| Friday, February 2, 2024 |
| Bianco, Lemonis honored by Boy Scouts of America | |
 | The Natchez Trace Council of the Boy Scouts of America honored rival university baseball coaches Thursday night. Ole Miss head baseball coach Mike Bianco and Mississippi State head baseball coach Chris Lemonis were jointly recognized for their contributions to their communities during the BSA's Distinguished Citizens Dinner, held at the Cadence Conference Center. "These outstanding coaches brought great honor to Mississippi and to the institutions they represent," Natchez Trace Council President Sid Salter said. "Mike Bianco and Chris Lemonis are also extremely outstanding men and role models for youth that flourish in Scouting. This is an opportunity to recognize these fine men and support Scouting in our communities from the Tennessee line to the Golden Triangle." Bianco and Lemonis brought their teams to the NCAA National Championships in baseball, winning the College World Series, MSU in 2021 and Ole Miss in 2022. Both are also former National Coach of the Year winners. The event serves as a fundraiser for local Scouting programs. Thursday night's event drew 350 attendees, raising $200,000 for Scouting in Northeast Mississippi. The organization covers 22 counties in the region and more than 1,200 families. The reception was previously postponed from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1 following the ice storm that swept through north Mississippi in mid-January, causing icy and impassable road conditions for nearly a week. |
| Map Shows US Missing-Persons Cases by State | |
 | Oklahoma has the largest percentage of missing people in America, with Louisiana and Arkansas also above average, the latest federal statistics show. The data also points to wide regional variation, with Southern states having some of the highest percentages of missing people. The information is collected by the National U.S. Missing Persons Database [NamUS], which is operated by the Department of Justice. Every day, roughly 2,300 Americans are reported missing. Newsweek is embarking on a yearlong project to raise awareness of missing persons and amplify the stories of those impacted. One expert told Newsweek that the real figures for missing people are higher than the federal statistics show. The figures are significantly higher on the West Coast. Oregon has one of the top rates of missing people in America at 12.5 per 100,000. Washington State has 10.8, and California has 8.6. Dr. Jesse Goliath, who has launched a separate project for Mississippi called the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons, told Newsweek that the real figures are higher than the federal statistics show. "In general, there is no federal requirement for reporting missing persons cases to NamUS. So, without mandatory reporting by law enforcement, the number of actual missing persons in each state is actually much higher than reported," Goliath said. Goliath, an assistant anthropology professor at Mississippi State University, said his research has shown that the real missing-persons figures in Mississippi are much higher. "For example, in Mississippi, NamUS only has 188 missing-persons cases. Our database, Mississippi Repository, has 497 missing-persons cases," he added. |
| Clayton Village growth stifled by over-taxed water system | |
 | Habitat for Humanity is building as many as 30 houses in its subdivision on 16th Section Road, but some of the substantially completed structures may sit uninhabitable for another two years due to lack of water connections. Completion of those houses, plus additional development in the area, could be halted for years as the organization tasked with providing water faces growing pains. Six months ago, Clayton Village Water Association was ordered by the Bureau of Public Water Supply, a division of the Department of Health, to halt new connections because the system is over capacity. In July, the association's board received a letter from the bureau that said CVWA has the water supply to serve 3,080 connections but has 3,334 connections. Despite being overloaded by 8%, the water supply for existing water customers is safe, CVWA director Willette McClain said. "We just want our customers to know, the members of Clayton Village, that there's nothing wrong with their water," she said. "That's No. 1. The moratorium is for the growth of this association." Lifting the moratorium is going to take time -- at least a year, maybe two -- but the association is working through it, McClain said Thursday. The association has grown from serving 200 customers in 1966 to providing water to nearly 5,000 people and has almost 2,200 meters tied to its system. The affected area includes Rockhill Road to the north, Sand Creek Road to the south, East Lee Boulevard to the west and the Highway 182 and 82 overpass to the east. Almost a dozen of the Habitat homes have water service and are inhabited, McClain said. The association has applied for funding from both federal and state sources to build a new 200,000-gallon elevated tank on East Lee Boulevard that will cost more than $2 million. She said the plans are still under development and construction has not yet begun. |
| Fat Tuesday means big business for New Orleans bakers under exploding demand for King Cakes | |
 | It's Carnival season in New Orleans and that means lines are long outside local bakeries and the pace inside is brisk as workers strive to meet customer demand for king cakes -- those brightly colored seasonal pastries that have exploded in popularity over the years. "Mardi Gras is our busiest time of year," says David Haydel Jr. of Haydel's Bakery, who estimates the sale of king cakes in the few short weeks between Christmas and Lent accounts for about half the bakery's income. Behind him are racks holding dozens of freshly baked cakes ready for wrapping. Nearby, workers are whipping up batter in large mixers, rolling out lengths of dough, braiding and shaping them into rings and popping them into ovens. It's a similar scene at Adrian's Bakery in the city's Gentilly neighborhood, where Adrian Darby Sr. estimates king cakes make up 40% of his business. "Without Mardi Gras, you know, you have to make cutbacks, and you don't want to do that. You've got full-time employees and you want to maintain that." King cake's popularity was evident one recent morning at Manny Randazzo's bakery in New Orleans, where a line of more than 60 people stretched down the street. Customer Adrienne Leblanc loaded the back of an SUV with king cakes for friends and family in New Orleans and beyond. "Some of these are going to go to Houston, some will go to Mississippi," said LeBlanc. "And some will stay here in New Orleans." |
| Economy added booming 353K jobs in January, unemployment held at 3.7% | |
 | Hiring picked up sharply in January as employers added a booming 353,000 jobs, highlighting a labor market that continues to defy high interest rates and household financial strains. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated that 185,000 jobs were added last month. Job gains for November and December were revised up by a whopping 126,000, with the December tally upgraded to 333,000 from 216,000. The changes portray a stronger labor market in the fall than previously believed. Average hourly pay also rose sharply, climbing 19 cents to $34.55 and pushing up the yearly increase to 4.5% from an upwardly revised 4.3%. Since spring of last year, pay increases have outpaced still-high inflation, giving consumers more purchasing power. The blockbuster job and wage gains could make the Federal Reserve warier about cutting interest rates anytime soon. The Fed tentatively plans to lower rates three times this year but said this week that a March cut is unlikely because officials want to ensure a pandemic-related inflation spike has been tamed for the long term. "With blowout payrolls, a large upward revision, and a low unemployment rate dreams of imminent Fed rate cuts are likely to be crushed by today's report," Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics. He doesn't expect the Fed to start reducing rates until the third quarter. But other economists are still betting the central bank will act in May. |
