| Thursday, November 2, 2017 |
| LINK Trust, Harvard visitors, discuss region's economic gains | |
 | Jan Rivkin said there's no greater gift for professors than food for thought, and local officials gave 20 visitors from Harvard Business School a feast during a two-day visit to the Golden Triangle. The group, led by Rivkin, who is the HBS senior associate dean for research, visited the region to meet with local education, business and government leaders and the Golden Triangle Development LINK Trust. The visit was one of a series of trips the HBS faculty takes to study economic development across the United States and to create a clearer picture of the country's competitiveness. During a Tuesday morning breakfast with the LINK Trust at The Mill at Mississippi State University, some of the Harvard visitors asked officials about the region's challenges and triumphs. |
| Harvard biz faculty learns about Golden Triangle | |
 | A group of about 20 faculty members from the prestigious Harvard Business School paid a visit to the Golden Triangle early this week and were given a firsthand account of how the economy has grown and evolved in the region. The breakfast event -- which featured a panel discussion -- was hosted by the Golden Triangle Development LINK at the Mill Conference Center on Tuesday, with LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins serving as master of ceremonies. "I think they've learned some stuff from us and we've certainly learned some stuff from them," Higgins told the Starkville Daily News following the event. "I may volunteer to take a bunch of our group up to Cambridge to spend some time with them." During their visit, the group toured Steel Dynamics Incorporated, PACCAR Engine Company, the EMCC Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Mississippi State University's National Strategic Planning and Research Center. |
| OCEDA chairman Jack Wallace dies at 75 | |
| Those who knew him say Jack Wallace was a pillar of economic development for Oktibbeha County. Wallace, 75, died Tuesday. The Oktibbeha native has been a familiar face for decades in the county's efforts to improve its economic footing, serving most recently as president of the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority Board. Greater Starkville Development Partnership CEO Scott Maynard said Wallace was instrumental in helping form the Partnership, and he also served in the chamber of commerce before that. Jerry Toney, GSDP chairman and president of Cadence Bank, said Wallace served with the Partnership and Chamber, in various capacities, for more than 30 years combined. Wallace was instrumental in many projects, including the development of the Thad Cochran Research Park at Mississippi State University and the new industrial park Oktibbeha County and the city of Starkville are pursuing. |
| Planning and Zoning OKs new residential development | |
| The Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission approved to accept the final plat for a new residential development on a 10.95-acre parcel at the east end of Turnberry Lane and Cypress Point Road. The commission unanimously approved the final plat during a special call meeting on Wednesday. The request was made by Pritchard Engineering on behalf of Frank Jones Development for the final plat approval for subdividing the area into 16 lots, which will be for single-family houses. Prior to the commission passing the motion, City Attorney Chris Latimer asked the commission to change the proposed amendment to include the city's storm water request, which would help avoid ambiguity in the future. |
| Atmos Energy plans to build new office in Golden Triangle | |
| Atmos Energy's three Golden Triangle offices are hoping to move into a new, centralized location next year. Michelle Whittle, operations manager for Atmos' "District 45," which includes the three counties of the Golden Triangle, along with Monroe County and Tupelo, said Atmos is finalizing funding for the new office, which will be located next to Wade Construction on South Frontage Road, a few miles west of Columbus. Atmos has offices in Columbus, Starkville and West Point. The new location will serve Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties. Whittle said the more centralized location will better allow Atmos to serve the region, as some of the need for an office in each city has been reduced due to technological advancements. |
| Time change this weekend: Get ready to 'fall back' one hour as Daylight Saving Time ends | |
 | Get ready to fall back this weekend. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday Nov. 5, meaning you should set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night. The tradition of "falling back" means you will get an extra hour to sleep Sunday morning but also signals the start of dark afternoons. The switch pushes sunrise and sunset back an hour, meaning there will be more light in the morning with darkness coming sooner in the afternoon. On Sunday, sunset time will be around 4:50 p.m. CST. Most computers and cell phones now change their clocks automatically, but you will still need to fix your watch, microwave and car. The twice-a-year change is also a good time to check the batteries in your smoke detector. |
| A Storytelling Revival in Mississippi | |
