Tuohy will speak at first MGCCC Athletics Dinner

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast will hold its first Athletics Dinner fundraiser on Dec. 10 and will welcome Sean Tuohy, former Ole Miss basketball star and featured subject of "The Blind Side," as its speaker.

The event will be held at MGCCC's Hospitality Resort Management Center in Biloxi. It starts at 6:30 p.m., with the doors opening 30 minutes prior.

Tickets cost $75 each or $125 for two. They can be purchased at http://mgccc.edu/intheblue or by contacting Amy Glynn (601-928-6360 or amy.glynn@mgccc.edu).

The dinner is a fundraiser for the Gulf Coast Athletic Department, which fields teams in 11 sports. Its 200-plus athletes annually finish with an average GPA above 3.0, and last year Gulf Coast had 45 athletes earn NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards, including 13 with perfect 4.0 GPAs, with 90 named to the MACJC All-Academic team.

Tuohy was a record-breaking point guard for the Rebels from 1978-1982 who helped lead the Rebels to their first SEC Tournament championship in 1981. He led the conference all four seasons in assists and is still the conference record-holder for assists in a season and in a career. He was named an SEC Legend in 2006.

Tuohy won All-SEC honors three times and was selected by the New Jersey Nets in the NBA draft. He went on to play overseas before becoming a successful business owner whose company owns a string of more than 60 fast-food franchises. He's been a broadcaster for the Memphis Grizzlies since 2001.

He and his wife Leigh Anne were the subjects of Michael Lewis' book "The Blind Side," which centered in part around left tackle Michael Oher. The Tuohys adopted Oher and he became an All-American left tackle at Ole Miss and an NFL lineman for eight seasons with the Ravens, Titans and Panthers.

"The Blind Side" was later turned into a movie starring Sandra Bullock with Tim McGraw playing Sean Tuohy.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.