Carter keeps competitive edge

Greg Carter doesn't know how to lose. The former Mississippi State standout has a Southeastern Conference Championship ring and he raised a son that followed in his footsteps as a Bulldog as the father and son became the first duo in SEC history to score over 1,000 points each in their careers.

As a head coach, he's still got the same competitive nature that set him apart as an All-american with the Bulldogs nearly 30 years ago.

Carter wasn't going to settle for mediocrity as a coach. The Starkville Yellow Jackets had one state championship in the history of the school when he arrived and it came back in 1961. He brought the school its first state championship since that time when he won in 2010 and he's now taken home four gold balls in the last decade.

The last two are the most impressive of all. Last year, the Jackets had to replace major pieces like Jordan Temple and Blake Rogers only to finish the season with 20-straight wins and a state championship. They followed that up by doing the same thing this season taking home a second-straight crown despite playing with almost an entirely new starting five.

“It's become tradition over the last few years,” Carter said of his program's reloading nature. “It starts in the spring. Once the season ends and those seniors move on and the juniors become seniors, they start to step up. We expect more out of them once they become seniors and they've responded well to it. We do have talent, but they all buy in to the plan that we as coaches put in and it all falls into place.”

By completing the first back-to-back titles in SHS boys history, Carter was chosen The Starkville Daily News High School Boys Coach of the Year once again by the SDN sports staff.

This year's team went 30-2 and didn't lose a game after the calendar turned into 2020. The most impressive thing about it all was the adjustments that Carter had to make when adversity struck.

Last year's Most Valuable Player of the Class 6A State title game was Zeke Cook, who came on in the middle of the year to become a difference maker for the Jackets. Cook had dealt with an ankle injury and sat out most of the summer to heal, but the ankle was fractured when he returned to action in the preseason and required surgery. It meant that Carter was going to have to figure out a different route for the team to a state title game than utilizing some size in the post.

“We had to change a lot up offensively,” Carter said. “We went from being a team with two guys that can score in the post to a team with one. We became more of a 3-point shooting team but also one that can drive to the basket. It took a while for our offense to catch up and we were behind defensively as well, but when we got going, it was fun to watch.”