| Thursday, May 9, 2019 |
| U.S. Senator Roger Wicker Convenes Hearing on Unmanned Aircraft Systems | |
 | U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, on Wednesday convened a hearing to consider the challenges of incorporating unmanned aircraft systems and commercial space launch vehicles into the national airspace. Wicker invited Dallas Brooks, director of the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory at Mississippi State University, to share how Mississippi State is leading the development of UAS research and development. In his opening statement, Brooks highlighted how Mississippi State's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory has built out unmanned systems infrastructure that has made the university a hub for flight research. Mississippi State University leads the FAA's UAS Center of Excellence, which is comprised of 23 of the world's top unmanned systems research universities. |
| Aldermen OK $1 million for pedestrian path, street improvement work | |
 | Starkville is moving ahead with roughly $1 million in road and pedestrian improvement work after aldermen approved two projects during Tuesday's meeting. The board approved a $233,343 bid for a pedestrian path from Nash Street to the new College View development on Mississippi State's campus and an $835,515 bid for this year's work in the city's ongoing street improvement project. After the meeting, City Engineer Edward Kemp told The Dispatch the College View project should be complete by August in time for the opening of College View -- a mixed-use commercial and residential development at the site of the former Aiken Village at MSU. This year's street improvement project includes work along Airport Road, Brandon Road, Broad Street, Canna Avenue, Cherokee Drive, Cotton Row, Fairfield Drive, Gillespie Street, in the Highland Estates, Lafayette Street, Lampkin Street, Louisville Street, Lydia Lane, Mallory Lane, McKee Street, Montgomery Street, Navaho Court, Old West Point Road, Pinewood Drive, Ponderosa Drive, Shadowood Lane, Shawnee Court, Spring Street and Yellowjacket Drive. |
| A new look at Gatsby -- as an Oxford man | |
 | While F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is probably the most studied novel in modern American literature, Christopher A. Snyder's "Gatsby's Oxford" considers the book from an important, if somewhat overlooked angle: its hero's declaration that he was "an Oxford man." Through this lens, Snyder -- a professor at Mississippi State University and a research fellow at Oxford -- examines the English university's place in Fitzgerald's imagination and, particularly, its associations with Romantic poetry, medieval traditions and architectural beauty. |
| Fall feed prices: Don't panic yet | |
 | Expect the hand-wringing and sorrowful predictions to pick up momentum as more USDA Crop Progress reports are released. That's not to say that the concern is unwarranted. But consume any dire predictions for a harvest disaster with caution. According to the May 6 Crop Progress report, farmers are running behind schedule. Focusing on corn, which is the main feedgrain for cattle, 23% of corn was planted as of May 5, which was 13% less than last year and 23% less than the 5-year average. 6% emerged, which is 1% less than last year and 7% less than average. While that's concerning, don't panic just yet. For instance, Eric Larson, Extension grain crops specialist at Mississippi State University, tells of a farmer who reminded him that his most productive corn last year turned out to be that which he almost didn't plant. "This was likely because his early-planted corn struggled to develop a uniform, vigorous stand due to cool, wet conditions last spring." |
| These Flowers Have Been Growing for 103 Years | |
 | The showroom and factory of M & S Schmalberg is in a soot-gray building in Manhattan's garment district, seven stories above a street-level women's apparel wholesaler called Belma Fashions. On a recent morning, the firm's 61-year-old president, Warren Brand, was leading a tour there for a group of fashion students from Mississippi State University. They had come to see a unicorn, a scrappy holdout, a working museum of old-fashioned artisanship that somehow had to turn a modern-day profit. Schmalberg, a fourth-generation family business founded in 1916, makes artificial flowers from silk and other fabrics for clients including milliners, theatrical costume designers, fashion stylists, bridal houses and designer labels like Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs. "Years ago, when I was a kid," Mr. Brand told the students, "we sold thousands of flowers to children's companies for little girls' dresses. And then all that big industry of children's garments stopped being made in America." |
| Mississippi River rising again, to crest at 50 feet | |
