| Tuesday, December 12, 2017 |
| Former Mississippi State hoops coach to headline Breakfast with the Bulldogs | |
 | Former Mississippi State men's basketball coach Richard Williams will be the guest speaker at the December installment of Breakfast with the Bulldogs, hosted by the Oktibbeha County Chapter of the MSU Alumni Association. The Dutch treat breakfast will be held at City Bagel on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 a.m. Williams led the 1991 team to a Southeastern Conference championship and made the NCAA tournament losing in the first round to Eastern Michigan. His 1995 squad made the Sweet Sixteen, and his 1996 squad made the school's only Men's Final Four appearance losing to Syracuse 77-69. Williams now serves as the color commentator for the Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team's radio broadcasts with Neil Price. |
| MSU-Meridian students give Meridian High freshmen self-presentation tips | |
 | Meridian High School freshmen received some advice Monday morning about strategies they might use to present themselves to future educators and employers. They also heard about actions they might want to avoid altogether. Members of Mississippi State University-Meridian's Collegiate DECA chapter delivered a presentation about "personal branding" and related topics to the freshmen in Meridian High School's auditorium. Lynette Cockrell, vice president of the MSU-Meridian's DECA chapter, said social media, among other factors, can contribute to the image a student projects to employers and educators. "College admission officers are going to be looking at their social media, so they really need to start thinking about that now while they're freshmen," Cockrell said after the presentation. |
| Oktibbeha County OKs franchise agreement with MaxxSouth | |
 | Oktibbeha County could get up to $30,000 per year in additional revenue as a result of a franchise agreement supervisors recently approved with MaxxSouth. As part of the agreement, MaxxSouth video service customers who live in the county, outside of Starkville city limits, will see up to a 5 percent increase on their bills to pay for the franchise fee. County Administrator Emily Garrard said she's been trying to get a new franchise agreement with MaxxSouth for a few years, after learning municipalities like Starkville and other counties collect franchise fees from cable companies while Oktibbeha County did not. However, she said she couldn't successfully contact the appropriate people at the company until recently. |
| Restaurateurs plan fast casual concept for empty service station | |
| A new fast casual eatery will open this spring at the corner of Jackson Street and Highway 182, which the owners hope will spur further development along the corridor. Humble Taco is the brainchild of Eat Local Starkville, which is owned by Starkville attorney Brian Kelley and chef Ty Thames. Kelley and Thames will also bring Restaurant Tyler general manager Hunter Smith into the mix for the new restaurant. The trio will be the primary partners heading up Humble Taco, which will have a facade and name inspired by the Humble Oil Company that formerly operated a service station at the intersection dating back to the 1930s. While working to maintain the structural integrity of the historic property, Kelley said his hope is for Humble Taco to be a catalyst that leads to other great things through the corridor. |
| Toyota names Sean Suggs new president of Blue Springs plant | |
 | Toyota Mississippi has named Sean Suggs as the new president of its Blue Springs facility. Suggs will assume the role effective Jan. 1, 2018. He currently serves as the vice president of manufacturing. He will also be the vice president of administration at the plant. "In the winter of 1997 someone took a chance and hired me as a Team Leader at Toyota's Indiana plant," said Suggs. "It shook up my entire life. Twenty years later in the winter of 2017, I have come full circle as the president of Toyota's Blue Springs facility. Our team members have always been my priority, and that will not change. As I honor the legacy of the presidents before me, I will build the foundation of excellence they laid for me as I continue to shape Toyota Mississippi's future success." |
| Threefoot work in downtown Meridian to begin Thursday; 6th Street to close temporarily | |
| Work on the long anticipated Courtyard by Marriott-Threefoot Building remodeling project is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Thursday. The City of Meridian will begin shutting down 6th Street from the Doughboy Monument to the corner of 22nd Avenue to begin Phase 1, according to a City of Meridian news release issued Monday evening. Traffic on 22nd Avenue is not expected to be impeded, according to the city. The city anticipates reopening 6th Street by the close of business Thursday. The hotel will have about 130 rooms, with a restaurant, a Starbucks coffee shop and 1,100-square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Valet parking will also be available for guests. Ascent initially committed to spending at least $14 million to renovate the building. That number has now increased to about $22 million. |
