John Cohen will be announced as Mississippi State’s new athletic director at a press conference at 1 p.m. Friday, sources with knowledge of the situation have told Mississippi Today.

Cohen, the former Bulldog baseball standout who played on a College World Series for State and years later coached State to the final series of a College World Series, will become the school’s 17th athletic director.

A university spokesman would not confirm or deny the report.

“The university will have no comment at this time,” said Sid Salter, MSU Chief Communications Officer.

Cohen, 50, replaces his good friend, Scott Stricklin, who resigned at MSU to take the same position at the University of Florida. Stricklin is known to have strongly supported Cohen for the job behind the scenes.

Last July, Cohen was given the additional title of associate athletic director and Stricklin has said he sought Cohen’s counsel on many matters outside baseball.

Cohen is not expected to continue to coach baseball, which means his first hire as athletic director will be a new baseball coach.

Rick Cleveland is Mississippi Today’s sports columnist. Read his previous columns and his Sports Daily blog. Reach Rick at [email protected].

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Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Hattiesburg American, Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger as a reporter, editor and columnist.

He was executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Rick has authored four books and has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year.

He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and into the Hattiesburg Hall of Fame in 2018. He received the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence in 2011 and was inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi Communications Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2000, he was honored with the Distinguished Mississippian Award from Mississippi Press Association. He has received numerous state, regional and national awards for his column writing and reporting.