Coach Dean Shaw is an accomplished championship basketball coach that guided programs at Harrison Central and Picayune. A four-year letterman and three-year basketball starter at Hancock North Central from 1975 to 1979, Dean received a basketball scholarship at Mississippi College where he earned his degree in 1983. He began his 23-year coaching career at Picayune as an assistant under William “Butch” Van Breda Kolff, former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Jazz, and Hofstra University. He was named head coach after in 1984 and remained with the Maroon Tide for 11 years before coaching at Harrison Central for one season in 1995-96. Coach Shaw concluded his coaching career at Picayune from 1996 to 2006 before entering school administration. Dean led his basketball teams to 552 wins with 169 losses out of 721 games coached. He paced his hoops squads to 4 district titles, 7 division crowns, 4 South State titles, and the 1996 Class 5A State Championship at Harrison Central. Coach Shaw’s teams claimed 64 tournament championships and 48 of his players received college scholarships. He coached five teams that had 30-win seasons and 14 squads to 20-win seasons. He guided teams to two no. 1 state rankings, eight top five finishes, six top 10 standings, and two top 20 year-end rankings. Dean was named Coach of the Year 2 times by the Gulf Coast Conference, 2 times by the District, 4 times by the Division, 2 statewide Coach of the Week honors by the Jackson Clarion Ledger, and 3 times as Gulf Coast Coach of the Year by the Sun Herald. Coach Shaw served as a coach in the 1995 Mississippi High School All-Star game. Dean coached future NBA player Jonathan Bender at Picayune and also coached Sun Herald players of the year Tiffany Travis and Jerry Scott Smith. Dean is a longtime MAC member who served on the basketball executive committee. He is a remarkable civic leader who served as assistant principal, vocational director, and superintendent of the Picayune School District. Coach Shaw received a “Heart of a Lion” Award from the Picayune Lions Club and the “I Have A Dream” Award for his service on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Celebration Day Committee.