JACKSON, Miss. – Delta State University's winningest men's basketball coach Steve Rives will be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, announced by the MSHF on Tuesday.
 
Delta State is the cornerstone of college basketball, especially in Mississippi. Historically, women's basketball at Delta State, in particular the Margaret Wade era, is considered the foundation on which modern women's basketball was built. However, for 20 years from the mid-80s to mid-2000s, Delta State men's basketball joined the ranks of basketball excellence in Mississippi, the Gulf South Conference, South Region, and NCAA Division II. Due in large part to the winningest men's basketball coach in program history, Steve Rives.
 
Starting from humble beginnings at Hanging Moss Academy in 1972, Rives quickly climbed the ranks of coaching excellence with stops at McCluer Academy (1973-74), Jackson Prep (1974-82), East Central Community College (1983-85), and Louisiana College (1985-86) before reaching, in his opinion, the pinnacle of coaching distinction, Delta State University where he led the Statesmen basketball team for two decades, from 1986-2006. Rives' resume is lengthy and impressive not only from his time with the Statesmen but also as a championship coach at his preceding coaching stints.
 
In his time at the helm of Delta State men's basketball, Rives amassed a 401-201 overall record with four Gulf South Conference titles and nine NCAA Division II tournament appearances, including three Sweet 16 appearances, two Elite Eight appearances, and one Final Four appearance in his first season as head coach in the 1986-87 season.
 
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame was a dream of Rives', as he aspired to join the esteemed group of former Delta State coaching Hall-of-Famers. "When the selection committee called me to give me the news, I was very emotional and so excited. This honor puts me in the Hall of Fame with some great Delta State coaches, and I'm proud to be one of them."
 
Those other great Delta State coaches: Gene Chadwick (football), Dave "Boo" Ferriss (baseball), Margaret Wade (women's basketball), Lloyd Clark (women's basketball), and Mike Kinnison (baseball). Rives is the first men's basketball coach to be inducted from Delta State.
 
"It doesn't seem possible that I was at Delta State for 20 years. We had some great teams when I was there, and we were top contenders in the league, playing in the conference championship game 10 times," Rives continued. "After we went to the Division II Final Four in my first year, we struggled for the next three years, but we learned how to recruit, and I was blessed to bring in some great young men to coach."
 
Guiding 31 All-GSC selections, 10 All-Americans, and 6 All-Region players, Rives was named ABCA National Coach of the Year in 2006, while also coaching the first Statesman to win the C Spire Bailey Howell Trophy, awarded to Mississippi's best collegiate men's basketball player, in Jasper Johnson.
 
While wins, losses, and statistics can be counted, perhaps the most indelible impact Rives brought to the game of basketball is his inherent ability to influence future leaders of the game, demonstrated by his producing the next generation of coaches. At the time of his retirement in 2006, Rives had 63 former players or graduate assistants coaching in the high school or collegiate ranks.
 
The Jackson, Miss., native was named GSC Coach of the Year four times (1986, 1997, 1998, and 2006), as well as NCAA Division II South Region Coach of the Year from 1997-98, and Basketball Times NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year in 2006.
 
Rives' teams compiled a 122-55 record from 2000-2006, including a 30-2 mark and GSC title in 2006, which earned him GSC West Division Coach of the Decade honors in 2010.
 
Dr. Brad Teague, the Director of Athletics in the latter part of Rives' tenure, described Rives as a great basketball leader. "When I arrived at Delta State as the AD, he was already established as a successful basketball coach. I was able to watch him work and continue that success. His 2006 team was the best team I have worked with in my time as an AD. Steve Rives is a fine coach and a better person. I am proud that I got to work with him."
 
Rives and the other inductees will be officially inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on August 2, 2025.
 
 
Year-by-Year at Delta State
 
2005-06

• 30-2
• Basketball Times NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year
• Named ABCA National Coach of the Year
• Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year
• Last Delta State men's basketball team to win school-record 30 games
• Gulf South Conference Champions
• Made appearance in NCAA Division II tournament: lost in semifinals to Arkansas-Monticello 83-68
• Claimed 400^th win in 71-67 defeat of Montevallo for the GSC title on March 5, 2006
• Jasper Johnson won the C Spire Bailey Howell Trophy, presented to the best collegiate men's basketball player in Mississippi

2004-05

• 19-11

2003-04

• 10-17 

2002-03

• 22-8
• Appearance in NCAA Division II tournament 

2001-02

• 22-7
• Appearance in NCAA Division II tournament

2000-01

• 19-11 

1999-2000

• 21-8
• Appearance in NCAA Division II tournament 

1998-99

• 22-7 

1997-98

• 27-4
• Gulf South Conference Champions
• GSC Coach of the Year
• NCAA Division II appearance: Elite Eight
• NCAA Division II South Region Coach of the Year 

1996-97

• 23-7
• Gulf South Conference Champions
• GSC Coach of the Year
• NCAA Division II appearance
• NCAA Division II South Region Coach of the Year 

1995-96

• 18-11
• NCAA Division II tournament appearance 

1994-95

• 18-9 

1993-94

• 13-11

1992-93

• 22-8
• Gulf South Conference Champions
• NCAA Division II tournament appearance: Sweet Sixteen 

1991-92

• 22-6 

1990-91

• 20-8 

1989-90

• 11-16 

1988-89

• 12-15 

1987-88

• 13-14 

1986-87

• 24-9
• NCAA Division II tournament appearance: Final Four semifinalist
• Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year