By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — In the past 55 years at Biloxi High School, the boys’ basketball team has had just three head coaches and amassed just over 1,100 wins on the hardwood.
And now, current Indians head coach Seber Windham stands atop the school’s all-time career wins list.
When Windham and his Indians knocked off visiting St. Martin 54-45 in Region 4-7A play Tuesday night, it not only moved the Indians to 17-6 overall and kept them close to top in the region race at 6-2, but it was also moved the veteran head coach to 437 total wins in passing the legendary Jackie Laird for most wins.
It seemed only fitting for Windham to pickup the historic milestone at home, as he was also a standout player for the Indians under Laird. Windham now has an overall mark of 437-135 in 20 seasons at the helm of his alma mater, just slipping by Laid who went 436-273 in 24 years in the same position.

“I’ve been here a long time, which is a blessing,” Windham said, Wednesday afternoon. ” I owe everything I know about basketball to coach Jackie Laird, he’s a true Legend in the state of Mississippi High School basketball. I’m honored just to be associated with him.”
Windham took over as head coach before the 2005-2006 season started, and has enjoyed immense success while carrying on the winning tradition set into place by Laird and then John Pugh who served in the same seat for the next 11 seasons before yielding to Windham.
Windham has been a part of all five state basketball championships at Biloxi, two as a player, a pair as an assistant coach and one in his current role as the leader of the Indians.

In 2009, Windham’s crew led by future NBA player Isiah Cannan and Jeremiah Dunnings posted an impressive 30-3 overall mark and captured the Class 5A state title with a 68-63 overtime win over Jackson Provine at the “Big House” in the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.
That season, for the first time in the history of the BHS hoops program, the Indians won the district, South State and then the state crown all in the same season. Biloxi lost just two times overall in grabbing the gold ball before dropping a game in what was then called the overall “Grand Slam” that featured the winners of all five classifications.
“Biloxi basketball has been my life,” Windham added. “My mother was the girls’ head basketball coach here in the early 1970’s, so I’ve truly been around Biloxi High School all my life and I can say it has truly been a blessing.”

Windham’s accomplishments have been noticed by his counterparts across the coast as well.

“First of all congratulations to Coach Windham on such a major accomplishment, he is one of my mentors and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Pascagoula seventh-year head coach Lorenzo Wright said. “He has consistently keep Biloxi and coast basketball relevant across the state and has been apart of many of those Biloxi wins since high school. it’s truly an honor to hear of him passing his high school coach for all time wins in school history. That’s a major accomplishment.”

Windham has his Indians three wins away from its 15th 20-win season in 20 years under his tutelage. Including in that is also a pair of 30-win campaigns, in the state title year of 2009 as well as in 2018 when the Indians started the season off at 27-0 which is also the longest win streak of Windham’s career.
As a player under Laird, from his point guard position, Windham guided the Indians to a 61-13 record in his last two seasons and back-to-back state titles in 1989 and 1990.
Windham then was a key player for William Carey in his college career from 1991-1994, before returning to Biloxi as an assistant coach under Pugh in 1997. Pugh had replaced Laird after Laird retired in 1994.
As an assistant under Pugh, Windham was instrumental in helping the Indians return to the overall state championship in Jackson and win titles again in both 2001 and 2004 before Pugh stepped down and handed the keys of the gym over to Windham.
And the rest, as the win Tuesday night proved, is history.