Bio

Former Mississippi State University guard Billy Begley begins his ninth year as head men’s basketball coach at East Mississippi Community College after previously serving as an assistant coach for the Lions.

With an eight-year EMCC head coaching record of 127-70 (.645), Begley’s Lions are a combined 87-36 (.707) overall and 48-17 (.739) in conference/division play since the 2018-19 season, including a pair of conference tournament championships. After Begley’s 2018-19 EMCC squad captured the school’s first conference championship in men’s hoops since the 1930s, the Lions’ 2021-22 team claimed the program’s second tourney title in four years by posting a 21-7 overall record and achieving a No. 7 national ranking during the season. Last year’s EMCC club posted a second straight 20-win season and repeat 10-4 conference mark while advancing to the 2023 NJCAA Region 23 Tournament semifinals.

Begley previously enjoyed instant success with the Lions upon returning to the Scooba campus in 2015. After spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Troy (Ala.) University, Begley took over for former EMCC head coach Mark White and proceeded to guide the 2015-16 Lions to their fifth NJCAA Tournament appearance during a seven-year span. Their 21-8 record that season included a berth in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championship game.

Begley’s prior three-year stay as an assistant coach at East Mississippi resulted in collective records of 68-19 (.782) overall and 33-3 (.917) in division play en route to claiming successive NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championships and regular-season division titles during the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. Along with the Lions earning a pair of season-ending NJCAA Division I Top 20 national rankings during that span, Begley helped develop NJCAA All-Americans Jarekious Bradley, DJ Evans, Colin Borchert, and Deonte Alexander.

During his 11 total seasons at EMCC, Begley has had several players who have participated at the university level and professionally, including current international pros Avery Woodson, Juan Davis Jr., Darrious Agnew, and Markedric Bell. Nine players from the Lions’ 2018-19 conference championship club have gone on to compete at the four-year level. During the past two seasons, EMCC has produced back-to-back honorable mention NJCAA All-Americans with Jakorie Smith currently playing at Tarleton State University in Texas and Blake Butler having signed with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  

During his two seasons as an assistant coach on Phil Cunningham’s Troy basketball staff, Begley was instrumental in securing consecutive talent-laden recruiting classes that helped propel the Trojans to a 2017 NCAA Tournament appearance. All-Sun Belt Conference performers Wesley Person and Jordon Varnado were among the top Troy prospects that Begley helped recruit.

Begley initially came to East Mississippi after having spent the 2009-10 campaign as a volunteer men’s assistant basketball coach on J.P. Piper’s staff at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La.

With his bachelor’s (business management) and master’s (MBA) degrees from Mississippi State, Begley served as a three-time MSU team co-captain for coaching veteran Rick Stansbury. Begley was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams, an NIT semifinalist club, one Southeastern Conference championship squad and three SEC Western Division title teams during his five-year (2004-08) collegiate playing career for the Bulldogs. The following year at his alma mater as Stansbury’s graduate assistant coach, Begley added an SEC Tournament crown and a fourth NCAA Tournament appearance to his impressive resume.

A native of Henderson, Ky., Begley was a four-time selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll during his Mississippi State playing days.