Graduate transfer post player Jimmy Bell Jr. and freshman guard Mjracle Sheppard were named as Mississippi State’s honorees to the Southeastern Conference Community Service Teams for the 2023-24 season.
Bell, who began his collegiate career at Saint Louis and later played at Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College and West Virginia, participated in a number of community service activities and events after he arrived in Starkville. He and the rest of the men’s basketball team welcomed members of the MSU Access program, which supports students with developmental and intellectual disabilities, for a practice session before the Bulldogs’ season.
In addition, Bell has spent time engaging with elementary and middle school students and their teachers in the Starkville community. He also volunteered at a local assisted living facility, helped out at a food bank and helped clean the campus before the first football game of the 2023 season. Bell is on track to graduate this summer with a master’s degree in workforce education leadership.
Sheppard, the lone freshman on the SEC women’s community service team, volunteered with the local nonprofit Starkville Strong, which supports residents facing food insecurity, homelessness and housing insecurity. She also assisted elderly residents at Montgomery Gardens, an assisted living home, and worked with some of the local Boys and Girls Clubs.
Like Bell, Sheppard worked with MSU Access as well, helping put on the Special Olympics Unified Program throughout the year.
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