| Tuesday, May 28, 2019 |
| MSU Lyceum Series announces performances for upcoming season | |
 | Seven-time national prize-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet will kick off the upcoming season of Mississippi State's Lyceum Series. Performing Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium, the quintet has been hailed by Fanfare Magazine for its "imagination, infallible musicality and huge vitality." Doors open approximately 30 minutes before the curtain rises on all shows scheduled for the 2019-2020 Lyceum Series, the university's long-running performing arts program. Lyceum organizers are offering traditional season-ticket packages. A mini-series ticket option also is available and features guaranteed reserved seating at a discounted rate. Mini-series purchases include attendance to three programs. For additional Lyceum Series information, contact the Center for Student Activities at 662-325-2930, visit lyceum.msstate.edu or email lyceum@msstate.edu. Contributions to the Lyceum Series can be made via the MSU Foundation by contacting Lynn Durr at 662-325-8918. |
| Mississippi State entomologist gives lowdown on fire ant control | |
 | A tiny pest drew a packed audience Thursday at the Lee County Extension Office in Tupelo. "Yes, You Can Control Fire Ants" was the topic of an interactive video program led by Blake Layton, an Extension professor and entomologist at Mississippi State University. "We're getting more questions about fire ants than any other pest right now," Layton told group. "They're the most common insect pests of home lawns and they are all over our state." Layton gave a brief history of the fire ant, which is not native. The black imported fire ant first showed up through Mobile Bay in 1918 and, in the 1930s, the red imported fire ant made its first appearance. The red ant is more aggressive and has, for the most part, displaced the black ant in the Southeast, he said. The problem with fire ants -- aside from their painful sting -- is that, uncontrolled, they can reach a density of 50 to 200 mounds per acre. |
| Undecided voters on parks issue look at effect on existing facilities | |
| Mayor Lynn Spruill said that, while tournament hosting is an important aspect for Cornerstone Park and a big goal for the city, the new park will be open for any children to play recreationally. Starkville Parks and Recreation Director Gerry Logan said the city isn't just going to use the new 1-percent tax revenue for Cornerstone Park. He said the parks department has a three-year capital projects plan to address needs at other parks. "It's not just about sports fields," he said. "It's about adding other recreational amenities that benefit citizens. We hope to see things like a wheelchair-accessible playground in McKee Park. Folks have asked about a skate park in town and that's something we're at least considering." "Renovating, updating all our facilities -- it's on the table," he added. Jason King, who said his children have played travel soccer for years, said he plans to vote in favor of the tax. Playing at high-quality facilities in other communities, King said, has highlighted the work Starkville needs to do. King pointed to Oxford's FNC Park, which opened in 2009 and has a mix of baseball, softball and soccer fields, as an example of a high-quality facility. |
| Farmers markets increase in number, offerings | |
| In 2006, when the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce began tracking local farmers' markets, there were 23 on the list. Today, there are 80 markets spread across 54 of the state's 82 counties. There is at least one farmers' market in each of the 16 counties in Northeast Mississippi. "We don't have one in every single county, but they pretty much are spread out across the state," said Paige Manning, director of marketing and public relations for MDAC. "And we're getting paperwork in for others every day." In 2008, MDAC started a Certified Farmers Market program. "It was merely a marketing initiative to promote Mississippi farmers selling Mississippi-grown items," Manning said. "It is voluntary for markets to participate in. Just because you are not a certified market doesn't mean you don't have Mississippi products." In Northeast Mississippi, there are five certified markets in five counties: Benton, Clay, Lafayette, Lee and Oktibbeha. Whether the markets are certified or not, they're certainly growing in number and popularity, Manning said. |
| Does the Mississippi Coast really need more casinos? Here's what operators said | |
