There was a collective wave of grief that rolled through the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) and the basketball world of Mississippi this week with the passing of Holmes CC assistant women’s basketball coach Brooke Walker.
Walker passed away following a one-car accident on Interstate 55 on Sunday afternoon.

A native of Terry, Walker played high school basketball at Copiah Academy and then went on to suit up at Northwest Mississippi CC in Senatobia.
She later graduated from Ole Miss and won a MAIS A state championship in her two years as the head coach at Humphreys Academy in Belzoni.
Her high school coach, current Central Hinds Academy girls’ coach Henry Gantz, had Walker coach different teams within his Mississippi Jazz AAU program.

Through the Jazz, Walker coached many players with southwest Mississippi ties, including multiple current starters at Brookhaven Academy.

When she was hired to be an assistant coach at Holmes CC in Goodman, one of the first players signed by Walker was another Jazz and BA alum in point guard Anne Brantley Warren.

The loss of the 26-year-old Walker was met with tributes throughout social media from her former AAU pupils to her current MACCC peers and competitors.
Visitation will be from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Chancellor Funeral Home in Florence on Wed., Jan. 15. Visitation will resume from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. at Lakeshore Church in Byram with the service to follow.