Tuesday, March 27, 2018   
 
Campus Expansion is First of Its Kind for Mississippi Universities
The College View development at Mississippi State capitalized on a concept that's trending in many downtown areas. The new complex will be the first of its kind on a Mississippi university campus. This kind of a project is called a Public Private Partnership. Something like that has never been introduced to a Mississippi university, but three years ago Mississippi State President Dr. Mark Keenum saw the impact it had on the campus of the University of Kentucky. When completed, Keenum says the complex will be a win-win. "...will serve our student, needs, our university needs, but also the community at large," said Keenum.
 
Mark Keenum Elected to Board of Trustees of the Department of Archives and History
Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Keenum was named the 19th president of Mississippi State University in 2009 after a long career in public service. Keenum succeeds Jack Garner, who retired after 19 years on the board as the senior member. Board nominees must be confirmed by the Mississippi Senate. Members serve six-year terms. The other members of the board are Kane Ditto, president; Reuben V. Anderson, Jackson; Nancy Carpenter, Columbus; Valencia Hall, Natchez; Betsey Hamilton, New Albany; Web Heidelberg, Hattiesburg; Hilda Cope Povall, Cleveland; and Roland Weeks, Biloxi.
 
SBDC at Mississippi State provides small business counseling, workshops
The Small Business Development Center at Mississippi State University has been providing small businesses with the tools to be successful since the 1980s. Director of the SBDC in the College of Business at MSU Chip Templeton said the MSU center is a part of a national organization, America's Small Business Development Center. "If you have 10 businesses starting today, in five years, only five will be around," Templeton said. "A few years later only two will be around. If we can give you the tools, hopefully you can make fewer mistakes and this will improve." The MSU SBDC serves Choctaw, Clay, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Montgomery, Monroe, Noxubee, Oktibbeha and Webster counties.
 
MSU communications and marketing team named best in Southeast at CASE III awards
Photo: Mississippi State University's Office of Public Affairs was recently honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District III with the Platinum Award -- the CASE III competition's top prize -- for its "We Ring True" branding initiative, along with a Grand Award and two Awards of Excellence. Competing against 125 public and private higher education institutions in nine Southeastern states comprising District III, MSU emerged as the region's top recipient for its strategic initiatives in communications and marketing. Shown receiving the awards for OPA were MSU's Checky Herrington, OPA creative director and marketing research analyst; Harriet V. Laird, OPA associate director; and Sid Salter, OPA director and MSU's chief communications officer.
 
Mississippi State U. looks to build partnership with prestigious Indian university
A group of researchers from India's Jawaharlal Nehru University is visiting Mississippi State University March 22-28, to examine the potential for successful partnerships. The two universities are collaborating on research projects that could make a significant impact on air, water and soil quality, according to a March 26 press release from MSU. The primary research efforts have focused on the use of biochar, a charcoal-like material made of agricultural waste, to enhance soil fertility, increase water quality and decrease carbon emissions. The MSU and JNU signed a memorandum of understanding in 2015 to formalize their partnerships and commitment to the international collaboration. Much of the collaboration has been spurred by Dinesh Mohan, a professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at JNU and former post-doctoral research associate at MSU from 2005-2007, MSU said. In 2014, Mohan was named one of the "world's most influential scientific minds" by Thomson Reuters.
 
Leaders reach agreement on Medicaid as legislators work late to finish budget
The disagreement that stalled the passage of the budget bill for the Division of Medicaid appeared to be worked out late Monday, clearing the way for passage of the $6.1 billion state-support budget to fund agencies ranging from education to health care to law enforcement. The process was delayed Sunday when the House voted not to pass the budget for the Division of Medicaid until an agreement was reached on a so-called Medicaid technical amendments bill. That bill puts legislative parameters on the agency that provides health care to more than 700,000 Mississippians -- primarily the disabled, poor pregnant women, poor children and the poor elderly. If that technical amendment bill died, more control of the agency would have been turned over to Gov. Phil Bryant. House members, saying they did not want to lose that control, stalled passage of the Medicaid budget until an agreement was reached on the technical amendments bill. That agreement was reached only minutes before a Monday night deadline. The agreement, reached by key House and Senate leaders, is expected to be voted on today.
 
