logo
Mississippi State basketball lands UAB guard Ja'Borri McGhee in transfer portal over Ole Miss

Mississippi State basketball lands UAB guard Ja'Borri McGhee in transfer portal over Ole Miss

Yahoo07-04-2025

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State basketball has landed its first commitment from the transfer portal this year.
UAB guard Ja'Borri McGhee committed to the Bulldogs and coach Chris Jans on Sunday. He announced it with social media posts one day after narrowing his list to MSU and Ole Miss.
Advertisement
McGhee, listed at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, averaged 11.1 points per game with 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds in his one season with the Blazers. He shot 40.8% from 3, but on 1.9 attempts per game. McGhee played at Garden City Community College as a freshman in 2022-23 and at South Plains Community College as a sophomore.
McGhee is a McComb native but played high school basketball at Winfield in Alabama.
He was a junior this season but could potentially get eligibility back from the two seasons in junior college.
What Ja'Borri McGhee brings to Mississippi State
McGhee is a welcomed addition to an MSU roster that's experiencing a lot of turnover after reaching a third consecutive NCAA tournament. That's especially true with star Josh Hubbard's pending decision of whether to return next season or enter the NBA draft.
Advertisement
If Hubbard doesn't return, Mississippi State will lose seven of its top eight scorers. The one returner, KeShawn Murphy, is a forward. Mississippi State has a lot of attrition at guard with Claudell Harris Jr. out of eligibility and Riley Kugel and Kanye Clary transferring away. It signed four-star freshman shooting guard King Grace and returns freshman three-star Dellquan Warren.
MORE: Mississippi State baseball's slim NCAA tournament hopes alive; takeaways from South Carolina series
McGhee isn't an elite 3-point shooter but is still able to produce big scoring games. He was tied for third on UAB in scoring and had at least 20 points in five games. McGhee also averaged 1.1 steals per game, which would've been tied for second on Mississippi State. UAB lost to Memphis in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game and reached the NIT quarterfinals.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball lands UAB's Ja'Borri McGhee in transfer portal

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

MSU target, 3-star RB Nelsyn Wheeler commits to Illinois following official visit
MSU target, 3-star RB Nelsyn Wheeler commits to Illinois following official visit

USA Today

time2 hours ago

  • USA Today

MSU target, 3-star RB Nelsyn Wheeler commits to Illinois following official visit

MSU target, 3-star RB Nelsyn Wheeler commits to Illinois following official visit For a second straight day, a Michigan State running back target has announced he's heading elsewhere. Nelsyn Wheeler of Omaha, Neb. announced his commitment to Illinois on Tuesday. The commitment comes after Wheeler took an official visit to Illinois this past weekend, and one day after he announced he would be cancelling his upcoming official visit Michigan State. Wheeler is a three-star prospect in the 2026 class, and holds a recruiting rating of 85 on 247Sports. He ranks as the No. 75 running back in 247Sports' composite rankings. Michigan State was one of a few schools in pursuit for Wheeler. Kansas, Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Northwestern were a few of the other big-time programs after Wheeler before he committed to Illinois. Wheeler is the latest Michigan State running back target to commit elsewhere -- four-star running back Damon Ferguson of Baltimore committed to Pitt on Monday, three-star running back Michael Dukes of Detroit committed to Rutgers last week, and Kory Amachree of Haslett, Mich. committed to Kansas last month. So Michigan State is back to the drawing board when it comes to a running back in the 2026 class. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.

NCAA issues notice of violations for Michigan State football from Mel Tucker era
NCAA issues notice of violations for Michigan State football from Mel Tucker era

