Caples to be inducted into MACJC Sports Hall of Fame
Former Itawamba Junior College baseball player and women’s basketball coach Billy Q. Caples of Tupelo will be inducted into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame, Apr. 26, at the Muse Center at the Rankin County Campus of Hinds Community College.
Caples to be inducted into MACJC Sports Hall of Fame
Donna Thomas/LetsGoICC.com
Former Itawamba Junior College baseball player and women's basketball coach Billy Q. Caples of Tupelo will be inducted into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame, Apr. 26, at the Muse Center at the Rankin County Campus of Hinds Community College.Caples was a standout multi-position baseball player for the Indians from 1957-59, including shortstop, third baseman and outfielder.
A graduate of Hurricane High School, where he played both baseball and basketball, Caples earned the bachelor's degree from Delta State University, the master's degree from Mississippi State University and additional credits from the University of Mississippi, University of Tennessee and Middle Tennessee State University.
His career has taken him from Woodland High School, where he coached basketball from 1960-64, to Clay County High School, where he served as principal from 1964-69, to assistant superintendent of schools for Pontotoc County from 1969-70. In 1970, he became director of student activities at IJC, where he also served as dean of students. He started the College's first intramural program in 1970 and its first financial aid program in 1972.
In 1974, resurrecting a program that had been dormant for years, Caples began the first of three years as ICC's Lady Indians head basketball coach. His 1974-75 Lady Indians won the North State Championship and finished the season with a national ranking. The 1975-76 team finished second in the North State Tournament, second in the State Tournament and fourth in the Regional Tournament. Both squads never lost a regular season junior college basketball game over the span of two seasons.
His honors include induction into ICC's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and service as president of the Mississippi Financial Aid Administrators. He is a member of the Tupelo first Presbyterian Church.
He and his wife, Camille, are residents of Tupelo. He is the father of three sons, Scott, Kenyon and Robert (deceased), and he has three grandchildren.