Billy Allgood (1979) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Billy Allgood

Induction:
1979

Billy Allgood was an outstanding guard as a four-year letterman for the Southern Miss basketball teams of 1949-50 through 1952-53 and played in 129 games during his career on teams that posted a record of 56-16 over his final two seasons and advanced both seasons to the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City.
   Although never a great scorer it was Allgood’s ball handling abilities, defensive skills and leadership that made him one of the keys to the success of Southern Miss basketball during his four seasons.
   As a freshman for the Golden Eagles in 1949-50 the team finished the year with an 19-7 record and the championship of the Gulf States Conference and advanced to the finals of the NAIA District 19 playoffs. Allgood was the third leading scorer on that team that featured future Southern Miss Hall of Famers, Tom Bishop and Jack Gallagher.
   As a sophomore the team finished 21-14 and finished fourth in the Gulf States Conference and once again advanced to the NAIA District 19 playoffs. Allgood didn’t score much on that team that not only featured Bishop and Gallagher, but had also added the player who would become the school’s all-time leading scorer, Nick Revon, but would have been the team’s assists leader, if they had kept records at the time, in addition to being the team’s defensive leader.
   His scrappy style of defense did help him lead the team in a couple of categories. He committed 124 fouls that year and fouled out 13 times in 35 games.
   The 1951-52 team with Allgood as the leader breezed to a 29-8 record and captured another Gulf States Conference regular season championship. The team also won the league’s post-season tournament, advanced to the NAIA District 19 playoffs for a third straight year and made the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City, where they lost to New Mexico A&M in the opening round.
   Allgood continued in his same role with the ’51-52 club, content to set up Gallagher, Bishop and Revon, and consistently guard one of the opposition’s best offensive players.
   1952-53 would be Allgood’s final season at Southern Miss and according to those who watched him play that year, it might have been his best. The Golden Eagles would finish the year 27-8 and although the school was no longer in the Gulf States Conference, they breezed through the NAIA District 19 playoffs and into the NAIA National Tournament. In the NAIA championships, the team won in the opening round against Wisconsin State 106-72, then defeated Loyola of Baltimore 94-83 to make the final eight, but lost 102-92 to Hamline in the quarterfinal round.
   He was also a standout baseball player at Southern Miss from 1951 to 1953.
   Allgood would go one after graduating from Southern Miss to become a successful basketball coach on the collegiate level, spending many years at Louisiana College to become one of the school’s winningest coaches.