| Forecast heavy rains for the Mississippi River Basin area around the Arkansas River, could raise the Mississippi's level at Vicksburg to 50 feet, a National Weather Service Hydrologist said. "It's really going to depend on what we see over the next 24-36 hours," Hydrologist Marty Pope said. Presently, forecasts indicate a 3-5-inch rainfall across the lower Arkansas River Basin. If the area gets the full 3-5 inches of rain, he said, that could increase the river level. Rainfall projections for Yazoo City, he said, have caused forecasters to increase the Yazoo River's forecast level to over 35 feet, "Which will put us up probably to 99-99.5 feet at Wolf Lake and that area behind it, and then everything is going to shoot up a bit, too, just because of the local rainfall back there." According to information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District, the Steele Bayou Control Structure could potentially close as early as the end of the week pending conditions on the Mississippi River and the Yazoo Backwater area. |
| Hyperion Technology adding 25 engineering and tech jobs in expansion | |
 | A decade after its founding, Hyperion Technology Group is expanding its operations for the second time and adding jobs. The $500,000 investment will create 25 jobs as it moves from its current facility on West Jackson Street to the former Mitchell Distributing warehouse on Commerce Street. The company now employs 40. Hyperion Technology Group provides custom electronic systems, such as embedded systems, signal processing, intelligent power and control systems to government and industry consumers around the world. The company started in 2009 at the Renasant Center for IDEAs business incubator and "graduated" in 2012. The Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance for building renovations, as well as a loan to the city of Tupelo for the purchase of the building. Hyperion will lease the facility on a long-term basis from the city. |
| Mississippi Hires Experienced Executive for Its New Lottery | |
 | The Mississippi Lottery Corporation announced Wednesday that it is hiring an experienced executive as its first president. Thomas N. "Tom" Shaheen, 66, begins June 1 and will oversee operations as Mississippi prepares to join most other states in offering scratch-off tickets and other games of chance. In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday in Jackson, Shaheen said Mississippi could start selling lottery tickets by the end of this year. "We'll work at a pace to get it started off as quickly as possible because the sooner we get started, the more money that is for roads and bridges," he said. Shaheen will move from Arizona to Mississippi for the job that has a base salary of $225,000 a year. The board said he also will be eligible for performance incentives. |
| Lottery, with new president in place could start by December; sports betting continues to grow | |
| Mississippi, one of only seven states to allow betting on sports events, will become the 45th state to offer a lottery as early as Dec. 1. Revenue from both will go to the Mississippi Department of Transportation to deal with needs of the state highway system. Gerald Gilbert, vice chairman of the Mississippi Lottery Corporation, said Wednesday the lottery board hopes to have scratch-off tickets available to sell to the public by Dec. 1. Other games, such as multi-state games, will be in operation by the first quarter of 2020, he predicted. On Wednesday, the state Lottery Corporation Board, whose members were appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant, announced that it had named a president. Thomas Shaheen, who served as executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery from its startup in 2006 until 2010, most recently was executive vice president and chief policy officer for a lottery technology company. |
| Mississippi education: Lawmakers funnel millions to connected companies | |
 | Top lawmakers carve out millions of dollars for handpicked education vendors and pet projects each year, bypassing state bid laws and steering money to companies that know the right people or hire the right lobbyists. A Clarion Ledger analysis of education appropriations for the last four years uncovered millions of dollars in earmarks for select vendors --- most of them represented by three lobbying firms. In at least four cases, key lawmakers received campaign contributions from vendors who received those earmarks. Since 2016, negotiators for the powerful House and Senate Appropriations committees have mandated that the Mississippi Department of Education spend up to $45 million on specific programs by writing the legislative expenditures directly into budget bills. Of that, nearly $10 million was earmarked not just for programs but for 13 select vendors. |
| Mississippi prison reforms praised by Trump unfunded, faltering | |
