05/26/2026
Southern Miss Sport Management students in the spring 2026 SM 642 Sport Venue and Event Management class recently partnered with The Legacy League on class project. The Legacy League will make its inaugural debut this summer in Jackson, MS. It is a summer league at Smith-Willis Stadium, developing college students on and off the field—led by former pros and built to launch careers across all areas of sports.
Tim Bennett, Commissioner/Player and Business Development, and Dr. Chris Croft, Associate Professor of Sport Management at Southern Miss, who had previously been involved in summer internship programs for students, discussed how the new league and class could unite to benefit both parties. In the league's first year, a lot of initial setup and administrative details were needed.
The students worked in groups, assisting with league office operations, gameday management, and specific city setup throughout the semester. This included providing leadership in a team nickname contest with the mayor, the chamber of commerce, and community fans. The groups helped promote the fan voting for the top three names. After the final names were narrowed down, they worked with their assigned city mayor and chamber of commerce to finalize the selections. Additionally, the student groups coordinated the design of the city team logos, the city-and-nickname connection message, the team mascot, the team colors, the baseball cap logo, and the team song. The groups completed final projects with specific city promotion plans for community relations, fundraising, season ticket campaign, connections with former Atlanta Braves players, and job training. Final group project information was shared with The Legacy League front office staff for consideration of implementing ideas.
The league will feature six area teams, including Clinton Big Wheels, Brandon Reservoir Dogs, Flowood Flyers, New Jack City Ballers, Madison Mockingbirds, and Ridgeland Roosters. Former professional players Marquis Grissom, Bernard Gilkey, Tracy McGrady, Andruw Jones, Brian Jordan, and Jair Jurrjens back the league, along with the son of Lary Aaron, the son of Hank Aaron, and other former MLB players Marvin Freeman, Lou Collier, Edgar Renteria, and International Scout Marco Paddy.
The project was collaborated with Bennett and Croft and had multiple deadlines within the semester-long project. Bennett stated, “As with any worthwhile business initiative, getting started can be the most difficult time. The same holds true for the Legacy League. While Mississippi continues to prove itself to be a baseball state, Professor Croft and his Sport Management team have proven why the University of Southern Mississippi is a baseball school. Their dedication to detail and commitment to success has proven to be the "game changer" in the daunting task of starting not just a team but an entire league. To say we could have done it without them is to say it couldn't have been done.” Croft added, “It was a unique, fun, and challenging project with the students since everything was new, and students had to work on specific deadlines and connect to outside groups. It put the student groups in real-world communication and information creation situations with deadlines. As things developed, and students saw the website and press releases of things they were working on, it further ignited their energy on the next steps of the project.”
For more information and to follow updates on The Legacy League https://legacyleaguebaseball.com/
A summer league at one stadium, developing college students on and off the field—led by former pros and built to launch careers across all areas of sports.