| U.S. productivity is up for the third quarter in a row. What does that mean? | |
| Productivity for the nonfarm business sector increased 3.2% in the last quarter of 2023, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the caveat that these numbers are volatile and subject to revisions, that's a significant increase in productivity for the third quarter in a row. It is always a good sign when productivity is rising. "When you think about what productivity is, it is the total amount of goods and services produced in our economy, divided by the total hours worked in the economy," said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute. Another way to think about it is the total amount of income the economy is generating per hour, she said. "And when that goes up, that's good for the economy," she said. "That actually is what makes rising living standards over time possible." Keith Hall, a visiting fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, said the increase in productivity we're seeing is not because of technological advances. "The biggest thing really is the return of a healthy economy," he said. "Having the recession associated with the pandemic, and then the struggle with inflation, we're sort of coming out of that now." But in the next few years, we're likely to see a tech-fueled spurt in productivity, said Martin Baily, a senior fellow emeritus at The Brookings Institution. "With all the developments in technology, including AI, but not just AI, I think I'm pretty optimistic," he said. |
| Mississippi Republican governor again calls for phasing out personal income tax in his budget plan | |
| Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is renewing his call for legislators to phase out the state's personal income tax over several years, and he is asking them to spend more money on economic development, highways and the judiciary. The Republican governor is also requesting additional spending on Capitol Police as the state-run agency is set to gain a wider territory to patrol within the capital city of Jackson. Reeves on Wednesday released his budget proposals for fiscal 2025, which begins July 1. The Republican-controlled Legislature could consider the document as they decide how to spend state money. But House and Senate budget writers have a long history of largely ignoring budget recommendations from governors, even when they're from the same party. The expansion of Capitol Police is mandated in a law enacted last year over objections from some Jackson residents who said it was a way for the white and Republican-controlled state government to steal power from local elected officials in the majority-Black city that is governed by Democrats. The Capitol Police territory expands on July 1. Reeves -- who said during a 2022 appearance in Hattiesburg that it was "as always, a great day to not be in Jackson ″ -- offered some praise for the capital city in his budget document. "It is a wonderful place filled with extraordinary people," Reeves said Wednesday. "It is a cultural hub for our state, and every person who lives or visits there deserves to feel safe. Despite the vast positives Jackson has to offer, it continues to grapple with a serious crime problem." |
| Eliminating income tax top priority for Governor Reeves in FY 25 budget recommendations | |
| Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves released his required Fiscal Year 2025 Executive Budget Recommendation on Tuesday using the revenue estimate as it was originally proposed by the Revenue Estimating Group, the total of which comes to $7.641 billion, per the Governor's office. Governor Reeves' top priority is eliminating the income tax. He said each fiscal year beginning in FY25, Mississippi should take the total amount of revenue above estimates and put half of it towards eliminating the income tax. The Governor lists as his second priority this session the allocation of $100 million for new site development efforts in every region of the state. In the education arena, Governor Reeves is seeking to expand the state's Education Scholarship Account program (ESAs) to fully meet the needs of every family seeking to utilize the program. Governor Reeves is also calling for a Parents' Bill of Rights to "reassert clearly that parents represent the sole decision-making authority for their children," a Patriot Education Fund to "help ensure students receive the fundamentals of the civic education," and a Women's Bill of Rights to "unequivocally recognize the distinct biological differences between men and women... even in the face of radical activists who demand otherwise." |
| Governor renews call for income tax elimination in his latest budget proposal | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves renewed his call to eliminate the personal income tax, a major source of state revenue, in the first budget proposal of his second term. The Republican governor's proposal would phase out the income tax, which currently accounts for about 30% of the state general fund, by 2029. An earlier $525 million cut in the income tax, passed during Reeves' first term, is currently being phased in. "My objective this year is to keep our state's momentum going -- for all Mississippi," Reeves said in a statement. Overall, Reeves is proposing a state-support budget of $7.96 billion -- an increase of $120 million or 1.5% over the budget passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Reeves for the current year. The new budget year begins July 1. Legislators are scheduled to finalize a budget for the upcoming fiscal year in April or May. Additional funds are being proposed in the governor's budget for workforce training and to improve ports and airports. Reeves also is calling for "adding capacity" to I-55 in DeSoto and state Highway 7 in Lafayette County "to entice additional companies to Mississippi." |
| Mississippi House passes bill to legalize online sports betting | |
| The Mississippi House passed a bill Thursday that would legalize online sports betting, bringing the state one step closer to joining 29 other states that already allow the practice. The Mississippi Mobile Sports Wagering Act, which would legalize mobile sports betting while requiring gambling companies to contract with brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, passed 97-14 after a brief debate on the House floor. Sports wagering has been legal in the state for years, but online betting has remained illegal amid fears the move could harm the bottom line of the state's casinos. Republican Rep. Casey Eure of Saucier, the bill's prime sponsor, said the state could bring in $25-35 million a year in tax revenue, based on state Gaming Commission estimates. Mississippi is missing out on that money as it houses one of the nation's most active black markets. Across the U.S. each year, illegal betting sites see about $64 billion in wagers, Eure said. Mississippi makes up 5% of that market, which is about $3 billion in illegal bets. After advancing the bill out of a House committee on Tuesday, lawmakers approved an amendment Eure introduced on the floor that would change where the revenue goes. The first version of the bill levied a 12% tax on sports wagers, sending 4% to the localities where a casino is located and 8% to the state. The amended version lawmakers passed Thursday would direct all 12% to a state fund for emergency road and bridge repairs. |
| Mississippi state Legislature abortion bills proposed in 2024 session | |
