SMCC wins state title and team has highest GPA in the nation!

August 22, 2016

SMCC wins state title and team has highest GPA in the nation!
"The state title is nice, but ... SMCC team’s biggest feat is having nation’s highest GPA!" --Head Coach Thomas Gray

Southwest Mississippi Community College’s state basketball championship team has etched its place into school history, but for head coach Thomas Gray, the title overshadows another remarkable feat. During the 2015-16 academic year, the team raised its grade-point average to 3.42 — the highest of any other junior college team in the nation and the fifth-highest ever recorded in JUCO basketball history. For Gray, that’s the most important title to hold.

“God really blessed our guys,” Gray said, adding that he picked Proverbs 16:3 — “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans” — as the team’s motto for the season. On Gray’s team, there’s no cussing, tardies or arguing. He believes the work of the Lord is shining through the team. This past season, the Bears were playing at East Central, with a playoff berth on the line. The game went into overtime, and the Bears managed to pull away and win by five points. Gray said that in the locker room after the game, “I see a couple of (players) on their knees.” The state championship involved a three-game series at Itawamba Community College, and the Bears faced stiff competition. “Every one of those games, when the going got tough they got tougher,” Gray said. He said he felt good about going into the championships. “I knew something special was about to happen that week,” he said. It’s a funny thing, he said, a gut feeling he got when he returned home from the East Central game, opened his Bible app on his phone and looked at the daily verse — Proverbs 16:3. T