Middletown, Ohio, is more than 700 miles away from Hattiesburg.
So how did a high school basketball player from Ohio find his way to Hattiesburg to attend college in 1974?
After his senior season of high school, John Cox was browsing through the college basketball edition of the sporting yearbook, “Street and Smith,” and a University of Southern Mississippi preview story caught his eye.
“I thought I would write a letter to then USM head coach Jeep Clark and ask about joining the team. I also found out in doing research that the school had a great radio, television, and film program,” Cox, the longtime Southern Miss play-by-play man, said recently.
“I grew up listening to Warren Johnson in Middletown. I thought he had the best job in the world doing the radio sports broadcasts for my high school. I knew when I was 12 that’s what I wanted to do. My dad and I also listened to Harry Carey and Jack Buck calling St. Louis Cardinal baseball. So, I was hooked.”
Mickey Herrington, a USM assistant coach, contacted Cox about joining the team as a walk-on. All these years later, Cox is still in Hattiesburg and still connected to Southern Miss. Cox played on the junior varsity basketball team for the Golden Eagles before transitioning into working with the USM sports information and public relations offices. “I never thought when I was driving down in my Ford Maverick that I would still be here 50 years later,” Cox said.
Looking back, it feels like I was always meant to be here. When I was a student, I was so fortunate to be around some of the best people in the business, PR director “Bud” Kirkpatrick, football play-by-play man Bill Goodrich, and Sports Information Director “Ace” Cleveland.
“Looking back, it feels like I was always meant to be here. When I was a student, I was so fortunate to be around some of the best people in the business, PR director “Bud” Kirkpatrick, football play-by-play man Bill Goodrich, and Sports Information Director “Ace” Cleveland. Those three guys were at the top of their profession,” Cox said.
Cox, who is a six-time Mississippi Sportscaster of the Year, has been director of sports broadcasting at USM since 1979. Cox has called over 2,200 Golden Eagle baseball games and over 1,250 basketball games along with being behind the microphone for over 500 football games.
Cox is the third longest active play-by-play college broadcaster in the nation.
“The best part is that I love it even more today than when I started,” Cox said.
He began calling baseball play-by-play for the campus radio station and transitioned to the other sports over the years. He replaced Goodrich on the football play-by-play in 1979, and over the years he became lead announcer for all three of the major sports.
Cox has many special memories from the job. In football it was stopping Alabama’s 57-game home winning streak in 1982. In basketball it was the NIT championship in 1987, and in baseball it was the 2009 World Series run in “Corky” Palmer’s final season. If you ask Cox for one memorable play, it’s college football’s “Miracle in Louisville” from 1989.
“(Brett) Favre drops back, scrambles right, chased by Washington. He’s going to throw it down the field and it’s tipped and caught by Tillman. Tillman at the 30, at the 20, the 10, touchdown Southern Miss! Holy cow!”
The play came with no time left on the clock and gave USM a 16-10 win.
“We played that call on the airplane coming back. So that one truly stands out.”
Cox has become synonymous with the phrase, “Touchdown Southern Miss,” as well as his sign off after each broadcast, reminding fans to remember “the three essentials of happiness – something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
Cox has two daughters, Millsaps College graduate Joye and Southern Miss graduate Erin.
