| Wednesday, September 20, 2017 |
| Area students check out college options | |
 | Judd Williams has been all over eastern Mississippi talking to high school seniors at college fairs about admission at Mississippi State University. But he said Monday's event at the Trotter Convention Center -- where 1,200 students had access to information and representatives from more than 50 universities -- was one of the largest and best fairs he's seen. "This is an incredible step in the right direction for college fairs in Mississippi," he said. "... I definitely think this fair could serve as an example to the state." Administrators from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science organized the fair to give Lowndes County students the chance to talk to university admissions counselors about everything from majors and scholarships to how to schedule guided campus tours. |
| Students File In For Career Fair At Mississippi State | |
 | The Humphrey Coliseum on Mississippi State's campus was filled with students and networking opportunities Tuesday. Students at Mississippi State had the chance to meet and network with job recruiters during a job fair. Hundreds of students passed out resumes and received feed back from potential employers. The event will continue Wednesday. Students say the career fair is beneficial because it helps them understand what employers are looking for in their candidates. "I just came out to check things out and see what they had. I'm starting my own business, so I wanted to see if I could get an opportunity to talk to certain banks about funding," says MSU student Pierce Long. |
| Interest rates, commodity prices pressure farmers' operating capital | |
 | The last three years have seen a worsening of the calculated creditworthiness of many farmer borrowers, says Mississippi State University's Bryon Parman -- this despite loan-to-value rates remaining relatively consistent and overall credit criteria not moving much. "Much of the operating capital reserves built during the peak of the most recent agricultural cycle have been exhausted as banks and farmers look to equity as a means of collateralizing operating lines," he says in a new report, Mississippi Agricultural Credit and Lending Conditions 20197, based on a survey conducted in June by the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics and the MSU Extension Service. Participants included agricultural lenders, appraisers, farm managers, and agricultural economists. |
| Grant Symposium draws standing-room-only crowd | |
 | Nearly 100 people crowded into Heritage Hall in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday to hear a succession of speakers talk about the life and times of U.S. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., a federal judge and Civil War buff, said he was shocked to see the standing-room-only crowd. "This is an overwhelming turnout," said Limbaugh, who serves on the local Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation which hosted the fourth annual symposium. The symposium coincided with an exhibition of Grant memorabilia, obtained by California collector Candace Scott and owned by Cape Girardeau businessman Earl Norman, as well as from the Ulysses S. Grant Association at Mississippi State University. |
| Debra Prince tapped for school board on third try | |
 | The third time was the charm for Debra Prince. Prince was picked to fill the empty seat on the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees by the Starkville Board of Aldermen. Prince was chosen by a 6 to 0 roll call vote, with Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker recused. She will fill the seat left vacant following the resignation of Anne Stricklin in late June. Prince has twice been passed over in other school board appointments, once against Stricklin and once against current SOCSD Board secretary Melissa Luckett. Prince was chosen over Sumner Davis and Lisa Long. "I think it took the third time for the community to get engaged and see that I needed their support," Prince said. Prince is an alumna of Starkville High School and MSU. She is currently employed as an associate professor in the MSU College of Education. |
| Oktibbeha County supervisors to review hospital bids next week | |
| Oktibbeha County supervisors will meet next week to review bids the county received for OCH Regional Medical Center. The deadline was Friday to submit bids to purchase or lease the 96-bed, county-owned hospital. Supervisors will meet at 3 p.m. on Sept. 26 to review the bids. Board President Orlando Trainer said that process will likely happen behind closed doors. "There's some highly sensitive information those proposals, on both sides," Trainer said. "There's some confidentiality agreements we entered into with individuals who submitted those proposals. We need to be very careful in how we proceed going forward." Trainer said supervisors could decide to publicly present the proposals' information after reviewing them at next week's meeting. In other business, supervisors unanimously approved contracts to move ahead with a nearly 400-acre industrial park near the intersection of Highways 82 and 389. |
| 1.29M Mississippians potentially impacted by Equifax | |
 | In Mississippi, 1.29 million people are potentially impacted by the security breach at credit monitoring service Equifax. Attorney General Jim Hood said Tuesday that Equifax had provided the number of Mississippians impacted. "This is the Fort Knox of our personal information," Hood said. And Hood warns that it could be as long as three years before the security breach could hit some people because those responsible often wait until after a two-year credit monitoring period has elapsed before selling personal credit information. Hood said his office wants to hear from the public on any problems related to the security breach and reaching Equifax to get credit monitoring or placing a freeze on credit. |
