What’s in a name? For Mississippi University for Women’s men’s basketball team, well, it’s complicated.
Co-educational since 1982, MUW added men’s sports, including basketball, in 2017. For current players, that legacy presents its own set of challenges.
Sophomore guard Josh Dukes, a Booneville native, was familiar with MUW due to its proximity to his hometown. He knew it was co-ed, and he knew of the rich basketball tradition, at least on the women’s side. In 1971, MUW (then known as Mississippi State College for Women) won a national championship in women’s basketball, which did not become an NCAA-sanctioned championship sport until 1982.
But Dukes was hesitant when head coach Dean Burrows first contacted him with a recruiting pitch.
“There (were) definitely some conversations I had in high school … wondering if this is where I wanted to go or not because of the name,” Dukes said. “And that plays a part, but I kind of saw past that.”
That pitch, Burrows said, is tedious but necessary.
“When I do reach out, I tell them, ‘I’m from an NCAA Division III institution in Columbus, Mississippi,’… and then once they get into that, then the question is going to be asked, ‘What’s the name of the school?’ And that’s when I have to go into, ‘OK, this is the name of the school. We’ve been co-ed since 1982. They’ve had male sports, specifically men’s basketball, since 2017, 2018.’ It does become redundant.”
Burrows, MUW’s third-year head coach, hails from Wilmington, Delaware. A D-III coaching veteran, Burrows spent eight seasons, three as an assistant and five as head coach, at the now-defunct Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, before taking the job in Columbus.
Like many of his players, Burrows’ first impression of MUW wasn’t necessarily positive. After Wesley College closed, he recalled, a coaching friend of his told him to look into an opportunity at Mississippi University for Women.
“Dude, I’m not coaching women,” Burrows said at the time. ”I have three daughters and I know my lane.”
Eventually, Burrows did his research, landed an on-campus interview, and the rest is history.
Senior forward Brye Hopkins, who played for his father, former professional basketball player Bernard Hopkins, at Hagerstown Community College in Maryland before transferring to MUW, knew nothing about the school before Burrows reached out.
“When (Burrows) first told me about the name, I actually got on the internet to search up the school to make sure it was the right name, that I wasn’t tripping then, that I heard it right.”
Once Burrows presented his recruiting pitch, however, Hopkins was sold. And like many MUW players, he’s embraced the history and the legacy “The W” represents.
“I think the history is very cool and interesting, especially with the women’s team winning a national championship here before.”
Not just a men’s issue
MUW, better known as, “The W,” has a storied history of inclusivity and athletic success. Founded in 1884 as the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls, it was the country’s first public women’s college. The institution was renamed Mississippi State College for Women in 1920, and then Mississippi University for Women in 1974.
Athletic Director Buddy Foster knows that history well, having led the Owls softball program for three seasons from 2021-23 before moving into administration. From his perspective, the name presents a challenge regardless of gender.
“If you’re coaching a male sport and you’re trying to recruit young men to come play for you, that’s a challenge in and of itself,” he said. “So, you have to kind of qualify. … (But) there aren’t a whole lot of females that want to go to an all-girls school. So, in the same regard, we had to kind of qualify, ‘We’re not a single-gender school. We are co-ed.’”
Foster learned to make a pitch similar to Burrows’ even though he was recruiting softball players who were, per NCAA rules, “women.”
“… At least in my experience, I’ve had to qualify with, I’d say, well over 90% of the young ladies that I was recruiting, that we are not a single-gender school,” he said. “We do have a male population.”
Road warriors
Burrows clearly makes a compelling pitch, as his roster is filled with players from all over the country and all over the world, but there are a few situations even he can’t spin.
On the road, the trash talk is sophomoric but inevitable. A men’s team representing a university “for women” is an inherent contradiction, after all. But most of the chirping comes from fans in the stands, not opposing players on the court.
“Sometimes when we go to some schools, instead of just saying, ‘M-U-W,’ they’ll call out the entire name,” Dukes said. “And you can kind of just see the smirks around. You can kind of feel it.”
Hopkins had a more vivid memory. The Owls traveled to Lake Charles, Louisiana, in December for an exhibition game against McNeese State, a Division I program from the Southland Conference. A fan got Hopkins’ attention pregame and asked for help in clearing up some confusion.
“…We were warming up, and an older fan of theirs asked me, ‘Are you guys playing? Or are we (McNeese) playing (a) girls’ team with (our) guys’ team?’”
An Owl by any other name
Burrows attended the ceremony two weeks ago when MUW president Nora Miller unveiled the university’s then-choice for a new name, “Mississippi Brightwell University.” That name, of course, has been famously scuttled and the search continues for a suitable replacement, but Burrows knows a change of that magnitude is always going to cause a stir – especially at a place like MUW, where alumni are fiercely protective of the university’s heritage.
Whatever form that change takes, Burrows believes, will be for the better.
“When that name was announced (on Jan. 8), whether I liked it or my guys truly liked it or not, I saw in their eyes, I saw in their body language and then later that afternoon we had some discussion – they finally felt a part of something,” he said.
While Burrows acknowledges the controversy of dropping the “W” from MUW, he supports a name change, viewing it as an opportunity to modernize and better reflect MUW’s current mission. He also knows it won’t hurt recruiting. But, for men’s players like Dukes, who may well enroll under one name and graduate under another, the best course of action is to stay out of the debate, even if they’re secretly rooting for one side.
“ … I’m kind of just neutral about it, you know,” Dukes said. “Especially me being a man at this school. I’m good with anything that doesn’t have ‘women’ on the inside.”
Hopkins, the senior whose wide frame and deft touch around the rim make him a force in the post for the Owls, understands a name change won’t have much of an impact on him as a student-athlete – he’ll have always played for MUW. But, as a future alum, he’s paying attention to the process.
“I mean, I understand it, it makes sense, but I feel like in today’s world and society, how things are changing, … it would be better if the name did get changed to something that would be more appealing for more males,” Hopkins told The Dispatch. “It’ll just change people’s perspective, because I feel like once they hear, ‘For women,’ everyone just assumes it’s for women.”
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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