| Last November, as he rallied support for federal prison reform, President Donald Trump visited Gulfport, Mississippi, touting the legislation and what Mississippi had accomplished. Trump talked about the "fantastic job" that Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall was doing of turning the state's prisons into places that train inmates for jobs. The following month, Trump signed the First Step Act, whose goal is to reduce the federal prison population and better prepare offenders for life outside bars. Yet the implementation of Mississippi's reforms has been marked by broken promises and a lack of funding, according to interviews, data and documents reviewed by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica. |
| Suspense builds for Supreme Court moves on abortion, LGBT cases | |
 | The Supreme Court has yet to announce whether it will take up two of this year's most closely watched cases, fueling speculation about the justices' closed-door deliberations. Justices have repeatedly put off saying whether they will hear arguments in a case challenging an Indiana abortion law enacted by then-Gov. Mike Pence, instead choosing to relist the case for their weekly private conference more than a dozen times since early January. They have done the same eight times since March for a case concerning an Oregon bakery fined for refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian couple. Court watchers said that while the content of the weekly deliberations is secret, it's very unusual for potential cases to be listed for consideration this many times. They also said it's possible that the sensitivity of the topics -- LGBT and abortion rights -- is causing the justices to be overly cautious in deciding whether to hear oral arguments. |
| Delta State University grads advised to focus on people | |
| Hundreds of men and women gathered in the Bologna Performing Arts Center Friday to celebrate the Delta State University graduating class of 2019. Also celebrated was this year's honorary degree recipient, Ned Mitchell. Mitchell is a Delta State graduate and Cleveland native. "Ned is a devout alumna," said President William LaForge. This year's commencement speaker was another Delta State University alumnus Joshua West, founder of Blue Delta, a premium bespoke denim company. "When President LaForge asked me to give the commencement address, I was honored, flattered and surprised," West began. "It didn't take me long to remember where my place was on this important day when I realized I could not remember who spoke at my own graduation. I figured if I couldn't remember the governor's address, you guys are probably not going to remember much from the jeans guy," he said with a laugh. |
| IHL trustee Ann Lamar to speak at Northwest Mississippi Community College graduation | |
 | Northwest Mississippi Community College will hold its 103rd commencement exercises on Friday, May 17. A ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. for the Associate of Arts degree candidates and at 1 p.m. for Career Certificates, Technical Certificates, and Associate of Applied Science candidates. The Honorable Ann Hannaford Lamar, member, Board of Trustees, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) and retired Mississippi Supreme Court Associate Justice will be the keynote speaker for the ceremonies. A Northwest alumna and lifelong Senatobia resident, Lamar was appointed to the Mississippi IHL Board of Trustees by Gov. Phil Bryant in February 2017 to represent the Third (Northern) Supreme Court District. Lamar became the third woman to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court after her appointment by Gov. Haley Barbour in May 2007 following the retirement of Presiding Justice Kay B. Cobb. Lamar was elected in November 2008 to serve an eight-year term, and retired from the court in 2018. |
| UT-Knoxville launches search for College of Education dean | |
 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville has launched a search for the next dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. Current dean Bob Rider will retire and return to being a faculty member in the college. Jeff Fairbrother, professor and associate dean of academic and faculty affairs, has been named the interim dean effective July 1, according to a release from the university. Rider has been the dean since 2004, and will serve as a faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Rider's annual salary as dean is $231,167. Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor David Manderscheid thanked Rider for his time as dean. Manderscheid said he hopes to have a new dean appointed by early 2020. |
| Father, daughter share in UGA graduation celebrations | |