 | Coast casino operators continue to invest millions of dollars in new hotels, sportsbooks and other amenities, but they're always looking over their shoulders to see who else is coming to compete. Ask any casino operator in South Mississippi if Biloxi and the Coast need more casinos and they will answer with a resounding "no." Competition is the number one issue casino operators face in South Mississippi, said Duncan McKenzie, general manager of IP Casino Biloxi, during this month's Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi. In addition to the 12 casinos on the Coast, Florida is looking to expand casinos and Alabama and Georgia are looming. Likewise Sun Herald readers respond to reports of new casinos proposed with a mix of comments, welcoming the new jobs but saying the Coast has enough casinos. |
| Politics of water policy flow across party lines | |
 | Political discussions about water policy in Mississippi have long focused on concerns about how to control flooding and let people earn a living without creating environmental harm. In Mississippi this year, concerns about flood control are intensifying because of what's happening in the Delta and on the coast. Democrats and Republicans alike are talking about water. In a speech May 9 on the U.S. Senate floor, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi said the federal government should complete a massive pump project that's designed to help drain water from the confluence of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers. The pump proposal is supported by prominent Mississippi officials, including Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, who are all Republicans, and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat whose district would be most affected. |
| River continues to rise, backwater flood crest a 'moving target' | |
 | There is no comfort to those residents battling flooding along the Mississippi River or dealing with the flooding in the Yazoo Backwater Area that history is being made in their misery. Both the duration of the flood on the Mississippi and the level of flooding, particularly on Eagle Lake, are setting marks no one would have wanted or expected, or hope to deal with ever again. In Eagle Lake, water is still rising and seepage along some of the levees is creating more problems for those residents who remain in the area. "Some of the utilities have been cut off," Warren County Emergency Management Agency Director John Elfer said. Forecasters with the National Weather Service anticipate the crest on the Mississippi River will come June 6. That forecast on Friday was a full foot higher than Thursday's forecast. "As for the crest on the backwater, it's just a moving target," Elfer said. "It is still coming up in portions. And I had a report this morning that we have some seep water coming in under the levee." |
| Mississippi lawmaker accused of punching wife issues joint statement with her, does not apologize | |
| The Lucedale lawmaker facing a domestic violence charge after allegedly punching his wife has issued a statement along with his wife. State Rep. Doug Mcleod did not apologize for his actions, according to the statements published in the George County Times. He said there are "many fabrications and misrepresentations" in the media and on social media. Michelle McLeod also mentions "misleading reporting" and said, "We would ask that you reserve judgment and request that the you respect our family and our family's privacy." The Sun Herald first published the contents of the sheriff's report taken after the incident at their house last Saturday night, May 18. According to the investigative report, a drunken Mcleod punched his wife in the face, bloodying her nose. He told officers he felt it was taking her too long to undress for sex. |
| Mississippi farmers, slammed by weather and tariffs, still say they support president | |
| Roger Campbell, age 67, who farms about 2,000 acres with his two brothers in Prentiss, Lee and Itawamba counties in northeast Mississippi, says he farms because "it is what I know." For 51 springs, he has put seeds in the ground, just as his father did. But the combination of uncertainty caused by tariffs imposed on American farmers by China and the unusually wet spring is testing the nerve of most Mississippi farmers, including Campbell. "I enjoy farming," said Campbell, who farms with his brothers, Tony and Mike. "Of course, I don't want to lose money. You can't long in this business. The equipment is so expensive." For the second consecutive planting season, farmers, including those in Mississippi, are facing the prospect of China placing tariffs on their product. Soybeans, the largest row crop in the state, is being hit particularly hard by the Chinese tariffs imposed in retaliation for tariffs placed on Chinese products by the administration of President Donald Trump. "What we have right now is the farmers are being hit from both sides -- with the weather and the tariffs," said Keith Coble, director of the Agriculture Economic Department at Mississippi State University. |
