Former Clarion-Ledgerbeat writer will return to Starkville this weekend to hold signings for his newly-published book about the late 1950s to 1960s Mississippi State University basketball team led by coach Babe McCarthy.
Kyle Veazey, who covered State athletics from 2006 to 2010, said he has been working on the book for a span of two years.
 After watching the documentary featuring the 1963 basketball team that played against Loyola’s integrated team in the national tournament, despite Mississippi refusing to allow its collegiate teams to compete in integrated programs, he started looking for the book.
After he discovered there was not a book, he began to work on his own in 2010. The book, although it features the events of 1963, also focuses on the era of McCarthy, in which the team won four titles over five seasons starting in 1959.
“The ’63 team was really important, and I don’t want to diminish what they did … For Mississippi State to go on this kind of streak is a good enough story for the book itself,” he said.
The book, titled “Champions for Change: How the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Their Bold Coach Defied Segregation” was released in early October.
During his research for the book, Veazey spent over 10 hours in the university archives, looked at newspaper microfilm and interviewed between 25 and 30 people, including the major players of the events in 1963.
Signings will take place this weekend from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday at Strange Brew and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday at Restaurant Tyler. The signings are come and go and books will be available for purchase. The book is $19.99 and cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted.
Books are also available for purchase on his website kyleveazey.comand at bookstores.
His facebook page isfacebook.com/kyleveazey.