Lawmakers strike Medicaid deal at last minute, usher in budget passage
At the last moment, lawmakers struck a relatively tame deal to reauthorize the Mississippi Division of Medicaid by the Monday evening deadline. The House subsequently approved a $917.5 million corresponding budget for the division, which provides health insurance to roughly 750,000 Mississippians, or one-fourth of the state's population. The filing of the cumbersome Medicaid technical amendments bill, which still must pass the full Legislature, was expected the usher in passage of the budget. The final technical amendments bill include eliminating limits on doctor visits and increasing the number of prescriptions a beneficiary can receive each month. The legislation also calls for Medicaid to cover a drug for pregnant women designed to reduce the chance of premature births.
 
With minutes to spare, Medicaid tech bill lives
The controversial Medicaid technical bill lives to see another day. After a tense weekend that saw both Senate and House leaders threatening to kill the massive bill, which lays out the rules for the Division of Medicaid and its $6 billion budget, lawmakers signed off on a final version just four minutes before Monday's 8 p.m. deadline. The House and the Senate vote on the bill Tuesday. "We weren't willing to move on (from the issue)," said Senate Medicaid Chairman Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula. "I think it represents a good piece of policy, and I look forward to presenting it (to the Senate)." Whether Senate and House members agree on the Medicaid tech bill will have to wait until Tuesday morning, when each body votes on the conference draft of the bill.
 
BP bill appears to be dead for the year after House-Senate negotiations break down
A bill that would have cleared the way to spend most of the BP economic damages settlement money on the Coast appears to be dead. House and Senate negotiators failed to reach a compromise on the bill before the 8 p.m. deadline Monday, killing the bill. Supporters from the Coast said the only hope is for Gov. Phil Bryant to call a special session within the session, a long shot at best. Coast leaders had hoped to have the money, eventually about $700 million, sent to a special fund out of the reach of legislators. They also wanted a board made up of people from the Coast to control the spending. But lawmakers in the northern part of the state wanted a large share of the money, too.
 
Child abuse report bill vetoed over 'unintended consequence'
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has vetoed a bill dealing with people telling authorities about suspected abuse or neglect of children or vulnerable older people. Senate Bill 2460 would have required a person reporting abuse to provide his or her own name, address and telephone number. It said that information would be redacted at the end of an investigation. However, Bryant says in his veto message Monday that people might stop reporting abuse or neglect if they have to provide their own information. He says it was "a well-intentioned bill with an unintended consequence."
 
Currie, Doty on different sides at annual legislature breakfast
They agree to disagree. Brookhaven's two leading Republican lawmakers -- District 92 Rep. Becky Currie and District 39 Sen. Sally Doty -- laid out contrasting viewpoints and explained opposing votes Monday morning at the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce's annual legislative breakfast. Though they are known for working together on local and Republican objectives, the "Ladies from Lincoln" have split on some of the Legislature's bigger, statewide issues, specifically funding for infrastructure and Medicaid. "No bill would be better than a bad bill," Currie said of the BRIDGE Act, a pet project of Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves that had momentum before the House killed a version full of Senate adjustments Saturday. Doty, a close ally of Reeves, disagreed, saying the Senate's version of the bill was more encompassing in the long run.
 
Tax break expansion could mean more business for the Pine Belt
New business could be coming to the Pine Belt with the governor's signature. Senate Bill 2947 would allow local city and county governments to expand tax incentives to smaller companies. It is waiting on Governor Phil Bryant's signature or veto at the capitol. "More companies, more jobs, more tax revenue here to the state," said Todd Jackson, Vice President of Economic Development with Hattiesburg's Area Development Partnership." Right now, a project must be worth $100-million or more to qualify for tax incentives. SB 2947 would allow that to be decreased to $60-million or more. "We work a lot more on projects that are $60-million in nature than $100-million in nature," Jackson said. State Auditor Stacey Pickering said Mississippi gave away $53-million in incentives last year, not including local governments. Following a nearly $93-million demand to Stion, a failed solar panel manufacturer in Hattiesburg, Pickering said it is important to know how reliable companies are.
 
Cindy Hyde-Smith to serve on US Senate Appropriations, Agriculture, Rules Committees
Newly appointed US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith will serve on the Senate Appropriations, Agriculture and Rules Committees as she begins her service to Mississippi, this according to Brad White on the Paul Gallo Show on SuperTalk Radio Tuesday morning. White also said he will stay on as Chief of Staff for Hyde-Smith. Hyde-Smith is likely to be sworn in on April 9th.
 
