Co-Lin to induct four into Hall of Fame
Published 8:32 pm Saturday, October 15, 2016
The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Athletic Alumni Association will induct four members into the Sports Hall of Fame during homecoming festivities Saturday.
This year’s class includes David Britt, of Brandon, Earl Coleman (deceased) ,of Pontotoc, Mindy Livaudais, of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Steve Sasser ,of Bogue Chitto.
The four will be inducted during the annual meeting of the Athletic Alumni Association at 9 a.m. in Rea Auditorium. Later, the group will be recognized during an alumni luncheon at 11 a.m. in the cafeteria and also during halftime of the ballgame.
Britt is a 1951 graduate of Co-Lin where he was a two-year letterman in basketball and led the Wolves to a state championship. After Co-Lin, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served in Korea. He was selected for the Air Force All-Star traveling team. After his time in the military, he signed a basketball scholarship with
Mississippi College, where he was a leading scorer and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education.
He began his high school coaching career in 1961 at Raleigh High School coaching both boys and girls basketball teams. He went on to coach basketball and track at Pelahatchie High School, where he won numerous tournament and conference championships, including the Overall State Championship in girls basketball in 1969, and was named the Mississippi Association of Coaches Basketball Coach of the Year that year.
He went on to coach boys and girls basketball at Brandon High School, where both teams were South Mississippi Class A Champions in 1972.
He took over the girls basketball program at Pearl High School in 1977 until his retirement in 1987. In his 27 years as head coach, he holds the overall Mississippi High School record of winningest boys and girls coach with 535 wins and 224 losses, a 71 percent winning percentage.
Britt is married to Bobbie Russell Britt and they have two children, Russell of Norfolk, Virginia, and Bobbie of Brandon, and five grandchildren.
Coleman was a 1961 graduate of Co-Lin, where he lettered in football. After Co-Lin, he played football at Delta State University, where he was named an All-American. He worked for Allied Chemicals and First Mississippi Corporation before his retirement in 2003. He also specialized in obedience training for police dogs and received numerous awards for his work.
Coleman is survived by one daughter, Kristy McKnight, and two grandchildren. He died in September.
Livaudais of New Orleans, Louisiana, is a 2002 graduate of Co-Lin, where she led the woman’s basketball team to a MACJC state championship and the NJCAA Region 23 championship her sophomore year.
She was named MACJC First Team All-State, NJCAA All Region 23 and NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American her freshman year, and was MACJC and NJCAA Region 23 First Team All-State, and NJCAA All-Region and All-Tournament her sophomore year, averaging 15 points per game both years she played for the Lady Wolves.
After Co-Lin, Livaudais signed with the University of Louisiana-Monroe where she was a leading scorer and received a bachelor’s degree in education. She works as the banquet manager at Compass Point Events in New Orleans.
Sasser is a 1975 graduate of Co-Lin, where he lettered in baseball and was named MACJC First Team All-State. After Co-Lin, he played for William Carey University, where he was named All-Region in 1978 and received a bachelor’s degree.
He was a teacher and coach at Parklane Academy for five years and worked in sales and healthcare for 14 years before returning to education. He worked for Lincoln County Public Schools from 1998-2011, and then returned to Parklane where he teaches history and coaches fast-pitch softball, leading the team to a state championship in 2015.
He is involved in the Miracle League and is a member of the Mississippi Association of Coaches and Mississippi Professional Educators, and serves as a deacon at Montgomery Baptist Church.
He is married to Belinda Sasser, and they have two children, Heather Gault and Stephen Scott Sasser (’06), and two grandchildren.
Tickets to the alumni luncheon are $12 and may be purchased prior to the event at the alumni office, at morning registration at Rea Auditorium or at the door. Pre-game ceremonies begin at 2:30 p.m. at Stone Stadium.
Kick off for the Homecoming game against Southwest Mississippi Community College is at 3 p.m.