St. Aloysius has hired a new basketball coach as former Greenville-St. Joseph coach Richard Hodges will take over the Flashes’ program.

In 2005, Hodges led the Irish to the school’s first-ever appearance in the state basketball tournament at the Mississippi Coliseum.

St. Aloysius athletic director Jim Taylor said Hodges fills two vital roles at the Vicksburg Catholic school, which has had four different boys and girls coaches over the past four years. Hodges replaces Gary Miller, who led the St. Al boys to an 11-15 record and the girls to a 6-18 mark in 2008-09.

“We were looking for a math teacher and a basketball coach and that’s not an easy combination to find, but we have that in Richard,” Taylor said. “He always had good teams at Greenville-St. Joe and he was looking to work again for a Catholic school.”

St. Aloysius principal Michelle Townsend said the school is looking forward to Hodges’ arrival from North Carolina.

“We are very excited about our new basketball coach. He will be arriving in Vicksburg late next week,” Townsend said.

Hodges spent three seasons at Greenville-St. Joseph and the school’s current athletic director Benny Strazi said Hodges took the basketball program to new heights.

“In the three years he was here, our boys made the playoffs. He had two or three pretty good teams and one made it to the state tournament. He knows basketball really well,” Strazi said.

In 2005 Hodges led the Irish boys team to the Class 1A State Tournament at the Mississippi Coliseum. They finished 22-9 and won two games at the 1A North State Tournament, upsetting longtime rival Ray Brooks to make the state tournament. The Irish lost in the first round to H.W. Byers, 53-46.

Retired St. Joe football coach Leroy Byars of Cleveland, saw firsthand how Hodges turned around the Irish’s basketball program.

“He was a hard worker and through that work, he turned that program out at St. Joe. He knows the game. I watched many of his practices and saw how much he knew about the game. I really think I learned as much as the kids did about basketball,” Byars said.

Byars said before Hodges’ arrival, St. Joe was at a big disadvantage compared to the talented teams they had to face in the Mississippi Delta like Ray Brooks, Shaw and Broad Street.

“When you’re at a parochial school, you have to take what you’ve got. Richard, though, was able to bring in his system, devise a game plan and got his team prepared. He studied what his opponents were doing.

“To me, he was a first-rate coach. He didn’t always have great talent, but he got the max out of his kids. He worked those kids,” Byars said.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com