| Monday, June 30, 2025 |
| Mississippi's crops struggle with rainfall challenges | |
 | Rainfall at well above normal accumulations is impacting the state's row crops, according to officials. Mike Brown, state climatologist with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Department of Geosciences, said many areas of the state have had one and a half times the typical amount of rain for this time of year. "Annually, we generally see around 58 inches of rain in our coastal counties, 52 in our northern counties, and around 55 inches through the central portion of the state," Brown said. "Mid-August through mid-October tends to be our driest period. Many portions of the Delta began the year well above normal for precipitation, but those areas have seen a drier end of May and have remained at or just below average for June." As of late June, officials said Starkville, Greenville, Tupelo and Southaven have about 50% more rain than usual since the planting and growing season began. Meridian and Greenwood are just above normal levels, while Jackson, Biloxi and McComb have seen about one-third more rain than normal. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State Places 90 On 2024-25 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll | |
 | Ninety student-athletes who competed for Mississippi State during the 2024-25 academic year were named to the First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll, the league office announced Friday. The honor roll recognizes student-athletes who began their academic and athletic careers during the 2024-25 school year and earned a 3.00 grade point average or higher while meeting SEC eligibility and academic credit hour standards. Mississippi State's honorees represent each of its varsity programs and a wide range of academic disciplines. Baseball led all Bulldog teams with 19 selections, followed by football with 12, volleyball with nine, and men's and women's track and field with eight and nine honorees, respectively. In addition to their accomplishments in competition, MSU student-athletes earned recognition while pursuing degrees in fields such as electrical and computer engineering, biochemistry, biological sciences, kinesiology, finance, medical technology, psychology, public policy and administration, and other programs that carry strong academic demands. A total of 1,903 student-athletes across the Southeastern Conference were named to the honor roll. |
| Men's Hoops Announces Two More Non-Conference Matchups | |
| The Mississippi State men's basketball program will return to Tupelo for the third straight season for a December non-conference matchup announced Friday. The Bulldogs will square off with San Francisco from the West Coast Conference on Sunday, December 7 at Cadance Bank Arena. The Dons have averaged 22.7 wins per season and earned back-to-back NIT appearances under fourth-year coach Chris Gerlufsen. The Maroon and White have won all six of their previous games played in Tupelo, most recently a 66-63 victory over McNeese last season who was a fellow 2025 NCAA Tournament participant. State also will meet Alabama State as part of its non-conference slate on Monday, December 29 at Humphrey Coliseum. Game times, television information and Tupelo ticket information will be released at a later date. Already released, all nine of State's SEC home opponents are coming off NCAA Tournament berths headed by Auburn who made the 2025 NCAA Final Four. The Bulldogs also will welcome Alabama and Tennessee who are coming off 2025 NCAA Elite Eight trips along with Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt to Humphrey Coliseum. State's non-conference schedule has taken shape with a Black Friday football-basketball doubleheader as the Bulldogs play host to SMU on Friday, November 28 followed by Memphis on Saturday, December 20 at Humphrey Coliseum. |
| NCAA President Charlie Baker salary and Mark Emmert severance detailed in 2023 tax form | |
 | NCAA President Charlie Baker was credited with a little more than $3.4 million in total compensation for his first 10 months on the job in 2023, the association's new federal tax records show. The documents, which the NCAA provided Friday, June 27, also show that former president Mark Emmert received slightly more than $1.4 million in base salary and more than $600,000 in other benefits during his final months with the association. Emmert also received nearly $4.3 million in severance during the 2023 calendar year, an amount that was disclosed on the tax records that the NCAA filed last year. Baker became the NCAA's president on March 1, 2023. His total pay included just over $2.6 million in base compensation, $400,000 in bonus pay and nearly $360,00 in other reportable compensation. The base amount, when annualized, is a little more than $3.15 million. Emmert base compensation for his last full calendar year as the NCAA's president was nearly $2.85 million. Under IRS rules, while non-profit organizations -- including the NCAA and college athletics conferences -- make most financial disclosures on a fiscal-year basis, they are required to report employee compensation figures on a calendar-year basis. |
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