There was no shortage of compelling sports stories in The Golden Triangle in 2019.
But The Commercial Dispatch was up to the challenge of narrowing down the top 10 stories of 2019 as 2020 creeps around the corner.
Multiple aspects of each particular story were considered, such as newsworthiness, future impact, proximity and precedent.
The following stories were voted on by the newspaper’s staff, with each member voting for what they deemed the top 10 stories of the year. The first story a writer picked received 10 points, the second story nine points, and so on.
Plenty of subjectivity was to be expected, as evident by the variety of stories on each participating staff member’s ballot.
Nevertheless, here are our top 10 stories of the year along with a few honorable mentions.
Honorable mentions
MUW women’s basketball wins USCAA championship
Joshua Pulphus hired as Columbus football coach, wins four games in first year
Kylin Hill wins Conerly Trophy, leads SEC in rushing
Teaira McCowan and Quinndary Weatherspoon are drafted in WNBA and NBA draft
Tyrone Shorter leaves Noxubee County for Louisville; Teddy Young leads Tigers to state championship game in first year as coach
Starkville basketball wins MHSAA Class 6A championship
New Hope, Caledonia volleyball each make state final four for first time in school history
10. New Hope baseball wins MHSAA Class 4A championship
The New Hope baseball team got back where it belonged in 2019.
The Trojans won their eighth title in school history and broke a five-year title drought by beating Sumrall for the MHSAA Class 4A championship. New Hope hadn’t won a baseball title since 2014.
Ryan Burt pitched a one-hit, complete-game shutout for the Trojans in the second game of the championship series to give New Hope a 4-0 win. Burt improved from an early-season back injury to get back into championship form.
For him and New Hope, it was redemption after Burt suffered a 1-0 loss to Vancleave in the first game of the title series in 2018.
The Trojans won 11 straight games to close their season with a 27-5 record. They swept all five of their playoff opponents, including 17-0 and 26-0 wins over first-round opponent Gentry. New Hope then beat rival Caledonia in the second round, beat Amory in the north semifinal and beat Pontotoc in the north final.
9. Jake Mangum breaks all-time SEC hits record
Alexa, play “Your Love” by The Outfield.
Perhaps no song has become more synonymous with a player or team in the past decade than center fielder Jake Mangum’s famed walk-up tune.
After hitting a bloop single to right field in an April 27 game against Georgia, a techno version of the tune roared around Dudy Noble Field after Mangum broke Eddy Furniss’ SEC all-time hits record.
“Such a special player the way he plays the game and the way he gets a big hit,” MSU coach Chris Lemonis said at the time. “The bigger the moment, the bigger the hit.”
Mangum concluded his career with 383 hits — 24 hits ahead of LSU’s Antoine Duplantis, who also surpassed Furniss’ mark — as MSU was eliminated by Louisville in the third game of the College World Series. It was the Bulldogs’ second straight appearance in Omaha.
Following the season, Mangum was selected in the fourth round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the New York Mets. He batted .247 with 18 RBIs and seven extra-base hits for the short-season single-A Brooklyn Cyclones.
8. Mississippi State women’s basketball makes third straight Elite Eight
Before Vic Schaefer took over the women’s basketball program at Mississippi State in 2012, the Bulldogs had reached one Sweet 16 in the team’s 39-year history.
Capping off his eighth season in Starkville in March, Schaefer earned his third straight trip to the Elite Eight riding the frontcourt duo of Teaira McCowan and Texas A&M graduate transfer Anriel Howard.
And while the Bulldogs were upset by No. 2-seed Oregon in the NCAA Tournament, they did manage to bring home their first-ever SEC Tournament title after also capturing the conference’s regular-season title.
It wasn’t the national title so many surrounding the program have desperately yearned for over the past few seasons, but the 2019 season offered a look at the elite consistency Schaefer has built during his time at MSU after taking over a team that had virtually no history in the sport before his arrival.
7. Mississippi State men’s basketball reaches NCAA tournament for first time in a decade
The Mississippi State men’s basketball team broke out its dancing shoes in 2019. For the first time in 10 years, the Bulldogs qualified for the NCAA tournament after finishing 23-11 overall and 10-8 in SEC play.
Nevertheless, the No. 5-seeded Bulldogs had a short stay in the Big Dance, falling to No. 12-seeded Liberty 80-76 in their opening game.
MSU used a balanced scoring attack all season, with six players scoring 9.5 points per game or more. Guards Quinndary Weatherspoon and Lamar Peters were the top two scorers, averaging 18.5 and 11.9 points per contest, respectively.
Building on the momentum from a year ago, MSU started 8-3 to open the 2019-2020 campaign.
T5. Heritage Academy becomes “Titletown” with baseball, basketball, football championships
Move over, Boston. In 2019, Heritage Academy became the new “Titletown.”
The Patriots won the MAIS championship in baseball, boys basketball and football in 2019, completing an impressive title trifecta.
In baseball, the Pats swept Wayne Academy in the MAIS Class 3A championship to capture their first title in school history. Blayze Berry and Cole Ketchum each pitched a shutout of the Jaguars to deliver the title to the Patriots.
