{"id":148140,"date":"2025-04-01T16:12:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T21:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=148140"},"modified":"2025-04-01T16:49:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T21:49:31","slug":"six-university-of-mississippi-students-sign-with-national-esports-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/six-university-of-mississippi-students-sign-with-national-esports-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Six University of Mississippi Students Sign With National Esports Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Supernova recruits League of Legends players from Ole Miss Esports<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A leading amateur esports organization has signed six University of Mississippi<\/strong> players, giving the students an opportunity to compete at the professional level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supernova<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0recruited the players to compete in the\u00a0National American Challengers League<\/strong>,<\/a>\u00a0a developmental league for the game\u00a0League of Legends<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is a great step forward for our program,” said John McDermott<\/strong>, director of the UM esports program. “Supernova made the most sense for us because they’re a well-recognized esports company that’s going to treat our students well and bring attention to their talent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ole Miss Esports<\/strong> team<\/a>\u00a0finished last semester ranked No. 2 in the nation for League of Legends, an online multiplayer game. Similar to going pro in traditional sports, signing with Supernova means the students will be paid to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, playing for a national team will increase the likelihood of them being recruited to play professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Very similar to baseball, our team is basically signing a contract to go into what I’ll call a finishing league or a developmental league, where the next generation of players are coming up,” McDermott said. “With that in mind, it’s awesome to see our program and our students being chosen as the next generation of League of Legends players.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students who signed on with Supernova are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n