Missouri State University in Springfield is leaving the Missouri Valley Conference and will join Conference USA as a full-league member.

The change takes effect on July 1, 2025, which means Missouri State will remain in the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2024-2025 academic year.

MSU officials said the move officially places the university in the NCAA’s exclusive Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the first time.

“We certainly believe that we’re capable of competing and that it brings a higher profile, more exposure and brand awareness, not only to our institution but to our student athletes that participate,” said Kyle Moats, Missouri State’s athletic director.

Missouri State University will become the 12^th full-time member of CUSA. Other members are:

· Florida International University (FIU), Miami, Florida

· Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama

· Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

· Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana

· Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

· New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico

· Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

· University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), El Paso, Texas

· Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky

· Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia (joining July 1, 2024)

· University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware (joining July 1, 2025)

The Bears will compete in CUSA in the sports of football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, women’s tennis, women’s track and field and beach volleyball.

Men’s soccer and swimming and diving are currently not part of CUSA’s sport sponsorship profile, and MSU officials said they’ll have information about those in the coming months. Moats said their initial thought is that they might stay in the Valley with those sports, if that’s an option. If it’s not, they’ll look at other conferences. Ideally, he said, he’d like all three sports to go to the same conference.

Copyright 2024 KSMU

Nearly three years ago, a Missouri man was reported missing. Law enforcement authorities have learned that he was murdered and now U.S. Marshals have apprehended a Missouri man who’s a suspect as he was on the run in Louisiana.

The Missouri Highway Patrol announced in a press release that Thomas E. “Tedo” Gamble, 21, formerly of Potosi, Missouri, had been captured in Louisiana by United States Marshals as a suspect in the disappearance of John Paul Parton, of High Ridge, Missouri. He was reported missing on May 28, 2021 and is now believed to have been murdered.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control investigators learned of Parton’s murder recently although no body has been found as of yet.

Gamble was arrested on April 25, 2024 in Port Allen, Louisiana, by the Port Allen Police Department, with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service. The St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney officially charged Thomas E. “Tedo” Gamble on May 1, 2024 of first degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence, and abandonment of a corpse. The Missouri Highway Patrol emphasizes that these are just accusations and not evidence of guilt.

Now, the Missouri Highway Patrol needs your assistance in locating the body of John Paul Parton. Anyone with information should contact Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal Jason Ashby at 314-608-2764.

You can see the full statement from the Missouri Highway Patrol for more details and information on how this suspect was captured.