In an effort to increase Mississippi State University student support and participation in the upcoming men’s basketball season, the decision has been made to regenerate excitement in Humphrey Coliseum’s student section.
    Rhett Hobart, Student Association president, said the student section will be moved and reunited in the north end of the coliseum, and Rick’s Rowdies will be rebranded as a new student group that will encourage participation from all aspects of the student body.
Over the past three weeks, Hobart said he met with Chad Thomas, assistant athletic director and director of athletic marketing, Gregg Ellis, assistant director for athletic media relations and head coach Rick Stansbury to discuss ways to increase student participation and involvement in the basketball program.
“We will do anything we can to make it the best home court advantage possible,” Hobart said. “Our goal in all of this is to get as much participation as possible. Our goal in doing this is not to get rid of a group but to revamp and rebrand it to get as much student participation as possible. It’s still a great group. They are relentlessly there supporting our team to the very end.”
Ellis said the split student section made it difficult for students to be on the same page when cheering and the new seating and changes in the arena opened the window to reunite the student section. A survey from opposing team’s players said the Hump was the most difficult place to play, and Ellis said the idea is to bring fans back together as a unit and recreate that intimidating atmosphere.
“At any arena you go to, the atmosphere is dictated by the student section,” he said. “Let our students lead the charge, and our fans will pick that up.”
 
Thomas said Rick’s Rowdies started 13 years ago and, at its strongest point, had over 2,000 members in the early 2000s when coaches could still act as advisers to student groups. However, when the NCAA passed regulations that prevented consistent coach interaction with student groups, the Student Association began to oversee the Rowdies. When the direct connection was severed, membership began to decrease.
“Because it is student led, a lot of people don’t know how to become a member or don’t feel like they have a voice,” he said. “Student groups flourish when people have a voice, and they can see their ideas acted on.”
Ellis said when the Rowdies was first created, it had over 1,000 members, but last year the numbers dropped to less than 200.
Bailey Hansen, president of Rick’s Rowdies, said there are many reasons why Rowdies’ membership declined.
“The group has always been open. I think that the message may have been sent that this wasn’t the case,” he said.
Ellis said the students are going to take ownership of the initiative to form a new group, and all the feedback he has received has been 100 percent positive.
“There are some cases where the definition of tradition is simply not moving forward. Traditions can be changed,” he said. “We need fan support. It’s about the product.”
Hobart formed a committee of students who represented different student organizations across campus to create plans for the new group, which included Hansen.
“Anyone who has a history with the Rowdies will be sad to see it go,” Hansen said. “But I’m really positive about what’s happening with this. The points we can focus on are to make the MSU student section as good as it used to be and better than it used to be.”
Hobart said he hopes to create a model from student fan groups at Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and other schools that would work for MSU and changes could include new T-shirts and new benefits for joining, as well as a new name. He said he welcomes as much feedback as possible from students.
“It depends on what the committee and the students want, and it is a matter of what can be successful here at Mississippi State,” he said. “The idea is to start with a clean slate and create the best program possible.”
Ellis said the goal is to have the student body feel united behind the group, and they are seeking ideas from different campus groups and organizations.
“Just give it a chance. We want students to give it a chance because we’re doing this for them,” he said. “The key is, we don’t want it to be a Greek thing, or a BSU thing or a specific academic group thing — we want this to be a Mississippi State student thing.”
Hansen said the decisions made by the committee will be unveiled at Maroon Madness, which will take place Oct.14.
“There are a lot of students involved with this from different campus organizations, and that ultimately will be what will help this group succeed,” he said.