For many, being a superfan means costumes, facepaint and funny wigs, with brash cheers intended to get under the visiting team’s collective skin.
Rick’s Rowdies have been a fixture at home games in The Hump for several years, conspicuously located in the student sections near the floor with matching white shirts that say “This is our house.” This season, a new variation of Rowdies has inhabited The Hump, representing not only Mississippi State but also the U.S. Army and Air Force. They wear matching brown shirts sporting the Rick’s Rowdies basketball design, as well as their military logos and the slogan, “We protect this house!”
Senior economics major and Army cadet commander Brian Sells organized the group, known simply as the Military Rowdies, based on an idea from Bulldog head coach Rick Stansbury.
“Coach Stansbury works out in the Sanderson gym every morning,” he said. “That’s where the Air Force and the Army [work out], and that is where he approached us. He and his family are very patriotic, and so they wanted to kind of get the military involved in the basketball stuff. He wanted us to have a section.”
Stansbury said the work ethic and dedication he saw every morning got his attention, and he asked if they had time for the basketball program too.
“I see those guys over at Sanderson at 5:30 [a.m.], quarter to six, three days a week, out there running,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody really respects them and appreciates them as much as you should. And that was my idea. Get these guys involved, make them feel a part of college athletics. I approached those guys and they were all fired up about it. It was a great idea.”
Sells said after getting feedback from his cadets and the Air Force cadet commander, they were excited at the opportunity to not only catch some games, but also bring more awareness to their programs.
“That was the big thing we bit at, the opportunity to get exposure on campus – to just get the military name out,” he said. “And you know, a lot of people think we’re all intense all the time, but we take the opportunities for our cadets to just relax and go to a basketball game and have fun like anyone else.”
Sells said the Military Rowdies try to coordinate with the white-shirt Rowdies during the games.
“[Rick’s Rowdies president] Will Bryan has tried to get us involved in being on opposite ends of the arena to try to get the crowd [fired up] and psyche out the other team,” he said. “I’ve known Will since high school. He’s always texting me during the game, trying to match our strategy.”
But, Sells said he reminds his cadets not to be disrespectful.
“My guys know that we’re here to be loud and get the crowd pumped up and make noise,” he said. “However all my cadets know you are representing the United States Army and you are to conduct yourself in a manner that shows the integrity and honor and dignity of who you are, especially when we have soldiers deployed overseas right now.”
Senior Jarvis Varnado said it does not matter who is cheering for him; he just likes playing at The Hump.
“It’s always better back home and playing in front of your home crowd,” he said. “You’re more comfortable and more relaxed.”
Sells said the response from other fans at games has been amazing.
“They come up and comment on the shirts and they thank the cadets for what they’re doing,” he said. “A lot of fans that come have sons, grandsons, cousins, brothers and sisters in the military and a lot of them are deployed because the Mississippi National Guard is deployed. So it’s something everybody can relate to.”