Pass Christian basketball coach hits milestone, but he’s so much more than that
It’s not likely Wayne “Buddy” Kennedy knew where his coaching career would go back in the early 1990s when he first took the helm of Pass Christian’s basketball program.
He wouldn’t know he’d lead the biggest wins in school history, shape the lives of young men and then mold their children, or eventually reach a milestone that cemented his status among the great figures in the rich history of Mississippi Coast sports.
But as he sits in his office ahead of a make-up game against Poplarville, he’s surrounded by the moments that created the legacy of coach “K.” Plaques representing multiple Coach of the Year honors, trophies from various tournaments and a framed photo of a stoic Kennedy during the 2009 championship game against Raymond.
Over 600 wins of history sits within the cement walls of the room and it still doesn’t make it any easier to reflect on a long, illustrious career.
There’s the spinning lay-up from Blake Evans that earned PCHS the 52-50, 3A state title win over Raymond that Kennedy refers to as “the” win in the school’s history.
There’s the game he points to as the turning point for his program, when the Pirates defeated Gulfport to capture the 2008 Holiday Classic.
Farther back than even that, Kennedy remembers taking down a Harrison Central team led by future North Carolina forward Byron Sanders.
His latest milestone victory came on Jan. 3 in a 57-35 rout of Bay High. It was Kennedy’s 600th career win.
“I’ve had a lot of good players over the years that really bought into what we’ve done,” Kennedy told the Sun Herald. “Kids have come into our program expecting to win and have a lot of success.”
Kennedy’s impact at the school has been substantial and far-reaching. Former and current players, administrators and assistants all point to his consistent approach and program-building skills as the reason why he’s been able to positively affect so many people.
“It’s a generational impact, what he’s done,” PCHS athletic director Ricky Smith said. “Not just on the kids today, but you think back 20 years ago, he was coaching kids and they went out and became productive citizens in the community, had kids of their own and now those kids are going to Pass Christian and they’re playing for Buddy.”
One of those kids, nearly three decades ago, was Rickey Lewis. He was on Kennedy’s first team and was a part of win No. 1. Lewis returned to the program as an assistant coach and was a part of Kennedy’s 500th career win in 2015.
Now he has two kids on the team that saw the 600th victory from the floor.
“He doesn’t need superstar athletes to win, he needs good players that are going to buy into what he’s trying to do,” Lewis said. “Once that happens, they’re going to win. It happens year after year. It happened to us as players, I watched it as an assistant coach with him and I watch it as a parent. His culture hasn’t changed. It’s the exact same from win No. 1 to win No. 600. That’s why he’s one of the most successful coaches down here on the Coast.”
Consistency in culture
The word “culture” is a walking cliche in sports. It’s the most common term in the “coach-speak” language. There’s a culture in every program, but not every program has the right one.
The difference can be team-breaking. So when “culture” comes up when describing how a 25-plus year tenure can maintain a 20-plus win yearly average, there’s reason to settle on the word and its importance within Kennedy’s program.
“You can’t have a good foundation for your program if you don’t have a good culture,” Kennedy said. “That culture needs to go top to bottom, from the head coach to the assistants to the players.”
Even if the Pirates managed to lose each game ahead of them the rest of the season, the program will still be averaging 21.6 wins per season across Kennedy’s tenure.
It’s a remarkable stretch that his players today have taken notice of and used as motivation to accomplish the team’s first yearly goal each season: win at least 20 games.
“You go into the program, you know what you’re going into,” senior Terry Patton Jr said. “You just trust what he says and buy into what he’s talking about and buy into what the team is doing. That’s how we produce wins.”
“You look up and see all the banners, how can you not listen to somebody that’s done that?” Senior point guard Lauren Jaynes added.
The sustainability engine is cascading. It moves from one senior class to the next. Kennedy harps on just how important it is for the elders of each group to pass along the work ethic required to continue the winning tradition.
“Once we started having success, players always came in with the expectation that they were not going to be the team that didn’t have success,” Kennedy said. “So they always came in with a great work ethic and a great attitude. I think it’s very important to have your upperclassmen set the tone and lead the way for the rest of your players.”
It’s a culture he’s had to establish twice.
Kennedy retired following the 2015-16 season shortly after winning his 500th career game and truly believed then his coaching career was at an end. But after three years of staying in the mix and regularly attending basketball events, he got the itch to return.
“I thought it was a good move to make,” Kennedy said. “My family supported it. I was in a good spot to do that. I’ve enjoyed being back. I feel like, particularly this year, we have the program back to where it was. We have a lot of structure in our program.”
Today’s Pirates
Pass Christian is heading down the stretch of the season with an unblemished regional record. The Pirates are 16-7 and winners of their last eight games, with seven being by double-digits.
Both Kennedy and his team credit a special bond within this year’s roster and a brief losing streak that occurred in an out-of-state tournament.
“We’re a very tight knit group this year,” Jaynes said. “We have some sophomores that are really just getting into the varsity level. We had a trip to Orlando, not too long ago, we really got close on that trip.”
That trip produced three losses in three days by a combined nine points. It accounts for nearly half the notches in the team’s loss column.
But it was during that trip that Kennedy says they “really came together as a team.” The Pirates have yet to lose since returning to the Coast.
“Our chemistry is probably the best it’s ever been,” Patton said. “We bond really good together, we joke together and we play really good together on the court. We pull for each other, we cheer each other on. There’s no selfishness over here.”
“We’re all close together,” senior Anthony James said. “We’re the older group, but we hang around the younger guys that are playing ball with us. We’ve been around each other for a long time so our bond as a team is better overall.”
Pass Christian is hoping to ride the harmonious makeup of the present day Pirates to another shot at a state title. According to Jaynes, Patton and James, the big picture goal is simple: “Get to Jackson.”
Their confidence is shared by Mr. 600 himself. “I think our best basketball is ahead of us.”
