MSU alumni reflect on their time at McCarthy Gym

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – From 1950 to 1975, McCarthy Gym was home to Mississippi State Basketball teams. It served several other roles after Humphrey Coliseum was built.

After seven decades, the structure is gone, making way for new development on campus.

73 years after its opening, McCarthy Gym is no longer standing, making way for something new.

This gym has a lot of history, most notably the four S.E.C championships its namesake guided the Bulldogs to between 1955 and 1964.

Students now remember the former basketball gym as a classroom, though it means something different to each person.

“My first office was in this building. in 1962 Bob Harley hired me as a student assistant and then when I graduated from Mississippi State they hired me as the assistant sports information director I stayed in this building until we moved into the new Colosseum The Humphrey Coliseum,” said former athletic director at Mississippi State Larry Templeton.

Templeton said McCarthy Gym was like a second home. Former Mississippi State Basketball player Kermit Davis feels the same way.

“I played more basketball in McCarthy than any young guy ever, you know. We played in it every day and snuck in and found about a million different ways to get it, so it meant a lot to a lot of us for sure,” said Davis.

Both men have a lot of fond memories of McCarthy Gym.

“Watching all the great Kentucky teams come through and remember a lot of the Mississippi State and Ole Miss games do you know the heat at rivalry games it was one of the very first overnight basketball camps in the south what is a Mississippi State hell that McCarthy,” said Davis.

“I think in 1958 Bailey helped lead we won our first S. East conference championship in this facility this facility was built and opened in 1950 so we had only been at it for eight years and won our first SEC championship,” said Templeton.

For Director of Bands at Mississippi State. Elva Kaye Lance the gym was first introduced to her as a student in the 70s but once she became a staff member the old gym was used for a different reason.

“We utilize McCarthy Gym for our football game day warm-up location and since 2006 we have been in McCarthy Gym and it has lots of significance for us,” said Lance.

The site of the former gym is expected to be the home of a new kinesiology building and while the location will be missed it shows that the campus is growing

“It’s definitely in need of a new facility and we’re very thankful for Jim and Thomas Duff in their contribution that allowed the kinesiology building to move ahead while we will miss McCarthy gym as a band program it is certainly indicative of progress on our campus,” said Lance.

No timeline has been announced for the new kinesiology building.

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