Blake Long is in his 10th year as the sports information director and assistant public information officer at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He took the position in August 2013 and has since elevated the promotion of the institution’s 10 intercollegiate athletic programs to new heights. 

Long manages Northeast’s worldwide sports hub www.nemccathletics.com, which was selected in 2014 as the top athletic website in the Magnolia State by the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi (CPRAM). 

He also received a first place award from CPRAM in the category of sports writing news piece for his article that announced Greg Davis as the new head football coach of the Tigers in December 2014. 

Long has implemented a number of new ways for Northeast’s strong fan base to connect with each team. The Tigers are on the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. 

The official Northeast athletics Twitter account (@NEMCCTigers), which Long operates, is one of eight among Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) member affiliates to have over 10,000 followers. 

People can now watch Northeast athletics from anywhere in the world thanks to the vision of Long. The school collaborated with the Worldwide Streaming Network (WSN) to introduce www.NEMCCTV.com, which annually broadcasts more than 100 sporting and campus events that draw hundreds of thousands of viewers. 

Long has represented Northeast at both the state and national levels through various appointments and activities. He has worked on the official statistics crew for the MACCC men’s and women’s basketball tournament plus prestigious high school tournaments including the Hotbed Classic and the Lighthouse Thanksgiving Classic. 

He was selected to represent the MACCC and Region 23 on both the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Football and Division I Men’s Basketball poll committees during the 2019-20 academic year. He was reappointed to the poll committee for men’s basketball for both the abbreviated 2021 and the 2021-22 seasons. 

Long is a proud member of the College Sports Communicators (CSC) and the Two Year Sports Information Directors of America (2YSIDA). 

He was named to the inaugural Two-Year Colleges Divisional Cabinet in 2020 and is one of 10 members from across all levels of collegiate athletics, including NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Canada’s U Sports, to be appointed to the CSC Advisory Council. Long served two terms on both the divisional cabinet and advisory council. 

Long graduated from Northeast in 2011 with an Associate’s degree in communication. He was instrumental in helping the student newspaper The Beacon return to print and served as its sports writer during that period. 

He was awarded CPRAM’s annual scholarship while a member of The Beacon’s staff based on his writing capabilities and recommendations made by current journalists and public information specialists across the state. 

Long served under current Northeast athletic director Kent Farris from 2009-11 as one of two managers for the baseball squad. He spent countless hours at Harold T. White Field completing responsibilities that included public address announcing, music, statistics, laundry and equipment checks. 

The Tishomingo native parlayed his hard work with the Tigers to the four-year level where he earned a spot with the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) softball program as a manager. 

During his time under coach Windy Thees, Long clocked miles across the toughest league in the nation. He had the pleasure of visiting around half of the campuses in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), including the University of Alabama, Auburn (Ala.) University, the University of Georgia, Louisiana State University (LSU), Mississippi State University and the University of Tennessee. 

Long attained his Bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in history while at Ole Miss in 2013. He gained valuable experience and skills such as multitasking and meeting set deadlines while serving as a contributing sports writer for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal during his tenure in Oxford. 

He received the opportunity to cover a variety of events throughout the region, including the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) state championships in baseball, bowling, fastpitch softball, football, slowpitch softball and swimming. 

Long also had the honor of working in professional environments at the pressboxes of San Francisco’s AT&T Stadium and Target Field in Minneapolis, Minn., to interview local Major League Baseball (MLB) players Eli Whiteside (New Albany) and Brian Dozier (Fulton). 

He starred on the diamond himself at the prep level while at Tishomingo County High School. Long started at catcher for the Braves as a junior and senior under the watch of his dad, Crossroads Diamond Club, Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Baseball (NEMCABB) and Northeast Sports Hall of Famer Jerry Long. 

Tishomingo County claimed the MHSAA Division 1-4A championship and reached the semifinal round of the state playoffs with Long behind the plate in 2008. The Braves qualified for the postseason one season later as well. 

Long and his family thoroughly enjoy traveling. Through his journeys, he has visited various iconic locations such as the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Key West, Fla., the World Trade Center memorials, Mount Rushmore and the Gettysburg Battlefield. 

In total, he has visited all 48 continental states in America plus Canada during their “Long Family Vacations.” 

Long and his wife Leslie, who was the starting catcher for the Northeast softball program from 2010-11, have five children, Johnson, Blakely, James, Jack and Joe. They are members of Foote Street Church of Christ where Long serves as a deacon.