| Supreme Court won't review abortion law signed by Pence | |
 | The Supreme Court Tuesday declined to take up a case challenging an Indiana law barring abortions based on a fetus' sex, race or disability, allowing a lower court's ruling against the law to stand. But it upheld a separate Indiana measure requiring fetal remains to be buried or cremated, overturning a lower court ruling. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last year ruled that the law restricting when and why an abortion could be performed, which Vice President Mike Pence signed in 2016 when he was the state's governor, violated the privacy rights of women. That case is the latest abortion challenge the court's new conservative majority has passed up. However, it doesn't indicate whether the court will eventually take up a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling legalization abortion nationwide. |
| 'American Soil' Is Increasingly Foreign Owned | |
 | American soil. Those are two words that are commonly used to stir up patriotic feelings. They are also words that can't be taken for granted, because today nearly 30 million acres of U.S. farmland are held by foreign investors. That number has doubled in the past two decades, which is raising alarm bells in farming communities. When the stock market tanked during the last recession, foreign investors began buying up big swaths of U.S. farmland. And because there are no federal restrictions on the amount of land that can be foreign-owned, it's been left up to individual states to decide on any limitations. It's likely that even more American land will end up in foreign hands, especially in states with no restrictions on ownership. With the median age of U.S. farmers at 55, many face retirement with no prospect of family members willing to take over. The National Young Farmers Coalition anticipates that two-thirds of the nation's farmland will change hands in the next few decades. |
| Millennials 'Make Farming Sexy' in Africa, Where Tilling the Soil Once Meant Shame | |
 | After he graduated from university, Vozbeth Kofi Azumah was reluctant to tell anyone -- even his mother -- what he planned to do for a living. "I'm a farmer," he said, buzzing his motorcycle between freshly plowed fields on a recent afternoon. "Here, that's an embarrassment." In some parts of the world, farmers are viewed with respect and cultivating the land is seen as an honorable trade. But in a region where most agriculture is still for subsistence -- relying on cutlass, hoe and a hope for rain -- farming is a synonym for poverty. But Mr. Azumah is among a growing number of young, college-educated Africans fighting the stigma by seeking to professionalize farming. They are applying scientific approaches and data-crunching apps not just to increase yields, but to show that agriculture can be profitable. They call themselves "agripreneurs." |
| MUW's creative writing program hosts thesis readings this week | |
| The low-residency master of fine arts program in creative writing at Mississippi University for Women will hold a series of readings tonight and Tuesday through Friday, featuring graduate students and faculty. All readings are open to the public and will be held in the Gail Gunter Multipurpose Room in Fant Memorial Library, starting at 7:30 p.m. There will be no reading on Memorial Day. Tonight's reading will focus on poetry with featured readers Jacqueline Trimble, author of "American Happiness," and Thomas B. Richardson, who will read from his thesis, "How to Read." Tuesday, May 28, will feature Paulette Boudreaux, author of "Mulberry," and Robin Taylor Murphy, reading from her thesis novel "Spinning Still." Wednesday, May 29, will feature Ellen Ann Fentress, writer and producer of the documentary film "Eyes on Mississippi," and Courtney Clark, with a dramatic reading of her play script "Pieces." Thursday, May 30, will feature T. K. Lee, playwright and author of the poetry collection "To Square a Circle," and Ashley Hewitt, reading from her thesis, the novel "The Cost of Time." Friday, May 31, will feature novelist Mary Miller, reading from her newly-released novel, "Biloxi," and Sally Lyon, reading from her fiction thesis, "Someone Like You." |
| Ole Miss Veterans Services moves to George Street House | |
| The Office of Veteran and Military Services and the Veterans Resource Center at Ole Miss will finally come together in a central location on campus this fall. It's something Andrew Newby, Deputy Director of Veteran and Military Services, said was a positive step in improving the lives of student veterans. The new VMS office and VRC location will be George Street House, formerly the home of the School of Applied Sciences. The VMS office is currently housed in the third floor of Martindale Hall, and the VRC is located in the basement of Yerby Hall. The new location is one Newby described as "prime real estate," saying he especially wanted to thank Dr. Brandi Hephner-Labanc and Leslie Banahan for their help in the process. Moving to George Street House will solve one of the student veterans' biggest problems: accessibility. |