| BorgWarner investing $20M, adding 75 jobs in Water Valley | |
 | Automotive supplier BorgWarner is investing $20 million and adding about 75 jobs during the next two years at its Water Valley facility. BorgWarner bills itself as a global leader in clean and efficient technology solutions for combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles. The company currently employs nearly 500 people in Water Valley. "BorgWarner's Water Valley location has expanded and added jobs five times in less than a decade -- a tribute to the talented workforce found in Yalobusha County and the state's supportive business climate," Gov. Phil Bryant said. For its latest expansion, Mississippi Development Authority awarded BorgWarner a $270,000 grant for building improvements. |
| Mississippi Legislators Conducting Budget Hearings This Week | |
 | Lawmakers are starting to work on a Mississippi budget for the year that begins July 1. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee meets Thursday and Friday in Jackson. Members will hear funding requests from the Department of Education, the Division of Medicaid and a few other agencies. Five of the eight public universities are seeking slight increases in spending, ranging from less than 1 percent at Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi to 3 percent at the University of Southern Mississippi. The three historically black universities are seeking decreases of about 2 to 3 percent. |
| Medicaid plans to go forward with contracts after no action by review panel | |
| Members of the state Personal Service Contract Review Board refused to adopt its own staff recommendations to approve contracts totaling about $2 billion annually awarded by the Division of Medicaid to three managed care companies. But the five-member board also refused during Tuesday's hearing to reject the contracts, meaning Medicaid has the option of allowing the contracts to become valid in 30 days under state law. Erin Barham, a spokeswoman for the Division of Medicaid, confirmed after the hearing that Medicaid's intent is to move forward with the contracts after the staff of the Review Board affirmed "the integrity and fairness of the procurement process." |
| $2B Medicaid contract moving forward after contract review board refuses to vote | |
| Public Service Contract Review Board members took a passive role on the Medicaid managed care debate Tuesday, refusing to take up the matter after their staff recommended they approve the $2 billion contract. The non-vote means the MississippiCAN contract, the subject of much controversy since the Mississippi Division of Medicaid signed it in June, is effective and will move forward, according to the board and Medicaid's attorney. The contract review board's staff had recommended the members grant some exceptions to Medicaid and then approve the contract, one of the largest in state history. One of the losing bidders for that contract, Mississippi True, believes the board's actions require Medicaid to void the contract and start over since the board did not approve the exceptions that would have made the procurement in compliance with state rules and regulations. |
| Mississippi license plate designs are not changing | |
| Mississippi license plates featuring BB King's legendary guitar "Lucille" will be staying in place because the state legislature didn't allocate funds. The Sun Herald reports the "Birthplace of America's Music" plates will stick around for at least another year. The Mississippi Department of Revenue was scheduled to release new plates in October, as it does every five years. However, officials say the Legislature didn't issue funds for the re-issue. |
| State auditor gives overview of state spending to GOP women's group | |
 | State Auditor Stacey Pickering presented an overview of Mississippi's fiscal spending during a meeting of Forrest-Lamar Republican Women Tuesday. Pickering spoke about the state's new comprehensive annual financial report. "It gives us a chance to help the taxpayers in our local community, today, the women here in Forrest and Lamar County, understand how our government financially, is spending the money," Pickering said. "It's not targeting one agency, it's a comprehensive view of our state finances." That report and the Legislative Budget Report, just released Tuesday, can be found on the state auditor's website at osa.ms.gov. Pickering said his office is currently engaged in several public corruption investigations, which have led to several arrests in North Mississippi. |
| Person of interest wanted in Ole Miss sexual battery case | |
 | Ole Miss campus police are asking the public to help identify a person following a sexual battery report. On Tuesday, University police tweeted a photo of a man. The photo shows a black male with a slender build. Police are classifying the man as a person-of-interest. Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 662-915-7234 or email them at UPD@OleMiss.edu. University of Mississippi Police Chief Tim Potts is urging students to be careful, especially when walking around at night. |
| Student mascot vote at UM caps off years of debate, planning | |
