Mississippi
Mississippi State basketball lands UAB guard Ja’Borri McGhee in transfer portal over Ole Miss
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State basketball has landed its first commitment from the transfer portal this year.
UAB guard Ja’Borri McGhee committed to the Bulldogs and coach Chris Jans on Sunday. He announced it with social media posts one day after narrowing his list to MSU and Ole Miss.
McGhee, listed at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, averaged 11.1 points per game with 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds in his one season with the Blazers. He shot 40.8% from 3, but on 1.9 attempts per game. McGhee played at Garden City Community College as a freshman in 2022-23 and at South Plains Community College as a sophomore.
McGhee is a McComb native but played high school basketball at Winfield in Alabama.
He was a junior this season but could potentially get eligibility back from the two seasons in junior college.
What Ja’Borri McGhee brings to Mississippi State
McGhee is a welcomed addition to an MSU roster that’s experiencing a lot of turnover after reaching a third consecutive NCAA tournament. That’s especially true with star Josh Hubbard’s pending decision of whether to return next season or enter the NBA draft.
If Hubbard doesn’t return, Mississippi State will lose seven of its top eight scorers. The one returner, KeShawn Murphy, is a forward. Mississippi State has a lot of attrition at guard with Claudell Harris Jr. out of eligibility and Riley Kugel and Kanye Clary transferring away. It signed four-star freshman shooting guard King Grace and returns freshman three-star Dellquan Warren.
McGhee isn’t an elite 3-point shooter but is still able to produce big scoring games. He was tied for third on UAB in scoring and had at least 20 points in five games. McGhee also averaged 1.1 steals per game, which would’ve been tied for second on Mississippi State. UAB lost to Memphis in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game and reached the NIT quarterfinals.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Mississippi lawmakers face pressure to counter looming federal cuts to health care after punting this session
Wicker: Mississippi powered Artemis II
Published 4:00 pm Monday, April 20, 2026
For nine days this month, space travel captivated the world. Families gathered around their screens as four astronauts strapped into the Integrity spacecraft docked at the Kennedy Space Center. As the launch countdown ended, four Mississippi-tested RS-45 engines ignited, and the ground shook. Seven seconds later, the Integrity had liftoff. For six intense minutes, the RS-45 engines rocketed the crew into high Earth orbit, sending them on their historic lunar flyby mission.
Mississippi should take a bow. The four RS-45 engines were tested at our very own Stennis Space Center, where Mississippians have been ensuring the quality of rocket engines since the Apollo program. For eight years, engineers, safety managers, and logistics specialists from the state have tested the engines that powered the Integrity and will power future Artemis launches. Their work paid off, and the launch was a marvel of engineering. NASA leadership made special mention of the rocket engine burn, calling it “flawless.”
One Mississippian in particular helped make the mission a success. Hernando native Matthew Ramsey handled a great deal of responsibility as the mission manager for Artemis II. The Mississippi State University graduate helped set the focus for the mission and equip the astronauts and staff for the job. Matthew also served as the deputy of the Mission Management Team, the group of NASA staff that comes together just days before a launch. The team assumes the risks of the mission ahead, and they make tough calls during flight if challenges arise.
As the Artemis II journey progressed, the world could not stop watching. Our social media feeds were full of photos and videos beamed down from the heavens. They captured humorous situations, such as the astronauts adjusting to life without gravity or testing their plumbing skills.
We also witnessed moments of majesty. On the fifth day, the Integrity began using the Moon’s gravity to slingshot our astronauts back home. That trajectory led the crew around the Moon, farther from Earth than any humans have ever gone. As the explorers looked upon outer space, they captured stunning images. Among the most remarkable is Earthset, in which Commander Reid Wiseman photographed Earth as it appeared to fall below the horizon of the moon.
When their spacecraft returned to Earth’s atmosphere, the crew was traveling nearly 35 times faster than the speed of sound. Ten minutes later, a series of parachutes began opening. Eventually, the spacecraft’s speed fell to 20 miles per hour, and the crew splashed down into the Pacific Ocean.
Mississippi was once again there to assist. The astronauts were greeted by the USS John P. Murtha, a U.S. military vessel built in the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula. The ship’s amphibious design was suited to welcome the space travelers home—equipped with a helicopter pad, medical facilities, and the communications system needed to locate and recover the astronauts safely. Crucially, the USS Murtha was built with a well deck, a sea-based garage that stored the Integrity on the journey to shore.
Artemis II was a resounding success, paving the way for planned future flights. When the Artemis program returns humans to the moon, Mississippi will be there every step of the way.
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