 | When John W. Jackson gives the address at Terry College of Business Convocation on Friday, it will be an event almost 50 years in the making. Jackson first stepped onto campus in 1972 and became one of the first 10 African Americans to play football for the University of Georgia. He walked onto the football team as a free safety the year after the team was desegregated in 1971. The same day he is giving his convocation speech, Jackson's daughter, Jenna Jackson, will be graduating with a Master of Public Administration and Policy in the Graduate Commencement ceremony. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for people like my dad," Jenna Jackson said. "There's no me getting a degree if there's no John Jackson in the seventies who will brave hostile conditions." John Jackson was one of around 600 African American students who earned UGA degrees between 1972 and 1976. "I had an incredible learning experience," he said. "There were so many acts of kindness from professors." |
| Lawmakers pass new Uber, Lyft safety rules after death of U. of South Carolina student | |
 | South Carolina soon could require Uber and Lyft drivers to display their license plate numbers on the front of their cars, as well as the back. The S.C. Senate voted 40-0 Wednesday for the new requirements aimed at making it easier for riders to identify and verify their rideshare drivers during pickup. That push began in early April when University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson was killed after she climbed into an unmarked car she thought was her Uber home from Columbia's Five Points bar district. H. 4380 is expected to sail through the House on Thursday after that chamber already passed a version of it last month. Then it will head to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster for his signature to become law. |
| House Democrats' spending proposals include big boosts for student aid | |
 | Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are moving forward with spending proposals that make for a clear contrast with the White House on student aid, for-profit colleges and support for minority-serving institutions. The appropriations committee approved a bill by a 30-to-23 margin Wednesday to fund the Education Department as well as the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. It's the first chance Democrats have had to craft a spending bill since they took over the House after the midterm elections. The bill would boost the maximum Pell Grant award by $150, to $6,345. The White House budget proposal would provide flat funding for Pell. The Democratic bill also calls for more scrutiny by the Education Department of for-profit colleges and student loan servicers. Several top Republicans on the committee quickly said the bill, which encompasses numerous programs besides student aid, had little chance of passing in its present form because of the large price tag. |
| He Founded 'Students for Trump.' Now He Could Face Jail Time for Impersonating a Lawyer | |
 | On the eve of the last presidential election, NBC's "Nightly News" broadcast featured two skinny college students in jackets and ties, discussing the future of American politics. They were co-founders of Students for Trump, a grassroots group that had tapped the social media power of Donald Trump's populist movement -- and of photos of bikini-clad women in MAGA hats --- to become the real estate mogul's standard-bearer on college campuses around the country. "I see Donald Trump as reviving the Republican Party," one of them, John Lambert, declared confidently. Last month, Lambert, now 23, showed up in the news again. This time, he had been arrested in Tennessee on charges of wire fraud. According to the federal government, at the same time he was building a nationwide political network and serving as one of the most visible young faces of Trump's populist movement, Lambert was also posing online as a high-powered New York lawyer, eventually making off with tens of thousands of dollars in fees he stole from unwitting clients seeking legal services. |
| Educators can help shatter glass ceiling | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant clinical professor in Mississippi State University's Shackouls Honors College, writes: There has been a great deal of progress in recent decades regarding equal educational access, pay and the treatment of girls and women in schools and workplaces. However, improvement has not yet balanced the scales in all areas. What it has done is cause educators across the world to examine a number of innate biases in order to ensure that both genders are given adequate support to maximize their educational opportunities. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs rally from a seven-run deficit | |
| No. 5 Mississippi State fell behind by seven runs before the Bulldogs could even record an out against Memphis on Wednesday night. But just as MSU has done so many times this season, the Diamond Dogs rallied from behind to pull out a 10-9 victory and keep their flawless midweek record intact at 14-0. "We never really panicked," said MSU first baseman Tanner Allen. "There was still a lot of game left and you're going to have to beat us all nine (innings) to beat us. It showed up late in the game and we got some big hits and were able to take the lead." No hit was more clutch than Elijah MacNamee's two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning. With Memphis leading 9-8 and a runner on second with one out, the Tigers elected to intentionally walk Allen and pitch to MacNamee in hopes of setting up a double play. Instead, MacNamee drilled his second double of the game off the 380 mark in the right-center gap. |
