Starkville – The state of the Mississippi is expected to include nine other big Bulldogs in the M-club Sports Hall of Fame on the weekend of the home football match of the week 5 of the Bulldogs against the Tennessee.
Former football players Reggie Kelly and Larry Brooks, Tommy Raffo de Baseball, Erica Bougard Female, Meredith Riekert, Chuck Evans of male basketball, Doug Barron and Double Tandem Joc Simmons and Laurent Minelard de Tennis Men’s Tennis will all be the 2025 class.
Inductions will occur as part of the gala of the renowned Temple of Sport M-club 2025 on September 26. More information on the gala will be published on a later date.
Here are more details for those who are celebrated this fall:
M-club Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Doug Barron (Male Golf – 1990-1992)
Barron was a member of the 1990-1991 male golf team which became the very first group of Bulldogs to reach the NCAA championship.
After spending his university days in Starkville, Barron transformed his time as a bulldog into an incredibly successful professional golf career. Barron contributed to the PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, and more recently, the PGA Champions Tour.
The protruding facts of Barron’s career include three victories on the PGA Champions Tour, including a major championship. He won the victory for the tradition of the regions in 2024. The Barron CV also includes five PGA Tour-Five finishes and five finalists on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Erica Bougard (female athletics – 2012-2016)
Bougard is one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the state of Mississippi. She closed her university career with 16 Honnets All-America and five school records. Among the many achievements of Bougard, there was its 2013 national championship in the Pentathlon.
She was also twice the dry champion and triple athlete of the year of the dry. In addition, Bougard innovated for Bulldogs when she became the very first MSU woman named on Bowerman’s surveillance list in 2015. The Bowerman Award is awarded each year to the most remarkable male and female athletics athletics.
Since her days in brown and white, Bougard has continued to excel on a world scene, especially in competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where she finished ninth in the heptathlon.
Larry Brooks (Football – 1973-1977)
Brooks resilience makes him one of the most memorable bulldogs of all time.
In the heels of a promising first -year season in 1973, Brooks underwent a neck injury during spring training in 1974. This left him paralyzed from the neck after having broken his fifth and sixth vertebrae. It started a long recovery trip which included an extended stay in Texas Institute for Rehabilitation in Houston.
In the end, the resolution of Brooks allowed him to overcome his tragedy. He is now able to walk with a soft and a splint on the leg while using a mobile chair. Brooks is currently a very successful insurance agent and remains active in the M-club. He is continuously a faithful supporter of the Mississippi State University and Bulldog Athletics.
Chuck Evans (male basketball-1991-1993)
Evans stood out as a versatile star for Bulldog basketball. Selecting twice all-sec, Evans led the league in interception and helping consecutive seasons.
Evans is still fifth in the history of the career school and is at the top of the assists per match. He also has the two best notes in one season in assist in the history of the program and two of the three best assists in one season per game.
Bulldogs could also rely on Evans to score, because he has an average of 12.8 points per game during his two seasons in Starkville. He was incredibly precise from the charity, pulling 79% of the free throw line during his MSU career.
Evans was honored as the legend of the Male SEC basketball in 2012.
Reggie Kelly (Football – 1995-1998)
Kelly is undoubtedly one of the tight extremities to wear brown and white. Four years of four years in the state of Mississippi, Kelly captured 29 assists for 474 yards and two affected during his career, starting 22 games and playing in 44.
During the Bulldogs race in 1998 towards a match place of the crown of the western division of the SEC and the dry championship match, Kelly began the 12 games of the Mississippi State while transporting 12 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. His lonely score during the 1998 season was against Arkansas, helping the state to win a victory from a point and the razorback equality in the sec ranking. This same season, Kelly won the honors of the first All-Sec team.
Kelly Roll three times from the Honoral Roll SEC concluded her collegial career in a New Year’s Bowl match at the Cotton Bowl Classic 1999. Kelly was drafted in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft by the Falcons of Atlanta and spent five seasons with the Falcons and seven with the Bengals of Cincinnati.
Tommy Raffo (Baseball – 1987-1990)
A key element in the rich history of Mississippi State baseball, Tommy Raffo’s contributions on the program came both as a player off competition and assistant coach. From 1987 to 1990, Raffo excelled both on the diamond and in class. He was a triple All-Sec interpreter, while he was also a selection of university honor three times and twice Cosida Academic All-American.
Raffo won distinctions in America in 1989 and 1990. He was an integral part of a state team that won two regular dry season and a pair of dry tournament championships. Raffo helped guide the bulldogs to the playoffs during the four seasons he played in the brown and white, including an appearance of the World Series as a senior. He continues to be a must in the book of MSU discs where he ranks among the first 10 in several categories.
After his state career, Raffo was a choice of eighth round during the draft of the major baseball league in 1990 by Miami. As an assistant coach for the Bulldogs from 1994 to 2008, Raffo was part of the staff training who led the Bulldogs to more than 500 victories, 11 NCAA Radineaux, three super championships, three appearances of the World Series and two dry tournament championships.
Meredith Riekert (Soccer – 1995-1998)
Riekert was the face of the Bulldog football team during the first four years of the program’s existence, and its name remains strewn in the Mississippi State Record Book.
Riekert still ranks among the first 10 in MSU history in several categories in a single season and career, including points, goals and winning goals. It was a selection twice all-sec by league coaches, as well as an appearance on the academic honor of the SEC.
Riekert ended his state career after playing 74 games with 72 departures. She finished with 22 goals, 15 assists and 59 points.
Joc Simmons and Laurent Miquelard (male tennis – 1994-1995)
Simmons and Miquelard have combined to form a title winning tandem. The duo won the NCAA championship in doubles in 1994 and is the only double team in the history of the program to claim a national crown.
For their efforts, the two won the honors of the All-America in 1994 to add to incredible curriculum vitae which also included all-sec distinctions.
The success of Simmons and Miquelard was also essential during several solid seasons for MSU male tennis while the Bulldogs reached the semi-finals and the quarter-finals of the NCAA while the two were on the campus together.
In addition to the enthronement of the fame of fame, the late Nick Bell will be posthumously awarded the Dowsing-Bell Valor Prize. The honor is presented each year and bears the name of Frank Dowsing Jr. and Robert Bell. It is given to a winner whose determination and perseverance to overcome obstacles testify to their character.
Bell – Originally from Bessemer, Alabama – came to the state in the first year in 2008 and spent more seasons with MSU Football. He died in the middle of the 2010 season after a courageous battle against cancer.
The appointments of the renowned temple can be submitted before December 31 each year online here. The renowned temple selection committee meets each spring to examine the appointments.