By Staff and Wire Reports

JACKSON, Miss. — Former Picayune Memorial High coach Buck Kennedy has been sleced for induction into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame.

Kennedy and four others will be inducted this week, during a ceremony in Jackson on Friday.

The MAC’s class of 2006 includes Kennedy, Mac Barnes, Leslie Peters, Benjamin “Coyte” Vance and Lynn Wood. The inductees will be honored at a banquet July 7 in Jackson.

Kennedy, an Indianola High graduate, coached from 1964-92 at Picayune, Noxapater and Leakesville and was 138-58-3, leading Noxapater to consecutive Big Black Conference titles in 1971 and ’72 and three straight East Central Athletic Conference championships from 1979-81.

Barnes, a Meridian native, won four state football championships at Meridian and was 200-91-1 during a 28-year career which also included stops at Northwest Junior High and Lamar.

Peters, a Columbia native, was the football coach and athletic director at Columbia, Marion Central, Marion County and East Marion high schools and was 233-92-5 in his 37-year career.

Vance, a Conehatta High graduate, was a former all-Southeastern Conference basketball player at Mississippi State who coached 27 seasons at Pelahatchie, Florence, Rankin Academy, Brandon Academy, Newton Academy and University Christian with a career record of 1,041-333. He won two state titles with Brandon Academy and two more with Newton Academy.

Wood, a Lexington, Tenn., native, coached tennis for 41 years at Corinth and led the school to 11 Class 3A championships.

This will be the 34th annual MAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet. The event will take place Friday night at 7 p.m., at the Hilton Hotel off County Line Rd. in Jackson.

The induction of this quintet will bring the total of honorees in the MAC Hall of Fame to 177 members (166 lifetime and 11 honorary). The MAC Coaches Hall of Fame was created by the organization in 1973.

For information concerning ticket sales to attend the event on Friday, contact the MAC at 601-924-3020.