 | Long before the 20th-century technologies of talking pictures, radio programs and television broadcasts began stripping American conversations of accents and regionalisms, Mississippi was home to a rich storytelling culture. The oppressively hot afternoons in the Delta and the cool, quiet country nights of the rural woodlands inspired many of the greatest American storytellers, including William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Eudora Welty and Shelby Foote, and the blues musicians Robert Johnson and Son House. This year, to honor the bicentennial of Mississippi's statehood, residents throughout the state are following that tradition, telling the stories of their own communities with photographs employing the 21st-century technology of smartphones. |
| Legislature expected to have slightly less money during 2018 session | |
 | The Mississippi Legislature, based on preliminary numbers, will have $1.5 million less to spend in the 2018 session than it did last year. The 14-member Legislative Budget Committee, which includes Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn, met with Gov. Phil Bryant Wednesday to set a revenue estimate for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. During a meeting in a conference room of the Woolfolk state office building, they adopted the estimate recommended by the state's financial experts of revenue of $5.6 billion, or .03 percent less than is expected to be collected during the current fiscal year. "It is prudent for us to have a conservative revenue estimate," Reeves said. |
| State revenue expected to be down $1.5 million for next budget year | |
 | With Mississippi's sluggish growth rate, state economist Darrin Webb is estimating state revenue of $5.6 billion for the next budget year, which is down $1.5 million from the current budget year. "Revenue will continue to grow at a very slow rate," Webb told the Legislative Budget Committee on Wednesday. Webb made no change in the estimate of $5.615 billion for the current budget year, which ends June 30. Webb said there has been some improvements recently in the state's overall economy but that the revenue growth rate will remain sluggish, estimating an annual growth rate of 2.2 percent. Since the 2008 recession, Mississippi's economy has grown at a slower rate than most other states, Webb said. |
| State economist questions rosy tax revenue reports | |
| State Economist Darrin Webb warned legislative leaders Wednesday that revenue growth seen through the first quarter of the fiscal year is exaggerated by one-time events. "On the surface, general fund transfers look better in fiscal year 2018," Webb said. "But the strength of the first quarter is inflated." Webb explained the discrepancies to legislative leaders at a Joint Legislative Budget Committee meeting in which lawmakers adopted Webb's recommended $5.6 billion revenue estimate for Fiscal Year 2019, which begins next July 1. Lawmakers will use that revenue estimate when crafting next fiscal year's budget. Webb, who heads the nonpartisan, state-funded University Research Center, meets with the committee several times each year, providing analytical updates on the state's economy and its projected future. |
| Mississippi moves to tax internet sales, after long delay | |
 | Mississippi will start requiring some large online and mail-order retailers to collect taxes on sales made from outside the state beginning Dec. 1, even though the move could be unenforceable and trigger an immediate court challenge. The state Revenue Department filed notice Wednesday that it was enacting the rule, more than 10 months after proposing it. It's part of a nationwide effort to overturn past U.S. Supreme Court rulings forbidding states from requiring tax collections by companies without in-state locations, as spending shifts to online retailers. Mississippi Revenue Commissioner Herb Frierson has acknowledged that the rule directly challenges those decisions, saying he wants the court to reconsider. Some opponents say Frierson doesn't have the power to enact a rule contradicting federal law. |
| Discord could jeopardize Columbus CVB funding: Plan would give city cut of restaurant tax | |
| A political standoff is brewing between Columbus and Lowndes County, and the fate of renewing a 2-percent food and beverage tax for tourism hangs in the balance. Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said the city wants a share of collections from the tax, which for the last 10 years has been divided between the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau (85 percent) and the Golden Triangle Development LINK economic development agency (15 percent). The current 10-year term for the tax, which collects 2 percent of prepared food and beverage sales at establishments that gross at least $325,000 in those categories annually, expires in July 2018. The Mississippi Legislature must renew the tax in its upcoming session to keep it on the books, but both the Columbus City Council and Lowndes County Board of Supervisors must first approve resolutions requesting its renewal. |
| Dan Carr, Joel Carter and Ron Meyers running for the Mississippi District 49 Senate seat | |