 | In less than a week, students will have the chance to weigh in on the latest installment of the Ole Miss mascot saga. For those Rebels who have been around through the highs and lows of the mascot debate, it all seems very familiar. "I think that folks make much too big of a deal when it comes to mascots," former Dean of Students Sparky Reardon said. "I've never seen a mascot win a game, and that's where fan interest should be. Mascots are for kids." Reardon served as an adviser to the student committee that decided on the Black Bear as the school's new mascot in 2010. Former Miss Ole Miss and 2013 graduate Margaret Ann Morgan served as that committee's co-chair. "As someone who's been through that process before, it's not easy. It doesn't happen overnight, and it takes a lot of people to get to the end result," Morgan said. "You're not going to make everybody happy, and you know that." |
| Ole Miss officials say ASB landshark vote 'advisory,' not binding | |
| Rebel, Ole Miss' on-field black bear mascot, could be going into hibernation. On Monday, the Associated Student Body posted a letter on its Twitter account stating that students will have an opportunity to vote to change the university's mascot from Rebel Black Bear to a landshark on Sept. 26. The vote, however, is an advisory vote which is not binding to the university, regardless of the outcome of the vote, Ole Miss spokesman Ryan Whittington told the Associated Press. On Monday, Ole Miss released a statement about the upcoming referendum, saying: "This referendum is a student-led initiative being conducted through an Associated Student Body (ASB) process. While we will not speculate on the outcome of their process, we value the important role that students play as an active voice in the life of our campus community. We are always interested in the viewpoints of our students." |
| Ole Miss could swap black bear mascot | |
| Years after it traded Colonel Reb for a bear, the University of Mississippi could again change its sidelines sports mascot. Student government President Dion Kevin III announced Monday that students will vote next week on changing from a black bear to a "landshark" in a campuswide election. University spokesman Ryan Whittington said the vote would be advisory and would not bind Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter. Whittington didn't answer whether the university administration has a preferred outcome. The nickname for the school's athletic teams remains the Rebels, but Ole Miss retired Colonel Reb from the sidelines in 2003 and has ditched other Old South symbols, including Confederate battle flags and the anthem "Dixie." Though Colonel Reb lost his official sanction more than a decade ago, his visage is not hard to find in Oxford, and some supporters still want him back. |
| U. of Southern Mississippi gets $1M in grants to study seaweed, its use as a fuel | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi will conduct research on the use of seaweed to produce energy and improve ocean health with a total of $1 million in federal grants. USM received $500,000 for research on a seaweed growth system, and another $500,000 to develop a Sargassum seaweed ranching paddock. Both were approved by the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, according to a release from Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss. "The Department of Energy is investing in innovative proposals developed at the University of Southern Mississippi to make marine biomass more available for various uses," Cochran said. "I commend Southern Miss for successfully promoting research innovation that can help improve economic competitiveness and environmental stewardship." |
| Eight Mississippi colleges and universities receive grants for tobacco-free future | |
| Eight colleges and universities in Mississippi have received grants to help move toward 100 percent smoke and tobacco-free policies on their campuses. The schools include Jackson State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi Valley State University, Hinds Community College, Tougaloo College, Alcorn State University, Coahoma Community College and Rust College. The support is part of a total of $1.2 million in grants from the CVS Health Foundation, in partnership with the American Cancer Society and Truth Initiative, to help 126 U.S. colleges and universities across the country go 100 percent tobacco-free. |
| New Itawamba Community College president visits Amory; receives $100K from Gilmore Foundation | |
| The strong ties that bind Monroe County and Itawamba Community College were celebrated Tuesday when new ICC president Dr. Jay Allen was the honored guest at a luncheon hosted by the Gilmore Foundation. Allen's audience at the Gilmore Foundation Conference Center in Amory represented a cross-section of community leaders, including school district superintendents, Monroe County supervisors and corporate executives as well as a delegation from the college. Gilmore Foundation president William (Skip) Miles opened the program by touting some of the accomplishments of the foundation over the years. "I was startled to read this, but our accountant reported that the Gilmore Foundation has invested over $20 million into the economy of Northeast Mississippi to date, including $1.7 million to Itawamba Community College," Miles said. "Monroe County was the first county to benefit from a guaranteed tuition program to ICC." |
| Copiah-Lincoln Community College gets $432K in third phase of a wellness grant | |
 | Copiah-Lincoln Community College will receive a nearly half a million dollar grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation in the third phase of a wellness grant. This grant, for $432,950, is the third Co-Lin has received from the foundation. The community college received one in 2010 for $110,000 and another in 2015 for $238,000. "Blue Cross has been very generous over the past few years," said Stephanie Duguid, dean of academic instruction. "The application process on this third phase of the grant took over a year to get through, so we're very excited to have been selected." Now that Co-Lin has been selected for the third phase, administrators plan to grow projects already in place. |