In boys basketball, Heritage Academy won the MAIS overall championship by beating Hillcrest Christian 81-52 in Clinton. Senior Moak Griffin scored 29 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field to help the Pats win the title.
In football, Heritage Academy was simply dominant, allowing fewer than 10 points per game and enacting a running clock via the 35-point mercy rule in nearly all its games. The Patriots capped their 14-0 season — their first undefeated campaign since 1986 — with a 55-10 win over rival Starkville Academy in Jackson.
Not a bad year on Magnolia Lane.
T5. Three Mississippi State football players selected in the first round of 2019 NFL draft
History was made on April 26. For the first time at MSU, three players were selected in the first round of the NFL draft. The Bulldogs’ three first-round selections were tied with Clemson and Alabama for the most in the nation.
Defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons was taken 16th overall by the Tennessee Titans, defensive lineman Montez Sweat was picked 26th by the Washington Redskins and defensive back Johnathan Abram went to the Oakland Raiders at pick 27.
Entering Week 17, Simmons played in eight games for the Titans (starting seven) and recorded 29 combined tackles and two sacks, while Sweat played in 15 games and notched five sacks. Abram was injured in the preseason and missed the entire 2019 season.
4. Mississippi State baseball makes second straight College World Series
Mississippi State’s first College World Series game under coach Chris Lemonis was a wild one.
The Bulldogs trailed Auburn 4-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth of their opener in Omaha, but MSU rallied. With the Diamond Dawgs down 4-3, Auburn third baseman Edouard Julien threw wild on a routine grounder, allowing the tying run to score. Then MSU walked off with an infield single by Marshall Gilbert.
The Bulldogs lost their next two games — the first to Vanderbilt and the second to Louisville — and were eliminated from the CWS with a record of 51-13, but the way they started their appearance will always be remembered by the Bulldog faithful.
It was Mississippi State’s second straight CWS appearance. The Bulldogs won their first two games in the 2018 event but were eliminated with two straight losses to eventual champion Oregon State.
3. West Point achieves “four-peat,” ties record with 11th state championship
Brandon Harris spoke it into existence.
All season long, the dynamic West Point senior back was confident: The Green Wave would pull off the “four-peat” by winning the MHSAA Class 5A football championship for the fourth time in a row.
Harris and West Point made it happen, beating a Picayune team that had yet to lose a game 38-26 in Hattiesburg to cap off a 15-1 season. Senior backs Dantariyus Cannon and Jimothy Mays joined Harris to form a deadly trio on offense, and an array of skilled defensive players led by linebacker Tyron Orr shut down opponents on defense.
The Green Wave won 14 straight games after a Week 2 loss to Louisville, staying hot all the way through to their record-tying 11th MHSAA championship.
Harris, Cannon, Orr, Mays and others will have graduated, but if West Point can win its fifth straight title next year, it will take the overall lead and match the longest streak by any Mississippi public school — South Panola, which shares the record of 11 with the Green Wave, won five straight titles from 2003 to 2007.
2. Mississippi State outlasts Ole Miss to win wild Egg Bowl
In a game that is perpetually weird, wild and wonderful, the 2019 version of Mississippi State’s annual contest against Ole Miss offered arguably the most absurd ending in the game’s 118-year history.
After notching what should have been the tying score on a 2-yard pass from quarterback Matt Corral, Rebels freshman receiver Elijah Moore hiked his leg to imitate a dog urinating on a fire hydrant — an ode to former Ole Miss receiver DK Metcalf’s end zone celebration two years prior.
And while the moment provided ample comic relief, it cost the Rebels 15 yards and, ultimately, the game when kicker Luke Logan’s 35-yard extra point sailed wide right to give MSU a one-point victory and get the team bowl eligible for the 10th straight year.
Also lost in the sheer insanity of the Egg Bowl’s ending, coach Joe Moorhead backed up the contest by declaring any doubters of his ability to succeed in Starkville would have to “drag my Yankee ass out of here.”
Say what you will about Moorhead, the Bulldogs and the program as a whole this season, but the 2019 season finale was one for the ages.
1. “Tutorgate” scandal shakes up Mississippi State athletic department
While it’s far from the most positive story of the year, it’s difficult to understate how massively the “Tutorgate” scandal rocked the MSU athletic department to its core just weeks ahead of the 2019 football season.
Following an NCAA investigation into academic misconduct by a part-time athletic department tutor, 10 football players and one men’s basketball player were found to have had coursework completed by the aforementioned tutor for cash considerations.
Among other major implications, each football player was docked eight games this season — leaving coach Joe Moorhead’s squad with a crippling depletion of depth — while the men’s basketball player, later identified as junior point guard Nick Weatherspoon, was suspended for a combined 20 games between this season and last.
And while the in-season suspensions have now run their course, the ramifications of Tutorgate will persist into next season, as the football and men’s basketball programs will face a loss of scholarships and a reduction in the number of official visits permitted for either team among other sanctions.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