 | Three candidates are in the race to succeed Appeals Court Judge Sean Tindell in the Mississippi Senate after the qualifying deadline passed Monday. Dan Q. Carr, Joel Carter and Ron Meyers all qualified to run in a special election Dec. 19 for the District 49 seat that Tindell gave up to go to the state Appeals Court. All the candidates are from Gulfport. Carter is owner of J. Carter & Co. Real Estate and Development, Carr is youth pastor at Faith Baptist Church and Meyers is owner of Ron Meyers Productions. |
| Rep. Bennie Thompson said he and his top staffer agreed it was time for him to go | |
| Rep. Bennie Thompson said Wednesday that it took a while for him to let go of a longtime staffer, who was charged last year with not paying taxes, in part because he believed in "second" chances. "I wanted to do the right thing," said Thompson, a Democrat who represents Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District. "A lot of people I represent believe in second and third chances. And I don't want to get any way cross with the people I represent. Most of the folk that I represent go to somebody's church on Sunday asking for redemption and forgiveness for whatever they've done wrong. So I try to pattern what I do every day in life after that." But Thompson on Monday fired Isaac Lanier Avant, who worked with the congressman for more than 15 years. Avant has served as Thompson's chief of staff and the Democratic staff director for the House Homeland Security Committee. |
| Trump's NASA pick faces blistering criticism on Capitol Hill | |
 | Democrats pummeled President Donald Trump's pick to lead NASA at his confirmation hearing Wednesday, criticizing his past controversial statements on gay rights and climate change as well as poking holes in his professional qualifications. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, commended Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) for his military service but said his experience as a pilot does not alone qualify him to lead NASA and make the budgetary and engineering decisions that come with the job. The senator also slammed Bridenstine for numerous statements he has made, including discriminatory remarks about the LGBT community and a denial that people contribute to climate change. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) defended Bridenstine for his remarks, saying that the climate has undergone "wild swings" for decades that were never linked directly to humans. "Let me say something about scientific consensus: It hasn't always been right," he said. |
| Lawmakers slam social media giants for failing to block Russian ads, posts during 2016 campaign | |
 | Lawmakers on Wednesday released a dramatic trove of Facebook ads and other social media posts by Russian operatives that sought to aid Donald Trump's presidential campaign last year and deepen U.S. political divisions over immigration, gay rights, guns, race and religion. Russian operatives were secretly able to make skilled use of hot-button political issues and sophisticated targeting on Facebook and Instagram to reach nearly 150 million Americans, nearly half the U.S. population, the lawmakers were told. Members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which held separate hearings Wednesday, leveled blistering criticism at Facebook, Twitter and Google for failing to act aggressively to block Russian use of their social media platforms to sow division before and after last year's presidential election. |
| UM's vice chancellor for diversity and community engagement presents on connectedness, diversity | |
 | "Often people's resistance comes from not knowing," Katrina Caldwell said to a group of 50 University of Mississippi students in the library Wednesday night. "We have to change attitudes, change the narrative. We have to find the ways our values connect." Caldwell, vice chancellor for diversity and community engagement, spoke about connectedness and diversity. Her lecture was part of the "Are You Ready? Dialogue Series," which aims to start conversations between students and faculty about difficult and important topics. Hosted by the library, this week's topic was "Just Mercy," the university's Common Reading Experience booker 2017, that is required for many First-Year Experience classes. "Just Mercy" recounts the chilling story of Walter McMillian, a young black man who was wrongfully sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman with whom he was involved. |
| Ole Miss to host Women and Entrepreneurship week Nov. 14-17 | |
| A new, week-long event is coming to the Ole Miss campus and it looks to promote women in entrepreneurship. From Nov. 14-17, the Career Center and Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will be hosting Women and Entrepreneurship Week, in which a variety of speakers and experts will come to campus. Students and people of both genders are encouraged to attend. The event starts on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 12 p.m. with regional experts coaching attendees on how to best market themselves in their careers. The rest of the week includes a panel discussion with small business owners and a lecture from "Shark Tank" winners Juli and Richard Rhett, owners of Sierra Madre Research based in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The final day will host Brittany Wagner from Netflix's "Last Chance U," filmed at East Mississippi Community College. |
| Insurance assistance group provides ACA enrollment info at USM | |