GOP leans on party switchers to keep the Senate
The fate of the GOP-controlled Senate could come down to the performance of a handful of Democrats --- former Democrats running as Republicans, that is. Four major GOP candidates in top battleground races actually voted in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, and their party allegiance is already a hot-button topic in the contests. The latest instance is in Mississippi, where Gov. Phil Bryant announced last week he intends to appoint state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Democrat until 2010, to replace Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) when Cochran resigns next week. At least three other Republicans in some of the most vulnerable Democratic-held Senate seats up this year -- Rep. Evan Jenkins in West Virginia, businessman and veteran Kevin Nicholson in Wisconsin and former state legislator Mike Braun in Indiana -- also cast ballots in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, leaving themselves open to brutal attacks from their primary rivals. Their opponents are already turning their past primary votes into tests.
 
Spying on nuclear submarines factor in US closure of Russian consulate
The Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats and closed the Russian consulate in Seattle -- the latter to help block Moscow from spying on U.S. Naval Base Kitsap, the home port of U.S. Navy nuclear submarines in Washington State. The White House took the dramatic step in conjunction with more than a dozen European allies retaliating against Moscow's alleged role in poisoning a former Russian spy living in the United Kingdom. It is said to be the largest, global one-time expulsion of a country's intelligence officials ever. The closure of the Seattle consulate is a significant blow to Russian espionage, according to one former high-level U.S. official who handled Russian intelligence. The former official said Russia is not only interested in the military base, but also the aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the shopping website Amazon, whose reach and products extends into homes across America.
 
Despite Concerns, Census Will Ask Respondents if They Are U.S. Citizens
The 2020 census will ask respondents whether they are United States citizens, the Commerce Department announced Monday night, agreeing to a Trump administration request with highly charged political and social implications that many officials feared would result in a substantial undercount. Critics of the change and experts in the Census Bureau itself have said that, amid a fiery immigration debate, the inclusion of a citizenship question could prompt immigrants who are in the country illegally not to respond. That would result in a severe undercount of the population -- and, in turn, faulty data for government agencies and outside groups that rely on the census. The effects would also bleed into the redistricting of the House and state legislatures in the next decade.
 
They Wanted Desegregation. They Settled for Money, and It's About to Run Out.
In 1975 a group of students and racial-justice advocates tried to take on the ages-old structures underlying that inequity. They sued the State of Mississippi, arguing that the government had neglected the historically black colleges there. The Ayers case became a landmark for other states that sought to settle disputes over inequity and segregation in higher education. The problem is, it didn't exactly work. What happens in Mississippi over the next five years may say a lot about how much the landmark settlement was really worth. Black colleges elsewhere will be paying attention. Because the Ayers settlement, the current model for how black colleges can pry some form of reparations from the government, had flaws.
 
FedEx head at Delta State: The world turns on innovation
FedEx Chief Executive Officer and Founder Frederick W. Smith spoke at Delta State University this week about his company, the innovations that they have pioneered, and where he sees the organization heading in the future. His lecture was part of the university's Colloquia series, which began in 2013, to bring in speakers who are respected in their fields. Smith is the 18th such lecturer to be invited to present at the university. DSU President William LaForge highlighted some of Smith's awards and accolades before sharing an anecdote about the businessman.
 
Delta State: Talks on race the right thing to do in this day, time
David Dennis didn't grow up fighting for freedom. He grew up fighting to survive. "Lynchings and beatings were everyday occurrences... that's the kind of environment I grew up in. I learned to fear white folk always," he said. But, in spite of that, he rose to become a prominent civil rights leader, befriending Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr. along the way. On Monday he spoke at Delta State University during its Winning the Race Conference, which aims to address how race affects everyday life. "It's important for the discussion on an issue like race to be at Delta State, on a safe place like a campus where people can have an honest discussion that's honestly brokered. ... I'm sure there are people who don't like it. It's awkward, perhaps they'd rather we not do it, but it's absolutely the right thing to do in this day and time," said President William LaForge, who conceptualized the idea for the conference.
 
