MSU secures $5M donation for athletics transition

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MSU to join Conference USA

Missouri State University on Monday announced a significant donation from an alum as part of the school's recently announced athletics transition to Conference USA.

During a news conference that laid out more details of the deal unveiled May 10, MSU President Clif Smart said attorney and alum Tom Strong is donating $5 million to help the school move into CUSA. The news conference was livestreamed on the MSU Bears YouTube page.

"He wants to encourage others to follow in that example," Smart said of Strong. "Thank you, Tom."

Smart said $3.5 million of Strong's donation would go toward a $5 million fee MSU must pay to the NCAA for the Bears football team to move into the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.

Additionally, Strong is donating $1.5 million for planned upgrades to Robert W. Plaster Stadium, home of the Bears football team, Smart said. The funding goes toward a first-phase $4 million locker room project, he said.

Strong, founder of Strong Law PC and a longtime MSU supporter, said in an interview with media after the news conference that he owes a "great debt" to MSU for his education and that of other family members. The interview was posted to KY3's YouTube page.

"What I'm giving to the university is money," Strong said. "What they've given to my family is priceless."

Strong noted that his children signed off on the donation and that "their inheritance is smaller because of the gift I'm making to Missouri State."

MSU, as announced last week, is slated to join Conference USA on July 1, 2025. MSU has been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference since 1990.

At the news conference yesterday, Smart said MSU athletics expects to spend an additional $5 million annually as part of CUSA, up from $31 million now. He said the funding would go toward scholarships, personnel, travel and student-athlete funding, and MSU expects to offset the new expenses through additional revenue.