 | Students at the University of Southern Mississippi got some valuable information about the Affordable Care Act Wednesday, courtesy of the Mississippi Health Access Collaborative. That organization, which provides navigators to help enroll people for health insurance, handed out free information at the Thad Cochran Center and spoke to students about the open enrollment period for insurance through Healthcare.gov. That period runs from Nov. 1 - Dec. 15 and is six weeks shorter than previous enrollment periods. |
| Community college donation race to benefit local food pantries | |
| A friendly competition between rival schools, Itawamba Community College and Northeast Mississippi Community College, will benefit a good cause this month. The two schools will battle to see who can collect the most canned food donations for local food pantries through November. "The holidays are coming up and this is a good time for the local food pantries. They usually have more clients to serve during the holiday season, so this is a good time for us to help them," ICC Director of Success Dr. Bronson Prochaska said. Prochaska is a coordinator for the challenge at ICC. The event is held annually, and is coordinated through the Mississippi State University Extension departments in Prentiss and Itawamba counties. Donations will go to local food pantries. MSU Extension service has helped coordinate the event between the two colleges. |
| FCC Delays, Denials Foil Rural Schools' Broadband Plans | |
 | Hundreds of state and local efforts to connect rural and remote schools to fiber-optic networks have been delayed or rejected by federal officials during the past two years, jeopardizing the push to bring high-speed internet to the country's hardest-to-connect classrooms. Broadband proponents say the problems stem from confusing barriers erected by the Federal Communications Commission and the Universal Service Administrative Company, which oversee and administer the E-rate, a $3.9 billion program to help schools and libraries pay for internet access and other telecommunications services. "If the commission really wants to close the digital divide, they should be rolling out the red carpet for these fiber projects," said Evan Marwell, CEO of the nonprofit advocacy group EducationSuperHighway. "Instead, they are rolling out the red tape." |
| At 94, Shirley Jones steps down from job on U. of Alabama event staff | |
 | Shirley Jones was born on October 15, 1923. She is 94 years old. She stands all of, maybe, 5-feet, and has the kind of smile that melts hearts. No one is a stranger. She greets a newcomer, and everyone she knows, with a hug. And, her son, Frank Jones, declares without prejudice, that Shirley is his best worker, in a sea of good workers. Her work? Event security. Shirley Jones was in her 80s when she began, yes, began, what would become, she said, the best job she ever undertook. For nearly a decade, Shirley has worked on the event staff for University of Alabama home football games at Bryant-Denny Stadium. "I keep people from going to the Scholarship Club who aren't supposed to," she said. |
| Auburn to host 2018 SEC Academic Conference on cyber security | |
 | Auburn University will host the 2018 SEC Academic Conference that will focus on cyber security, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Wednesday. The conference, entitled Cyber Security: A Shared Responsibility, is scheduled for April 8-10, 2018, and will explore computer and communication technology; the economic and physical systems that are controlled by technology; and the policies and laws that govern and protect information stored, transmitted and processed with technology. "This year's SEC Academic Conference is a great opportunity for us to help enrich collaboration among SEC students, faculty and administrators in a critical area of national importance" said Greg Sankey, SEC Commissioner. "Auburn leaders have worked tirelessly to develop a program that will challenge and encourage those in this field, and I commend them for their efforts." |
| Woman convicted of vehicular homicide in UGA cyclist's death | |
 | A Clarke County jury this week rendered guilty verdicts in the trial of a Madison County woman accused of causing the death of a popular University of Georgia student last year. Whitney Baker Howard, 32, swerved across the center line of Athena Drive on Sept. 12, 2016, and plowed into a group of cyclists, killing UGA graduate student Ashley Block, 25. Another cyclist, Mitchel Enfinger, was seriously injured. After a week-long trial, the jury found Howard guilty of two counts of felony first-degree vehicular homicide and seven counts of inflicting serious injury with a vehicle, in addition to single counts of driving under the influence of drugs and endangering a child while driving under the influence of drugs. Howard's 2-year-old daughter was with her when Howard swerved across the center line of Athena Drive as she tried to answer her cell phone. |
| U. of Tennessee trustees to consider $795 million in capital projects over five years | |