Meridian Community College narrows president search to 10 candidates
Nearly 1 in 6 of the candidates who applied for Meridian Community College's third president will receive notification they advanced to the next round. Of the 61 applicants for the position, 10 advanced after the MCC presidential search committee met Monday. The search committee consists of 14 members including MCC Board of Trustees President Alec Weddington and campus and community representatives. Two ex-officio members -- including current MCC President Scott Elliott -- attend meetings but do not vote. The 10 semifinalists for the position will be asked to produce five- to seven-minute video presentations and complete an online personality profile test before the next search committee meeting on April 9. "It's something the committee thought would be a good tool to further evaluate the candidates," Elliott said after the search committee meeting. The next president for the college of about 3,500 students is expected to be announced by May 4.
 
Biloxi to debut traffic alert system for Black Spring Break
In the days following Black Spring Break 2017, Biloxi Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich said the city would not have a repeat of the traffic snarls that plagued the three-day festival. And while the amount of people that attend the festival and the traffic that ensues may be beyond his control, Gilich is serious about keeping Coast residents better informed. The city has launched a text alert service that will allow for real-time traffic updates during Biloxi Black Weekend, a three-day festival that is headquartered at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center that includes the annual Spring Fest concert. Traffic jams, especially along U.S. Highway 90, were a major complaint about last year's festival, which saw about 70,000 people in attendance.
 
LSU president warns legislators students are going out-of-state
The president of LSU had a warning for legislators Monday. Speaking to the Baton Rouge Press Club, F. King Alexander said Louisiana's brightest high school seniors are being recruited to out-of-state colleges. He said the uncertainty of the TOPS program is part of the reason, along with budget cuts to higher education. "Just give us a state budget, a stable budget. We're not asking for anything. We just want stability so we can take advantage of the reputation of our institution and take advantage of the momentum that we have as a university," said Alexander.
 
U. of Arkansas draft on tenure ready for trustees
A University of Arkansas System draft policy outlining criteria for the dismissal of tenured faculty will be up for a vote Thursday after first being proposed last fall. Professors are still questioning the changes, but some offered qualified support after having a say in the most recent update. "The Academic Senate is not in agreement with everything, but it is a much better policy than when we saw it in October," said Leanne Lefler, a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences associate professor of nursing and president of the UAMS Academic Senate. The proposal, set to be considered by the University of Arkansas board of trustees on the second day of their two-day meeting in Monticello, is being recommended for approval by UA System President Donald Bobbitt.
 
Major crackdowns in Ala., Fla. dramatically change spring break scene for La. students
Spring break. The words conjure up images of booze, parties and beachfront bacchanals. But these days, Gulf Coast destinations are clamping down on the festivities, and students who get out of line may well find themselves wearing handcuffs and posting bond. That's what happened last year when a Mandeville resident, then 20, traveled with a group of friends to spend spring break at Miramar Beach in Florida. The Mississippi State University student said he had not been drinking but was with friends who were of legal drinking age. When one of them asked him to hold his beer while he put on his shoes, it didn't take long to learn about the no-nonsense approach police along the coast now take. "Within seconds, police officers walked up and asked me what was in the cup," said the student, now 21, who did not want to be identified. "Well, it was beer, and immediately I was in handcuffs and walked off the beach." The crackdown on spring break revelry came after March 2015 saw a big increase in crime in Panama City Beach, one of numerous Gulf Coast towns that are mainstays for South Louisiana vacationers.
 
Rope, not dope: U. of Florida to tackle hemp research
The University of Florida could start growing industrial hemp as soon as this fall. But the project still has to pass some hurdles before planting begins, said Rob Gilbert, chairman of the UF/IFAS agronomy department. After the university's board of trustees approved the project Friday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration must now approve importing industrial hemp seeds. Then, the project needs to secure funding, as it calls for $1.3 million. And the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services must approve a planting permit. The hope is to begin planting industrial hemp this fall or winter in Homestead, Gilbert said, before planting elsewhere across the state in the spring. The research will examine what varieties of hemp grow well in Florida, how to manage the plant, whether it's invasive to native plants and what economic benefits or detriments the crop will bring. At least 30 states have been researching and planting hemp, Gilbert said
 
Israeli consul general talks Middle Eastern politics at Bush School event at Texas A&M
Israeli Consul General for the Southwestern United States Gilad Katz said during a lecture at Texas A&M's Bush School for Government and Public Service Monday evening that although he believes hope is a positive attribute, it also can be dangerous -- particularly in the case of potentially volatile geopolitical situations. The lecture, titled "The Middle East in Flames: An Israeli Perspective," was held in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center and covered topics that included Katz's relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the lessons he learned, some history of his nation's development and how Katz saw his country's regional challenges, including the expansion of Iran's influence in the region and the ongoing conflict with Palestinians. "Hoping is nice, it's important, but hoping is sometimes a little dangerous," Katz said. "If we won't be very focused on our existence, you never know what will happen."
 
