I played on Coach Rives’ last team at Prep in 1981-82. One of the best things he did for our class was to recommend his successor, Bobby West. Coach Rives didn’t have to do that – he could have just moved on to his next gig in the college ranks. But the mark of a good leader is leaving the organization in better shape than you found it. Coach Rives did that for us, finding a great coach to continue the tradition he had started. I am grateful and thrilled to witness his well-deserved induction in the Hall of Fame.”
“Coach Rives was all about fundamentals and doing things the right way,” said Brad Bunch, who played for Rives at Delta State from 1995-1997, was a starter on the 1997 Gulf South Conference championship team and was a graduate assistant for Rives in 1997-98. “Everyone played their role on the team. He was an excellent communicator of that to his players. When I was recruited by Coach Rives from Stone County High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, he communicated to me exactly what my role would be at Delta State. He always had a vision for his team each year. My role was to handle the basketball, pass the basketball and not turn the ball over. He was great about pieces of the puzzle together. I’ve been in the business world for 20 years and I use the same principles daily of Coach Rives when he coached basketball. I’ve coached college basketball for 10 years before entering the business world and I know a basketball coach when I see one. Coach Rives was born to coach. I knew that the first time I went to one of his practices.”
“I can’t think of any person who is more well deserved to be selected to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame than Coach Rives,” said Dwaun Warmack, who played for Rives at Delta State from 1997-1999. “He was not just a coach to many of us, but he was also a father figure, a mentor and most importantly, you taught us life lessons. I am forever grateful. Coming from Detroit, Michigan, 19 years old, you took a chance on a rough and rugged kid. Coach Rives poured into me. He challenged me. He encouraged me. Those life lessons, I’m forever thankful. As a college president today (at Clafin University in South Carolina) when I’m in a board room making tough decisions, I still remember some of the things he said. He said, ‘skate it, skate it, skate it. Chop it, chop it, chop it, Point those pistols.’ Coach Rives changed so many lives.”
Former Mississippi College men’s basketball coach and athletic director Mike Jones was Rives’ conference and in-state rival for many years.
“Steve was an excellent coach that always has his teams prepared,” said Jones, who is MC’s winningest men’s basketball coach and was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. “We certainly had a mutual respect. His teams were disciplined and hard to prepare for.”
Rives and wife Sue – who now live near the Patrick Farms Golf Club in Pearl – have three children, Sarah Rives Otts (married to Jason), Jenni Rives Johnson (married to CJ), and Dan (married to Andrea), and six grandchildren, Tyler, Tatum, Trevor, Madelyn, Luke, and Meredith. Rives has two sisters, Cindy Rives Coon (married to the late Mark Coon), and Lisa Rives Leavell (married to Roland Leavell).
