Jackson State Shines With ESPN In The House
It was an eventful Monday at Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center in Jackson, Mississippi, as the worldwide leader in sports spent an entire day there. For Black History Month, ESPN decided to spotlight Jackson State University by airing SportCenter live on campus. The show was originally scheduled for Feb. 2nd, but was postponed to Feb. 16th due to widespread winter storms in the southern region of the United States.
Despite a change of plans, Tiger Nation showed up and showed out during the live 11:00 a.m. recording of SportsCenter. The show featured former NBA Champion and 1X All-Star, Mo Williams, who is now the head men’s basketball coach at Jackson State. He joined the set for an interview and competed in a free-throw contest with David Dennis Jr. After the completion of a phenomenal live recording of SC in Mississippi’s capital city, ESPN still wasn’t done bringing national attention to JSU.
Later that evening, Jackson State hosted the SWAC first-place, Bethune-Cookman, in a men’s basketball rematch, aired live on ESPNU. These two teams met earlier this year in Daytona, Florida, which Bethune-Cookman won in dominating fashion, 85-48. However, the outcome was different in Jackson last night, as the Tigers knocked off the Wildcats, 91-86. Daeshun Ruffin (28 pts), Jayme Mitchell Jr. (21 pts), and Dorian McMillian (20 pts) combined for 69 points in the win. JSU is 8-5 in conference play and currently tied for 2nd place in the SWAC.
Photo Credit: Jackson State Athletics, ESPN