| U. of Alabama greenspaces designed to lure pollinators | |
 | Tucked into greenspaces along the perimeter of University of Alabama are several patches of wildflowers that stand in contrast to the manicured turf across the rest of campus. The tall meadows aren't oversights by the grounds crew but deliberate habitats built to attract honeybees and monarch butterflies. The wildflower plots, marked with signs encouraging people to look but not enter, are meant to provide undisturbed spaces for the pollinators. "It added some natural color and beauty to areas of camps that don't really have them," said Duane Lamb, associate vice president of facilities and grounds. The habitats are near the tennis courts on campus, behind Cyber Hall, in the new Capstone Preserve, and on the nature trail that runs beside Marrs Springs Road. |
| U. of Arkansas rolls out scholarship for transfers | |
| Students who earn an associate degree at one of the University of Arkansas System's seven community colleges will soon be able to transfer to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and pay much less in tuition than they would have previously. They'll be able to attend UA while paying the same amount of tuition per credit hour that they paid at their community college under the school's new Arkansas Transfer Achievement Scholarship. The change should benefit more than just the university in Fayetteville, said Stephen Cole, chancellor of Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas. More people will see more value in enrolling in community colleges, including people who may not have attended college at any level, Cole said. A lower-cost bachelor's degree has that power, he said. "It's a game-changer," he said. "It's a life-changer." |
| Construction at U. of Tennessee: Work on new Chick-fil-A and dorms continues | |
 | As University of Tennessee-Knoxville students head home for the summer, construction on several new buildings is continuing. Progress will continue in multiple areas of campus, including the new engineering building and a new dining hall that will include a full-service Chick-fil-A. The $129 million engineering building is scheduled to open in fall 2021. The foundation is being laid for the 228,000-square-foot building that will have 23 laboratories for the nuclear engineering program and be home to Tickle College of Engineering students and faculty. "It will be pretty dramatic when you see the reinforced concrete going up," said Dave Irvin, associate vice chancellor for facilities services. Work will also continue on a new dining facility on Andy Holt Avenue. Included in the facility will be a full-service Chick-fil-A, which was highly requested by students, Irvin said. UT-Knoxville has two Chick-fil-A locations on campus already: one in the Student Union and one in Presidential Court. However, neither location is a full-service Chick-fil-A. |
| Texas A&M AgriLife unveils plans for robotic greenhouse | |
 | Texas A&M AgriLife released plans for an automated greenhouse that will use sensors to enhance agriculture crops, showcasing technology that will support crops' yield, environment and health, at a recent event inside the AgriLife Center. The Automated Precision Phenotyping (APP) Greenhouse, according to AgriLife personnel, will use robotics to cultivate agriculture in unprecedented ways. "The purpose of [the greenhouse] is to help breeders and geneticists who are trying to improve crops," said AgriLife Research engineer Alex Thomasson. "It also allows us to measure things about the plants that, in the past, we have not able to easily measure." According to an AgriLife press release, it consists of two 2,400-square-foot greenhouses for physicists, biochemists and engineers and one 3,813-square-foot house with field scientists "working in soil, plant, microbe, insect and other disciplines." |
| Some defrauded borrowers win in court as debt-relief claims pile up | |
 | Earlier this year, Sarah Dieffenbacher closed the book on a two-year legal fight with the U.S. Department of Education over her student loan debt. But the resolution was unsatisfying to Dieffenbacher. Instead of getting a ruling on the loan-forgiveness claim she filed for debt racked up at the former Everest College, the department discharged her loans through bankruptcy court. "Unfortunately, it was not a settlement that I can say I'm proud to have received," she said. "They found an easy way out." For some plaintiffs like Dieffenbacher, the courts have become the only viable path to forgiveness of student loans they argue aren't valid because they attended fraudulent programs. That's because Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, hasn't acted on a single loan-forgiveness application -- so-called borrower-defense claims -- in nearly a year. More than 158,000 claims are currently pending review, according to department officials. |
