University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
There is No Place Like Home for Offensive Lineman Joe Rounds
8/21/2026 1:00:00 PM | Football
By Tim Doherty, Special to SouthernMiss.com
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Who says you can't go home?
Not Jon Bon Jovi nor University of Southern Mississippi offensive lineman Joe Rounds.
After seven years spent finishing up both high school and four seasons at Virginia Union University, Rounds returned to his native state this spring to play his final year of collegiate football as a Golden Eagle.
"I was born in Mississippi," Rounds said. "Native Mississippian. My mom, she ended up getting a job way up there in Virginia and I ended up moving with her."
When his mom, Krasinda Barton, was offered a position that brought her back to Mississippi shortly after her son enrolled at VUU, Rounds had a decision to make following a redshirt season and then three years in the trenches as the starting center.
"The crazy thing about it, she ended up getting offered a job back in Mississippi, and I'm talking to her and I'm like, 'Hey now, if you're going to go back home, let me know and I'll find a (college) down there,' and she was like, 'No, you stay up here. I got it. It's all good,'" Rounds said. "So, man, not even a month into my freshman year, she was like, 'Uh, I think I'm going to take that job.' So, I was pretty much up there by myself.
"But ever since she did move, it was always kind of a goal to do my part to get back (to Mississippi)."
The 6-foot, 315-pound Grenada native entered the portal following his redshirt junior season and found himself in Hattiesburg.
"It's actually been a very eye-opening but great experience," Rounds said. "At the (Division II) level, I felt like I kind of maxed out, as far as what I was able to do, what I was capable of. So, I was kind of ready for that next step.
"Playing D-I ball, it's showing me everything I wanted to see. Better competition from the ones to the threes. You're getting get good work every day. Nutrition, weight room time, recovery, all that is just bumped up to another level. It's truly been a blessing.
"I'm glad, with this being my last year, that I'm able to experience it. I've been making good strides on the field and that's been a blessing as well."
USM offensive line coach Sean Coughlin said there was more to Rounds' game than one initially might expect.
"Joe's done a great job, coming in here, competing," Coughlin said. "He has a lot of things. People are going to look at him and they're going to say right away that maybe size-wise he doesn't check the box, but that's not the case.
"He's got good length in his arms. Plays hard. He's physical. Runs his feet on blocks."
Coughlin said Rounds has more than handled the mental aspects of the game as well.
"He's done a good job of understanding the offense," Coughlin said. "Really excited to see how he's going to continue to progress. Very attentive in the meeting room. Asks a lot of good questions.
"I couldn't be more pleased with him and how he's approached every single day, the way he works, his attention to detail. I think he's going to be a really good player for us, and I'm really excited what he's done to this point."
Rounds was literally at the center of arguably the greatest run in the football annals at VUU.
The HBCU program in Richmond, Va., won consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships during Rounds redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively, in 2023 and 2024.
After posting an unbeaten mark during the regular season, the Panthers were denied a third straight championship, falling in the 2025 CIAC title game.
The Panthers qualified for the D-II national playoffs each season during that three-year stretch. VUU lost opening-round games in 2023 and 2025 but logged the school's first-ever postseason victories before falling to Valdosta State University in the quarterfinals.
"(We) had some success at Virginia Union, (winning) back-to back conference championships," Rounds said. "We won our first playoff game in school history and making it to the Elite Eight our second (CIAC) championship year."
Now, the business major is making the most of an opportunity to compete at another level as the Golden Eagles prepare for the 2026 season opener with Alcorn State University on Sept. 5. (To purchase tickets, click here.)
"It's been a beautiful experience," Rounds said. "I think if I was at the D-II level and this was my last year, I would have been content. I'd have been like, 'You know what? I put in the work, did my due diligence all my four years, and I'm good.'
"But coming to the D-I level, seeing all what it has to offer and seeing how much the care and the want-to that not only the players have but the coaches have … sometimes I think, 'Man, if only I had one more of these (years of eligibility).' It's definitely been a beautiful experience being out here, playing the game I love at this level."
And Rounds' mom will travel from northwest Mississippi to be in the Saturday stands on the Golden Eagle campus to see her son.
