Engineering students Leon, Ducey to help lead MSU’s Famous Maroon Band during historic Sudler Trophy presentation
September 25, 2026
Bagley College of Engineering students Josh Ducey and James Leon are drum majors for MSU’s Famous Maroon Band. The band will be awarded The Sudler Trophy, the highest national collegiate band award, at halftime of Saturday’s football game against Missouri. (Photo by Chris Whitaker)
When drum majors James Leon and Josh Ducey lead Mississippi State’s Famous Maroon Band at halftime during Saturday’s [Sept. 26] football game at Davis Wade Stadium, it won’t be a normal performance.
It’s a moment the Bagley College of Engineering students will remember for the rest of their lives.
That’s because the band will be honored with The Sudler Trophy, which is regarded as the highest national collegiate band award.
Leon and Ducey are two of the band’s four drum majors.
“It really means the world to me,” said Leon, a junior electrical engineering student from Biloxi. “I have seen how hard my peers work to make the Saturday performances as special as they are. It’s one thing to be recognized by your staff and university for hard work, but it’s a whole other thing to be recognized on the national level. This band deserves it for all the time, energy and commitment they dedicate to this university.”
The Sudler Trophy can only be won once, and many factors play into the selection process, including the program’s history of excellence, tradition and national respect.
Leon is one of two second-year drum majors. He also plays clarinet in the Wind Ensemble. While music wasn’t something he enjoyed right away, he grew to love it.
“When I was in elementary school, it was required that everybody learned an instrument,” he said. “I wasn’t super fond of the idea at first, but as I played the clarinet more and more, it turned into a really rewarding and fun hobby that has kept me grounded throughout high school and college.”
When he’s not practicing or playing music, the Presidential Scholar serves as a supplemental instruction leader. Leon is also a member of Theta Tau, MSU’s professional engineering fraternity.
Leon recently gained hands-on experience through his first co-op with the Kiln-based Coast Electric Power Association. He aspires to help deliver electricity reliably to local communities and businesses after graduation.
“I worked alongside one of their engineers primarily, doing power switching plans, substation maintenance, system improvement plans and sectionalizing plans,” Leon said. “I would love to work for (that kind of) company or do research and development for the technology that power distribution companies need.”
Bagley College of Engineering students Josh Ducey and James Leon will lead MSU’s Famous Maroon Band in a special celebratory halftime presentation with around 150 band alumni during Saturday’s football game against Missouri at Davis Wade Stadium. (Photo by Chris Whitaker)
Ducey, a sophomore aerospace engineering student from Arlington, Tenn., has played the horn since sixth grade and was recognized in high school as one of the top horn players in the state.
The band follows a specific theme for each halftime performance with Saturday’s being one of celebration. Around 150 alumni will join the band Saturday, and Ducey said he is excited to perform with past members.
“I think getting to play with the alumni will be awesome,” he said. “It is in part because of these alumni that we’re receiving The Sudler Trophy, so it will be spectacular getting to perform with them as we accept this award.”
Ducey has loved music since a young age; his parents met as bandmates with the LSU Tiger Marching Band. And like music, he has known since middle school that he wanted to pursue a career in aerospace.
“It was a lesson from my sixth-grade STEM teacher,” he said. “She talked about spaceflight and the absolute basics of aviation physics, and I was hooked instantly.”
Ducey is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and plans to join the U.S. Navy as a pilot. Ultimately, he has his eyes set on becoming an astronaut.
“Fighting for a better tomorrow and a world with more hope is the kind of impact I want to make,” he said. “Space exploration is something that has fascinated and captivated most of humanity throughout history, bringing everyone together in a way that so few things do. … To be a part of that team pushing the boundaries of exploration and science for humanity is what I desire to do.”
While Leon and Ducey are looking ahead to the impact they hope to make in their careers, MSU Director of Bands Elva Kaye Lance has seen the impact they are already making as leaders.
“Both of these students possess a strong work ethic,” Lance said. “They are cooperative and yet also self-starters. They have the skill of being able to serve in a leadership role and also as a team member. They are confident, but in a non-threatening way, which makes them effective leaders of our band program.”
Lance added that annually, about 40 percent of the band’s members are students from Bagley.
Leading more than 400 students can be nerve-wracking, but Leon and Ducey wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Whether it’s in the stands, warm-ups before gameday or rehearsal, hearing them play together is truly unique,” Ducey said. “This game day will be the best, most electric game ever.”
Leon added, “When you’re doing something you love with a group that you love, it doesn’t feel like a responsibility itself anymore.”
About The Sudler Trophy
According to the John Philip Sousa Foundation, The Sudler Trophy was presented annually from 1982-2007 and biennially since thanks to a grant from Louis and Virginia Sudler. It goes to a collegiate marching band that has demonstrated the highest of musical standards and innovative marching routines and ideas, and which has made important contributions to the advancement of the performance standards of college marching bands over several years.
MSU is the 35th collegiate marching band to receive the honor and the only one in the state.
The Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu and can be found on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube at @msuengineering.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.