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

NCAA issues notice of violations for Michigan State football from Mel Tucker era

The NCAA has issued a notice of allegations to Michigan State University's football program during Mel Tucker's time as coach. Matt Larson, MSU's executive senior associate athletic director for communications, confirmed the university is aware of the NCAA's notice but has not yet received a copy. Per NCAA rules, the school has 90 days to respond once it receives the Notice of Allegations, though extensions can be provided. Advertisement According to the NCAA's infractions tracker dashboard, which charts the most serious Level I and II violations, MSU self-reported the matter on Aug. 29, 2023. The nature of the allegations is unclear, and the university has not yet responded to Freedom of Information Act requests from the Free Press. The NCAA's allegation review board took up the matter Nov. 6, 2024, with all participating parties having a Jan. 21 status conference with Committee on Infractions chair Kay Norton to 'discuss resolution paths for the parties.' Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker walks off the field after warmups before the game against Central Michigan at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. BLAST FROM THE PAST: Michigan State football targets return to Mark Dantonio man-to-man 'No-Fly Zone' days Advertisement The NCAA's enforcement branch submitted "a new resolution selection request to (the committee) based on parties' participation and additional allegation' on April 14. The final Notice of Allegations is dated April 29, according to the NCAA dashboard. Previously, Emily Gerkin-Guerrant, the school's vice president and chief of communications, confirmed that MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz acknowledged the probe into Tucker's tenure from 2020-23. 'Michigan State Athletics has cooperated with the NCAA to review a potential matter concerning the football program under the former staff and will continue to do so for the duration of the process,' the school's athletic department said in a statement. 'NCAA rules do not permit the University to provide any additional details at this time. According to NCAA bylaws, Level I violations are those which 'seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of college sports;' 'provide or are intended to provide a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage;' or 'are a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit.' Advertisement Level II violations can 'provide or are intended to provide more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage;' 'include more than a minimal but less than a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit;' or 'involve conduct that may compromise the integrity of college sports.' One of the triggers for either a Level I or II infraction can be a 'violation of head coach responsibility rules.' Tucker was 20-14 overall and 12-13 in Big Ten play during his three-plus seasons as MSU's head coach before being fired two games into the 2023 camapgin. After the Spartans' winningest coach in school history Mark Dantonio abruptly retired Feb. 4, 2020, then-MSU athletic director Bill Beekman hired Tucker 12 days later. Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million extension that did not include a buyout clause on Nov. 24, 2021, but he was suspended two games into the 2023 season for alleged sexual improprieties during a spring 2022 phone call with prominent rape survivor and women's rights activist Brenda Tracy. Tracy filed a Title IX violation with the university in December 2022. Advertisement The school fired Tucker with cause for violating the moral turpitude clause in his contract on Sept. 27, 2023. He was due roughly $75 million through 2032 before being fired for violating that clause in his contract. The university, in an October 2023 decision, determined Tucker sexually harassed Tracy, a violation of school policy. Tucker filed a wrongful termination suit against MSU in July 2024 that remains ongoing. Guskiewicz, who was named MSU's president two months after Tucker's termination, told the Detroit News editorial board in April that he was aware of the NCAA's inquiry, Gerkin Guerrant said. The university also dismissed athletic director Alan Haller on May 1 after less than five years. The national search for his replacement remains ongoing. Advertisement Contact Chris Solari: csolari@ Follow him @chrissolari. Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: NCAA issues Notice of Allegations

New MSU AD J Batt: Michigan State 'a top-10 athletic department in the country'
New MSU AD J Batt: Michigan State 'a top-10 athletic department in the country'

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

New MSU AD J Batt: Michigan State 'a top-10 athletic department in the country'