 | While Mississippi has banned abortion since the Dobbs decision in the summer of 2022, legislators in the state's House of Representatives have filed eight bills this year to either tighten abortion laws or repeal abortion restrictions outright. Several lawmakers who spoke to the Clarion Ledger said those bills aren't likely to make it past committees, but if they do and are passed, they could limit the spread of information and advertising about abortion services outside the state, restrict the movement of minors to obtain abortions in legal states and prohibit early term abortion medications from entering Mississippi. Republican House members Dan Eubanks and William Arnold, who represent Alcorn and DeSoto counties, respectively, both wrote bills prohibiting the mailing in or procurement of early term abortion pills such as Mifepristone, which was approved by the Federal Drug Administration, as well as other drugs or herbal medicines that could terminate a pregnancy. Those bills, if passed, would also establish fines and jail time for anyone caught distributing, carrying, buying or providing information on how and to obtain those drugs. Another bill written by Rankin County Republican Rep. Gene Newman restricts the advertisement and spreading of information on any "illegal abortion" within or outside of the state and would also establish fines and possibly some jail time for violators. Rep. Fred Shanks, R, who represents Rankin County, told the Clarion Ledger he is a pro-life lawmaker and has voted accordingly, but laws dictating what Mississippi residents can do in other states may be a bridge too far. "That's a little big brothering," Shanks said. |
| Amazon, which will get state funding for new data centers, offers its employees help to get abortions | |
| Mississippi lawmakers, who for years have restricted abortion access, recently voted to provide millions of dollars in tax breaks and cash to lure Amazon, which provides its employees money to travel out of state to obtain an abortion. Gov. Tate Reeves announced in January that Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon, the nation's second largest private company, would invest $10 billion in the state to place two data centers in Madison County near Jackson. The Legislature approved a package that included $44 million for workforce training and for infrastructure, multiple major tax breaks and loans of $215 million to bring the Amazon centers to the state. The company is expected to employ at least 1,000. In 2022, months before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the national right to an abortion, Amazon informed its employees that the company would reimburse up to $4,000 to travel from a state where abortions are banned to a location to obtain an abortion. Even as Mississippi legislators approved the Amazon Web Services incentive package last week, they were working on a proposal to ensure voters could not gather signatures through the initiative process to change state law to allow abortion in Mississippi. That legislation passed the House and is pending in the Senate. Amazon creates an interesting dilemma for Reeves and red state leaders who want to focus on recruiting tech companies that often have corporate policies in conflict with the politicians' rhetoric and positions on social issues like abortion. |
| Jenifer Branning to seek Supreme Court seat | |
| State Sen. Jenifer Branning has announced she will seek a seat on the state Supreme Court. Branning, a Republican Senator from Philadelphia, said Thursday she has qualified for the District 1, Place 3 seat held by Judge Jim Kitchens of Crystal Springs. Branning, who represents District 18 comprising Leake, Neshoba, and Winston counties, was first elected to the Senate in 2016. She is in private law practice in Philadelphia. Branning said in a statement: "Today, I qualified for election to the Mississippi Supreme Court – District 1, Place 3. Mississippians expect and deserve to have judges that fairly and equally apply the laws to all of our citizens. They also expect their judges to be responsible and to represent their values. I am confident that my experience as an attorney of 20 years and as a current legislator make me uniquely qualified to serve the people of District 1 in the Mississippi Supreme Court. Just as our citizens expect consistency, integrity and efficiency in the application of our laws, so does the business community. I am proud of the conservative, pro-business record I've had in the legislature, and I look forward to earning the votes of the people in District 1 in the upcoming months." |
| State Sen. Jennifer Branning announces run for Mississippi Supreme Court | |
| Mississippi Sen. Jennifer Branning is looking to make a career change, one that includes being part of the state's highest court. On Thursday, the Republican lawmaker from Philadelphia confirmed that she has qualified to run for the District 1, Place 3 seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court. The position has been held by Justice Jim Kitchens since 2008. Kitchens and Branning will be joined on the ballot by Ceola James. James, a former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge, ran against Kitchens in 2008, garnering a little over 10 percent of the vote in the three-person race. With justices not publicly representing political parties, there are no primaries for the supreme court's four seats up for grabs this year. The general election will be held on Nov. 5 alongside presidential and congressional races. |
| Oxford Lafayette EDF set to hire Ryan Miller as CEO | |
| The Oxford Lafayette Economic Development Foundation Board of Directors is set to hire Ryan Miller as the new CEO of the organization. Miller, a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the University of Mississippi School of Law, will be ratified at the board's next scheduled meeting in February. "We have every confidence that Ryan can play a vital role in our community's economic growth," said Brad Mayo, chairman of the EDF Board. "His background in workforce development, project management and organization building is what we need to help grow jobs locally and find new industries for our community." The economic development organization selected Miller after an extensive national search. Miller comes to the EDF from Accelerate Mississippi, where he serves as executive director in Jackson. Miller was the founding director of the statewide workforce development office. Prior to Accelerate Mississippi, Miller was the associate director for external relations at the University of Mississippi Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) in Oxford. |
| Lawmakers honor Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, but Dems say it's time for her to allow vote on federal judge | |
| Twelve Senate Democrats did not vote for a resolution Thursday honoring U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith as being the first woman elected to represent Mississippi in Washington because she is blocking a vote on the nomination of Scott Colom to a federal judgeship. "As Democrats we support women being elected to political office," said Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, who is the chamber's minority leader. But Simmons said the decision not to vote on Hyde-Smith's resolution was to bring attention to her refusal to allow the U.S. Senate to vote on Colom's nomination by President Joe Biden to serve as a federal judge in the Northern District of Mississippi. Because of a sometimes-honored U.S. Senate tradition, senators from the home state of a nominee for the U.S. district court can block a vote on the nominee by refusing to return a so-called "blue slip." Colom's nomination has bipartisan support from Roger Wicker, Mississippi's senior U.S. senator, and also from former Republican governors Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant. "Democrats are concerned with Cindy Hyde-Smith holding up the nomination of Scott Colom," Simmons said. "No Democrat opposes the worth of the resolution honoring her. But we do feel that it is important that the federal posts in Mississippi that deal with law and order be filled. We support Scott Colom's nomination just like a broad range of people." |
| Biden Takes Aim at Grocery Chains Over Food Prices | |
 | President Biden, whose approval rating has suffered amid high inflation, is beginning to pressure large grocery chains to slash food prices for American consumers, accusing the stores of reaping excess profits and ripping off shoppers. "There are still too many corporations in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, shrinkflation," Mr. Biden said last week in South Carolina. Aides say those comments are a preview of more pressure to come against grocery chains and other companies that are maintaining higher-than-usual profit margins after a period of rapid price growth. Mr. Biden's public offensive reflects the political reality that, while inflation is moderating, voters are angry about how much they are paying at the grocery store and that is weighing on Mr. Biden's approval rating ahead of the 2024 election. The Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing --- and widely expected to block -- a merger between two large grocery-store chains, Kroger and Albertsons. Opponents of the deal say it would reduce competition and allow the merged company to charge shoppers higher prices. But blocking that deal would do little to address the current price pop. A Kroger executive on Thursday welcomed Mr. Biden's increased focus on grocer profits, insisting that the merger would reduce costs for customers. |