"She ain't going to miss it, I know that," Rounds said.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Who says you can't go home?
Not Jon Bon Jovi nor University of Southern Mississippi offensive lineman Joe Rounds.
After seven years spent finishing up both high school and four seasons at Virginia Union University, Rounds returned to his native state this spring to play his final year of collegiate football as a Golden Eagle.
"I was born in Mississippi," Rounds said. "Native Mississippian. My mom, she ended up getting a job way up there in Virginia and I ended up moving with her."
When his mom, Krasinda Barton, was offered a position that brought her back to Mississippi shortly after her son enrolled at VUU, Rounds had a decision to make following a redshirt season and then three years in the trenches as the starting center.
"The crazy thing about it, she ended up getting offered a job back in Mississippi, and I'm talking to her and I'm like, 'Hey now, if you're going to go back home, let me know and I'll find a (college) down there,' and she was like, 'No, you stay up here. I got it. It's all good,'" Rounds said. "So, man, not even a month into my freshman year, she was like, 'Uh, I think I'm going to take that job.' So, I was pretty much up there by myself.
"But ever since she did move, it was always kind of a goal to do my part to get back (to Mississippi)."
The 6-foot, 315-pound Grenada native entered the portal following his redshirt junior season and found himself in Hattiesburg.
"It's actually been a very eye-opening but great experience," Rounds said. "At the (Division II) level, I felt like I kind of maxed out, as far as what I was able to do, what I was capable of. So, I was kind of ready for that next step.
"Playing D-I ball, it's showing me everything I wanted to see. Better competition from the ones to the threes. You're getting get good work every day. Nutrition, weight room time, recovery, all that is just bumped up to another level. It's truly been a blessing.
"I'm glad, with this being my last year, that I'm able to experience it. I've been making good strides on the field and that's been a blessing as well."
USM offensive line coach Sean Coughlin said there was more to Rounds' game than one initially might expect.
"Joe's done a great job, coming in here, competing," Coughlin said. "He has a lot of things. People are going to look at him and they're going to say right away that maybe size-wise he doesn't check the box, but that's not the case.
"He's got good length in his arms. Plays hard. He's physical. Runs his feet on blocks."
Coughlin said Rounds has more than handled the mental aspects of the game as well.
"He's done a good job of understanding the offense," Coughlin said. "Really excited to see how he's going to continue to progress. Very attentive in the meeting room. Asks a lot of good questions.
"I couldn't be more pleased with him and how he's approached every single day, the way he works, his attention to detail. I think he's going to be a really good player for us, and I'm really excited what he's done to this point."
Rounds was literally at the center of arguably the greatest run in the football annals at VUU.
The HBCU program in Richmond, Va., won consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships during Rounds redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively, in 2023 and 2024.
After posting an unbeaten mark during the regular season, the Panthers were denied a third straight championship, falling in the 2025 CIAC title game.
The Panthers qualified for the D-II national playoffs each season during that three-year stretch. VUU lost opening-round games in 2023 and 2025 but logged the school's first-ever postseason victories before falling to Valdosta State University in the quarterfinals.
"(We) had some success at Virginia Union, (winning) back-to back conference championships," Rounds said. "We won our first playoff game in school history and making it to the Elite Eight our second (CIAC) championship year."
Now, the business major is making the most of an opportunity to compete at another level as the Golden Eagles prepare for the 2026 season opener with Alcorn State University on Sept. 5. (To purchase tickets, click here.)
"It's been a beautiful experience," Rounds said. "I think if I was at the D-II level and this was my last year, I would have been content. I'd have been like, 'You know what? I put in the work, did my due diligence all my four years, and I'm good.'
"But coming to the D-I level, seeing all what it has to offer and seeing how much the care and the want-to that not only the players have but the coaches have … sometimes I think, 'Man, if only I had one more of these (years of eligibility).' It's definitely been a beautiful experience being out here, playing the game I love at this level."
And Rounds' mom will travel from northwest Mississippi to be in the Saturday stands on the Golden Eagle campus to see her son.
"She ain't going to miss it, I know that," Rounds said.
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