| East Mississippi, East Central make lists of most affordable community colleges | |
 | Two community colleges in East Mississippi have received national recognition for their affordability and online availability by AffordableColleges.com, a website that ranks colleges with a "Value Score." Nonprofit Colleges Online released a list of the 50 best colleges for an online associates degree and placed East Mississippi Community College in the first slot in a list released Monday. Both East Mississippi Community College and East Central Community College placed in the top 30 for the Most Affordable Community Colleges at AffordableColleges.com, an organization that tries to rank colleges based on their affordability. "We are particularly pleased with this national recognition because it not only recognizes the affordability of East Central Community College, but the quality of our instructional programs," ECCC President Billy Stewart said in a statement. |
| Auburn University continues review of transit company ties after sexual assault on bus | |
 | Auburn University continues to evaluate its relationship with the company that operates the Tiger Transit buses as details unfold following a sexual assault that occurred on a bus during Homecoming weekend. James Don Johnson Jr., 32, of Auburn and Tony Martin Patillo, 51, of Columbus, Ga., each face charges of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy, according to an Auburn Police Division report. Both men were employees of First Transit, the parent company of Tiger Transit. An Auburn University spokesman on Tuesday said that "any decision to make a change to a different (business) model would be purely speculative at this point." "Right now, we are more focused on the immediate issues of making sure the victim in this case gets the support and resources she needs and ensuring this does not happen again," said Mike Clardy, assistant vice president for communications and marketing. |
| No tailgating for Greek students after death means no groups of 10 or more, LSU says | |
 | A ban on Greek activities imposed after the recent death of a fraternity pledge means LSU students in fraternities and sororities can't party, study or even donate blood together as an organization, the university outlined in a memo to the fraternities and sororities. And on Saturday, when LSU plays Syracuse in Tiger Stadium, it means fraternities and sororities who traditionally host tailgates together will have to spread out and disassociate from each other or face consequences. LSU said tailgate parties can't be organized by the Greek organizations and cannot have or engage in "common source alcohol, food, chapter tent, chapter house, uniformed attire, presetting of space, providing alcohol to others, any group of 10 or more," LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard said. Scott Sternberg, an attorney who specializes in the First Amendment, said he thinks the ban is "rife with constitutional concerns." |
| U. of South Carolina, other SC colleges win $20 million NSF research grant | |
 | Car doors that can pop out their own dents or withstand scratches. Airplanes that can fly lighter and safer. Cartilage and tissue that can repair damaged or aging human bodies. Those are the possible advances that could stem from a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation research grant to 10 S.C. colleges, according to the new project's director. On learning the state had won the advanced materials grant, University of South Carolina vice president for research Prakash Nagarkatti said he screamed so loud that "my staff thought I won the lottery." The grant, which can be extended after five years, will pay for S.C. colleges to research and develop new materials -- primarily for industries with S.C. presences, including IBM and Boeing. |
| White nationalist group small, disorganized in effort to recruit members at U. of Missouri | |
 | The white nationalist group that grabbed headlines statewide after posting recruitment flyers at the University of Missouri last month is small and disorganized, according to people who say they infiltrated the group online. In early August, flyers recruiting for an organization calling itself the "Midwestern Alliance" were posted around the MU campus. The flyers prompted a written response from MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright and Provost Garnett Stokes. MU administrators sent an email to students and employees saying they were aware white supremacist groups were recruiting on college campuses across the United States. The email asked anyone aware of "activity that might violate university policies" to report them to MU's Office for Civil Rights and Title IX. "One of the core values of the University of Missouri is respect," Cartwright wrote in the email. "As such, we are committed to fostering a community of inclusion." |
SPORTS
| Nick Fitzgerald leads No. 17 Mississippi State back to Georgia | |