| Biden fiercely embraces the non-swing state of South Carolina | |
 | On two weekends in January, President Biden turned up at churches in South Carolina, telling parishioners about the racism and hatred he ran for office to combat, then detailing the progress Black Americans have made since then. Vice President Harris visited this state, too, speaking at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration to criticize efforts "to erase, overlook, and rewrite the ugly parts of our past." First lady Jill Biden addressed South Carolina teachers last week, urging them to support her husband. And Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), one of the co-chairs of Biden's reelection campaign, said he had to apologize to organizers of a Democratic Party gala recently for going overtime in enumerating everything Biden has done for Black voters. There is little mystery about how Biden will fare in Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary, where the sitting president is expected to easily capture his party's first official 2024 contest. The outcome in November is not a nail-biter, either: South Carolina's electoral votes have gone reliably red for half a century, including 2020, when Trump won the state by nearly 12 percentage points. It is unusual for a president seeking reelection to lavish time and energy on a state that is not remotely up for grabs. But Biden seems to view South Carolina as a stage for sending a message to skeptical Black voters more broadly. Yet polls suggest some Black Americans are disappointed with Biden's record. Operatives on both sides foresee a tight potential general election matchup between Biden and former president Donald Trump, the leading GOP contender. |
| Mississippi University for Women is betting its future on a new name. Will it work? | |
| Nora Miller, the president of Mississippi University for Women, opened a letter from her deans in 2022 that warned the country's first state-supported women's college had reached a critical crossroads. Without bold change, the deans wrote, the pool of prospective students was "likely to grow dangerously thin," affecting tuition. Their recommendation: Change the name to one that includes all students, not just women. After all, the university had been co-ed since 1982. One consulting firm, three listening sessions, 4,300 survey responses, one failed proposal, and one apology later, MUW will ask lawmakers to approve a new name next month. But as the institution seeks to reposition itself to meet an uncertain moment for higher education in Mississippi, it has faced criticism from some alumni, passionate about the past, who have questioned if a new name is needed at all. Lost in the hullabaloo is the fact MUW faces much bigger issues than its name, according to more than a dozen interviews Mississippi Today conducted with students, faculty, administrators and alumni. Enrollment has continued to fall since the dean's letter. All told, the campus has shrunk to just 2,227 students from its peak of more than 3,100 in the late 1990s. The tuition-dependent university has been operating at a deficit, losing $18 million in fiscal year 2022, not counting appropriations. And it likely can't turn to the state for help: Mississippi's state funding for higher education has barely recovered from the Great Recession of 2008. The liberal arts education that MUW offers is increasingly pooh-poohed by lawmakers and other state officials who view workforce development as "the message of the day." |
| UM students call for ceasefire in war on Gaza | |
 | Students met on the Circle on Tuesday, Jan. 30 in a peaceful protest to call for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza. A ceasefire would mean an end to the bombing of Palestine, southern Lebanon and Yemen by Israel and the United States. Ellie Crane, a sophomore public policy leadership major who organized the event, hoped to raise awareness of the rising death toll resulting from the conflict. "Our goal today was to make this (issue) visible to everyone," Crane said. "In the Oxford metro area -- even in Memphis -- there have been a few protests in the past month but nothing recently, so I wanted to keep people talking and thinking about it." This protest comes on the heels of two other protests on campus and in the Square in 2023. Crane explained why she believed a ceasefire is vital given the immense loss of life and constant violence in the region. Crane thanked the University of Mississippi and the University Police Department for their surveillance and protection at the event. "The university was really receptive to it," Crane said. "UPD has been receptive and reiterated that they are here to protect us and our right to free speech as well as making sure everyone is safe. They reiterated their respect for me and the event time and time again so that has been really positive." |
| It's all Greek to them: why some students leave their fraternities and sororities | |
| Greek life is commonly associated with student life at the University of Mississippi. With 33 Greek organizations and around 8,700 affiliated student members, it is a common path for UM students to take as they enter the university. However, some students step off that path after being affiliated with fraternities and sororities for a while. Luke McCool, a sophomore risk management and insurance major, cited social pressure as his initial motivation to join a Greek organization. "Especially here at Ole Miss, it's just kind of what a vast majority of people do, so I guess I just kind of followed the crowd, too," McCool said. Similarly, Andee Robertson, a sophomore public policy major, was drawn to Greek life because she felt it was a necessity in order to make new connections. "I thought that's what you did," Robertson said. "Especially in the South, like you go to university and you rush. I don't think I realized how many people weren't involved in Greek life. I thought that's just what everybody did." McCool and Robertson liked some aspects of their time in Greek life, such as the opportunity to create lifetime bonds, participate in philanthropy work and enjoy a variety of social events. But other aspects outweighed all those qualities and led to their exits. |
| Hattiesburg Zoo, Southern Miss education and research partnership is a 'win-win' | |
 | Hattiesburg Zoo and the University of Southern Mississippi are working together to enhance both the learning and research experience at the university and the conservation efforts and programming at the zoo. The two organizations formalized their agreement to work together during a news conference Wednesday at the zoo. "It is a benefit not only to the University of Southern Mississippi and our students and the zoo, but to our community at large," said Kelly Lucas, vice president for research at Southern Miss. "This is an opportunity for us to learn and do some research of our own." Specifically, the partnership will focus on enhancing STEM education through the research group NExUS2-Mississippi led by Maria Wallace, assistant professor of Science Education at USM's Center for STEM Education. Wallace said at first her work with the zoo centered around one class. The project has grown and now has a comprehensive teacher internship program for STEM education. "From this partnership, it has become evident that Hattiesburg Zoo is a magical place with a wonderful team that considers to exceed images of what a typical zoo is and what a zoo can be. (The partnership) is a gift that keeps giving." The goal is to develop innovative applied research experiences, curriculum innovations and advance research that directly benefits the Hattiesburg community, university and zoo officials said. |
