Coach Lafayette Stribling was a distinguished basketball coach who coached at South Leake, Grenada, Mississppi Valley, and Tougaloo. Coach Stribling was born in Carthage, MS. He began his coaching career in 1957 at South Leake. He coached the boys and girls basketball teams as well as any other sports as needed. At South Leake, he won 2 state championships with the girls and one with the boys. His boys record at South Leake was 741-171. In 1981, both his boys and girls teams were undefeated and won state championships. He coached at Grenada from 1982-1983 and then moved to Mississippi Valley from 1983-2004. At Mississippi Valley, Coach Stribling had a record of 315-307, making him the winningest basketball coach at Mississippi Valley. He then took over the girls basketball program at Tougaloo in 2005 where he had an overall record of 136-56. Lafayette was inducted to the SWAC Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Valley Sports Hall of Fame. The playing floor at Mississippi Valley is named after Coach Stribling.