The numbers are simply staggering.
Everyone involved with private school basketball in Mississippi knows how successful Pillow Academy's Durwin Carpenter has been, but when you look at it on paper in terms of wins and losses, it's even more impressive.
Carpenter is 346-57 in his 11 years as the head coach of the Lady Mustangs. (Save you the math, that's a winning percentage of 86.0). He has guided Pillow to two Overall championships, four state titles and a shelf full of conference crowns.
Carpenter has led the Lady Mustangs to the MPSA Overall Tournament in nine of his first 10 years at the school, and Pillow has made it to at least the semifinals in seven of those years. PA is 2-2 in Overall championship games during Carpenter's tenure.
"Looking at the results he has gotten, it's obvious that Durwin knows the game of basketball, but a lot of coaches are very knowledgable about the game. What separates him from the rest is his ability to build relationships with his players," said Russell Robertson, Pillow's headmaster. "He teaches them how to set goals and how to reach those goals."
Carpenter, a former player at Holmes Community College and Delta State, refuses to take the bulk of the credit for his incredible run at Pillow.
"We've had outstanding girls and super athletes every year. Our girls start developing a strong work ethic and a strong will to win at an early age," Carpenter said. "Our philosophy since day one has been to press and get out on the fast break, and that makes it a lot of fun for the girls."
Even though he demands so much from his players, senior guard Katie Buford says she's been blessed to have Carpenter for a coach since she began playing in the seventh grade.
"He has everyone's respect immediately because of what he has accomplished, but the biggest thing is that he has a relationship with each individual player," Buford explained. "He takes time to get to know each of us. He is very personable."
Carpenter, a graduate of Delta State and a native of Holcomb, came to Pillow in 1994 after 20 years at Central Holmes. His impact was felt immediately as he guided the Lady Mustangs to a 31-6 record and a third-place Overall finish in his first year.
By his third year at PA, the girls' basketball program was unquestionably the best in the statewide academy ranks. The Lady Mustangs went undefeated, 37-0, during the 1996-'97 campaign en route to state and Overall championships.
The next year, Carpenter led the Lady Mustangs to back-to-back state and Overall championships during a 29-6 season.
After a four-year drought of state championships, the Lady Mustangs won back-to-back state crowns in 2003 and 2004 and are primed to make it three in a row. They are 32-1 heading into Friday's state AAA Division I semifinal contest against Parklane, the No. 2 seed from the South.
So has Carpenter built a girls' basketball dynasty at Pillow?
"I don't know if you can call it that or not," Carpenter replied. "We try to get our girls involved during sixth-grade P.E. class and let them play during halftime of the home games after Christmas. We hope they enjoy that and want to get serious about it the next year."
Carpenter credits assistant coach Mignon Hodges, a former DSU player who has been at his side for five years, for much of the Lady Mustangs' recent success. "She takes care of our girls on and off the court. She is a great teacher of the game, and the girls have great respect for her," Carpenter said.
The 11th-year PA coach also credits the training techniques of PA coaches Alexis and Lubov Tsema for the girls' on-court success.
Carpenter was no stranger to winning before he came to
Pillow from Central Holmes, where he coached both boys and girls. His overall 32-year record as a high school basketball coach is 703-242 - a winning percentage of 74 percent.