| Rep. John Moore resigns amid sexual harassment allegations | |
 | Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, a 22-year veteran of the Mississippi House of Representatives, resigned late Friday following multiple allegations of sexual harassment. House Speaker Philip Gunn confirmed the allegations to Mississippi Today first but could not state whether this led to Moore's resignation. He did say that after hearing the allegations, his office consulted with outside counsel, which recommended an investigation and that the investigation was imminent. Gunn said he met with Moore more than once and informed him of the allegations. Moore's resignation from the House means an inquiry is no longer necessary, according to Gunn. |
| House Education Chairman John Moore resigns amid sex harassment complaints | |
 | State House Education Chairman John Moore cited health concerns when he resigned abruptly last week, but House Speaker Philip Gunn says Moore was facing sexual harassment complaints from multiple women. In a meeting Monday, Gunn would provide few details about the complaints, other than to confirm their existence. He said Moore's resignation ends the House's probe into the matter. Gunn said his office retained legal counsel when it learned of the complaints, and that the House Ethics Committee would have investigated the complaints. Gunn, citing privacy concerns for those who complained, would not provide details on the nature of, nor the time frame of complaints against Moore. He said he cannot speak to or refute Moore's stated reasons for resigning, but said Moore was aware of the complaints and a pending probe by the House Ethics Committee. |
| Latest legislative resignation stunner leaves key committee vacancy | |
 | Three new legislators were sworn into office Monday even as Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves worked to fill key committee posts left vacant by the rash of legislative resignations this year. The effort to fill key committee posts was made more urgent for Gunn with the unexpected resignation late Friday of six-term Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon. Moore held the coveted post as chairman of the House Education Committee, served on the powerful Legislative Budget Committee and was a key member of the Appropriations Committee. Published reports Monday revealed that Moore resigned as the House Ethics Committee was preparing to investigate multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Moore said he had not heard of the investigation, though, it was confirmed by the House speaker. Meg Annison, a spokeswoman for Gunn, said "the hope" is that the speaker will fill the key posts left vacant by Moore by the time the legislative session begins on Jan. 2. |
| 3 Mississippi lawmakers sworn in after special elections | |
 | Three new Mississippi state lawmakers have taken office. State Sen. Neil Whaley and state Reps. Cheikh Taylor and Kevin Ford were sworn in Monday. Taylor, a Starkville Democrat, defeated two candidates in House District 38 in Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties on Nov. 7. The nonprofit leader succeeds retiring Democrat Tyrone Ellis of Starkville. |
| Rep. William Tracy Arnold looks to spur employment for felons after serving their sentence | |
| As a minister, state Rep. William Tracy Arnold, R-Booneville, said he sees too often people who serve their prison sentence return to a life of crime after not being able to find a job. Arnold, in his second term in the state House, will offer legislation during the 2018 session that he says might help end that vicious cycle for some. The bill would give employers a $2,500 tax credit for one year if they hire non-violent felons who have completed their sentences. "This will give people a second chance to be productive citizens," Arnold said. He said he believes the tax credit will actually save the state money because it costs the state about $30,000 per year to incarcerate a person convicted of a felony. As a pastor, I have seen people get out of prison and look for a job," he said. "They will check that box (indicating they are a felon) and often the application goes straight into the trash can." |
| Montgomery schools seek restraining order against Gunn, Reeves and Ed Board to stop consolidation | |
| A rural school district comprised of fewer than 300 students is taking on top legislative leaders and asking a federal judge to prevent its scheduled merger next year with a neighboring school system. On Dec. 8, counsel for the Montgomery County School District filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for a temporary restraining order against House Speaker Philip Gunn, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and several education officials, including State Superintendent Carey Wright and the state Board of Education. Also named in the motion is the Winona Municipal Separate School Board, which the filing states without intervention will "select a superintendent in the next few weeks." In 2016, the Legislature voted to consolidate the Montgomery County and Winona school districts into the Winona-Montgomery Consolidated School District, effective July 1, 2018. The Winona Municipal Separate School District has about 1,150 students. |
