Coach Richard Duease was born in Indianola, MS and attended Indianola High school where he lettered in football, baseball, basketball, track, and tennis. He attended Mississippi State University. He was six hours shy of a business degree when he decided to switch to a physical education bachelor's degree. He began his basketball coaching career in 1975 at Manchester Academy. In 1978, he moved to Lee Academy to coach boy's and girl's basketball.

In 1982, Coach Duease moved to Madison-Ridgeland Academy where he has been coaching boy's and girl's basketball ever since! In his 42 seasons at MRA, he has guided his basketball teams to 41 MAIS State Championships and 15 MAIS Overall Championships. In 2020, Coach Duease became the winningest high school basketball coach in Mississippi with 1,698 wins. He now has over 1,800 wins and is the second most winningest active boy's basketball coach in the nation.

In addition to being inducted into the MS Sports Hall of Fame, Coach Duease has been names MAIS Coach of the Year 30 times and been inducted into the MAIS Athletic Hall of Fame. He was the first inductee into the inaugural class of Madison-Ridgeland Academy Athletics Hall of Fame.