 | The University of Tennessee board of trustees on Friday will consider more than $795 million in capital projects proposed for the next five years, including the construction of a new college of nursing at UT Knoxville, estimated to cost $95 million. The list of more than a dozen proposed projects is among several items the board will consider starting at 1 p.m. Friday in Hollingsworth Auditorium at the UT Institute of Agriculture. Committee meetings will take place Thursday afternoon and earlier in the day Friday. Following approval by the board Friday, UT will ask the state for funding for the projects starting with an initial round to be included in the 2018-2019 budget. The board will look at adopting a policy to comply with the Campus Free Speech Protection Act, a new state law affirming the principals of free speech and outlawing restrictions on where students have free speech rights on campus. |
| UK Provost Tim Tracy leaving for pharmaceutical company job | |
 | The University of Kentucky's academic chief is leaving for a private sector job, President Eli Capilouto announced Wednesday morning. UK Provost Tim Tracy will resign on Dec. 31 to become chief executive officer of Aprecia Pharmaceuticals, a research and development company in Cincinnati. "Our provost did not seek this opportunity," Capilouto said in a campus-wide email. "It sought him." Tracy has been provost since February 2015, when he was hired to replace Christine Riordan, who left UK after 18 months. Tracy temporarily left his role as dean of the College of Pharmacy to serve as interim provost for more than a year in 2012 and 2013, before Riordan was hired. His current annual salary is $447,741. Tracy received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Ohio Northern University and a doctorate in clinical pharmacy from Purdue University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Indiana University. |
| Vanderbilt University wins state grant to create teacher pipeline with Nashville schools | |
 | Vanderbilt University's Peabody College was awarded a $16,000 grant by the state on Wednesday to create a teacher residency program in partnership with Nashville public schools. The grant by the Tennessee Department of Education and Education Commissioner Candice McQueen is meant to create a yearlong clinical experience for prospective teachers, according to a news release. Over the next few months, Vanderbilt's Peabody College will collaborate with Metro Nashville Public Schools to develop the plans for a two-part teacher residency program, the release says. "We must ensure that our state has a strong, vibrant educator pipeline to meet the needs of our schools and provide high-quality instruction for our students," McQueen said in the release. |
| U. of Missouri backtracks on 'House of Cards' reference | |
 | The University of Missouri was forced into the position of apologizing to lawmakers Wednesday when a call for student interns began with a bold-faced sentence to "Experience the real life House of Cards!" as the show was being canceled for allegations of sexual misconduct by star Kevin Spacey. The message was included in a MU Info email sent early Wednesday and was posted on a web page that contained the same information as the email. The other items in the email are similar in nature, offering opportunities for internships, meetings and social events on campus. "I find that comparison a bit insulting, whether they were trying to be controversial or not, that is the way I interpret it," said state Rep. Martha Stevens, D-Columbia. "I get that, especially for the age demographic, they used the reference to get someone's attention." The Office of Service Learning included the reference to make a pop-culture connection for students, spokesman Christian Basi said. |
| U. of Missouri launches new award for graduate and professional students | |
 | The Mizzou Alumni Association Student Board is introducing a new award that will recognize 18 University of Missouri graduate and professional students. The award, Mizzou 18, will acknowledge students for their research, collaboration with faculty and staff and leadership with undergraduate students, according to a news release. The recipients will represent a variety of majors, activities and organizations across campus. The honorees will also choose a faculty or staff member they feel have made an impact on MU students. |
| Science organizations troubled by Rand Paul bill targeting peer review | |
 | Science advocates are calling a proposal from Senator Rand Paul a blatant attempt to inject politics into federally funded research. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, is one of the Senate's biggest critics of what he sees as wasteful spending by the government. His latest target is federal research he believes has little or no payoff for taxpayers -- a situation Paul would address by altering the peer-review process for evaluating grant applications at all federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, as well as smaller agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities. He proposes in legislation introduced in October to add two new members to the peer-review panels that judge applications for federal funding. |
| Under New Trump Rule, Notre Dame Ends Contraception Coverage for Employees, Students | |