| Mississippi State battles back to beat Memphis at Dudy Noble Field | |
| Chris Lemonis had a hitch in his step Mississippi State fans have probably never seen before. The Bulldogs' head coach walked to the pitcher's mound at Dudy Noble Field with anger and authority Wednesday night. It was a walk he probably didn't anticipate making until much later in the night. Instead, it came with zero outs in the first inning. Lemonis looked down at the Dogs' bullpen and put in the call for a new pitcher. His handshake with red-shirt junior right-hander Keegan James was brief. Consider it more of a slap, not a shake. James threw 26 pitches in his start against Memphis without recording an out. He gave up six earned runs. Somehow, someway, No. 6 Mississippi State (39-10, 15-9 SEC) still won the game, 10-9 to remain unbeaten in non-conference midweek matchups. |
| Elijah MacNamee's hit launches Mississippi State to comeback win | |
| Senior outfielder Elijah MacNamee channeled his inner Derek Jeter in Wednesday's 10-9 win over Memphis. With a batting average that had dropped from .365 to .306 and having gone 4-for-35 his past 10 games, he referenced a quote from the New York Yankee great postgame. "He was 1-for-20 and he said, 'The cool part is I'm a career .300 hitter so I'm going to get out of it soon,'" MacNamee recounted. "I took that in perspective and thought about that and so am I -- I'm that way." After falling behind 7-0 in the first inning, MSU trailed 9-8 in the eighth when he came to the plate. MacNamee then roped a 3-1 outside fastball into right-center field for a go-ahead, two-run double. Big-hit Mac was back. "I haven't thought about that about myself for a while," MacNamee said in reference to his moniker. |
| Mississippi State baseball: Breaking down Jake Mangum's mastery against Ole Miss | |
| One player can't win a baseball game by himself. Mississippi State senior center fielder Jake Mangum will be the first to say that. One player can make enough impactful plays to help determine the outcome of games, though, and that's exactly what Mangum has done throughout his MSU career. He's done it especially well against one program in particular. None other than the Ole Miss Rebels. Mangum has played against Ole Miss 13 times in his career. Mississippi State has won 11 of those ballgames. Eight of those wins have come when MSU was a lower ranked team than Ole Miss. Still, the Bulldogs have more than twice as many runs than the Rebels in those games -- 75 to 33. Mangum is a major reason why. |
| How players, coaches are preparing for Ole Miss baseball's huge weekend vs. Mississippi State | |
| It's hard to imagine a series with more on the line than this. There's no such thing as an uneventful baseball series between Ole Miss (32-17) and Mississippi State (38-10). But when the Bulldogs visit the Rebels this weekend, so much more than statewide bragging rights are at stake. For starters, the two teams are tied with 15-9 SEC records, meaning the winner of this series will go into the last weekend of SEC play with a seeding advantage for the SEC Tournament. But beyond that, this weekend represents the last guaranteed series of the season at Swayze Field, meaning it'll be an emotional sendoff for Ole Miss' seniors, and for some of the upperclassmen who may be pondering a foray into this summer's 2019 MLB Draft. |
| Mississippi State knocks off Aggies to open SEC Tournament | |
 | With help of a two-RBI performance from senior Kat Moore, 12th-seeded Mississippi State softball knocked off 13th-seeded Texas A&M, 3-2, on Wednesday to open the 2019 Southeastern Conference Tournament at Davis Diamond. Mississippi State (33-20) used early offense to take a 3-0 lead over the host Aggies (32-20), with help of two RBI singles from Moore. Texas A&M battled back with late runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but sophomore Emily Williams kept the Aggies in check for that victory. Senior Emily Heimberger also turned in a multi-hit performance on Wednesday as she went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Williams tossed the complete game to improve to 13-7 in the circle. The right-hander worked around five hits, five walks and a hit by pitch to strand eight Aggies. She fanned four in the outing. Mississippi State is scheduled to face fifth-seeded No. 17/19 Ole Miss on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. |
| Ole Miss, Mississippi State softball will try again today | |