| Three women reassert allegations of sexual harassment against President Trump | |
 | The #MeToo sexual harassment movement roiling the nation reached the doors of the White House on Monday, when three women who last year accused President Trump of sexual misconduct began a renewed public push to gain attention for their allegations. The three accusers were among more than a dozen who had initially come forward during the 2016 presidential campaign. The three reinvigorated their stories this week with an appearance on Megyn Kelly's NBC show -- their first joint interview -- and a subsequent news conference in Manhattan, in which they also called on Congress to investigate their claims. Their appeal occurs on the eve of a closely fought special U.S. Senate election in Alabama, where Roy Moore, the Republican nominee whom Trump has endorsed, is facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, and as four Senate Democrats have called on Trump to resign amid the allegations of harassment against him. |
| Alabama Senate Race Ends Fittingly: With More Controversy | |
 | Alabama voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide between Roy S. Moore, a Republican, and Doug Jones, a Democrat, in a special Senate election that is destined to be remembered as one of the strangest and ugliest campaigns ever held in a state not lacking in unsightly politics. And the outcome of this race, in which Mr. Moore's path to victory in a deeply conservative state has been thrown into doubt over claims of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, carries immense implications. If Mr. Jones wins, Republicans would see their Senate advantage dwindle to a single seat, putting their majority in play next year. A Democratic victory would also raise questions about the red-state clout of President Trump, who, after initial reluctance following the allegations against Mr. Moore, has offered him a full-throated endorsement. But should Mr. Moore survive here, it would illustrate the enduring limitations of Democrats in the South and suggest that the tug of partisanship is a forbiddingly powerful force. |
| General counsel Lee Tyner, who led Ole Miss' NCAA defense, resigns | |
| Lee Tyner is resigning his post as Ole Miss' general counsel at the end of the fiscal year, the EAGLE has confirmed. The fiscal year ends on June 30, 2018. Tyner spearheaded the school's defense in the NCAA's long-running investigation into the football program. Perry Sansing will serve as interim general counsel beginning Jan. 1 as the school begins a national search for Tyner's replacement. Sansing currently serves as associate general counsel and special assistant to the chancellor for governmental affairs. Tyner has worked as an attorney at Ole Miss since 1998 and served as the school's chief legal officer since 2003. |
| USM's DuBard School receives international recognition | |
 | The DuBard School for Language Disorders at the University of Southern Mississippi received recognition from the International Multisensory Structured Structured Language Education Council. The school was only one of four schools in the U.S. recognized for a commitment to student achievement through multisensory structured language education as taught in IMSLEC Accredited Teacher/Therapy Training Courses. "The DuBard School for Language Disorders is honored to be one of IMSLEC's four recognized schools," said Missy Schraeder, interim director at the DuBard School. "We work tirelessly to ensure the DuBard Association Method is implemented with the highest standards at our school, and to train others across the country in multisensory structured language education. Most importantly, we know this methodology gives hope to families and individuals as they receive the gift of oral and written language." |
| Korean War veterans honored at EMCC | |
| "They finally remembered," said former U.S. Marine Ed "Hoot" Gipson, one of the 14 Mississippi Korean War veterans honored at a ceremony Monday at East Mississippi Community College. "The forgotten war -- they finally remembered." Twelve of the 14 veterans honored on Monday attended the event -- the Korean War Veterans' Appreciation Ceremony --- which was also attended by Consul General Hyung Gil Kim from the Republic of Korea's consulate in Houston. Kim, along with EMCC President Thomas Huebner, spoke warmly of their honored guests, many of whom were joined by family. Cody Perkins, outreach coordinator for the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board, who also teaches at EMCC and Mississippi State University, said it was an honor to stand before heroes next to the only Korean War memorial in Mississippi. |
