A long-time West Virginia State University (WVSU) professor and one time Yellow Jacket football coach is set to be inducted into the athletic Hall of Fame of Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale, Miss.
Oree Banks, associate professor of Health and Human Performance, was honored Saturday, Jan. 19, by Coahoma Community College where he served as an instructor, head football coach and athletic director from 1960 through 1963.
“I have great memories of my time coaching at Coahoma Community College,” said Banks. “We were a very successful program and I enjoyed wearing many hats.”
A native of Newton, Miss., Banks came to Coahoma Community College following a successful college career as a football player at Kansas State University.
In four seasons at Coahoma Community College, Banks’s Tigers posted a record of 27-7-1 and were either champions or co-champions of the Southern Intercollegiate Conference each year. In 1963, fellow coaches and conference officials named Banks the Southern Intercollegiate Conference Football Coach of the Year.
Following the Tiger’s successful 1963 season, a call came for Banks to join the coaching staff of legendary Coach Eddie Robinson at Grambling State University.
“With the success we had at Coahoma, I had the opportunity to go to Grambling to serve as an assistant under Eddie Robinson, I believe most people know his legacy of success,” said Banks of one of the winningest football coaches in NCAA history.
Banks served on the Grambling State University coaching staff for two years until he was named the head coach of South Carolina State. Banks coached for eight years at South Carolina State compiling a record of 44-27-2.
After leaving South Carolina State, Banks served as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina, the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin before being named the head football coach at WVSU in 1977.
Banks came to WVSU as both an associate professor and head football coach. He wore both hats until after the 1983 football season. Since that time he has worked as an associate professor of Health and Human Performance.
Banks was previously named to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1995 and to the WVSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