| USM, National Guard Bureau agree to establish National Guard study center in Hattiesburg | |
 | A new center to document the history of the citizen soldier in the U.S. is being established at the University of Southern Mississippi. USM and the National Guard Bureau have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up the Center for the Study of the National Guard. The goal is to gather documents, oral histories and other records related to the National Guard in all 50 states, several territories and the District of Columbia. "To research the National Guard, there's no place to go do it, so the National Guard history has largely been ignored for hundreds of years because there's no place for historians to go to practice their craft," said Andrew Wiest, co-director of the Center for the Study of the National Guard. "It is our goal for the states to gather their materials and then share those materials with us, so there is one place for you to go." The agreement says collected materials will be archived in the university's Dale Center for the Study of War and Society. "Southern Miss will have recognition as the place, as an academic and intellectual home for Guardsmen and women from across the country," said Kevin Greene, co-director of the Center for the Study of the National Guard. "There is one spot related to university or academic life where, 'that's the Guard university, that's the Guard school' and that will have wonderful impacts across a lot of things on campus and we're excited about that, too." |
| JSU's Office of Academic Affairs receives no confidence vote | |
 | WJTV 12 News has learned that Jackson State's Faculty Senate has issued a no confidence vote on the Office of Academic Affairs. They cited a long list of concerns, including low morale among faculty and a climate of fear and retaliation. For Associate Provost Dr. Brandi Newkirk-Turner, this is her second no confidence vote. There are other administrators on the list. Jackson State University (JSU) President Dr. Marcus Thompson released the following statement to the Faculty Senate and to WJTV 12 News: "I am very disappointed to learn that the Faculty Senate has taken the drastic step of issuing a vote of no confidence against the Office of Academic Affairs 66 days into my administration. Proper assessment of a large higher education institution takes time. It is important to recognize that the Faculty Senate is free to express its opinion, and its concerns will be considered. However, the authority and responsibility of administrative matters, including the assignment of personnel, remains within the purview of my office. I have met with the Faculty Senate Executive Board previously to express my support of shared governance, and while I remain committed to the same, I will continue to evaluate the various university departments and will not be forced to a premature decision by today's vote. As a new president, it is my hope to work collaboratively within the JSU family to resolve any internal issues." |
| JSU Faculty Senate issues resolution of No Confidence on the Office of Academic Affairs | |
| A no-confidence vote from the Jackson State University Faculty Senate. The focus of that vote is the leadership of Associate Provost Dr. Brandi Newkirk-Turner. In a document obtained by 3 On Your Side, the Faculty Senate says they first voted in January of 2023 and in the past year, the provost has disregarded or failed to address issues raised regarding Newkirk-Turner's leadership. The document adds those concerns were expressed to Provost Dr. Alisa Mosley over the past two years. Some of the issues include a breach of trust between the faculty and the Office of Academic Affairs, the Provost's inaction to address low morale among faculty, and a climate of fear and retaliation. The Faculty Senate also says concerns were raised about allegations of grade inflation in December of 2022 by faculty in the College of Science, Technology, and Engineering. Faculty in the College of Health Sciences raised concerns about the leadership of Interim Dean, Dr. Russell Bennet. According to the document Bennett holds three administrative positions, which may be perceived as a conflict of interest or an overwhelming workload. |
| Jackson State University faculty senate holds vote of no confidence | |
| he Jackson State University faculty senate issued a vote of no confidence Thursday against its Provost Alisa Mosley as well as Associate provost Brandi Newkirk-Turner. It is the second time the faculty senate declared no confidence in Newkirk-Turner. The first vote occurred in January of 2023. "Unfortunately, in the past year, the provost has disregarded or failed to address issues directly raised regarding Dr. Newkirk-Turner's leadership," a resolution from the faculty senate stated. The resolution said that issues with Mosley over the past two years have not been adequately addressed. "The issues raised include a major breach of trust between the faculty and the Office of Academic Affairs, the Provost's inaction to address low morale among faculty, especially in specific colleges, and the submission of letters by faculty members discussing a campus climate of fear and retaliation," the resolution stated. Newkirk-Turner has served as a department chairperson in addition to serving in leadership roles on various university committees including commencement. Mosley previously served as Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs at Tennessee State University. Her academic career also includes an appointment as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at TSU. Prior to TSU, she served in numerous capacities at Jackson State as a faculty member. It is the first bump in the road for new JSU President Marcus Thompson. Thompson was named president of state's largest HBCU in November. He was previously the deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer for the IHL. |
| Ellen Gilchrist, 1984 National Book Award winner for 'Victory Over Japan,' dies at 88 | |
| Ellen Gilchrist, a National Book Award winner whose short stories and novels drew on the complexities of people and places in the American South, has died. She was 88. An obituary from her family said Gilchrist died Tuesday in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where she had lived in her final years. Gilchrist published more than two dozen books, including novels and volumes of poetry, short stories and essays. "Victory Over Japan," a collection of short stories set in Mississippi and Arkansas, was awarded the National Book Award for fiction in 1984. Gilchrist was born in 1935 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and spent part of her childhood on a remote plantation in the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta. She said she grew up loving reading and writing because that's what she saw adults doing in their household. Gilchrist said she was comfortable reading William Faulkner and Eudora Welty because their characters spoke in the Southern cadence that was familiar to her. Gilchrist married before completing her bachelor's degree, and she said that as a young mother she took writing classes from Welty at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. She said Welty would gently edit her students' work, returning manuscripts with handwritten remarks. "Here was a real writer with an editor and an agent," Gilchrist said of Welty. "And she was just like my mother and my mother's friends, except she was a genius." |
| Colleges Dropped the SAT and ACT. Here's Why Many High Schools Didn't. | |
