Versatile Coach Tom McKnight coached girls basketball, girls track & field, football, and baseball at Bennett High in Bennett, Colorado, Toccopola High, Sunflower High, Hamilton High, and Pontotoc High for 33 years. A Pontotoc native, Coach McKnight earned his degrees from Algoma High in Pontotoc and Mississippi State. Right after high school graduation in the summer of 1953, Tom lost his right arm in an auto accident, but the handicap did not slow him down in his highly successful three decade plus coaching career. He began his championship career in 1962 at Bennett High in Bennett, Colorado, where he worked as an assistant football coach. He returned to Mississippi to Toccopola High for two seasons before moving to Sunflower High in Clarksdale. In 1965, Tom arrived at Hamilton where he would achieve coaching success. At Hamilton, he paced his girls hoops squads to two Monroe County titles in 1966 and 1967 and a Parkway Conference Championship in 1971. Coach McKnight guided the Hamilton baseball team to two consecutive district crowns in 1967 and 1968. In 1971, he returned to Pontotoc High and would lead the Warriors girls basketball team to three straight Class 3A state championships in 1975, 1976, and 1977. From 1971 to 1990, Tom’s girls teams claimed five district titles, four North half championships, and the three state championships. Coach McKnight led his teams in 786 games winning 570 and losing only 216 for a winning mark of 71%. His primary sport was girls’ basketball, but Tom coached girls track & field squads, football, and baseball in his versatile career. Coach McKnight earned several coaching awards during his career including the District Coach of the Year in 1975, the Little Ten Conference Coach of the Year in 1978, and the MAC Girls Basketball Coach of the Year in 1977. He served as an All-Star coach in the 1975 Mississippi High School All-Star game. Tom was a loyal 30-year member of the MAC who served as District One President for one year and was a longtime member of the Pontotoc Lions Club.