Our MTSU Athletics teams and student-athletes well represent the grit and determination we want our entire student body to possess.

Here are some select athletic highlights from 2024.

Competitors in the Classroom

MTSU’s NCAA Graduation Success Rate for 2023–24 was an impressive 94%, as announced by the NCAA national office. It was the sixth straight year MTSU scored 92% or better. The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) is a six-year measure of freshmen and athletic transfers who entered MTSU as freshmen in 2017–18. The Blue Raiders also ranked first out of the nine teams in Conference USA (CUSA), with Liberty University and Western Kentucky University being the only other schools to reach the 90% plateau. Seven MTSU programs scored a perfect 100%—men’s basketball, men’s tennis, women’s golf, softball, soccer, women’s tennis, and volleyball. The Blue Raiders’ score of 92% in football ranked tied for 23rd nationally among the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) and easily led the way in CUSA.

Changing of the Guard

After 17 years as the voice of the Lady Raiders, Dick Palmer stepped aside as play-by-play announcer for the women’s basketball program. Palmer remains involved with MTSU, hosting the football pre- and post-game shows and calling all Blue Raider baseball games. Palmer will resume his 43rd season of calling play-by-play action at MTSU when the first pitch is thrown at Reese Field this spring. A 1960 graduate of MTSU, Palmer has been broadcasting sporting events for the past 58 years and previously ended a 25-year run in 2005 of calling Blue Raider football. With Palmer’s departure, MTSU hired Joe Fisher, who has more than four decades of broadcasting experience with Nashville media and college sports, to become the new voice of the women’s basketball program. He has extensive experience in covering local, regional, and national news and events. Fisher has previously served as news and communications director at Tennessee Tech, director of broadcasting for Vanderbilt Athletics, and weekend sports anchor and reporter for WKRN-TV and WSMV-TV in Nashville. His distinctive voice and personality made him well-known to audience members around the state. Fisher’s public relations background also includes experience as an account executive at Dye, Van Mol, and Lawrence Public Relations in Nashville.