 | Students applying to Indiana University, the state's flagship school, don't have to submit standardized test scores to be considered for admission. But they still have to take the SAT in high school. That is because Indiana started using the College Board's SAT in spring 2022 as its way of measuring school quality under federal education law. Among its reasons: The SAT is nationally recognized, fairly short and -- until recently -- widely used in college admissions. Indiana's experience illustrates the foothold that the SAT and ACT have maintained in America's education system, despite the tests' waning influence in college admissions. Even as colleges place less value on the tests as predictors of academic success, many states still use them to evaluate their high schools to meet federal testing requirements. This disconnect is raising questions about how well the exams align with what students are expected to learn in high school. John Fredericks, an English teacher at West Tallahatchie High School in the Mississippi Delta, said students are typically placed in an ACT prep class regardless of whether they plan to attend college. Teachers there are also expected to incorporate ACT content into regular classes, he said. In Mississippi, the ACT isn't the federal accountability test, but it is given to all high-school juniors, with scores factored into state ratings. At the University of Mississippi, the tests are optional for admission, but the school recommends that students submit scores for scholarships and course placements. |
| Nick Saban's lasting impact on Alabama's campus, students: 'That pride shows' | |
 | When Nick Saban signed on as Alabama's head football coach in 2007, the McFarland Mall was still standing, Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater was just a ballpark, and you couldn't call an Uber from the Strip. The University of Alabama itself had almost half as many students and buildings than it does today. For more than 15 years, the school's athletic success has accompanied record growth on and off campus. Now, after Saban's departure, admissions staff are hopeful they can continue to keep enrollment high. "I wouldn't necessarily say that we're going to drastically change the strategy," Matthew McLendon, the college's executive director of enrollment management, told AL.com. "As I joke with people, I'm always happy when we have a national championship," he said. "But at the same time, there's a lot of good things about the University of Alabama, that once people get to know us, they start to see." Officials were always quick to defend Saban's multimillion dollar salary, saying the head coach brought in dividends for the campus. As former chancellor Robert Witt put it, Saban was "best financial investment" the university had ever made. Between 2007 and 2022, enrollment at the University of Alabama has increased by 51%, from 25,580 to 38,645 students. In that same time, the college more than tripled its endowment, surpassing a record $1 billion in 2022. It also has nearly doubled its physical footprint, adding an engineering quad, the country's largest Starbucks, and state-of-the-art dorms and recreational facilities, among other massive capital projects. |
| Housing a problem, but UGA experts predict strong economy for Athens in 2024 | |
 | The University of Georgia's annual Georgia Economic Outlook luncheon held this week in Athens carried a positive outlook on the state's economy, which appears especially strong for the Athens area. Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of the Terry College of Business, projected there will be an economic slowdown nationwide as inflation declines. A slow economic growth this year will "foster accelerated economic growth in 2025," according to the dean. "We are not predicting a recession," Ayers told a gathering that filled a banquet hall at The Classic Center in downtown Athens. The annual event carries its economic message to venues throughout the state including Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Albany, and Macon. On the local level, Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the business college, said Athens should expect a faster job growth than the rest of the state due what he considers a remarkable success in private-sector development projects that will widen the area's economic base. One concern is the area's "overvalued single-family housing market and tight apartment market," he said. Humphreys said that while the housing market is overvalued, the demand for housing and the scant listings of homes for sale will prevent prices from dropping. This recent increase in rentals and home ownership may slow the immigration of retirees who move to Athens due to the area being "an amenity-rich, yet very affordable, place to live," he said. |
| College Affordability Helped Drive Rise in State Support for Higher Ed | |
 | State support for higher education saw a significant jump this year, rising more than 10 percent from 2023 -- even though the share of that money provided by the federal government dropped 50 percent. That's according to the annual Grapevine report released Thursday by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, or SHEEO. The data reflect a continued upward trajectory for state investment in higher education, with a 36.5-percent increase in support nationally over the last five years, not adjusted for inflation. Pressure from politicians to keep tuition rates at public colleges flat helped drive some of the increase for the 2024 fiscal year. "States are needing to increase funding more, and that's to make up for declines in tuition revenue and institutions' inability to raise tuition rates to meet inflationary costs," said Kelsey Kunkle, a policy analyst for SHEEO. Several states have agreed to increase funding for higher ed in order to keep tuition rates more affordable, she said. Pennsylvania and Vermont are among those predicted to struggle with the loss of federal money. Pennsylvania State University is grappling with a proposed $94-million cut in its fiscal year 2026 budget as state funding lags behind inflation rates; much of that reduction would affect Penn State's regional campuses, while the flagship in State College is expected to see an $11-million cut. In Vermont, state support for higher ed increased just 1.1 percent between 2023 and 2024, while federal stimulus funds decreased 79 percent. |
| 'Excuse After Excuse': Republicans Slam Biden for FAFSA Launch | |
 | Leading Senate Republicans accused Biden administration officials of focusing on student debt relief at the expense of their core responsibility to update the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which they said contributed to the troublesome rollout of the new form. "President Biden and Secretary Cardona, you need to explain why the American people are having to live with the consequences of this administration's upside-down priorities," Dr. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said at a press conference Thursday. At the request of Cassidy, the senior Republican on the Senate education committee, and other lawmakers, the Government Accountability Office is now looking into the FAFSA launch, which included several technical glitches and other errors. The Education Department said earlier this week that it won't send completed FAFSAs to colleges until next month, further delaying when institutions can tell students how much aid they can expect. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, another Republican, said at the press conference that "because of the ineptness of the Department of Education," students will now have two to three weeks to make decisions about college rather than the months they have had in past years. Students typically have until May 1 to commit to an institution, but a coalition of higher education associations and advocacy organizations has called on colleges and universities to push back that deadline in light of the delay. |
SPORTS
| Women's Basketball: Mississippi State displays resolve in overtime win at Kentucky | |
| Three nights after Mississippi State finished 9-for-17 from 3-point range in an upset win over No. 9 LSU, the Bulldogs could not hit a single 3-pointer for more than 39 minutes. MSU had led by as many as nine points early in the second half but was on the brink of what would have been a highly disappointing defeat at the hands of Kentucky, trailing by six with less than a minute to go in regulation. But Darrione Rogers hit the Bulldogs' first 3-pointer of the night, and Debreasha Powe connected twice from deep in the last 20 seconds to help MSU send the game to overtime, where the Bulldogs survived for a 77-74 win over the Wildcats. It was a sloppy affair all around Thursday night at Rupp Arena, as MSU (18-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) committed 24 turnovers while Kentucky (9-13, 2-6) committed 18. Jessika Carter scored all 10 of the Bulldogs' points in the first quarter, and she finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in 42 minutes of action for her ninth double-double of the season. MSU needed every last one of those points, considering the visitors were not getting much offensive production from anyone else. The Bulldogs avoided what would have been their worst loss of the season, considering Kentucky's NET ranking of 167 is easily the worst among SEC teams. They will take their three-game winning streak to College Station, Texas on Sunday for a 3 p.m. game against Texas A&M. |