U. of Missouri student government campaigns reopen with new spending limit
Campaigns for president and vice president of the University of Missouri's Missouri Students Association began at 5 a.m. Monday after the regularly scheduled election was canceled earlier this month. The cancellation came after three candidates dropped out of the race when discriminatory tweets were found on their personal accounts. The only major procedural change for this special election is that a $2,000 expenditure limit has been set, said Joseph Sell, an MU junior and chair of the Board of Elections Commissioners, or BEC. "Spending in the last few elections has gotten to a point where the average students could not raise the money to take part in these elections," Sell said, "and just as a precaution we wanted to try to get some expenditure limit put into the handbook."
 
U.S. Discovery of Iranian Cyberattack Doesn't Seem to Alarm Universities
By the numbers, the Iranian attack against American research universities sounds startling: a computer hack of more than 140 institutions, 3,700 professors, and $3 billion in data. Perhaps even more surprising, though, is the number of the universities that seem worried: zero. The case involves nine Iranians accused on Friday by federal prosecutors of stealing more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from more than 8,000 professors at more than 300 institutions worldwide. Yet organizations representing the American institutions, including the Association of American Universities, said they'd been unable to find any members expressing concern. Individual institutional leaders and cybersecurity experts also described themselves as puzzled by the charges. That most likely reflects an indictment that was more about pursuing international politics than about blunting any dire threat to American universities, according to experts with foreign-policy experience.
 
U. of South Carolina, Clemson dodge bullet in massive, Iranian hacking conspiracy
South Carolina's two major universities say they were not affected by a far-reaching Iranian hacking campaign that targeted roughly 50,000 American university professors since 2013. "Clemson, like a large number of research universities across the country, was notified by the Department of Justice that our network users were subjected to phishing attacks," spokesman Mark Land said in an emailed statement. "After a thorough review by the university's information technology organization, we found no evidence that those attacks resulted in any improper access of Clemson's network resources." University of South Carolina also was unaffected by the hacking scheme, spokesman Jeff Stensland said in an email. The alleged hacking campaign, coordinated by nine Iranian citizens, sought to steal research primarily from American universities, but also breached computers at several law enforcement agencies, private sector companies and nongovernmental organizations.
 
Increases in college tuition drive down diversity at public colleges, study says
Tuition hikes are linked to decreased student diversity on public college campuses, according to a new paper finding the strongest effect at two-year institutions and nonselective four-year institutions. But tuition hikes can help public colleges' diversity -- when those hikes take place at private universities in the area. Public institutions can actually see the diversity of their student bodies increase when nearby private institutions increase their tuition, researchers found. The paper, published Friday in the journal Research in Higher Education, builds on the long-established idea that increases in tuition can depress overall college enrollment. Its findings represent a new challenge for public institutions that argue financial aid offsets the negative impacts of tuition hikes. Researchers Drew Allen and Gregory C. Wolniak sought to find out how tuition increases affect racial and ethnic diversity at public colleges and universities, as well as how effects on diversity might vary depending on institutions' selectivity.
 
Technical education struggles to gain funding traction
A bipartisan bill to improve career and technical education has yet to be taken up by the Senate, despite passing the House by unanimous voice vote in June. The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, introduced by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), would reauthorize and make slight changes to the Perkins Act, a law that sets the guidelines for federally-funded Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. CTE programs are drawing increased attention as the economy reaches nearly full employment and a "skills gap" -- the unavailability of trained workers to fill high-skill positions -- threatens to slow economic growth. Thompson's bill, which has 40 co-sponsors, including 11 Democrats, would adjust the Perkins Act to more precisely address the needs of businesses to avoid the skills gap.
 
