James Green embraces and welcomes the challenge of replacing an icon as he embarks on his inaugural season at the helm of the Mississippi Valley State men's basketball program.

A veteran and student of the game, Green spent the last year on hiatus before being named head coach of the Delta Devils on July 20th of this year. The 1999-2000 Conference USA Coach of the Year, Green will replace long-time coach Lafayette Stribling, who retired earlier in the year after recording over 300 victories in 22 years of service to Mississippi Valley State.

A native of Ingomar, MS, Green was a Converse All-American and three-time all-state selection at Ingomar High School, where he helped lead the Falcons to a 136-24 record, including a stretch when the Falcons won 77 of 78 games.

Green finished his prep career with 3,033 points and more than 1,500 rebounds. As a result of his play at Ingomar, Green received a scholarship to the University of Mississippi. Though suffering through four injury plagued years, Green developed the mentality and knowledge that would one day propel him into the upper echelon of coaches.

After receiving his degree in mathematics education in 1983, Green took over a struggling program at Jim Hill High School in Jackson, MS. In four years, he turned a perennial losing program into North State champions. During his career, Green has served Iowa State (1994-96) and Alabama (1992-94) as assistant basketball coach.

While at Alabama, he helped lead the Crimson Tide to the National Invitational Tournament (1993) and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament (1994).

Green has also held assistant coaching positions with Texas A&M University-College Station (1990-92) and the University of Idaho (1988-90), where the Vandals won two Big Sky Conference championships (1989, 1990) and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament (1989, 1990).

In 1996, Green took over the reigns of the University of Southern Mississippi program, replacing M. K. Turk, who retired following 20 seasons.

During his eight years there, he led the Golden Eagles to two 20-win seasons, a 123-109 record, which included a Conference USA regular season championship (1999-2000) and two trips to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).