| Tax hike on employers will help make college free for many students in Washington State | |
| Lawmakers in Washington State are taking a novel approach to funding higher education with a new scholarship program that will make tuition at the state's colleges and universities free for thousands of low-income families. Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, on Tuesday signed into law a work-force investment bill that creates the Washington College Grant. The scholarships, which will be fully funded through an increase in the state's business and occupation tax, guarantees financial aid for more than 110,000 low- and middle-income Washington residents. The grant will help students pay little or no tuition. The scholarship program is one of the more progressive statewide grants to emerge in recent years. Supporters of the new education investment include two of the state's largest employers -- Microsoft and Amazon. Depending on the size of the business, each will be taxed at a different rate. Microsoft and Amazon would pay the most and see a total annual surcharge of $7 million each. |
| Study shows rural Mississippi drifting into distress | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: "What was once a country of disparate places that converged towards prosperity is now a country of places drifting further apart," reports the bipartisan Economic Innovation Group (EIG). Rural areas are the most impacted. This study corroborates my earlier column that population trends suggest declining prosperity in Mississippi's rural counties. The EIG study found population increasing in the better off counties while it was declining in the worse off counties. Population, however, was not used as a measure. The study used these criteria: 1) percent adult population with no high school diploma; 2) housing vacancy rate; 3) percent working age adults not working; 4) poverty rate; 5) ratio of county income over state income; 6) change in number of jobs; 7) change in number of businesses. From these criteria, EIG performed a county-by-county comparison using two distinct time periods, 2007-2011 and 2012-2016. What the study showed was a "great reshuffling" following the Great Recession. |
| Reeves' message to voters: he has state moving in right direction; opponents say there's still work to be done | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: To win the governor's mansion this November, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, the front-runner in the Republican primary, must do at least two things -- convince voters he is competent and convince them that the state is heading in the right direction. Based on the at times military-school precision in which Reeves presides over the Mississippi Senate, it could be argued that the competency box can be checked off. But, perhaps, it might be more difficult to convince at least some voters that the state is heading in the right direction. At a recent event in Brandon sponsored by the Rankin County Republican Women, numerous candidates for political office spoke of the problems they wanted to solve. |
SPORTS
| Diamond Dogs earn No. 6 national seed | |
| In February, Mississippi State opened the doors to its new $55-million stadium, considered the crown jewel in all of college baseball. On Friday, the latest version of Dudy Noble Field will play host to the NCAA Tournament for the first time as the Diamond Dogs received the No. 6 national seed. "I expect it to be hot and I expect a lot of Bulldog fans to be out there," said MSU coach Chris Lemonis. "It should be a lot of fun. That's why they built this place – to host regionals and host super regionals. Our fans will be out, and it'll be a great weekend." MSU (46-13) will open the Starkville Regional against fourth-seeded Southern University at noon on Friday on SEC Network. No. 2 seed Miami will play No. 3 seed Central Michigan in Friday's nightcap at 7 p.m. Saturday's games are scheduled for noon (losers) and 6 p.m. (winners), and Sunday's games are slated for 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. first pitches. If a Monday game is necessary, it starts at 6 p.m. |
| Mississippi State baseball: See what teams will play in NCAA Tournament's Starkville Regional | |