| Mississippi State women's basketball surges late, fends off Kentucky in overtime | |
| For the first 39 minutes of action at Kentucky, it appeared the hangover of beating LSU earlier this week was going to hurt Mississippi State women's basketball. That was until the Bulldogs' shooting came to life. In the final minute of regulation, Mississippi State knocked down a trio of 3-pointers -- after missing its first nine -- to turn an imminent loss into a 77-74 victory. It was a sluggish showing for MSU (18-5, 5-3 SEC) early on, highlighted by 24 turnovers leading to 22 UK points. However, despite starting guard Jerkaila Jordan fouling out, the sudden burst from beyond the arc helped MSU turn a six-point deficit in the final minute into a two-point lead. UK (9-13, 2-6) hit a layup in the final seconds to send the game into overtime, but the extra life proved to be all MSU needed. Jessika Carter did her part keeping Mississippi State in the contest throughout much of the game, scoring 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds. MSU coach Sam Purcell, who is in his second season at the helm, is now 19-0 when Carter records a double-double. Late in the contest, though, it was guard Debreasha Powe who stepped up for the Bulldogs. She scored 10 of her 16 points in the final minute of regulation and overtime. Due to Kentucky's struggles this season, Mississippi State avoided a Quadrant 3 loss. |
| Three up, three down for Mississippi State women's basketball in January | |
| Mississippi State broke above the .500 mark in Southeastern Conference play in a big way Monday night as the Bulldogs took down defending national champion and No. 9 LSU in front of a sold-out crowd at Humphrey Coliseum. But MSU head coach Sam Purcell does not want that win, as emotional as it was, to define his team's season. Starting with Thursday night's game at Kentucky, the Bulldogs (17-5, 4-3 SEC) have nine opportunities left to make their postseason case before the SEC Tournament. As the calendar turns to February, The Dispatch again takes a look at what has gone right and wrong for MSU. |
| Three up, three down for Mississippi State men's basketball in January | |
| Mississippi State has battled through a gauntlet of a first-half schedule in Southeastern Conference play -- after Saturday night's game at No. 24 Alabama, eight of their first nine SEC games will have fallen within Quadrant 1 of the NET rankings. Head coach Chris Jans said after Tuesday night's loss at Ole Miss that he wishes the Bulldogs (14-7, 3-5 SEC) could play that kind of schedule every year, but he also acknowledged that they have to take advantage of more of these opportunities. As the calendar turns to February, The Dispatch again takes a look at what has gone right and wrong for MSU. |
| Bulldogs add Sharkey Collegiate to spring schedule | |
| The spring is expected to be a busy one for Mississippi State men's golf, currently ranked No. 19 in the country. The Bulldogs will kick off their spring season this week, individually, as four players are heading to play in the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate, held this Saturday and Sunday at the Georgia Southern University Golf Course in Statesboro, Georgia. The 54-hole event begins with 36 holes played on Saturday and the final 18 on Sunday, with both days beginning with a shotgun start at 8:15 a.m. MSU's four individuals heading to Statesboro are Bo Blanchard, Drew Wilson, David Beard and Alejandro Fierro. Blanchard is a veteran of this tournament, having played in it last season for the Bulldogs. Other schools represented at this week's tournament include Auburn, Clemson, Florida, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Tennessee. |
| Kennedy White signs pro contract with Hungarian club Győri ETO FC | |
| Exciting news came from Mississippi State women's soccer on Thursday afternoon as it was announced that graduate student forward Kennedy White signed her first professional contract with Hungarian club Győri ETO FC. White came to Starkville from Bowling Green this season, a place where she was a First Team All-Mid-American Conference selection and MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and had an impactful season with the Bulldogs. White scored the game-tying goal against Brown in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament and assisted on the game-winning goal to send MSU to the Sweet 16 for the first time. She finished with two goals and two assists on the season for MSU. Győri ETO FC compete in the highest division of women's soccer in Hungary, the Női NB I, which translates to "Women's National Championship." The club currently sits in second in the 12-team league with 54 points. The league champion automatically qualifies for the UEFA Women's Champions League next season. |
| New USM golf center at Hattiesburg Country Club set for completion this summer | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi is getting ready to usher in a new era this summer with the addition of a new golf facility at the Hattiesburg Country Club. According to Southern Miss Athletics, the Giddis Golf Center is currently being built by Codaray Construction on the north end of the country club, five miles northwest of the campus. The 3,500-square-foot facility will include three hitting bays and office spaces, as well as feature an indoor putting studio with full club repair capabilities, a teaching bay to feature fitting equipment, video swing analysis software and TrackMan in each hitting bay. The new tee box addition on the west side of the golf center will also take place, expanding the driving range distance to 340 yards. The facility is being named after lead donors Kevin and Sareh Giddis, according to USM. In 1979, Kevin signed to play golf for USM for coach Danny Montgomery, but after his collegiate career was cut short due to injury, he is now a retired financial service professional who graduated from USM in 1983 with a B.B.A. in Banking and Finance. Southern Miss Athletic Director Jeremy McClain also expressed his gratitude to the donors who helped fund the project, as well as thanked the members of the athletic department staff who worked hard in helping to see the project come to life. "Thank you to Sareh and Kevin Giddis for their generosity and their investment in our student-athletes," said McClain. "This golf center will be a game changer for our men's and women's golf programs." |
| SEC to change baseball tournament to 16-team, single elimination format | |
| Beginning in 2025, the SEC will use a new format for its yearly conference baseball tournament, allowing all 16 teams into the field for a single elimination bracket, the league confirmed in a press release Thursday. Previously, only the top 12 of 14 SEC teams made the double-elimination tournament played in Hoover. The incoming addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the conference for the spring 2025 baseball season prompted the change. The new tournament format will still take place over six days as the previous 12-team setup did. The top four seeds will all receive a double bye, and seeds No. 5 through No. 8 will get a single bye. Seeds No. 9 through No. 16 will open up tournament play on the Tuesday of that week's tournament, with seeds No. 5 through No. 8 joining on Wednesday and the top four beginning play on Thursday. "The SEC baseball regular season will continue to consist of 30 conference games for each team made up three-game series played over ten weekends," the SEC wrote in its press release. "Under the new scheduling format, each team will play two permanent opponents and eight rotating opponents on an annual basis and standings will be kept in a single-standings format with no divisions." |