| For a team whose roster contains a supermajority of in-state talent, Mississippi State's pipeline to Georgia is strong. MSU (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) has two assistant coaches -- defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and tight ends coach D.J. Looney -- and eight players with connections to Georgia. MSU plays the in-state power Georgia Bulldogs (3-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Sanford Stadium (ESPN). Of the seven Georgian players making the trip for MSU, defensive end Montez Sweat and cornerback Tolando Cleveland should see significant snaps, but none will garner more attention than quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. The Richmond Hill native and his coach expect no changes in his return. "It's just another game. It's just an opponent we'll have to beat," Fitzgerald said. "I'll have more friends and family there, haven't played in front of some of those people since high school, but it's another opponent we have to beat." |
| Safety Johnathan Abram is Georgia's loss and Mississippi State's gain | |
| LSU had just caught a break. With 7:32 left in the first quarter of Mississippi State's game against the Tigers on Saturday, Bulldogs safety Mark McLaurin leaped over an LSU shield-blocker on a punt and was penalized. It meant a first down for LSU at its own 47 in a scoreless game. Uh-oh? No. Mississippi State safety Johnathan Abram prevented LSU from capitalizing. On two consecutive plays after the penalty, Abram proved why he was the top-rated junior college safety last year. He proved why he is so essential to Mississippi State's vastly improved defense. And he proved why the former Georgia player is now Georgia's loss and Mississippi State's gain. |
| Montez Sweat humbled by second shot on the big stage | |
| Montez Sweat was no stranger to football in a Power 5 conference when he stepped onto the field for Mississippi State earlier this month. Sweat played in four games over two seasons at Michigan State before leaving the team in April 2016 for what Spartan coach Mark Dantonio deemed "personal reasons." The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder spent last fall at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before signing with the Bulldogs in December and returning to the Division I level. "I take all this as a blessing," Sweat said. "After being dismissed from Michigan State and going through that juco life, it humbled me a lot. When you have something taken from you it makes you cherish it a lot more." Sweat was a key addition to Todd Grantham's renovation plan on defense. His arrival in the spring allowed him a chance to adjust to the new playbook and solidify a starting role in his first season in Starkville. |
| Jace Christmann makes most of his opportunity vs. Tigers | |
| The Tucker Day hype was more than just a creation of recruiting rankings and the musings of Mississippi State fans. Kicker Jace Christmann saw Day, a freshman from Brentwood, Tennessee, impress in his first collegiate practices. Day's performance left the rest of MSU's kickers with one choice. "He's a heck of a kicker. I knew he was going to be the guy going into the season," Christmann said. "I just prayed and prayed and prayed that one day I would get my opportunity, and (Saturday) I did. I took advantage of it." Christmann kicked three field goals and four extra points in MSU's 37-7 victory against then-No. 12 LSU on Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium. The effort earned Christmann a spot as MSU's starting kicker when it takes on No. 11 Georgia (3-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) at Sanford Stadium. Christmann's success in his first start was met with rousing applause from the crowd of 60,596 that grew louder with each successful attempt. "It was pretty awesome," Christmann said. |
| Todd Grantham on return to Athens Saturday: 'I've got a lot of great memories there' | |
 | Three games into Todd Grantham's tenure as Mississippi State defensive coordinator, his hire is looking like one of the better ones of the offseason. Certainly, at least, to the cowbell-clanging fans in Starkville who are still riding high off a 37-7 throttling of then No. 12 LSU last Saturday. Grantham returns Saturday night to Sanford Stadium for the first time on the visiting sideline for a top 20 matchup against Georgia. "I've got a lot of great memories from there," Grantham said in a phone interview shortly after he met with the local media. "We were able to go to two SEC championship games, won a lot of games, beat some rivals there. There were a lot of fun memories from doing those kind of things. I've got people that I'm still close to there that I talk to quite often and we'll spend time with when I get free time." |
| Mississippi State announces 2018 football schedule | |
| The first matchup between Mississippi State and Florida in Starkville since 2009 and a non-conference road game at Big 12 foe Kansas State make up the 2018 Bulldog football schedule, the Southeastern Conference announced Tuesday. The Bulldogs will host seven home games in Davis Wade Stadium, including a season-opener against Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 1. The following week on Sept. 8, MSU and Kansas State meet in Manhattan, Kansas, for the first time since Oct. 1, 1977. The Bulldogs close a stretch of three straight non-conference games to open the year with UL-Lafayette on Sept. 15. |
| Bulldogs face brutal 2018 football slate | |
| Mississippi State faces a tough 2018 football schedule with eight of its final nine contests inside the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs begin that brutal stretch at Kentucky on Sept. 22 and host Florida the following week before meeting the SEC West in six of the next seven games. MSU hosts Auburn (Oct. 6), Texas A&M (Oct. 27) and Arkansas (Nov. 17) while traveling to (LSU (Oct. 20), Alabama (Nov. 10) and Ole Miss on Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs' only reprieves during the final 2½ months of the season are an open date on Oct. 13 and a rematch with Louisiana Tech on Nov. 3. |
