Starkville’s Kameron Jones flips from Louisiana to MSU

STARKVILLE — Kameron Jones was outside of the Starkville High School Auditorium, minutes away from signing a National Letter of Intent to join the Louisiana-Lafayette football program Wednesday morning.

Jones then received a call he wasn’t expecting.

Members of defense lead Starkville’s signees

STARKVILLE — When the Starkville High School football team sputtered on offense in the middle of a run to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State championship game, it leaned on its defense, especially its secondary.

MSU men extend win streak by beating Alabama

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s winning streak is adapting — and growing.

Mississippi State looks to close strong on National Signing Day

STARKVILLE — In the three weeks between Joe Moorhead taking over as Mississippi State’s football coach and the first early signing period in modern college football history, there was no time for outside targets. Moorhead and the pieces of the staff he had assembled at the time had time to retain as much as it could of the 2018 recruiting class assembled by his predecessor, Dan Mullen, and nothing else.

Cannizaro looks to give freshmen players opportunity

STARKVILLE — When freshmen saw the field for Andy Cannizaro’s first Mississippi State baseball team last season, it was a matter of necessity. When Riley Self, Denver McQuary and Graham Ashcraft were called to pitch, it was because they were among the few healthy and able.

MSU men look for four-game winning streak against Alabama

STARKVILLE — The crater came in the first two weeks of January. At the time, a Mississippi State men’s basketball team that had been offensively challenged was at its worst, taking three consecutive losses while shooting a combined 68-177 (38.4 percent) and 15-62 from 3-point territory (24.1 percent). The result of it all was a 1-3 start to the Southeastern Conference schedule, a jarring departure from the 12-1 record entering league play.

Twitter sensation Pruitt enjoys first trip to Starkville

STARKVILLE — Jeremy Pruitt has been doing a lot of picture taking and hugging in a new city that adores him.

Peters’ speed paves way for MSU men

STARKVILLE — Lamar Peters’ speed isn’t a secret.

The Mississippi State men’s basketball coaches know about the quickness of their sophomore guard. Game film makes it clear to the rest of the teams in the Southeastern Conference.

On Saturday, MSU’s coaches told Peters to put that speed to use against Georgia.

Starkville High hires Banks as CB coach

STARKVILLE — This all started when Johnthan Banks still had playing football on his mind.

Banks was back in Starkville working out for the 2018 NFL season, sometimes with Starkville High School football players and coaches around, when Starkville coach Chris Jones half-heartedly mentioned the idea of coaching. Jones didn’t put too much stock in the conversations because he and Banks talked about other interests, too, such as riding horses.

Cannizaro, MSU looking to win ultimate prize

STARKVILLE — Andy Cannizaro likes to recruit to both sides of Mississippi State baseball history.

Cannizaro tells recruits early and often that MSU has been better for longer than any other Southeastern Conference program. He relates stories from MSU’s 36 appearances in the NCAA tournament, its seven trips to the Super Regionals, and its run to the championship series of the College World Series in 2013.

Moorhead looks to put finishing touches on recruiting class

STARKVILLE — Joe Moorhead’s designs for the final pieces of the recruiting class he inherited at Mississippi State were a mystery in mid-December.

Moorhead’s hiring in late November left him with little time to consider anything beyond the early signing period that was roughly three weeks away.

Skelton hopes lessons learned in 2017 help him at catcher

STARKVILLE — Dustin Skelton spent his freshman season learning.

The 6-foot, 199-pounder out of Magnolia Heights in Senatobia soaked in a lot of information as he watched Josh Lovelady catch 51 of the Mississippi State baseball team’s 67 games in 2017.

Mississippi State men continue search for first road win

STARKVILLE — From what Ben Howland has seen in recent weeks, his Mississippi State men’s basketball team has everything it needs to produce a road win in the Southeastern Conference.

Starkville boys remain on cruise control in region race

STARKVILLE — The best version of the Starkville boys basketball team is a serious danger for anyone trying to contend for a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A championship. Tuesday night gave such contenders a glimpse of what that looks like.

Starkville girls avenge region loss to Murrah

STARKVILLE — The gymnasium at Starkville High School was in a full-on celebration after Jariyah Covington’s lay-up put the Lady Jackets up two with 11 seconds left. Everyone around the court knew the Starkville girls basketball team had just clinched a revenge victory over the Murrah team that snapped its 13-game winning streak and handed Murrah its first loss of the season.

MSU’s Huff has making of champion

STARKVILLE — In the final weeks of his 40-year coaching career, Joe Taylor wrote a book titled “The Making of a Champion: Success is an Inconvenience.” It details how he won four black college football national championships and 10 conference championships.

Taylor said having players like Charles Huff allowed him to write that book.

Second-half shooting pushes MSU past Missouri

STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s best shooting performance of the Southeastern Conference schedule came with impeccable timing.

Peters playing bigger role for MSU men

STARKVILLE — Lamar Peters appeared to lock up a starting spot by averaging 12.3 points and handing out 4.6 assists in the Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s first three games.

Pilkington ready to show off new changeup

STARKVILLE — Troy Buckley knows what to do with players like Konnor Pilkington.

Buckley has spent 15 years with the Long Beach State baseball program, including the last seven as its coach. For two years, Buckley also worked as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league pitching coordinator. Last summer, he served as the pitching coach for the USA Baseball Collegiate Team, which is where he had a chance to meet Pilkington, who is preparing for his junior season with the Mississippi State baseball team.

MSU men back on road looking for win at Kentucky

STARKVILLE — Ben Howland’s shot blockers — and he’s had many of them over his 21-year head coaching career — don’t necessarily have the green light to execute their craft. If they do it the Howland way, they do it with a high conversion rate more than a high attempt rate.