 | Fire up the grills, turn on the lights and make sure the music is loud. NCAA Tournament action is on its way to Dudy Noble Field for the first time since 2016. The Mississippi State Bulldogs (46-13) are hosting this week's Starkville Regional as the No. 6 overall seed in this year's field of 64 teams. The games begin Friday, May 31, and will last through the weekend. A deciding game will be played between the two teams left standing on Monday, June 3, if necessary. Mississippi State plays against Southern at on Friday at noon. Miami and Central Michigan square off later that night at 7 p.m. "It's a good bracket," MSU head coach Chris Lemonis said. "It's a hot Southern team that can really hit. Central Michigan has had an unbelievable year, and Miami is always Miami. Since they've got a new coach, they've played very well. So we've got our work cut out for us." |
| This Mississippi State team might be the best yet | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Logan Lowery writes: During my career, I've been fortunate enough to cover three Mississippi State teams that made trips to the College World Series. However, the 2007, 2013 or 2018 editions of the Diamond Dogs were not the most talented teams I've covered. For a while, that honor went to the 2016 squad that won the SEC regular-season championship and earned a national seed but was eliminated in the super regional round by eventual national runner-up Arizona. Lately, I've had to rethink things after watching this year's team play. I believe this current group of Bulldogs could be the most talented, balanced and deepest team that I've covered since I started writing about college baseball 15 years ago. |
| Nuno Borges' incredible career at Mississippi State ends in 2019 NCAA singles final | |
 | One of the greatest careers in Mississippi State athletics history -- and the greatest in MSU Men's Tennis lore -- came to an end on Saturday afternoon at the USTA National Campus, as MSU's top-seeded and top-ranked Nuno Borges dropped a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6(2) decision to South Carolina's fourth-seeded fifth-ranked Paul Jubb in the singles final of the 2019 NCAA Championship. Borges concluded his illustrious career as one of the most decorated players in college tennis history, on and off the court, finishing with a remarkable 37-3 overall singles mark in 2019. Entering Saturday's match, Borges held an incredible 31-match winning streak that goes down as the longest in program history. "Nuno's a warrior," head coach Matt Roberts said. "I was happy that he was able to develop here at Mississippi State and use our program to take him to the next level to where he can be a successful tennis pro. That, for me, is a huge step forward for our program. I'm just really proud of him for being such an incredible ambassador for Mississippi State and for college tennis. We can't wait to see what he does on the pro tour, and he always has a family here at Mississippi State." |
| Sports gambling, transfer waivers among topics at SEC spring meetings | |
| Greg Sankey does a little bragging when asked about the main item on the agenda for this week's Southeastern Conference spring meetings. "That as a conference we're doing really, really well," the league's commissioner said. "I'd put that at the top." The annual gathering of coaches, administrators and league officials begins Tuesday in Destin, Florida. And rest assured, it will be about more than SEC types patting themselves on the back over their athletic successes. There also figures to be plenty of talk about sports gambling -- specifically the prospect of NFL-style availability lists outlining injury status -- NCAA transfer waivers, and the potential for student athletes to eventually be compensated for their names, images and likenesses. Sankey spoke with The Associated Press about the upcoming meetings Sunday on the balcony of his Hoover Met suite shortly before the baseball championship game. |
| Alcohol policy, scheduling among topics on tap for SEC meetings | |
 | The topic has been discussed in meeting rooms at the Hilton Sandestin Beach in recent years with momentum for change seemingly building slowly. The SEC's alcohol policy, which does not allow the sale of beer or wine in general seating areas, will be a discussion point this week for the league's presidents at the league's spring meetings. The SEC is the only major conference that doesn't permit schools to set their own alcohol policies. "You may see something happen in that area as far as a recommendation moving forward," Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said. A majority of the league's 14 presidents and chancellors would need to vote to change the policy. Ole Miss and LSU are believed to be making the biggest push. McGarity has been open to discussing a change at Georgia, but isn't sure if Sanford Stadium would have alcohol sales in time for the 2019 season should the SEC rule change. Some schools may choose to wait a year if the ban is lifted. |
| SEC to cover hot topics at spring meetings | |
