Mississippi

Mississippi State women’s basketball has what Ole Miss, Coach Yo want. But it’s tough to obtain

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2024

Mississippi State women’s basketball has what Ole Miss, Coach Yo want. But it’s tough to obtain

STARKVILLE — Last month, fresh off losing to rival Mississippi State, Ole Miss women’s basketball coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin didn’t have much to say about the Humphrey Coliseum crowd of more than 7,000 fans.

With the seats matching the maroon shirts of most fans, McPhee-McCuin said, she didn’t even realize how large the gathering was. However, less than two weeks later after her team’s home victory against Florida in front of 2,450 fans, it was apparent that the crowd in Starkville did actually stick out to the Rebels’ coach.

She made that clear while voicing her displeasure for women’s basketball struggling to draw crowds like men’s teams in Oxford do.

“Why can’t we be an everything school?” McPhee-McCuin said. “Because that’s a destination spot. It’s happening up the street. We went to that game and there was 7,000 people in there. You get what I’m saying? I don’t even want to call them their names. But it happened.”

McPhee-McCuin made clear the struggle women’s teams face when building programs. Recent regular season success for Ole Miss’ men’s basketball has drawn impressive crowds, but fresh off a Sweet 16 trip, the women’s team is averaging fewer than 4,000 fans per game.

Yet in the same state, Mississippi State ranks fourth among SEC teams with an average attendance of 5,457 and had a recent sellout against LSU.

As the programs meet for the return game in Oxford on Sunday (3 p.m., SEC Network+), it’s a reminder of how impressive MSU’s rise in women’s basketball is while its rival looks to catch up.

How Mississippi State became a prominent women’s basketball brand

The country woke up to the tune of a cowbell on March 27, 2017, and Mississippi State women’s basketball was the reason why.

It was a normal morning for Robin Roberts in most regards as she took her spot hosting Good Morning America on ABC. However, the Bulldogs had just given her an excuse to ring a cowbell on one of television’s most popular shows.

Sporting an assortment of maroon and white, Roberts reminded the nation of what had happened the night before. With a win against Baylor, Mississippi State had just clinched its first trip to the Final Four.

For Roberts, who grew up and played basketball in Pass Christian, Mississippi, the cowbell was a chance to endorse what the Bulldogs just accomplished. For former MSU coach Vic Schaefer, it was the start of a week that changed women’s basketball in Starkville – and across the state – forever.

Roberts became an iconic part of MSU’s success, highlighted by a postgame speech she gave in Mississippi State’s locker room after an upset of UConn in the 2017 Final Four.

“Thank you for elevating women’s basketball the way you have,” Roberts told the team.

But she also played a big role in helping grow the game, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Schaefer.

“That’s free advertisement,” Schaefer told the Clarion Ledger this week. “You get a 30-second blip on an ad for ‘Good Morning America,’ it’s $4 million from what I’ve been told. We got about $12 million worth of advertisement three straight days that didn’t cost us a dime.”

Reaching the level of success required to get that national hype wasn’t easy, though.

Sharon Fanning-Otis spent 17 seasons as MSU coach, guiding the program to its first six NCAA Tournament appearances. However, room remained for Mississippi State to take the next step.

Schaefer inherited a team ahead of the 2012-13 season that was fresh off back-to-back losing seasons. He finished 13-17 in his first season and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament the following season despite a 22-14 record. Across his final six seasons, Mississippi State became a fixture in March Madness and the national polls.

“There’s an investment level that is required,” Schaefer said. “Once you get a return on your investment, it’s real easy to support it.”

Style of play was a big reason Schaefer’s teams appealed to Starkville.

Success for Mississippi State, Ole Miss starts in Mississippi high school basketball

In-state products such as Victoria Vivians (Carthage) helped mold the best years of Schaefer’s tenure, but even since his departure, Mississippi has generated top players.

Debreasha Powe is a sophomore at Mississippi State out of Meridian High School in Meridian. Madison Booker, a freshman star for Schaefer at Texas, is a product of Ridgeland. In her first season, Powe started 32 games for an NCAA Tournament team. This season, Booker is averaging 15.5 points per game and has started all 24 games she has appeared in.

“I think in both cases, those kids played for really good high school coaches,” Schaefer said. “They had a lot of success in high school. They had to be the player on their high school team, so night in and night out they had to show up and be accountable. I think that’s what gets you ready for college more than anything.”

Added to the list is Ole Miss forward Snudda Collins out of Brookhaven. The state is producing talent at an impressive pace, though it doesn’t guarantee the top players are coming to your program.

“I think the trend is becoming that elite players from their state are staying home,” McPhee-McCuin said. “What makes it difficult in Mississippi is you have two Power Five programs in the same conference … That makes it incredibly challenging because when you do get one that has a lot of talent, now you’re fighting in state against them.”

BREAKING IT DOWN: Explaining Ole Miss women’s basketball’s $8.4 million deficit in 2023 fiscal year

With success, though, comes the ability to recruit at a bigger scale. Collins and Powe are the lone in-state products across the two rival rosters this season. However, both programs have top players from other spots, ranging from MSU guard Mjracle Sheppard from Washington to Ole Miss guard Marija Avlijas from Serbia.