 | Contraception will no longer be covered under the University of Notre Dame's insurance plan for employees and students, Indiana Public Media reports. The Roman Catholic university's decision follows new regulations on the Affordable Care Act issued on October 6 by the Trump administration. The new regulations allow colleges and other entities to apply for exemptions for religious reasons from providing contraception coverage. The new regulations follow lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act's mandate that contraception be covered in employees' insurance. "We welcome this reversal," said the Rev. John I. Jenkins, the university's president, after the Trump administration issued the new regulations. |
| Governor's proposed flag referendum would be no favor to Roger Wicker | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "If there is anyone who hopes Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant does not succeed in his quest to get on the ballot a referendum on whether to change or keep the state flag, it is U.S. Roger Wicker, a Tupelo Republican. Wicker, at least, would not want the issue on the 2018 ballot where he could potentially face a challenge in the Republican primary from state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ellisville. Wicker is one of Mississippi's few Republican elected officials to have endorsed changing the state flag to remove the controversial Confederate battle emblem from its design. Both he and the state's senior U.S. senator, Thad Cochran, endorsed the change in the summer of 2015 after the mass shooting at an African American church in Charleston, S.C, by a white supremacist. Wicker voiced support for removing the Confederate emblem from the Mississippi flag primarily because he said it was offensive to a significant percentage of the state's citizenry." |
SPORTS
| Will 'slippery digits' ever happen? At least Keytaon Thompson is prepared | |
| When asked Wednesday about the development of backup quarterback Keytaon Thompson, Dan Mullen volunteered the information that Mississippi State has a package that features both the true freshman and starter Nick Fitzgerald. It wasn't the first time he mentioned the play, either. That initial occurrence happened during the week before the BYU game on Dawg Talk, when Mullen jokingly referred to the hypothetical play as "slippery digits." "With the athleticism of Keytaon, and Nick has played outside, you can really move either one of them to quarterback and either one can go to receiver," Mullen said. "If you're going to do it, you're going to do a gadget play or two out of it. We do have something in a personnel group to have them both on the field." The offense has practiced it, Mullen added, but just hasn't run it in a game yet. |
| Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald named Maxwell Award semifinalist | |
| Mississippi State junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald has been selected as a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the top college football player. Fitzgerald currently ranks second in the SEC and 11th nationally with 23 touchdowns responsible for. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder from Richmond Hill, Georgia has completed 56.9 percent of his passes for 1,320 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions while rushing 99 times for 666 yards and 10 more scores. Fitzgerald is the first Bulldog to be named a Maxwell Award semifinalist since Dak Prescott in 2015. |
| Mississippi State's Fletcher Adams settling in during sophomore season | |
| Fletcher Adams got his feet wet as a redshirt freshman last year, appearing in 11 games for Mississippi State in a reserve role. Adams has assumed much larger responsibilities this fall, including three starts at defensive end. "It's big (to get more playing time) and I feel like I've gotten a lot better since last year," Adams said. "I still need to get better with my pass rush but other than that, I feel good. I'm just contributing to help our team win." The 6-foot-2, 270-pounder has recorded 10 tackles on the year including 1.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and one pass break-up. Adams is in his third year in the program and credits his redshirt season in 2015 for his development. |
| Mississippi State hosts West Florida in second exhibition | |
| Ben Howland will get one final opportunity to observe his Mississippi State team on the court before the regular season begins next Friday. The Bulldogs host West Florida in a rare second exhibition game at 7 p.m. tonight. Admission is free. MSU lost its first exhibition game to Nebraska 76-72 on Oct. 22 and also dropped a closed-door scrimmage with Texas Tech over the weekend. West Florida is coming off the best season in program history. The Argonauts went 20-9 in 2016-17 and are led by senior guard Marvin Jones, who was third on the team last season averaging 11.3 points. |
| Two former Coast standouts could play big roles for Mississippi State | |
| Mississippi State hasn't gotten to the top of the women's college basketball world on the back of one person. Head coach Vic Schaefer and his staff had the vision to make the Bulldogs a winner in the Southeastern Conference and beyond, but he had to have the players. When he got those players, every one of them seemed to do their part in leading MSU to more and more wins each season. That includes a couple of Coast bench players who produced down the stretch. Backup point guard Jazzmun Holmes averaged just 2.7 points per game but was second on the team with 98 assists as a junior and her ball game in the second round of the NCAA Tourney helped spark a run by the Bulldogs. As Holmes' role increases, so does sophomore forward Ameshya Williams. |