| ECCC: Report shows high marks for student success, student progress | |
| East Central Community College in Decatur has released its 2016 Community College Performance Profile, or Report Card, in accordance with Mississippi House Bill No. 1071 from the 2010 legislative session. In the 2016 Community College Report Card, ECCC once again is a state leader in Total Student Success and Student Progress, or progression toward graduation of full-time, first-time students, according to a news release from ECCC. The college ranked at the top in students who graduate on-time, or in two years, and among the top in students who graduate in three years and in overall student success. ECCC was also at the top in percentage of non-degree seeking students, which relates to the college being the highest dual credit provider proportionate to total enrollment in Mississippi. |
| Christmas in faraway places: William Carey international students celebrate the holidays | |
 | Pankaj Bhatta loves decorating Christmas trees. It's something he does when he's in Hattiesburg and also in his home country of Nepal. The William Carey University international student turned out Monday for a tree-decorating event on campus. "At home we buy a small Christmas tree and decorate it," Bhatta said. "We have good food and a get-together." Bhatta will be spending the holidays with relatives in Baltimore, but he'll be thinking of home, where the malls, theaters and marketplaces are covered in lights for Christmas. The tree-decorating event was held especially for international students to make them feel at home during the season. "We want them to have part of an American tradition and be part of the Carey family," said Brandon Dillon, director of international admissions. "We're right in front of the cafeteria in the hub of campus, so they can feel a part of campus." |
| U. of Alabama to award more than 2,200 degrees on Saturday | |
 | More than 2,200 degrees will be awarded during the University of Alabama's graduation ceremonies on Saturday. UA will have two ceremonies at Coleman Coliseum on Saturday. Graduates from the Culverhouse College of Commerce, College of Communication & Information Sciences, College of Engineering, School of Social Work and School of Law will receive diplomas during the 9 a.m. ceremony. Graduates from the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Education, Human Environmental Sciences and Nursing will receive diplomas during the 1:30 p.m. ceremony. Ken Wright, professor of sports management in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, will serve as the commencement marshal. |
| U. of South Carolina gets $2-million grant from Continental Tire to hire new business prof | |
 | The University of South Carolina is getting a $2 million grant from a S.C. manufacturer for a new position at its business school.The grant from Continental Tire will pay for an endowed chair at the Darla Moore School of Business to teach and study supply chain management and operations.USC President Harris Pastides said Monday the grant is an example of the university working proactively with a corporate partner in its field of study."In announcing the establishment of the Continental endowed chair, we reaffirm not only this essential role but also the importance that corporate partnerships, like Continental, play in creating an impactful program that benefits the employers of our state and nation," Pastides said.The German tire manufacturer opened a plant in Sumter in 2013, and has worked with Moore School students on a number of projects since then, including the search for a local warehouse. |
| In Becoming an Arts Beacon, U. of Arkansas Refurbishes a Landmark | |
 | Shortly after Jeannie Hulen was named chair of the Department of Art at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 2009, she made a prophetic statement. Hulen was addressing colleagues at the 60th anniversary celebration of the Fine Arts Building, the 116,000-SF facility designed by world-renowned architect Edward Durell Stone, a Fayetteville native. The building was constructed in 1950 to house multiple disciplines such as architecture, music, theater and art, but its glamour had waned over the years. Hulen's ambition to promote the learning of art at the university received an enormous boost this summer when the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation gave the school a $120 million gift, a quarter of which will be used to renovate Stone's midcentury work. |
| LSU student group seeks to rename prominent buildings though namesakes not Confederates | |