There are layers to creating the success women’s basketball has in Mississippi. It’s a cycle where fans, programs and schools work hand-in-hand to keep each other moving forward.

When the highs are reached and programs get to the levels Mississippi State and Ole Miss have gotten to, the benefits resonate throughout the state.

“When you have two programs on the national stage that are able to give exposure to women’s sports, compete at the highest level and be two brands that are recognized on the women’s side, it’s not only great for our universities, it’s great for our schools,” MSU coach Sam Purcell said.

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

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Mississippi

Stamps Super Burgers named best burger in Mississippi

Published

8 hours ago

April 6, 2026

Press Room

Stamps Super Burgers named best burger in Mississippi

A Jackson, Mississippi, icon has been named the best burger in Mississippi.

Foodie offers tips for “living a delicious life” from where you go out to eat to what you cook at home. It’s ranked the best hamburger restaurant in every state.

“Of course, the bigger burger chain names have become famous worldwide, but U.S. soil is also home to a dazzling variety of burger businesses, from those selling everything from high-end gastroburgers and gluten- or meat-free versions, to hole-in-the-wall places that have been slinging sliders for generations,” Scheenagh Harrington wrote for Foodie.

The site’s pick for the best in the Magnolia State is not surprising.

“Many businesses claim their product is the best in town, but Jackson-based Stamps Super Burgers really does deliver,” Harrington wrote.

They warned to plan your trip. Afternoons can get very busy.

Why do people love Stamps burgers?

Stamps Super Burgers, 1801 Dalton St., Jackson, was founded in 1986. Since then, three generations of the Stamps family have served juicy burgers and fresh-cut fries to the community.

Today, it’s co-owned by Phil Stamps Jr. In a previous interview with the Clarion Ledger, he said it “originally started with my grandmother and grandfather in 1970 when they purchased it from Canterbury Grocery, and the entire family operated that business as a grocery and meat market for a while before transitioning over to burgers in 1986.”

The kitchen is open, in the center of the restaurant. You can watch employees cut potatoes for fries or man the grill.

A signature Stamps hamburger comes with an 11-ounce beef patty and mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onions. The menu also has wings and different burger options, like turkey or portobello.

The Washington Addition restaurant regularly tops “best of” rankings for the state. In 2024, it was on the USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year list.

Where are the best burgers in Jackson, MS?

Yelp lists the Top 10 burger joints in Jackson, based on user reviews.

Stamps Super Burgers
Foundation Burger
Fat Albert’s
Cs’s
Rooster’s Restaurant
Rowan’s
Bulldog Burger
The Pig & Pint
Brent’s Drugs
Not Just a Burger

Contributing: Kiara Fleming

Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY NETWORK. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.

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Mississippi

An 1850s Parsonage in Natchez, Mississippi, Is Selling for the First Time in Over a Century

Published

20 hours ago

April 5, 2026

Press Room

An 1850s Parsonage in Natchez, Mississippi, Is Selling for the First Time in Over a Century

A 174-year-old brick parsonage house on a bluff above the Mississippi River is now for sale in Natchez, Mississippi, asking $1.985 million.

The home, completed in 1852, was built by architect James Hardie as a residence for Methodist ministers, according to historical records. The land was donated by Peter Little, a wealthy cotton broker and slave owner who built the city’s historic Rosalie mansion.

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The house was initially built as a one-story residence with an “English” basement and a carriage house; a two-story annex was added later, according to the listing with Douglas Adams of Crescent Sotheby’s International Realty, informed by the Historic Natchez Foundation.

“The location is what is superb because it is one of the highest points in Natchez overlooking the Mississippi River,” said Adams, who posted the listing Thursday.

In 1893, the Parsonage changed hands for the last time when it was purchased by James and Agnes Metcalfe, and has been in the Metcalfe family ever since.

Known as the Parsonage, the residence is considered a classic example of Greek Revival architecture from the pre-Civil War South, with a wide portico, raised porch and sash windows. It is located on South Broadway Street, in a commanding position that overlooks Bluff Park, the Mississippi and downtown Natchez. It spans 6,500 square feet with five bedrooms, two formal parlors flanking a central hall and richly detailed interiors that include original exposed-brick walls, fireplaces and stained-glass windows.

In addition to a front porch, the property includes several outdoor terraces and balconies, including a second-floor wraparound deck and a balustraded rooftop—which has the best vantage point from which to see the wide views.

The home was occupied for many years by the late Albert and Gay Metcalfe, who married at the Parsonage in 1959, and would host events for friends. “It became something of a social hub,” Adams said. “They’d host families to celebrate someone’s life; there may have been some weddings that occurred there.”

Gay Metcalfe died in 2023 and the heirs are her three children, Adams said. The family couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Hardie, the architect, was a Scottish immigrant who built several other notable buildings in Natchez, including most prominently St. Mary Basilica, a Gothic Revival structure on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Homewood plantation, a Greek Revival mansion.

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According to local lore, the Parsonage was commissioned by Little because his wife, Eliza’s religious devotion led her to welcome every passing minister into their home, according to “Natchez,” a 1940s history of the city. Displeased with the “long siege of such guests,” Little decided to build a separate home for his wife’s visitors.

Little’s own mansion at Rosalie still stands today near the site of the 1729 massacre of the Natchez Native Americans, from whom the city takes its name.

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