Coach George Hailey was a stellar championship basketball coach at Burns, Lambert, Bruce, Calloway, Philadelphia, Burnsville, and Edinburg. Coach Hailey finished high school at Prince Chapel in Kemper County in 1949. He served two terms in the U. S. Army. He attended East Mississippi Community College in Scooba from 1949-50 and earned his higher education degrees from Southern Miss and Mississippi State. George started his 29-year coaching career at Burns. He arrived at Lambert and built a strong boys’ team that won the 1962 BB-B state championship. He followed that success with stints at Bruce, Calloway, and Burnsville, where was principal for two years. He completed his coaching career at Edinburg. Overall, Coach Hailey’s basketball teams racked up 867 wins and 17 losses. After retirement, he moved back to his Winston County Farm as an active cattle rancher. Coach Hailey coached in the 1962 Mississippi High School All-Star game, and he was an active MAC member. Along with hall of fame recognition by the MAC, George was inducted into the East Mississippi Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Coach Hailey passed away on February 20, 2014.