 | Now that Confederate names have been stripped from one LSU street and two buildings are slated to be torn down, a coalition of student groups wants to change the names on two of the more prominent buildings on the Baton Rouge campus. Renew LSU on Friday filed the official papers requesting that university administrators change the name of Murphy J. Foster Hall, which sits near the bell tower and is home of the Museum of Natural History. The group will watch how that renaming process works, then will set its sites on changing the name of the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum, said Savanah Dickinson, a spokeswoman for the student coalition called Renew LSU. "Murphy J. Foster and John Parker weren't Confederates but they weren't the most savory of individuals and certainly not worthy of such high profile recognition on the LSU campus," Dickinson said. |
| Kennedy's Book Store, a U. of Kentucky campus fixture since 1950, is closing | |
 | Kennedy's Wildcat Den, the textbook and fan merchandise store that has been a fixture beside the University of Kentucky campus since 1950, will close after the semester ends. "Sales have gone down, down, down," said Carol Kennedy Behr, the general manager and daughter of founder Joe Kennedy, who at age 92 remains involved in the business. "This is just the time." Kennedy's announced its closing in an email to customers Sunday night, just before final-exam week. Merchandise in the store except textbooks will be marked 40 percent off, Behr said. Rented books must be returned by Dec. 16 and gift cards used by Dec. 22, when the store's doors close for good. Kennedy's will continue selling fan merchandise online for a while.UK's new product licensing contract put Kennedy's at a bigger disadvantage, Behr said. |
| U. of Missouri professor develops cancer treatment using natural sources | |
 | Kattesh Katti had two main inspirations for developing "green" nanotechnology. The first was his belief that innovation shouldn't come at the cost of the planet. The second was that a medicine could be completely natural. That's how he came to develop a 100 percent green process that he says uses no toxic chemicals and leaves zero toxic waste. He hopes the developing nanotechnology will be used for treating cancer, cardiovascular disease and arthritis. Katti is a curators distinguished professor of radiology and physics at the University of Missouri and director of the Institute of Green Nanotechnology. He said that about 15 years ago he began thinking about how he could apply nanoscience to medicine. He figured if he could convert gold metal into disease-specific nanoparticles that were compatible with living tissue, it would open doors to new applications in medicine. |
| Colleges, universities targeted in GOP bills | |
 | Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly taking aim at nonprofit colleges and universities in major legislation. The tax-reform bill that Republicans are negotiating would make significant changes to federal student aid programs and the taxation of university endowments, alarming higher education advocates. "If you wanted to come up with a plan to make college more expensive, undermine access for higher education and our ability to produce bright young graduates, who are going to go on to produce enormous contributions to the economy and its long-term vitality and vibrancy ... you'd do what the House bill does," said Steven Bloom, director of government relations at the American Council of Education (ACE). |
| As House panel prepares to debate Higher Ed Act, drafters add study on student-level data | |
 | The massive Higher Education Act bill that the House of Representatives education committee will begin debating today got a slight revision Monday, as the panel's Republican leaders offered a modest nod to greater transparency about student outcomes. But advocates for a federal student-level data system say the additional language, part of a package of changes to the original bill text known as a manager's amendment, just kicks the can down the road on resolving transparency questions.The new language would direct the U.S. secretary of education within two years to study the feasibility of having the National Student Clearinghouse, a private nonprofit entity, set up a third-party data system for analysis of institution- and program-level student outcomes. A bipartisan bill introduced this summer would direct the National Center for Education Statistics, the Education Department's research arm, to connect existing data maintained by several agencies for purposes of tracking, on a program-by-program level, issues such as graduates' employment prospects, earnings and typical student debt loads. |
| How the Republican tax plan could affect a Tennessee graduate student | |
 | Adam Gottlieb, a Vanderbilt University master's student in education policy, wants to get a Ph.D."This bill would make that impossible," he said. Gottlieb is eyeing the House version of the federal tax plan and its impact on graduate students' tuition waivers -- free or reduced tuition based on work done for a school in research or teaching.By far, the taxes proposed to be levied against tuition waivers are the most significant to higher education students, according to national experts. The waiver works by a university covering a portion of the cost to educate a student for research or teaching done at the university. The university will pay a stipend to the student -- taxable -- as well as cover tuition that in the past has been untaxed. The House tax plan calculates the tuition, placing students into a higher tax bracket, said Christopher Marsicano, a Vanderbilt Ph.D candidate with a focus on higher education, politics and policy. "It's not like (it) is free money and someone waves a magic wand and it disappears," Marsciano said. "Up until now that wasn't considered taxable. It was exempt." |