| There will be discussions about money, always money, and talk about drinking and gambling. This, however, is not some whirlwind trip to Las Vegas. The venue is the Sandestin Beach Hilton, the site of the annual spring meetings of the Southeastern Conference. Wealth will be distributed among the league schools, largely coming from the league's television deals. There may not be quite as much money as the Big Ten will apportion to its members this year, but that may only be temporary depending on the SEC's next television negotiations. In the meantime, the SEC and the Big 10 continue to separate themselves from the other Power Five conferences in terms of financial power. The SEC won't be wagering any of that money, although gambling -- specifically the standardization of injury reports in football and basketball, generally seen as a concession to the increasingly-legal gaming industry -- will be one of the items on a wide-ranging agenda. |
| Southern Miss is headed to the Baton Rouge Regional to face Arizona State | |
 | Southern Mississippi's NCAA tournament will begin in Baton Rouge. The Golden Eagles were placed into a regional with No. 16 LSU, along with Stony Brook ( (31-21) and Arizona State (37-17). USM will open the tournament Friday at noon against Arizona State, while host LSU will Stony Brook Friday at 6 p.m. LSU (37-24) ranks 16th in the nation in RPI and cemented its host spot by reaching the final four of SEC tournament. There, they were defeated 13-4 by Vanderbilt. The Golden Eagles (No. 45 RPI) finished the regular season with a 38-19 record (20-10 C-USA). Southern Miss reached the NCAA tourney with an impressive undefeated run through the Conference USA tournament. They defeated Florida Atlantic 4-0 in the title game to capture their third conference title in four years. |
| Southern Miss baseball is headed to LSU while Ole Miss and Mississippi State host tough regionals | |
| With so many NCAA baseball regionals taking place across the Southeast this week, Southern Miss could have landed in one of as many as six possible locations. It turns out the Golden Eagles will be playing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a No. 3 seed this weekend. They will be joined by No. 1 seed LSU, No. 2 Arizona State and No. 4 Stony Brook. USM will play Arizona State at noon on Friday. LSU and Stony Brook will follow at 6 p.m. USM (38-19) clinched its 16th trip to the NCAA tournament with a Conference USA tournament title on Sunday, beating FAU 4-0 in the championship game. Ole Miss (37-24) and Mississippi State (46-13) found out Sunday night that they will be playing at home this weekend. Joining Ole Miss in the Oxford Regional will be No. 2 Illinois, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Jacksonville State. Illinois will play Clemson at 3 p.m. on Friday and Ole Miss-Jacksonville State will be at 7 p.m. The three other teams in the Starkville Regional are No. 2 Miami, No. 3 Central Michigan and No. 4 Southern. On Friday, MSU will play Southern at noon and Miami-Central Michigan will take the field at 7 p.m. |
| Entire Oxford Regional released for NCAA Tournament | |
| Ole Miss is hosting a regional in Oxford for the ninth time in program history. Ole Miss was announced as a 12 seed as the NCAA Tournament field was presented on television Monday morning. The Rebels were announced as a host school less than an hour following the conclusion of the 11-10 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores in the SEC Tournament championship game. Illinois is the two seed in Oxford, Clemson the three seed and Jacksonville State the four seed for the Oxford Regional. The Oxford Regional is paired up with the Fayetteville Regional, which is being hosted by overall five seed Arkansas. For the second straight season, Ole Miss is one of 10 SEC teams to make the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss joins Vanderbilt, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi State and LSU as the six SEC teams to earn a host bid. The Rebels will then play against Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. |
| Miami Hurricanes baseball surprisingly in Starkville NCAA regional | |
| Time to start a new streak on the road to Omaha. The University of Miami, under first-year head coach Gino DiMare, officially returned to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament on Monday when it learned it will travel to Starkville, Mississippi for the first round of the 64-team tourney. Although the Hurricanes jumped from their seats and cheered when their tournament field was shown, UM being placed in a regional hosted by Mississippi State, which has the nation's No. 4 RPI but is the tournament's No. 6 overall seed, is a head-scratching surprise to say the least. The Canes just missed hosting their own regional after finishing the season with the No. 17 RPI. A team that highly rated normally would not be sent to a regional hosted by a national seed. That fact obviously did not get past DiMare. "That doesn't make sense to me. ...Where a team like Duke [31-25], which finished well below us in our [Atlantic Coast] conference, they're going and playing at [No. 15 seed] West Virginia, which is not a top-eight team. ...It is what it is." |
