FERRIDAY, La. &045; A jack-of-all-coaching-trades at Huntington, Michael McAnally is leaving for Copiah Academy to concentrate on coaching his true love.

Basketball.

McAnally announced late last week he would leave his position at Huntington to take the position of head boys’ basketball coach at Copiah for next season. McAnally, a graduate of Jackson Prep, leaves after coaching three years after serving as athletic director and coach in several capacities at the MPSA Class A school.

&uot;I think the main this is the opportunity to coach at the AAA level,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;The South AAA district is the best in the MPSA. It’s a tough league to come into, and it’s going to be a building process. But the opportunity to be in that league is something that was really appealing to me. They were looking for somebody with energy to build the program.&uot;

McAnally will take over the boys’ program that struggled in the District 2-AAA, a league that feature Overall champion Hillcrest Christian along with powers Jackson Prep and Parklane and upstart ACCS.

Mitch Mitchell handled both boys’ and girls’ teams last season and will coach just the Lady Colonels next season.

&uot;I think it’ll be similar to what we did at Huntington,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;You’ve got to build a program, and that takes time. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to, and hopefully we’ll get things going in the right direction.&uot;

McAnally leaves Huntington as the first job he landed after graduating from college. He spent three years there while serving as head coach of girls’ softball and boys’ basketball and an assistant with baseball.

His 2001 softball team won the Class A state title.

&uot;I gave Huntington three good years,&uot; he said. &uot;I don’t want any of the Huntington people thinking I was looking for another job. They called me an offered an opportunity I couldn’t pass on. I’ve passed on other jobs through the years. I’m leaving a lot of good friends behind.

&uot;Basketball is my love. I’ve always enjoyed baseball, but basketball is my love. I played in that district in high school, and I think it’ll be neat to coach in some of those same gyms. It’s an exciting brand of basketball.&uot;