Jackson Jambalaya

The rise of county-level sports halls of fame around Mississippi has provided an opportunity for communities to honor excellence. Lowndes County and Scott County are two venues where the programs are thriving, and overdue recognition is being celebrated.

I spoke at the Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame induction last week. The honorees were all winners in sports and in life. All had compelling stories. There were no Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals for these athletes, and no transfer portal.

The 2026 LCSHOF honorees included: The late Billy Ray Adams, Samye Johnson, the late Thomas Edison “Tommy” Lott Jr., Oliver Miller, the late Dan Douglas Moulds, Aubrey Nichols, Derek Sherrod, Robert Smith Jr., and the late James “T” Thomas.

Adams, a 1958 Stephen D. Lee High School graduate, was a storied fullback for Ole Miss from 1959-1961 under then-head coach Johnny Vaught. Adams was already inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and into the Ole Miss M Club Hall of Fame. After his Ole Miss days, Adams was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1962, but an automobile accident ended his athletic career. He died in 2023 at age 84.

Johnson was a volleyball player and later a volleyball head coach at Mississippi University for Women and Mississippi State University. The Mendenhall native played at MUW from 1967-1971 and later coached there from 1977-1994, compiling a 431-185 record. Johnson is also a Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inductee, the hall’s first volleyball inductee.

Lott was a 1954 Columbus-Lee High graduate who captured two high school golf state championships there, along with the Mississippi Golf Association Boys Junior Amateur Championship in 1953. At age 19, Lott won the 1955 Mississippi Open and went on to win more than 30 tournaments throughout the Southeast. He was later MSU’s first scholarship golf player. After a distinguished career in accounting, Lott died in 2018 at the age of 82.

Miller, a 1973 Robert S. Caldwell High School graduate who went on to be named World Kickboxing Champion by the World Kickboxing Association twice, in 1989 and again in 1993. He finished his career at 55-5-1 with 15 knockouts and also earned his eighth-degree black belt in 2009. He founded Miller Taekwondo in 1977.

The late Moulds received the Henry G. Matuszak Founder’s Award winner, which is presented yearly to a nonathlete who “contributes behind the scenes rather than scoring touchdowns.” Moulds covered local games for WCBI and became the first broadcaster for MUW athletics when he started calling its games in 1982. He also covered games for Ole Miss, MSU, Memphis, Arkansas State, and East Mississippi Community College. He died earlier this year at age 90.

Nichols is a 1960 graduate of New Hope High School who played baseball and basketball at Mississippi State. Nichols was a starter on the 1963 basketball team that played in the “Game of Change” against Loyola of Chicago. He is in the MSU Sports Hall of Fame. A retired attorney, Nichols averaged 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds as a senior and played at State from 1961 to 1964, helping the team win back-to-back SEC championships.

Derek Lee Sherrod, a 2007 graduate of Caledonia High School. Sherrod was the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year in football as an offensive lineman and went on to play at Mississippi State from 2007 to 2010. He was selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft and played for the Packers until 2014. He is a member of the Mississippi and National Football Foundation halls of fame.

Smith is a 1971 graduate of Lee High who went on to play football at Mississippi Valley State. At MVSU, he played linebacker and was named to the SWAC First-Team All-Defense in 1972 and 1973. He was inducted into the MVSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1980. He served multiple terms as mayor of Columbus.

Thomas was a 1958 graduate of R.E. Hunt School who went on to have a successful football career in the Canadian Football League for the Edmonton Eskimos from 1963-1971 and earned CFL All-Star nods in 1966 and 1967. Thomas went into coaching, took the reins at MVSU in 1978, and was named the SWAC Coach of the Year that season after leading the Delta Devils to a 6-3-1 record. He also coached tight ends at Ole Miss from 1983-1991 under Billy Brewer. He died in 2015 at age 76.

Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.