Adding more talent to the sideline is key to success. At Mississippi Delta Community College, the Lady Trojans and Trojans have added depth to their basketball coaching staff with assistants hired this season. Both have international playing experience. On the Lady Trojans side, Arother Ratliff is assisting Head Coach Tangela Banks. On the Trojans side, DeJuan Clark is assisting long-time Head Coach Derrick Fears.
Greenwood native Arother Ratliff brings his talents to the MDCC women's basketball sidelines with both collegiate and professional experience. The Greenwood High School alum took his roundball talents to Kansas City Community College, where he attained his associate degree and then transferred to Tougaloo College, but after not being on the court, he transferred to Belhaven University to finish his collegiate career.
Ratliff was named All Conference, averaged 16.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks and was named C-Spire Athlete of the Week multiple times. From there, he played internationally for two years in China, playing in different leagues and competitions, winning multiple championships in both 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 competitions. Playing in China was “eye-opening” for the Leflore County native.
“All of the things, all of the adjectives that you could find in the dictionary. It was all of those. It was so different. Just the food, the culture, the language, the people,” he said. “I was all over China — north, south, east and west — and I even spent a little time in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand. I was all over Asia.”
Ratliff was preparing to head back to China a year ago in November but his wife became pregnant and he decided to retire as a professional player and stay stateside. His wife, Jalexis, is a medical student at UMMC and he splits his time between Jackson and Moorhead where he lives in the dorm. She gave birth to daughter, Aila, on November 20.
He found his way to MDCC by way of former Greenwood High and Mississippi Valley State alum, Booker T. Chambers.
“He was coaching football at MDCC in 2024 and he was in tune with the basketball team,” Ratliff said. “He had a good relationship with both Coach Fears and Coach Banks and I saw him post a flyer on Instagram saying assistant coaches needed.”
Ratliff was looking to join the men’s team but Lady Trojans Head Coach Tangela Banks reached out first. That’s how he ended up with the Lady Trojans. But his first experience coaching women came at Belhaven when he had more school to finish after his eligibility ended.
“It wasn’t as hands-on, but this is my first full-time, all-in coaching job. I’m getting the best possible experience if I want to be a head coach,” he explained. “I love it.”
Indianola native DeJuan Clark begins his first year as a collegiate coach assisting Head Coach Derrick Fears. Coach Clark was a standout forward at Gentry High School and went on to play three seasons at Blue Mountain College, then transferred to the Mississippi University for Women (MUW), where he was named a DIII Honorable Mention All-American in 2019. He played internationally in Portugal before coming home to begin his high school teaching and coaching career. He picked up some Portuguese while there.
“There was a language barrier within the community, but most of the guys on the team spoke English, so they pretty much translated everything that the coach told them. The coach didn't speak much English. All I understood he was saying was score and win,” Clark said. "I started at Lake Cormorant Middle School and then went to J.Z George High School as the head varsity boys and girls coach," he said. "We improved each year and made the playoffs, though we didn't get past the first round."
His duties with the Trojans include serving as recruiting coordinator and on-court player development.
"I've been enjoying it and I've been learning a lot from Coach (Derrick) Fears. I went into coaching young and didn't have a mentor and anyone to learn from, so I had to learn on the fly. He knows a lot of basketball and I'm grateful to be here working under him," Coach Clark said. “On the sidelines we have a student assistant, but we both have little roles that we do as well. But I do have the opportunity to get up and, you know, suggest certain things from the sideline that I see, you know, or if it's certain things that I'm tracking. Like I track fouls, what we do, how many positions we go without scoring, little stuff like that. And so, when we go to certain positions without scoring something, I may get up and be like, ‘Coach, we haven't scored here. Let's try this or try that,’ you know. It's been pretty good.”
These two local players with international experience are bringing it all home to make the Lady Trojans and Trojans a success both on the court and off.
