TUPELO – When you’ve won six state titles at one school like Cliff Little has at Biggersville, it takes a lot to leave. But coaching Tupelo’s boys basketball team is, in his words, a “once-in-a lifetime opportunity.”
The Golden Wave introduced Little as their new boys head coach on Tuesday. Little replaces Robert Green. Tupelo is coming off an 18-8 season where it was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
“Biggersville is near and dear, and the relationships that we built will carry on forever. It was wonderful,” Little said. “But moving here, this is, in my opinion, the best school district in the state. This is a no-brainer. This opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I cannot wait to get started. We want to carry on the tradition but build a premier basketball program who’s competing year-in and year-out for state titles.”
The big question for Little will be if his success at Biggersville, which plays in the state’s smallest classification, can carry over to Tupelo, which plays in the state’s biggest. But Little and the Golden Wave don’t seem fazed by it.
“In basketball, you say defense travels. Well, I think culture’s going to travel,” Little said. “We’re going to do what we do. X’s and O’s are very, very important, but it’s not as important as relationships and building with these young men. It’s just a process and a culture. We’re going to come in here, we’re going to play hard, we’re going to be strong young men.”
The other big difference for Little is that he’s only focusing on one team now. At Biggersville, he was the head coach for both the boys and the girls teams. He won four state titles with the boys and two with the girls.
“I’m excited about being able to totally focus on one team,” Little said. “I loved that at Biggersville, I wouldn’t take anything in the world for it. We had great success, and I loved the kids so much. But here, being able to focus on one team and giving all my time to the boys program is, I think, going to be an advantage that I haven’t been used to.”