Coach Horace Holmes was a championship junior college basketball coach at Southwest Mississippi Junior College in Summit. Coach Holmes was born in Belden in 1924 and Best Male Athlete at Sherman High where he graduated in 1943. He served in the 279th Combat Engineers during World War II from 1943 to 1946. He started his 20-year coaching career in 1948 at Johnson Station before moving to Loyd Star in Brookhaven. He guided Johnson Station to two district titles and one state runner-up finish in 1949 & 1950 and led Loyd Star to a district, South State, and Class B state championship in 1951. He arrived at Southwest MS JUCO in 1953 where he would serve as assistant football coach, head basketball coach, and teacher/dean of men. Horace paced Southwest to 3 South titles, two state runner-up finishes, and 2 State JUCO basketball championships in 1959 and 1963. Overall, his hoops teams had a record of 361-178. He was a distinguished member of the MAC, MS Association of School Administrators, MEA, and MS Professional Educator. He served as Dean of Men at Southwest and established a registered nurse program and vo-tech programs at the school. He helped oversee $10 million dollars of campus improvements. Horace was a strong community leader who served as a board member for Pike County Selective Service, president of Summit Lions Club, board member of the MS Board of Water Commissioners, a member of the advisory committee of the MS Baptist Student Union, and director of the Pearl River Basin Development District Board and the local Salvation Army Board. He received the Oliver Emmerich Memorial Award by Pike County Chamber of Commerce in 1987, Mississippi College Service to Humanity Award in 1975-76, and was chairman of the MS JUCO Association from 1984-86. Coach Holmes was inducted into the Southwest MS JUCO Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.