SOUTH MISS 6 SPORTS

April 17, 2026

Prep Basketball: Panthers promoting within to fill top spot on the bench

Pascagoula will soon have a new head coach in place after recently winning the Class 6A state title early last month. (Photo by Steve Coleman)

By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
PASCAGOULA — It appears that Pascagoula will promote from within to replace its state championship-winning head coach.
Sources close to the situation have indicated to SouthMiss6 Sports that current Panther assistant coach Regis Huddleston will be offered the head coaching position soon and is expected to accept it. Huddleston just finished his first year on the staff at PHS, and helped guide the Panthers to the first state title in hoops in school history.

Pascagoula’s Tamir Boykin jumps for joy as Panther assistant coach Regis Huddleston reacts after PHS won the Class 6A state title in Jackson last month. (Photo by Steve Coleman)

Regis Huddleston (front row, center), shown here during his time as head coach at West Jones, is expected to be named as the new head coach at Pascagoula. (Facebook photo)

This will be the third head coaching stop for the 37-year-old Huddleston, who came to PHS after after serving in the same role at West Jones. Prior to that, Huddleston was head coach Stringer.
He is a Bay Springs, Miss., native who was a prep standout for the Bulldogs and went on to play at both Meridian Community College and Troy University.
Huddleston is already under contract as a teacher/coach for next school year. His approval to lead the Panthers still must be cleared by the Pascagoula-Gautier School District Board.

Regis Huddleston (left) is pictured in his days as a standout player at Troy University.

He emerged from a candidate pool that also included two current head coaches in South Mississippi, in Greene County’s Bryce Crane and Richton’s Otto Crawford as well as former Starkville head coach Woodie Howard. All four coaches interviewed in person for the opening last week.
Huddleston is set to replace Lorenzo Wright at the helm of the Panthers, after Wright recently left to take the same post at Harrison Central.
Wright led his Panthers to the first-ever state championship in program history last month, as PHS nipped Terry in the Class 6A title tilt. He just finished his 10th season at the helm of the Panthers, and he led PHS to three straight appearances in the Class 6A overall Final Four in each of the past three seasons.
Pascagoula is 81-11 over the past three campaigns under Wright, who came to the Panthers from the same post at D’Iberville where he spent three seasons leading the Warriors. Inlcuded in that total is an 18-game win streak to finish out this season and a school record 29 game win streak two years ago.