| A rematch in softball between Ole Miss and Mississippi State has been delayed by weather until today. MSU opened play in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday with a 3-2 win over host team Texas A&M in a play-in game. But severe weather in College Station, Texas, delayed the completion of the first day of action. Ole Miss and MSU are tentatively scheduled to play at 12:30 p.m., but additional weather delays are possible. |
| Texas A&M softball team misses chance to end drought at SEC tournament | |
 | Even one of the best softball complexes in the country couldn't help Texas A&M change its luck in the Southeastern Conference tournament. The 12th-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs held on for a 3-2 victory over the 13th-seeded Aggies on Wednesday in the first game of the 2019 SEC tournament at Davis Diamond. A&M dropped to 0-6 in the SEC tournament with its fourth one-run loss in the event. The Aggies (28-25, 6-18) will find out Sunday if they've done enough to make the NCAA tournament for an 18th straight season when the 64-team field is announced. The SEC's last two teams to finish in last place, Georgia and Missouri, made the NCAA tournament, but they had slightly higher RPI rankings than A&M, which is 45th. The Bulldogs (33-20, 9-15) advance to play fifth-seeded Ole Miss (36-16, 13-10). |
| Mississippi State's Mia Davidson selected as finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year | |
| Off the heels of being tabbed to the All-Southeastern Conference First Team, Mississippi State catcher Mia Davidson adds a national honor to her resume as she was selected as one of 10 finalists for USA Softball's 2019 Collegiate Player of the Year award, the organization announced Wednesday. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, which is entering its 18th season, recognizes outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female collegiate softball players across the country. Davidson is the lone sophomore named a finalist for the award and is one of four student-athletes representing the SEC as a finalist. The Hillsborough, North Carolina, native is just the third Bulldog to make the top 10 cut for the honor, joining All-Americans Chelsea Bramlett (2010) and Iyhia McMichael (2003, 2004). |
| While Mike Kinnison pulls double duty, Statesmen win another title, hire a new hoops coach | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Delta State's Mike Kinnison has coached a lot of doubleheaders in his time -- but nothing quite like this week when he had double duty in addition to doubleheaders Tuesday, Kinnison's Delta State baseball team swept two games to claim the school's 15th Gulf South Conference championship at Oxford, Ala. That was after Kinnison, also Delta State's athletic director, Monday announced the hiring of a new men's basketball coach, Mike Nienaber, who comes to Delta State from Christian Brothers University. Nienaber will be introduced at a news conference Thursday morning. Delta State had to win six games in five days -- all against strong competition -- to win the baseball crown. Meanwhile, all the while, the coach was finishing up hiring a basketball coach. ... "It's been a busy time, but it's all good stuff," Kinnison said Wednesday morning. ... That's been the case all baseball season for Kinnison, who added the duties of athletic director back in November. |
| Georgia sprinter recovering after being impaled by javelin | |
| A Georgia sprinter is recovering following emergency surgery after being impaled in the back by a javelin in an accident at practice on Tuesday. Freshman Elija Godwin was injured while doing backward running drills when he ran into the javelin that had been planted in the ground, according to a police incident report. Godwin's mother, Ginger Luby, told police he had a punctured and collapsed left lung, but is expected to make a full recovery. "We were at the hospital last night with his family," Georgia track coach Petros Kyprianou told the Athens Banner-Herald after his team arrived Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark., for this week's SEC championship. "The mom is in very good spirits and is happy with the response and I'm really proud of our sports medicine crew." Godwin will miss the rest of this season. Luby told Atlanta's 11Alive that her son is off oxygen and breathing on his own. UGA issued a statement saying Godwin is in stable condition. |
| Report: Auburn coaches, athletic director, collect $325K in personal bonuses from APR scores | |
 | Auburn athletic director Allen Greene, along with football coach Gus Malzahn and basketball coach Bruce Pearl, will reportedly bring in a combined $325,000 in personal bonuses because of high APR scores. USA Today published the bonus totals. Greene reportedly made $50,000 on the new APR numbers alone. He made an additional $25,000 because all programs have an APR score of at least 950 (out of 1,000) and all programs have a multi-year score of at least 950. Malzahn made $75,000 because Auburn football had an APR of 993. Pearl made $150,000 because the basketball program had a perfect APR score. Men's and women's golf, men's and women' tennis, women's cross country, gymnastics, volleyball and women's swimming & diving all earned perfect APR scores. |
