Brian Middleton is fulfilling a dream long delayed.
Middleton, who led Tishomingo County’s girls to a state title in 2024, has been hired as women’s head basketball coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He replaces Chelsey Rhodes, who left after three seasons for a job as recruiting coordinator at the College of Charleston.
Middleton has led Tishomingo County for the past nine years. Prior to that, he was head boys and girls coach at Oak Hill Academy in West Point for eight years, leading the girls to a state title in 2016. High school is all he’s ever coached, but it was not his original career path.
After graduating college, Middleton had a chance to be a graduate assistant at the college level. But with a baby on the way, he opted for the high school route instead.
“I’m 45, and then when this came open I was like, well, this may be the last opportunity that you get for something like this – let’s take a shot, let’s go, let’s do it,” he said.
Middleton’s daughter, Baylon, played for him at Tish County and just graduated, which made for an easier decision. Not that leaving Iuka was at all easy. Middleton built the Braves into a Class 4A power, with a record of 143-16 over the last five years and two title game appearances. Tish County lost to Choctaw Central in the 4A final in 2022, then returned two years later and beat Morton for the program’s first championship.
“I don’t think people understand how difficult it was for us to make this decision,” Middleton said of leaving Tishomingo County. “There were tears over it, and just trying to decide if this was the right move for us. … (My players) were in shock when I told them, but everyone one of them said, ‘We’re proud of you.’ And normally it’s me saying, ‘I’m proud of y’all,’ and it was funny for them to hug me and say, ‘Look, we’re proud of you.’ That made me understand that they understood.”
The Braves were 27-2 this past season and lost to Choctaw Central in the state quarterfinals.
Under Rhodes, Northeast notched a 20-win season in 2023-24, its best win total in 18 years. Last season, the Tigers went 17-13.
“Coach Rhodes had done an excellent job with the girls the last three years,” Middleton said. “I had gotten to know her pretty good. So I think the program’s in pretty good shape. Just excited about going in and putting my spin on it and see if we can take it to the next level.”
Tishomingo County is in the process of finding Middleton’s replacement.