Thanks for the memories
There were certainly some sentimental moments for fans attending Tuesday night’s basketball games between Oxford at Hernando in the gymnasium that became known as Theron E. Long Gymnasium.
Long spent over four decades involved in education in DeSoto County, serving as a teacher, coach, principal and after retirement, as a DeSoto County School District board member. The gymnasium was named in his honor. Long passed away in 2017.
Hernando basketball teams have called the gymnasium their home since the current building was constructed but Tuesday became notable. Barring a home playoff game, Tuesday was the last time Tiger and Lady Tiger teams would play competitively on the floor. A move to a new campus on the east side of McIngvale Road between Pleasant Hill Road and I-269 will take place with the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
That meant time to share some memories while cheering on their teams Tuesday night. Some former players, along with former boys’ head coach Stephen Cox and former girls’ head coach Daniel Forbes were recognized between the varsity games.
Forbes had success on the floor with the Lady Tigers, taking the 2018-19 squad to the 6A state semifinals during his three years at Hernando. He remembers the strong backing for his program.
“I remember the support from the parents, the dedication of the players and support from the administration and the community,” Forbes said. “The fans are right on top of you here and as new gymnasiums are built they get further and further away. But here you could feel the energy of the crowd and it was a fun atmosphere to be in.”
His successor, Blake Jones, was an opposing coach coming to Theron Long Gymnasium, bringing Olive Branch squads in to challenge the Lady Tigers. He has now been the Hernando coach since the 2021-22 season and has some good memories he’ll take to the new gym next year.
“Coming over from Olive Branch, it was kind of the same thing,” Jones said. “It didn’t matter at all if Hernando had a winning record or a losing record, the crowd was still here. The community really embraces this place.”
Current Hernando boys’ coach Justin Neely has been in Theron Long Gymnasium as a player with Olive Branch, and later as a girls’ coach at Lake Cormorant, before his hiring to Hernando before the start of this season.
“It always had a great atmosphere with a great crowd and a great student section,” Neely said. Stephen Cox was the Tigers’ boys coach from 2008-09 until the end of last season when he announced he was stepping away from coaching. Cox remembers most the players he coached during his time.
“The players are what I will remember the most, the players in the practices and spending time with the kids was the most enjoyable,” Cox related.
He also remembers how loud the gym and fans could get inside.
“The atmosphere was wild,” Cox said. “The kids, the students would go crazy and I wouldn’t want to be a referee if they made a bad call against us in this gym, for sure.
Most of the DeSoto County high school gymnasiums today are of the cookie-cutter variety, similar-looking and a bit stale, except for different paint and markings. But the older gyms bring a unique and enjoyable home-court advantage to places like Olive Branch, Southaven, and in Hernando. Tiger fans have had that home court advantage over the years, but now the challenge will come in bringing that same thing to the new building. The current school will become the new middle school, part of a readjustment of Hernando attendance center schools.
“It’ll be a new everything and I’m excited,” Neely said of the move. “Everybody is excited to move into the new school.”