| Keith Carter named Ole Miss Interim A.D. | |
 | Ole Miss announced Monday morning that Deputy Athletic Director Keith Carter will serve as Interim A.D. Carter will replace Ross Bjork, who made his move to Texas A&M official on Friday night. He'll fill the role until the university's chancellor search is concluded. "Keith Carter is a well-known leader with Ole Miss Athletics. He has succeeded consistently as a Rebel athlete, athletics administrator, broadcaster, and fundraiser," Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks said in a statement. "His standing with Rebel fans everywhere will serve Ole Miss Athletics and the university well during this interim period." Carter is the Chief Revenue Officer for the athletics department and has served as the Executive Director of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation since June 2012. |
| New Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork expects to form winning combo with football coach Jimbo Fisher, others | |
| Newly hired Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork expects to team up with football coach Jimbo Fisher for a winning combination, leaning on their lessons learned as players when Bjork was a fullback at Emporia State and Fisher was a quarterback at Salem and Samford universities. "When I talked to Jimbo, I thought it was really cool that here you have two small college football players, and you know what, playing small-college football, that takes a certain mentality," Bjork said Monday. "We didn't have the nicest things. You don't play in front of a whole lot of people, but you played for the passion of the game." They both still have plenty of passion. Fisher has talked about winning championships since A&M hired him from Florida State in December 2017. Bjork will attend the Southeastern Conference spring meetings that start Tuesday in Destin, Florida, though A&M interim AD R.C. Slocum is in charge until July 8 when Bjork starts work. |
| 'Heavy hearts': Auburn baseball prepares for NCAA Tournament honoring the late Rod Bramblett | |
 | Conor Davis pressed play, and heard that familiar call again. He'll hear it the rest of his life. "Swing -- driven -- deep left field -- and the Tigers have won the ballgame!" Rod Bramblett's triumphant voice roars out on the tape. "It's a walk-off winner for the freshman Conor Davis!" Davis is older now. He's closing his junior season, two years removed from that three-run walk-off homer against South Carolina in 2017. But that big swing will always be one of the highlights of his collegiate career -- and Bramblett's voice will always be the one that captured it best. This weekend Auburn is going to the NCAA Tournament in Atlanta without Bramblett on the call for the first time in 27 years. Bramblett and his wife, Paula, died suddenly after a car wreck Saturday. "You know, it's kind of bittersweet," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said just after seeing his team's name entered into the NCAA Tournament, "because we're going through a lot, our Auburn family, right now with a lot that's happened in our community and our friends and our loved ones. They've been part of this journey and they're not here with us today." |
| Memphis never investigated allegations against former AD Tom Bowen | |
| The University of Memphis never investigated allegations of inappropriate behavior by former Athletics Director Tom Bowen, according to documents obtained by The Commercial Appeal from an open records request. The university provided no documentation of an investigation or a potential investigation involving Bowen's recent resignation. The Commercial Appeal requested from the university "all materials, documents and correspondence pertaining to Tom Bowen's resignation, as well as any materials and documents pertaining to an investigation or possible investigation regarding Tom Bowen." The university responded to the request Friday evening and included an April 16 letter from Elizabeth Holloway to university president M. David Rudd. The letter alleged behavior between Bowen and an athletic department official Holloway deemed "a bit flirty" during a women's basketball road trip at the American Athletic Conference tournament, including an observation that the athletic department official picked up Bowen's room key at the team hotel. |
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