| Hazing expert: 2017 one of deadliest years for campus fraternity deaths | |
| This year could go down as one of the deadliest in modern history for college campus deaths related to fraternities, with highly publicized deaths prompting a nationwide evaluation of Greek life, hazing expert Walter Kimbrough said Monday. Including the loss of LSU's freshman Maxwell Gruver, who died a month into his first year away at college, there have been three other reported campus deaths this year related to allegations of fraternity hazing or alcohol consumption during parties. Those deaths happened at Penn State, Florida State and Texas State universities. Kimbrough said this year in higher education is reminiscent of 1997 --- the year Benjamin Wynne died at LSU after a night of heavy drinking with his fraternity. Only a few weeks later another fraternity pledge died at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, setting off a national debate about drinking and fraternity culture on college campuses. |
| The Poll That Built a University | |
 | John Lahey arrived in Hamden, Connecticut, in 1987 with a mandate to grow a small college, Quinnipiac, into something much larger. Back then, the school, named for the Native American tribe that once inhabited the area, was a local commuter institution with just a few thousand students. But it had bigger ambitions. A self-described "political junkie" from the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Lahey didn't propose investing in Division I athletics or building a medical school, as other small colleges have done -- though he would do both in the coming decades. He came up with a completely different idea for boosting Quinnipiac's profile: a poll. Lahey had come to Quinnipiac from Marist College, in New York's Hudson Valley, where he had been the vice president in charge of fundraising. Marist had starting polling in the late 1970s, beginning with exit polls in local elections. By the early 1980s, Marist was polling statewide -- and the national emergence of Mario Cuomo, New York's charismatic governor, brought the school a fair amount of attention. The first Quinnipiac poll started in much the same way, using the phone banks dedicated to the school's fundraising efforts. |
SPORTS
| 3 things to watch for when Mississippi State plays Cincinnati | |
| Up next for Mississippi State is its toughest non-conference opponent of the season: Cincinnati. The Bulldogs (8-0) will travel for the first time this season on Tuesday, too, when it takes on Cincinnati at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. The game will be played at BB&T Arena in Newport, Kentucky, due to renovations at the Bearcats' Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati (7-2) lost 66-60 to No. 5 Florida on Saturday. The Bearcats are No. 25 in the AP poll but were bounced out of the coaches' poll. Ben Howland said MSU started preparing for the game on Wednesday and Thursday. Here are three things to watch for when Mississippi State faces Cincinnati. |
| Mississippi State faces Cincinnati in first road test | |
| Mississippi State's men's basketball team will venture out onto the road for the first time this season as it travels to take on No. 25 Cincinnati at 6 p.m. tonight on ESPN2. The game will be played at BB&T Arena in Newport, Kentucky due to renovations on the Bearcats' home venue. Tonight marks the fifth contest between the two teams with the series split at two games apiece. Cincinnati claimed the last meeting 75-63 at home as part of the 2008 SEC/Big East Challenge. The Bulldogs enter the game undefeated at 8-0. |
| Why is Mississippi State 8-0? Here's one number that explains why | |
| Mississippi State plays Cincinnati tonight in the first true road game of the season for the Bulldogs. It's a hugely important one for MSU, which is 8-0 but has done it against a very weak nonconference schedule (it's ranked No. 345 by KenPom, with one top-100 win against No. 96 Jacksonville State). If the Bulldogs are going to make any kind of move towards the NCAA tournament, they'll probably need a win tonight --- the final four nonconference games are all against teams ranked from 262-314. The other option would be piling up an obscene number of SEC wins, difficult anyways and even moreso against a rapidly improving conference. But at least on some level 8-0 is 8-0, especially when MSU has not been a total stranger to the random low-major upset loss/scare in recent seasons. And so how is Mississippi State doing it? |