EAST LANSING — A little more than a month ago, Michigan State President Kevin Guskiewicz determined his athletic department needed a change in leadership. The school hired Atlanta-based firm TurnKeyZRG to conduct a search for candidates to replace Alan Haller. In charge would be Chad Chatlos, the company's managing director of athletics administration and coaching. Advertisement Unlike Guskiewicz, in his position for a little over a year and still learning about MSU, Chatlos is the son of former Spartan football player George Chatlos and understands the history and scope of MSU's athletic department and community. And Guskiewicz charged Chatlos with one duty. 'I said, 'I want to know the top five or six people in the country,'' Guskiewicz recalled Wednesday, June 4. 'And (Chatlos) said, 'Do you want to know the top five or six who are moveable, or do you want to know the top five or six?' 'I said, Chad, Michigan State deserves the best. I want to know who the best five or six are.' J Batt speaks Wednesday, June 4, 2025, after being introduced as Michigan State University's new athletic director. INSIDE THE SPARTANS: New Michigan State AD J Batt's priority list: Make connections, build fundraising Advertisement At the top of the list was J Batt, the athletic director at Georgia Tech (also located in Atlanta). It not only happened to be a name Guskiewicz was familiar with, but a person he'd known for a quarter-century. Familiarity and serendipity intersected. 'Michigan State University deserves the best,' Guskiewicz said, 'and that's what we got.' Batt was introduced as the Spartans' 21st athletic director on Wednesday as the school's first outside hire to the position in 30 years. And the 43-year-old —an MSU outsider like Guskiewicz — made clear his biggest immediate tasks are to learn and to get his new department and its benefactors moving into the future of college athletics collectively. Advertisement 'My first priority is to is to listen, to ask a bunch of questions,' Batt said. 'So I'll meet with all of our head coaches, I'll meet with all of our staff. And then I'll hit the road. I don't sit still well, so I'll go on the road to meet with donors and supporters, our trustees. And I'll learn. I'll learn a lot. I think it's the most important thing, particularly when you start one of these new opportunities. 'This is an incredible place. It's an incredible place with great tradition and history. And my job one is to learn all of that.' Contract terms are not expected to be released until MSU's Board of Trustees approve it at a June 13 meeting, but Batt is expected to receive a six-year contract for around $1.8 million per year, a source familiar with the deal told the Free Press on Sunday. 'This is a top-10 athletic department in the country,' Batt said. Advertisement Batt has spent his entire life in university communities. He was born in Champaign, Illinois, as his parents worked for the University of Illinois before moving to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they worked at the University of Virginia's medical center. Batt went on to play soccer at the University of North Carolina, where he first met Guskiewicz. Guskiewicz, who received his PhD from UVA, was researching concussions as a professor at UNC when the two first met. The two kept in touch. After graduating from Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master's in athletic management, Batt moved into the athletic fundraising world. It included stops at his alma mater, as well as East Carolina, Maryland, James Madison and William & Mary. He became Alabama's executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer and chief revenue officer before getting his first athletic director job at Georgia Tech in October 2022. Meanwhile, Guskiewicz arrived at MSU last year after serving as chancellor at UNC for five years. While MSU explored potentially hiring from the private business sector, Guskiewicz said Batt's experience in recruiting donors along with having been a Division I athlete and a sitting athletic director made him uniquely qualified to lead MSU into the changing world of college athletics. 'He's walked the sidelines. He's been on the sidelines as an athlete himself, but also spending a lot of time with coaches — and some really good coaches,' Guskiewicz said. 'But he understands the business side, the corporate side of this. And so I think we got the best of both (worlds).' Advertisement Hall of Fame MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo, who served as co-interim athletic director after Haller's removal on May 1, flew to Atlanta to meet with Batt and had an initial 'gut-check' that Batt was the right fit. He also consulted with former Spartans and Alabama football coach Nick Saban as well as current Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips, who told Izzo that MSU 'hit a home run' with Batt. Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt, middle, and wife Leah share a laugh with MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo, right, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, before Batt was introduced as the Spartan's new athletic director. And Izzo felt the connection between Batt and Guskiewicz is important. 'The same reason I really liked Kevin when I first interviewed him on the committee, the first thing he said is, 'I love to fundraise.' And I said, 'Any president that says that, he gets a vote from me and he gets a 'what the hell's wrong with you?' Because nobody likes to fundraise,'' Izzo said. 'J kind of said the same thing. … And if you've got somebody at the top that understands all that and that is willing to go out and raise money and do the things that we have to do now and be a leader in that area, I think it's going to be very valuable.' Advertisement Even with his background as an Olympic-sport athlete in college, Batt pointed to MSU's football program as being the primary revenue driver and pledged to give second-year coach Jonathan Smith the funding and resources to build the Spartans back to national prominence. 'It's imperative we support all our sports,' Batt said. 'But do not be confused. Every athletic department competing at the highest level must be successful in football.' Smith pointed to Batt being part of the NCAA's House Settlement Implementation Committee, which is working to 'implement a new model for the future of college sports focused on stability and fairness,' as giving MSU a major voice in what the evolving rules changes with name, image and likeness and other significant issues will look like. 'He's been in those circles, sat in the seat,' Smith said. 'I do know some people that have worked with him before and did talk to them, and he's highly, highly recommended. So it's impressive. … Advertisement 'He mentioned the word multiple times, 'alignment' in our approach. And so when he gets back here in a couple of weeks, we'll tighten that up and go to work.' Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt, right, speaks, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, after being introduced by MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz. Batt had signed a contract extension at Georgia Tech in December that ran through 2029, so that was part of the reason he initially did not appear in play for MSU. But Guskiewicz joked that, 'Just the fact that he took my call when I was told he wouldn't, that was a good start.' Now, the synergy between the two — once mentor and student, now becoming a working relationship — will be critical to try and return MSU to national visibility and prominence. Advertisement 'He certainly knows what high level intercollegiate athletics looks like at a championship level, and I have full faith and trust in him,' Batt said of Guskiewicz. 'And so when he made that call through the search firm, it was one of those — 'Absolutely.' 'I certainly can tell you that there's lots more to learn, but it's a heck of a starting place.' Contact Chris Solari: csolari@ Follow him @chrissolari. Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State AD J Batt praises Spartans: 'A top-10 athletic department'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store