| Mississippi State announces 2018 football schedule | |
| On Tuesday the SEC announced Mississippi State's 2018 football schedule. It includes a nonconference road game at Kansas State, the return of former athletic director Scott Stricklin and the Florida Gators to Starkville and road trips to LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky. |
| Learfield, IMG College Close To Merger In Deal That Combines Industry's Biggest Players | |
| Learfield and IMG College have agreed to a blockbuster merger that will combine the two marketing and media behemoths in college sports, sources say. Learfield President & CEO Greg Brown will run the merged business, which will be a 50-50 split between the two companies, sources said. The merger is expected to be finalized in the coming days, but sources say that contracts have not been signed yet and both sides are working through the final details. The move will create the most dramatic consolidation of the fragmented collegiate industry by bringing the multimedia rights to 200 schools under one banner for the first time. |
| 'Burner Phone' Accusation Marks New Chapter in Ole Miss Scandal | |
 | In August, University of Mississippi athletic director Ross Bjork assembled the football team's coaching staff in a meeting room. He handed out a form that asked the coaches to disclose whether they had used personal phones, including "prepaid phones, pay as you go, burner, etc." for recruiting or any other work-related purpose. If the coaches had done so, the form said, those phones could be subject to records requests or "required to be furnished upon request of the University or NCAA to ensure compliance with University, SEC and NCAA rules." The unusual demand was in response to an accusation that coaches at Ole Miss -- already under NCAA investigation for recruiting violations -- had improperly used burner phones to contact football recruits, according to records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. |
| Ole Miss NCAA investigation could cancel $3 million 2020 game contract | |
| In mid-September, Ole Miss went in front of the NCAA Committee On Infractions, and in the coming months, the NCAA will decide the outcome of its years-long probe into athlete benefits. Ole Miss went in front of the Committee regarding 21 allegations. Fifteen of those are Level I (the most serious). The school does have some self-imposed sanctions, but the safe bet is that the NCAA will add to them as long as its case holds up. The fallout from the scandal has already cost Ole Miss more than $9 million. Now, there's even more money on the line for the Rebels. |
| Investigation ongoing involving suspended U. of Florida football players | |
| Florida coach Jim McElwain said there is nothing new to report on the nine players who are currently under indefinite suspension during an ongoing UPD investigation into possible credit card fraud. "No," he said Monday. "I promise you when I know I'll tell you." UPD is only confirming that the investigation is ongoing and there is no timetable for when it will be complete. "The investigation continues to move along," UPD spokesman Maj. Brad Barber said Tuesday. "I don't have a time frame. This investigation takes time, and it's complicated." All nine players also are being investigated for misuse of university funds. |
| Kentucky announces first sellout of home field since 2015 | |
 | Kentucky's game against Florida at Kroger Field on Saturday was announced as a sellout on Tuesday, the school's first sellout since Oct. 15, 2015, when the Cats played Auburn. Since Mark Stoops' arrival at Kentucky five years ago, the largest announced crowd at the stadium was 69,873 against Alabama in 2013, his first season as head coach. Other games of 60,000 or more during the Stoops era include Louisville (65,445) and Florida (62,076) also in Stoops' first season. In 2015, Kentucky announced six crowds of 60,000-plus for Louisiana-Lafayette (62,933), Florida (63,040), Eastern Kentucky (63,380), Auburn (63,407), Tennessee (60,886) and Louisville (62,512). |
| Former No. 1 recruit Byron Cowart leaving Auburn | |
| If Byron Cowart is ever going to live up to his billing as one of the nation's top recruits in the Class of 2015, it will be at a school other than Auburn. The defensive end requested and was granted his release from Auburn, head coach Gus Malzahn announced at his weekly press conference Tuesday. He intends to transfer. Cowart is the second defensive lineman to leave the program since the spring. Antwuan Jackson Jr. announced his decision to transfer during the summer and is playing this season at Blinn Community College. He's also the second player to leave the program in as many days: Quarterback Sean White was dismissed from the team on Monday after being arrested Sunday. |
| After Faculty Outcry, UNC Will Allow Athletics Course to Be Taught Again | |
 | At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the history course "Big-Time College Sports and the Rights of Athletes, 1956 to the Present," will once again be offered, in the spring semester of 2018. Jay Smith, the professor behind the course and a prominent critic of the administration, was informed last November that the course would be canceled for the fall of 2017. Although reasons for the cancellation remain unclear, Mr. Smith argued that university administrators wanted to censor information taught in the course, which included details of UNC's 18-year-long athletic scandal in which players were given credit for sham classes designed to keep them eligible for competition. Mr. Smith wrote a book about the scandal with Mary Willingham, the whistle-blower in the case. |
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