EMCC’s Ty Murphy & Braxton Goff Selected Academic All-America® At-Large First Team

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Former East Mississippi Community College all-conference standouts Ty Murphy and Braxton Goff have been named to the 2024-25 Academic All-America® Men's At-Large First Team for the College Division. As selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), the announcement was made Wednesday.

Murphy, from Eupora, started 62 career games for head coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC baseball squad, while Goff, a Petal native, anchored the Lions' offensive line for the past two seasons under the guidance of 2024 NJCAA Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Stephens.

In addition to graduating with summa cum laude honors this past spring with a 3.96 cumulative grade point average in biology, Murphy capped his two-year EMCC playing career by being named 2025 All-MACCC Second Team after leading the Lions in several hitting categories this past year. The left-handed hitting outfielder topped EMCC in batting average (.356), on-base percentage (.509), slugging percentage (.542), runs scored (37) and walks (33) as a sophomore.

For his two-year playing career with the Lions, Murphy batted .331 with 20 extra-base hits divided between 13 doubles, four home runs and three triples. The Mississippi College commit also had 57 career runs scored and 43 runs batted in while going 31-for-34 in career stolen base attempts for EMCC.

Within the classroom on the Scooba campus, Murphy was a four-time President's List scholar and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society. The former baseball and football prep star for the Eupora High School Eagles was also a two-time NJCAA Academic Award recipient and repeat Academic All-MACCC honoree at East Mississippi

Goff, a two-time, all-conference performer for the Lions, culminated his EMCC playing career by garnering 2024 NJCAA All-Region 23 honors and being selected All-MACCC North Division First Team last year as a sophomore. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound center was named to the 2023 All-MACCC North Division Second Team during his freshman season after helping lead the 10-3 Lions to the title game of the NJCAA Division I football championship and a ninth conference championship overall for the EMCC program.

Having graduated magna cum laude last December as a two-time NJCAA Academic Award selection and Academic All-MACCC awardee with a 3.64 cumulative grade point average in business, Goff is studying sports management at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Previously rated nationally as one of the top 10 interior offensive linemen in the junior college ranks by On3 and 247 Sports, Goff was a three-year starter at Petal High School and a first-team, all-region performer as a prep senior for the Panthers.

Murphy and Goff join former EMCC classmates Karen Wisher and Gail Wisher from the Lions' softball program as East Mississippi's four representatives on this year's CSC Academic All-America® Men's and Women's College Division At-Large Teams, respectively.

Established in 1952 and selected by College Sports Communicators, Academic All-America is the longest running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports at all NCAA levels, the NAIA, two-year colleges and Canadian institutions. Teams are announced year round and amplified by CSC member colleges, universities, and conferences on a wide local, regional, national, and even international scope.