| Cincinnati Bearcats gear up for undefeated Mississippi State | |
| The University of Cincinnati basketball team comes off two consecutive losses to nationally ranked teams, only to find an unbeaten opponent looming. The No. 25-ranked Bearcats (7-2) will play unranked Mississippi State (8-0) on Tuesday at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, UC's temporary home while Fifth Third Arena is being renovated. The good news is that UC is back home, with the Bearcats carrying the nation's longest active home-court winning streak at 30 games. The other good news is that Mississippi State is not the caliber of UC's two latest opponents. The Bearcats fell 89-76 at then-No. 21 Xavier on Dec. 2, followed by a 66-60 loss to then-No. 5 Florida last Saturday in the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J. |
| Mississippi State's grass roots efforts continue to build following | |
| John Cohen scanned the Humphrey Coliseum basketball court as he talked and liked what he saw. The Mississippi State Director of Athletics had just watched coach Vic Schaefer's women's basketball team improve to 9-0 with an 86-48 victory against Little Rock. As he talked about the grass roots work Schaefer, his coaches, his players, and the school have done to raise the profile of the program, the MSU players were mingling with friends and fans after the game. Pictures and selfies were being taken. Hugs and handshakes were being shared. Conversations about the latest game, exams, and the upcoming game against Oregon were happening. It was easy to tell Cohen, MSU's former baseball coach, appreciated the players' efforts to connect with the fans. "It's phenomenal," Cohen said. |
| Morgan William leads Bulldogs on, off court | |
| Nothing Morgan William does surprises Vic Schaefer. Tasked with running the Mississippi State women's basketball program, William has responded with quiet confidence in her first three seasons. No job has been too big for the 5-foot-5 standout from Birmingham, Alabama. Whether it has been pressuring the ball, finding her teammates for open shots, or scoring a career-high 41 points in a giant effort against Baylor in the Elite Eight, William has done it all without calling attention to herself and leading by example. Just when you thought William couldn't raise her game to another level, William hit the game-winning shot in overtime to vanquish four-time national champion Connecticut in the 2017 national semifinals. On Friday, William completed another All-America effort when she walked with former women's basketball teammate Ketara Chapel in MSU's commencement ceremony. |
| Andy Cannizaro likes depth on Mississippi State's healthy pitching staff | |
| There still are a lot of new things coming at Andy Cannizaro in year two as Mississippi State's baseball coach. For the first time in his career as a head coach, Cannizaro went through a fall season with a full roster of healthy pitchers -- which is also new, given the injuries that plagued his first season. After injuries plagued the pitching staff in his first season, the benefits of having a healthy group of pitchers were clear to Cannizaro after a productive fall that concluded with an intrasquad scrimmage series Nov. 17-19 at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. "I think one of the biggest differences in a year is an overall comfort level over a majority of your roster and who can do what," Cannizaro said. That feeling applies to the pitching staff more than anywhere else. |
| History of Seymour: Thrilling USM fans, 'creating magic' since the 1970s | |
| It was fall 1978, and the average temperature in Jonesboro, Arkansas, was in the 80s. University of Southern Mississippi senior John Wakeland was sweltering in a fur costume during his second year as the Southern Miss Golden Eagle mascot. He was working the football game against Arkansas State, getting USM fans enthused about their team. The temperature inside Wakeland's Golden Eagle costume was an oppressive 20 to 40 degrees higher than the air outside. He was sweaty, feeling faint and had to take off the eagle head."It was hot," Wakeland, 60, remembered. "During the early part of the season, I would often lose 5 to 10 pounds a game." From his humble beginnings in a slender Disney-created costume to the muscular trappings he sports now, Seymour has entertained fans, made appearances at donor events and parades, delighted children of all ages and become synonymous with the name Southern Miss. |
| Wheeler Brown has been relieved of his duties as Jackson State AD | |
| Wheeler Brown is out as Jackson State's director of athletics. The university informed Brown of its decision to relieve him of his duties Friday afternoon, according to a source with direct knowledge of the events. Brown was announced as director of athletics exactly two years ago and had one year remaining on a three-year contract. He inherited a tumultuous situation after the departure of former athletic director Vivian Fuller and had a similarly tumultuous tenure in his two years on the job. The department was forced to shutter both its women's and men's golf programs, and the jury is still out on Brown's sole major hire: Tiger football coach Tony Hughes. Hughes was considered a major coup for JSU upon his arrival, considering his wealth of major college coaching experience (albeit as an assistant), but is 6-16 in two seasons. |
