MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — It was a special day inside the Murphy Center Saturday as the Blue Raiders took on UAB. At halftime, Middle Tennessee renamed its arena in honor of former basketball coach and athletics director Jimmy Earle.
Earle, an MT alum who led the Blue Raiders from 1969-79, was the winningest coach in program history with 164 career victories until Kermit Davis surpassed him in 2011. Earle then became athletics director in 1981, a position he held until 1987, and he also was a golf and baseball coach at the university. He was named a conference coach of the year in both basketball and baseball.