Coach Harry Breland was a record setting championship baseball coach at Oak Grove High. He was born in 1944 in Brooklyn, MS, and was a 1962 graduate of East Travillian High in Hattiesburg where he was Mr. Athlete, All Conference and South All-Star basketball star. Coach Breland graduated from MS Valley State in 1966 and earned his masters degree from William Carey in 1978. He started his 31-year coaching career as head boys basketball coach and assistant football coach at John Jefferson High in Purvis. He led his boys hoops team to a mark of 108-26 and SMAC Conference and District titles in 1969 plus district and South State crown in 1970. He was named SMAC Conference Coach of the Year in 1969 and 1970. He arrived in Oak Grove in 1970 where he would create a high school baseball dynasty. Harry started as head coach for boys basketball and baseball plus junior high mentor for football. His Oak Grove boys hoops squad won the county title in 1978, a district runner-up in 1991, and district crowns in 1988 and 1993 while recording a slate of 308-236. His junior high boys teams had a record of 54-13 with conference titles in 1975 & 1976. He led the Oak Grove girls basketball team from 1977 to 1986 to a mark of 162-90 with conference, district, and South State crowns. His junior high football teams took conference titles in 1974, 1975, & 1976. He coached Oak Grove baseball for 27 years and was one of the most dominant prep baseball coaches in America. His teams captured championships for 20 of the 27 years he led the diamond squad with an overall record of 619-147. Coach Breland’s Warriors baseball teams won 11 Apache Conference crowns, 12 district titles, 6 South State championships, and 6 State Championships in 1976, 1979, 1987, 1993, and 1994. His 1993 and 1994 teams were his top teams as the 1993 team finished no. 6 in the nation by Baseball America, no. 24 in USA Today, and the no. 1 team in the state by the Jackson Clarion Ledger and the Mississippi Sportswriters Association. The 1994 squad was rated no. 1 in the state by the Jackson Clarion Ledger. He coached 16 All Star players and two high school All Americans. 62 of his players received college scholarships and 3 were drafted by pro baseball. He was named Coach of the Year on more than 20 different occasions by the conference, division, district, the Hattiesburg American, the Clarion Ledger, the Mississippi Sportswriters Association, and the MAC. He was named as National Baseball District Coach of the Year in 1993 by the American Baseball Association and USA Topp Amateur Baseball Coach of the Year in 199. He was Selected as All-Star coach in 1978 and 1996 was a longtime MAC member who was a veteran member of the baseball committee. He was a community leader for decades who received 3 Martin Luther King awards for civic activities.