Coach Thomas Billups is one of the winningest championship basketball coaches in Mississippi High School history who led programs at Vicksburg, Blackburn Junior High, Lanier, Oak Grove, and Tougaloo College. Coach Billups is a graduate of Camile High in his hometown of Louisville. He earned his college degrees from Jackson State in 1975 and 1995; he began his 42 year coaching career at Vicksburg High as an assistant basketball coach in 1976. He helped lead the Gators hoops team to a state championship in 1980. Thomas took over the Vicksburg Junior High program in 1983 and paced his teams to four Little Six 8th grade crowns and two Little Six 9th grade championships. In 1986, he arrived at Blackburn Junior High in Jackson where he coached his teams to three ap[earances i the city championships with two city titles. Coach Billups arrived at Lanier High in 1991 and built a national high school basketball powerhouse. Under his guidance, the Lanier Bulldogs appeared in 13 state championship games and captured 8 state crowns in 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Coach Billups led Lanier to the 2007 Grand Slam championship. His Lanier hoops squads racked up 617 wins and only 119 losses during his22 year tenure. He was named Metro Coach of the Year on 6 occasions and a three time state basketball coach of the year by the Jackson Clarion Ledger. He coached at Oak Grove for one season before entering the college ranks at Tougaloo College in 2014. His career coaching record for high school basketball is 629 wins and 144 losses and he was a part of 9 state championship teams at Vicksburg and Lanier.