Christian Colleges Are Tangled In Their Own LGBT Policies
Conservative Christian colleges, once relatively insulated from the culture war, are increasingly entangled in the same battles over LGBT rights and related social issues that have divided other institutions in America. Students and faculty at many religious institutions are asked to accept a "faith statement" outlining the school's views on such matters as evangelical doctrine, scriptural interpretation, and human sexuality. Those statements often include a rejection of homosexual activity and a definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Changing attitudes on sexual ethics and civil rights, however, are making it difficult for some schools, even conservative ones, to ensure broad compliance with their strict positions. In addition to changing social and cultural attitudes, conservative religious schools face a changing legal environment regarding LGBT issues. Christian colleges and universities also have to consider Title IX.


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State making the most of NIT opportunity
Some teams are disappointed not to be dancing this time of year and simply go through the motions when selected to the National Invitation Tournament. Mississippi State is not one of those teams. The Bulldogs are making the most of their opportunity and have been rewarded with a trip to New York to play in Madison Square Garden in the NIT semifinals. MSU will take on Penn State tonight at approximately 8:30 on ESPN. Both teams were No. 4 seeds in their respective brackets. "I'm very excited about the opportunity to go to New York," said MSU coach Ben Howland. "I'm looking forward to the experience of playing in The Garden for our team. I know how special that is for our players having coached there before. Every great player in the history of the game has played in MSG so this will be a great experience for our team."
 
How Mississippi State turned things around and why it finds itself in NIT semifinal
Ben Howland doesn't want to reflect yet. There's at least one more game for Mississippi State to play and he wants it to play two more. But it's hard for others to appreciate the present success of Mississippi State's men's basketball team this season without thinking back to how this happened. It's late March and the Bulldogs (25-11) are still playing basketball. They will play Penn State (24-13) in an NIT semifinal at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night (8:30 p.m., ESPN). This, after MSU hadn't had a winning season since 2012 and finished 16-16 last year, Howland's second in Starkville. "Every time you start basically from scratch, it's a challenge," Howland said. "It's never one that's easy; there's no such thing. I've been blessed to be at four different places where you're building something, and it's always fun and gratifying. I've never had more fun than I'm having now."
 
Bite out of Big Apple: Bulldogs take in surroundings around NIT semifinals
It's goes without saying that Mississippi State wants to win the National Invitation Tournament. The Bulldogs (25-11) stand just two wins away from that goal and will try to advance to the NIT championship game Tuesday night as MSU faces Penn State (24-13) at 8:30 p.m. in the event's semifinals. In some ways though, the Bulldogs already feel like winners. They are in the NIT's final four and it has given them a trip of a lifetime to New York City and Madison Square Garden. "This is a great moment and I'm very excited," MSU's Aric Holman said. "This will be something I can tell my nieces and nephews and future children about." Mississippi State's exuberance has been easy to see. Sunday night on Twitter, players were posting in awe of their surroundings in the Big Apple. This was exactly what Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland was hoping for his team when the Bulldogs were chosen to play in the NIT a couple of weeks ago. MSU went out and earned the chance to go to New York with a home win over Nebraska and road victories at Baylor and Louisville.
 
Bulldogs embracing memorable run to NIT semifinals
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are getting ready to play in the Final Four. No, not those Mississippi State Bulldogs. And not that Final Four. The other ones. And the other one. Mississippi State's men's basketball team returns to the court Tuesday night for the NIT semifinals against Penn State (24-13). The NCAA's consolation tournament might lack the prestige of the main 68-team bracket, and the male Bulldogs' run has been overshadowed by the women's team's run to its second NCAA Tournament Final Four, but it hasn't diminished the accomplishment one bit to those involved. "When I hear people talk about how they look at it as a consolation, that to me is a very arrogant point of view, and I don't agree with that," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said at a press conference Friday, before the team left for New York. They're the last SEC team still playing this season.
 
NIT: Better than 1 and out?
Western Kentucky men's basketball coach Rick Stansbury says getting his players excited for the NIT was a sales job. His pitch: Playing a semifinal at Madison Square Garden is better than losing in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. "Winning three games and getting here is much better than playing one and getting beat," Stansbury said Monday. Stansbury said that opinion is based on experience -- including five trips as Mississippi State's head coach -- but that his Hilltoppers staff "had to sell our team on this journey." Western Kentucky plays Utah in the NIT semifinals tonight at Madison Square Garden. The victor will play for the NIT title Thursday night against the winner of the other semifinal between Penn State and Mississippi State.
 