| UGA teams varied in latest NCAA APR scores | |
| Georgia's two highest profile teams are on the opposite ends of the spectrum in the SEC when it comes to the latest NCAA's Academic Progress Rate measure. The Bulldogs men's basketball team tied for second in the conference while the football team landed second to last. The men's basketball program scored a 995 for the second year in a row, finishing in the top 10 percent nationally in the sport for the fourth time in the last seven years. It tied with five other SEC teams for second. The football team's 963 was the same as a year earlier and rated ahead of only LSU's 951 in the SEC. The average APR score for FBS teams was 968. The NCAA's Committee on Academics is reviewing the APR metric to evaluate how well it is monitoring and demonstrating academic performance and progress toward graduation. |
| LSU Academic Progress Report: Football score dips, is lowest in SEC | |
 | The LSU football team's Academic Progress Rate score has taken a slight dip. The Tigers' multi-year APR score fell five points to 951 in the 2017-2018 academic year, falling 11 points shy of the national average for other public institution football teams, according to NCAA documents released Wednesday. Seven LSU athletic teams had a score under the public school average for their sport, three of them by 10 or more points. Football (951), men's track (958) and men's tennis (969) all fell 10 to 11 points shy of meeting the national public school average. All sports are clear of the NCAA's APR multi-year penalty benchmark of 930, which teams need to be at or above to avoid penalties like practice time and scholarship reductions. The LSU football team ranked last of the 14 Southeastern Conference teams for the second consecutive year. Vanderbilt leads the league with a 991 APR score. |
| Florida's APR scores strong again | |
| University of Florida athletic teams continue to have success on the playing fields, courses and courts as well as in the classroom. All of UF's 19 teams continue to grade out high in the Academic Progress Rate released by the NCAA on Wednesday. Fourteen of the 19 teams exceeded its sport's national average, including football and men's basketball. The football team's score of 975 is well ahead of the national average of 968, while the basketball team's score of 995 is among the sports top 10 percent. Last week, the NCAA recognized four Florida teams -- basketball, men's cross country, women's golf and women's tennis -- for having APR scores that ranked in the top 10 in their sport. Men's cross country and women's tennis had perfect scores of 1,000. |
| Tennessee coaches Rick Barnes, Jeremy Pruitt to receive bonus for APR scores | |
| Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes and football coach Jeremy Pruitt are each in line for a $50,000 bonus thanks to their teams' latest Academic Progress Rate. The NCAA on Wednesday released APR figures for the 2017-18 athletic year and updated multiyear scores. The men's basketball team's 2017-18 rate of 981 nets Barnes his bonus. The Vols needed a single-year score of at least 960 for him to earn a $25,000 bonus. The bonus doubled with a rate of 980 or more. The team's multiyear APR is 965. Barnes' APR bonus structure will double in value beginning next season, per terms of his new contract signed last month. Pruitt's bonus is thanks to his team's single-year APR of 963 and multiyear rate of 970. No Tennessee program is in danger of penalties for its APR score. |
| Mizzou men's hoops increases multi-year APR score | |
 | The NCAA released its Academic Progress Rate scores on Wednesday and the Missouri men's basketball team earned its highest multi-year score since the 2014-15 year. Missouri recorded a four-year average score of 953, a significant increase from last year's average of 932 that narrowly kept the Tigers from the NCAA's 930-cutoff for sanctions. The program's multi-year score increase this year was expected for a variety of reasons. One of the scores holding down the Tigers' overall APR was the 851 for the 2013-14 season, but it was no longer added into the multi-year rate this year. That was Frank Haith's final year as Missouri's head coach. The men's cross country and men's track teams were the only Missouri programs to have a lower 2017-18 APR than the basketball team. Cross country scored a 936 and the track team scored a 923. The football team's score rose 20 points to 969, pushing its multi-year average to 972. That score ranks the Tigers eighth in the SEC, up from 10th a year ago. |
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