| SEC coaches pick Mississippi State second, Rebels 12th | |
| Mississippi State is once again expected to finish as the SEC runner-up to South Carolina in women's basketball. The league's coaches voted the Bulldogs No. 2 in the conference while Ole Miss was picked to finish 12th. Bulldog senior guards Victoria Vivians and Morgan William were each selected first team All-SEC while teammate Teaira McCowan, a junior center, was named to the second team. A'ja Wilson of South Carolina is the Preseason Player of the Year. Vivians was the only other player to receive votes in that category. |
| Burke Masters: Mississippi State to Chicago Cubs -- via divine intervention | |
| Burke Masters is rarely asked about the famous grand slam home run he hit in 1990 to send Mississippi State to the College World Series. "Not until I come back to Mississippi," Masters said. Cue the questions. He will be in Jackson on Monday and Tuesday for Catholic Charities Jackson's Journey of Hope, the organization's largest annual fundraiser. Masters, 50, an ordained priest since 2002, serves as the vocation director for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois -- his hometown. He is also team chaplain of the Chicago Cubs. Faith and baseball have long been a huge part of Masters' life. |
| Southern Miss not buying anti-hype surrounding struggling Tennessee | |
 | Southern Miss will get a break from Conference USA action this week. The Golden Eagles (5-3 overall) have a chance to improve to 2-2 versus the SEC under second-year football coach Jay Hopson when they travel to Knoxville to face off against a struggling Tennessee Volunteers squad. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. (CST) and will be broadcast by the SEC Network. As much as Butch Jones' team (3-5) has wallowed through the first two-thirds of the season, Southern Miss will do its best to avoid buying into the anti-hype surrounding a team that has lost four in a row and whose only wins are UMass, Indiana State and a 1-point overtime decision against Georgia Tech. The Vols are coming off a 29-26 setback at the hands of Kentucky, a team that beat Southern Miss 24-17 in both teams' season opener. |
| How is Ole Miss trying to provide clarity for boosters amid uncertainty? | |
| Keith Carter, Ole Miss' senior associate athletic director for development and its athletic foundation's executive director, has heard the questions. Usually, the conversation starts with: "What's going on with the NCAA?" Later on, it might shift to the university's coaching search. It's two unanswerable questions, because nobody at Ole Miss really has the answer to right now. So how do Carter and the athletic foundation try to provide clarity to unanswerable questions from the donors who support Ole Miss' athletic department? The biggest frustration for the donors, he said, is the uncertainty. For the athletic foundation, an answer, even if it's bad, is better than the unknown because at least it knows what it's up against. And uncertainty can create a little hesitation. |
| Neyland Stadium renovation: $340 million project to start in summer 2018 | |
| A $340 million renovation of Neyland Stadium now includes additional funding for improvements to the south end of the stadium and enhancements of the fan experience, according to an overview of the project slated to be discussed by the University of Tennessee board of trustees this week. Construction on the first phase of the Neyland renovations is scheduled to start in summer 2018 pending approval from the board and the State Building Commission. UT Knoxville Athletic Director John Currie will present the updated plans to the board's Athletics Committee at 3 p.m. Thursday in Hollingsworth Auditorium at the UT Institute of Agriculture. The plans will then be considered by the full board Friday. This is the first time a total cost estimate for the project has been made public. The $340 million figure includes a $74 million increase from projected costs for Phase I of the project. |
| Questions surround Auburn men's basketball as Thursday exhibition looms | |
| The biggest question heading into Thursday's exhibition against Barry University is not how the Auburn's men's basketball team will play on the court, but rather which players will be on the court. Bruce Pearl's fourth team on the Plains has been practicing since Sept. 29 with the cloud of the FBI's investigation into college basketball hanging over its head thanks to associate head coach Chuck Person's involvement. Person, who was arrested on Sept. 26 and charged with six counts of federal corruption as the result of a joint investigation conducted by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office, is alleged to have given a combined $18,500 to the mothers of two Auburn players -- listed as Player-1 and Player-2 in the federal complaint -- in order to steer them toward a financial adviser, Marty Blazer, who was acting as a confidential informant. As of Wednesday evening, Auburn had not revealed the identities or eligibility status of those two players. |
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