Video: MSU Coach “Babe” McCarthy Honored With Marker in Baldwyn

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BALDWYN, Miss. (WCBI) – A crowd turned out in Baldwyn Thursday to honor legendary Coach Babe McCarthy, with a historical marker.

Coach McCarthy is known as a trailblazer in Mississippi sports. His early MSU squads were not allowed to play in the NCAA tournament due to an unwritten rule prohibiting white athletes from competing against black athletes.

In 1963, Coach McCarthy defied that policy, which became one of the top 25 defining moments in college sports history.

“Coach McCarthy was very influential in a lot of ways, especially in the sport of basketball but also in so many changes that we have seen in society with his Mississippi State basketball team and the game, historic game against Loyola Chicago back in 1963 and was just a ground breaker in that area, just a person of change and did so many great things, won a lot of championships and was just a great human being.”
Coach McCarthy, who passed away in 1975, also led the Baldwyn Bearcats to a state basketball championship in 1948.