Trojan alumni, friends and family are invited to the Trojan Nation Celebration Fundraiser on Saturday night at the B.B. King Museum. The third annual get-together tickets are $50 and can be purchased online at https://msdelta.formstack.com/forms/athleticgala.
The fundraiser, led by MDCC Athletic Director Jason Conner and the MDCC Foundation, is the main fundraiser for the athletic department.
There will be four sports celebrities who are well known to Mississippi Delta Trojans.
The emcee for the evening is renowned Delta Sports anchor Stephen Robinson. He’ll be in charge of the question-and-answer session with legendary coaches Richard Williams of Mississippi State University, who led the Bulldogs to the 1996 NCAA Final Four; John Brady of Louisiana State University (LSU), who led the Tigers to the 2006 NCAA Final Four; and 2019 SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis from Ole Miss.
Coach Williams took over a Bulldogs team in 1986 that only won eight games the season prior. Four years later, Mississippi State had 20 wins and the SEC West title. In 1996, the Bulldogs took down eventual National Champion Kentucky en route to the SEC Tournament Championship and made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four.
By the time he was done in Starkville, Coach Williams had made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 twice and was named SEC Coach of the Year twice. The Pearl native was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Leakesville native Coach Kermit Davis spent his youth in Starkville as his dad coached the Bulldogs. After two years at Phillips County Community College, he played for the Bulldogs, graduating in 1982. By 1988, he was the youngest Division I coach – leading the Idaho Vandals – and had stops at Texas A&M and LSU before leading Middle Tennessee State for 14 years, where he led the program to two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
He came to Ole Miss in 2018 and led the program for five seasons. He led the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament once and to the National Invitational Tournament once as well. While at LSU, Coach Davis worked under the third Coaching legend who will be on the dais Saturday night – McComb native Coach John Brady.
Coach Brady, a Belhaven University alum got his master’s at Mississippi State in 1977. He spent a year as a grad assistant at State before tackling the high school coaching ranks in Louisiana. He came back to MSU to work under Bob Boyd and Richard Williams. He then was named head coach at Samford University where he built a winner for six seasons and then took over for the legendary Dale Brown at LSU in 1997, while the team was under NCAA probation.
By 2000, the Tigers were back in the NCAA Tourney making it to the Sweet 16. After losing some key players, the Tigers were down, but not for long, getting back to the NCAA Tourney in 2005 where they were a No. 4 seed and made their first Final Four since 1986. In 10 seasons at LSU, Brady compiled a 184–126 record, including two SEC regular season titles and four NCAA tournament appearances.
Three legendary coaches, all with Mississippi ties to each other.
The fundraiser will be business casual dress with heavy hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, a silent auction and entertainment provided as well.
There will also be a 50/50 raffle. Come support your Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans at the Trojan Nation Celebration Fundraiser Saturday night at the B.B. King Museum.
