The duo of Bogue Chitto seniors Noah and Neeli Magee are going from Bobcats to Blazers, as the twins recently signed to continue their athletic and academic careers at Belhaven University in Jackson.

On Monday, Belhaven announced the hiring of a new head men’s basketball coach with the appointment of Boomer Roberts.

Roberts was hired to replace former coach Josh Brooks, who departed Belhaven for the head job at Mississippi College, a school where he had formerly been an assistant coach earlier in his career.

The Blazers, who play at the NCAA Division III level, went 21-5 last year under Brooks.

Magee committed to play at BU when Brooks was the head coach, but after being on a video call with the returnees and signees that introduced the team to Roberts, he’s excited about suiting up for his new head coach.

“He seemed like a guy with a lot of energy,” said Magee. “I think he’s a good Christian man who takes pride in what he does and feels like he can carry on with the success Belhaven has had lately.”

Roberts is an experienced head coach who spent the last seven seasons as the head coach at Division II Purdue Northwest. His 2023-2024 team PNW went 13-16 playing in the tough Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) with traditional power Ferris State (Mich.). The 13 wins two seasons ago were the most all-time for a PNW program that started in 2016.

In Noah Magee, the Roberts and the Blazers are getting the rare high school players that can help right away with his size and athletic ability.

Magee was a key part of Bogue Chitto reaching the MHSAA 2A semifinals when he was sophomore, the finals his junior year, and the quarterfinals his senior season for coach Marc Howard.

The 6-foot-5 Magee was named Region 7-2A Most Valuable Offensive Player. Magee earned All-Area honors as a senior by averaging 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game for a Bobcat team that finished 22-4. Magee was picked All-Area for three-straight seasons in basketball and was also a repeat All-Area selection in football as a wide receiver during his senior year.

On the court, he can shoot from the outside with his length over smaller players and Magee can finish above the rim in transition with confidence. One part of his game that’s developed over the years is being a shot blocker on the backside of a defense.

Playing as a freshman at the Division III isn’t an easy transition to make. Last year Copiah-Lincoln Community College product Jordan Marshall led Belhaven in scoring with a 15.2 points per game average. Marshall was a fifth year senior for BU as was Brookhaven High product Jermario Hersey. Hersey, who also played at CLCC, averaged 8.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Blazers in 26 minutes per night.

Magee plans on majoring in sports medicine while he’s at Belhaven.

His twin sister Neeli wants to coach like her mama, former West Lincoln point guard Rusti Smith Magee. Rusti Magee was a tough point guard for the Bears and then Co-Lin CC and Mississippi College and her daughter has a similar gritty game.

Neeli Magee wants to major in coaching and teaching, as her mama did in a coaching career earlier in life that included stops as the head coach at Wesson and Parklane Academy.

The 5-foot-4 Magee was named Region 7-2A Most Valuable Defensive Player. She earned All-Area accolades by averaging 14.1 points, 4.2 steals, and 3.3 assists per game while also playing for Howard, who coaches both Bobcat teams.

Head coach Steve Calder has been at Belhaven for 11 seasons. The Blazers made the finals of the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) tournament championship game earlier this year.  The team finished 17-10 and was led by Ebony Gayden, a 2019 graduate of McComb High who averaged 16 points per game this season.

Neeli Magee is a dogged defender when she’s on the ball.

Her skills there were honed by spending time playing pickup basketball trying to stop her larger twin brother.

“I quickly learned how to pump fake and how to become quick on defense to stay with him,” said Neeli Magee. “There were definitely moments when I questioned whether I could play at the next level, especially given my size. I stayed committed to the process and focused on maximizing my ability every time I stepped on the court. To see that effort translate into real progress means a lot to me.”

Both twins credit their dad, Johnny, with taking them to the gym for workouts throughout their high school careers as he also did with their older sister, former Bobcat Fayth Magee.

“These past three years, me and Neeli and my dad would go to the gym usually 2-3 times a week and he’d put us through a workout,” said Noah Magee.

That’s a sentiment echoed by his sister.

“During the season, our dad would take us in to get extra work in,” said Neeli Magee. “Whether it was shooting, ball-handling, or just focusing on the fundamentals, that time really helped shape both our games and our mindset.”

With parents who love the game with the same passion as their kids, it’s all worked out where Rusti and Johnny will be able to go to one place to catch both Noah and Neeli next season as Blazers.

“They’ve been a blessing to us,” said Noah of his parents. “I can’t remember a game I’ve ever played where at least one of them was there.”