All 4 No. 1 Seeds Reach Women's Final Four
The women's Final Four is set, and it's one exclusive party. UConn, Louisville, Mississippi State and Notre Dame are headed to Columbus, Ohio, marking the fourth time in tournament history that four No. 1 seeds made it to the national semifinals. The Huskies will face former Big East rival Notre Dame on Friday night. The Cardinals will play the Bulldogs in the other game. UConn's 111-game winning streak was stopped at this point last season when Mississippi State won their semifinal on a last-second shot by Morgan William in overtime. The Huskies are undefeated again after knocking out defending national champion South Carolina in the Albany Region final.
 
Mississippi State's Victoria Vivians scores All-America honors
A'ja Wilson is now part of an elite women's basketball group. South Carolina's senior center became the seventh player Monday ever to earn Associated Press All-America team honors three times. She was a unanimous choice from the 32-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. Wilson was joined on the All-America team by UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson, Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu, Louisville's Asia Durr and Mississippi State's Victoria Vivians. Vivians came to Mississippi State as a scorer, but was far from being a complete player. Now she's much more multi-faceted and has been a key reason that the Bulldogs only lost once this season. "It's kind of shocked me how I'm playing now," Vivians said. "I'm liking it. Just having great shot selection, getting the ball to my teammates, playing defense and rebounding. Just doing everything -- not being one-dimensional."
 
Bulldogs' road trip continues at Nicholls
Mississippi State is the midst of a seven-game road stretch and before the Bulldogs take on LSU in Baton Rouge beginning on Thursday, they will stop off for a game at Nicholls State tonight at 6. MSU (13-12) has already beaten the Colonels 14-4 this season on Feb. 24 as part of the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus-Christi, Texas. The Diamond Dogs are a perfect 9-0 all-time against Nicholls State dating back to 1964 but tonight will be the first time they tangle in Thibodaux. Redshirt senior right-hander Jacob Billingsley (2-1, 4.30 ERA) will pitch for Mississippi State after failing to record an out in his Sunday start at Missouri. The Colonels counter with sophomore southpaw Bryan Taylor (1-3, 3.97).
 
How a new NCAA rule contributed to Georgia having a 'star-studded' coaches clinic
Those attending Georgia football's three-day coaches clinic this week will get to hear from not just one but three NFL head coaches for their $70 registration fee. Scheduled speakers include five-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn---who led the team to the Super Bowl in the 2016 season---and Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, the NFL's 2017 coach of the year. Georgia has brought in one NFL head coach for the clinic each of the last three years under Smart and former coach Mark Richt. So why did the program line up three well-known NFL head coaches this time to speak to high school and middle school coaches? Georgia coach Kirby Smart said a new NCAA rule contributed to adding more this time.
 
Legendary Auburn track & field coach Mel Rosen passes away at age 90
Mel Rosen, Auburn's legendary track and field coach and noted coach at the Olympic and World Championship level, passed away Sunday at the age of 90. Rosen came to Auburn in 1955 as an assistant professor in the physical education department before becoming an assistant track coach and ultimately Auburn's head coach from 1963-1991. Rosen stepped down at the end of the 1991 season to become the head coach of the 1992 United States Men's Olympic team. In Rosen's tenure at Auburn, he coached seven Olympians, 143 All-Americans, including 63 SEC indoor and outdoor champions and eight NCAA champions, including Harvey Glance, Willie Smith and James Walker. Rosen was named NCAA Coach of the Year three times, SEC Coach of the Year four times while leading the Tigers to 11 NCAA Top 10 finishes and five SEC Championships.
 
Can the NCAA Basketball Commission Accomplish Anything?
Experts weigh in on the best steps the panel could take versus what is achievable.The National Collegiate Athletic Association's president, Mark Emmert, acknowledged that there would be a collective public eye roll at his announcement of a commission to reform big-time men's basketball. In a speech to thousands of delegates at the NCAA annual convention in January, he paraphrased the association's critics: "Oh, that's what the NCAA does -- got a big problem, form a commission." The NCAA does have a big problem. And the question of its impotence once again arose with the scandal that rocked the world of college basketball last year, with coaches of four top-tier teams being charged with accepting cash payments in exchange for steering recruits to certain institutions. The NCAA officials said they had no idea -- and news reports have suggested the corruption is not limited to these programs.



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