| Shea Patterson leaving Ole Miss for Michigan | |
| Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson ended the speculation surrounding his transfer Monday.Patterson announced his intention to transfer to Michigan with a post to his Twitter account. The 6-foot-2, 203-pound Patterson visited the school over the weekend.Patterson's announcement comes 10 days after the NCAA Committee on Infractions' final ruling was handed down in the school's infractions case, which included another bowl ban for the 2018 season. Ole Miss reportedly granted Patterson permission to contact other schools about transferring and vice-versa. Patterson, the nation's top-ranked prep signal caller coming out of IMG Academy in 2016, enrolled early at Ole Miss and played in 10 games for the Rebels. He led the Southeastern Conference in passing yards this season (2,259) before a torn PCL against LSU cut his season short. |
| In U. of Arkansas sports firing and hiring, process foggy | |
| The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville has fired and hired an athletic director and a football coach in the past month -- but how it got to each point is hazy.The university called on a nonprofit foundation that sup-ports UA athletics to pay for the dual-running searches, and it brought in two private search firms to evaluate candidates -- arrangements that have kept information such as whom the university considered for the jobs and the cost of the shakeups from public view. The UA also instructed one of the search firms to take specific action that would keep its records from public inspection and engaged its deposed athletic director in an agreement that limits what he can say publicly. The new AD will command a department that, while self-sustaining, is a roughly $120 million-per-year piece of the public university. Morris, now Arkansas' highest-paid public employee, leads a team that garners intense scrutiny in a state without a professional franchise. |
| Jimbo Fisher hopes to set new NCAA spring game attendance record at A&M | |
 | Standing in the tunnels of Reed Arena Saturday, Jimbo Fisher made the observation that he really hasn't spent much time in Aggieland since his grand arrival six days ago. So, early in the Aggie men's basketball team's matinée against Prairie View A&M, Fisher checked in on his new fan base and gave a 30-second address to the 12th Man. As has been his platform since his introductory press conference Monday as A&M's head football coach, he hopes to set a new standard in Aggie football history, starting with the spring game. "I can't wait to share Kyle Field with the 12th Man and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band when we set the NCAA record for the most attended spring game in NCAA history," Fisher said to the cheers of the Aggie faithful watching the men's basketball game. Ohio State had 100,189 fans for its 2016 spring game, which is considered the high-mark, according to multiple reports. |
| Greg Schiano memorandum of understanding lacked signature required to make it binding | |
 | The memorandum of understanding that former Tennessee athletic director John Currie and Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano signed Nov. 26 lacked a key signature required to make the document binding. UT released the MOU on Monday in response to a records request. Currie, Tennessee's athletic director until his ouster Dec. 1, and Schiano signed the document, which would have paid Schiano $27 million in guaranteed wages over six years. However, the document lacked signatures from Chief Financial Officer David Miller and Chancellor Beverly Davenport. Because the MOU is considered a non-delegated contract, it required Miller's signature to become a binding agreement, according to UT's contract policy. |
| Update: Dan Mullen adds two to his coaching staff | |
| New Florida football coach Dan Mullen continues to fill out his staff with coaches that have worked under him before. The two latest to join the staff are Houston offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was Mullen's quarterbacks coach at Mississippi State for three seasons before leaving to accept the job with the Cougars a year ago, and MSU strength coach Nick Savage. Johnson, 30, helped develop standout MSU quarterback Dak Prescott, who is now with the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson and Savage are the fourth and fifth assistant coaches Mullen has added to his staff that worked under him at MSU, joining defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and co-offensive coordinators Billy Gonzales and John Hevesy. |
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