| Former Alabama baseball coach receives 15-year show cause as NCAA draws strong line in sand | |
| The NCAA sanctioned former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon with a 15-year show cause for violating the association's wagering and ethical conduct rules by knowingly providing insider information to an individual he knew to be engaged in betting on an Alabama baseball game. After Alabama fired Bohannon in the spring, the NCAA said he worsened his problems by failing to participate in the NCAA investigation. "Abhorrent and egregious" is how the NCAA hearing panel characterized Bohannon's conduct. But because the conduct was uncontested, it decided a lifetime ban would not have been appropriate in this case. However, the Committee on Infractions will consider lifetime bans for similar conduct in the future. Nevertheless, the punishment is severe and underscores how seriously many college stakeholders -- specifically the NCAA and its first-year president Charlie Baker -- are taking sports wagering concerns in today's ecosystem, where sports betting is more accessible than ever. This punishment establishes a strong benchmark for similar egregious sports wagering activity. In recent months, Matt Holt, CEO and founder of the Las Vegas-based monitoring firm U.S. Integrity, which initially alerted the SEC to the abnormal betting on Alabama baseball, told On3: "When the Alabama investigation is fully done and all of those facts come over, people are going to go, 'Wow, that guy was an idiot or whatever, and should have been caught.'" |
| Bettor in U. of Alabama baseball gambling probe will plead guilty to obstruction of justice | |
 | An Indiana man at the center of a betting probe that triggered the dismissal of former University of Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a federal grand jury investigation. Bert Eugene Neff, 49, of Indianapolis made the agreement with prosecutors on Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona of the Northern District of Alabama. Neff faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, if convicted. A one-count indictment, filed earlier Wednesday in U.S. District Court, charged Neff with obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said Neff initiated a scheme to impede a federal investigation into suspicious gambling activity associated with the April 28, 2023, baseball game between Alabama and LSU. Prosecutors say Neff's scheme began in May 2023 and continued through January of this year. The indictment alleges that Neff destroyed his cellphone, while encouraging witnesses to destroy their cellphones and delete encrypted messaging applications. He also gave false statements to federal investigators, according to the indictment. In October 2023, prosecutors say Neff participated in a telephone call with two witnesses the day before they were scheduled to testify in front of a grand jury in the Northern District of Alabama. The indictment alleges that the one-hour and 21-minute conversation focused on investigation-related topics and was designed to interfere with the grand jury's probe. |
| Alabama Baseball Gets NCAA Probation | |
| Fired Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon got a 15-year show cause penalty from the NCAA as part of its punishment after he was linked to a sports bettor who wagered on an Alabama baseball game last spring. The NCAA announced its ruling Thursday. But it gets worse: Alabama's baseball program was placed on three years NCAA probation and the school has been fined $5,000. The NCAA wrote that Alabama had a person "of authority [who] condoned, participated in or negligently disregarded the violation or related wrongful conduct," and there was "intentional, willful or blatant disregard for NCAA bylaws by a person with institutionally derived authority." A small positive note: the NCAA and Alabama agreed that the facts of the case didn't merit scholarship reductions or a postseason ban, and the school's penalties were classified as Level I - Mitigated. "The institution accepted responsibility for the violations and expended substantial resources to work proactively and quickly with the enforcement staff to identify the scope of the violations," the NCAA wrote in its report. "Integrity of games is of the utmost importance to NCAA members, and the panel is deeply troubled by Bohannon's unethical behavior," Vince Nicastro, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the Big East and chief hearing officer for the NCAA's panel, said in a statement. |
| Nick Saban Retired. College Football Went Haywire. | |
| When Nick Saban sneezes, the entire college football profession catches a cold. So when the legendary Alabama coach announced his retirement last month, it unleashed a series of shock waves that have completely remade the sport. In the three weeks that followed, 53 coaches have switched jobs during a nationwide game of musical chairs involving 24 different programs from Buffalo, N.Y. to San Jose, Calif. More than a dozen players at Alabama applied to leave the program, nearly four dozen more at other schools entered their names into the transfer portal, and one team's national championship roster was so thoroughly decimated that it is currently projected to return just two of its 22 starters next season. It takes a lot these days to upend college football, a sport where chaos has become the default setting. But Saban's decision that it was time to play more golf sparked a period of such frenzied upheaval that it stands as the ultimate testament to the coach's outsized influence on the sport. And it's not over yet: Several teams indirectly affected by Saban's retirement during a typically quiet period of the college-football calendar aren't done filling out their new staffs. The middle of January is not usually a time when top coaches become free agents, and the coaching carousel had mostly stopped spinning when Saban decided to retire. Alabama quickly hired Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, paying his $12 million buyout four days after he coached the Huskies in the national-championship game. Then the carousel went crazy. |
| Tennessee athletics director Danny White rips NCAA for leaking investigation to media | |
 | Tennessee athletics director Danny White took his turn blasting the NCAA over its investigation into allegations that UT broke rules involving name, image and likeness benefits of athletes. On Thursday, White released an eye-opening statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The NCAA generally does not comment on infractions cases because there is a rule against it; however, that has not stopped them in the past from leaking information to the media as they did this week about us," White said. "Their actions made this ill-conceived investigation public and forced us to defend ourselves. It is clear that the NCAA staff does not understand what is happening at the campus level all over the country in the NIL space." "After reviewing thousands of Tennessee coach and personnel phone records, NCAA investigators didn't find a single NIL violation, so they moved the goalpost to fit a predetermined outcome." White's sharp comments are the latest in a public war of words between UT and the NCAA. On Monday, UT Chancellor Donde Plowman sent a scathing letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker in regard to the investigation, and Knox News obtained the letter via a public records request on Tuesday. Plowman called the NCAA a bully, chaotic, failing, flawed, intellectually dishonest and replete with defects. Plowman also vented her frustration that Baker declined to meet face to face with her or White. |
| NCAA generates nearly $1.3 billion in revenue for 2022-23. Division I payouts reach $669 million | |
| The NCAA generated nearly $1.3 billion in revenue for the 2022-23 fiscal year, more than half of which was distributed back to Division I members, according to financial statements released Thursday by the association. NCAA revenues rose from about $1.14 billion in the previous fiscal year to $1.28 billion. As usual, the bulk of the NCAA's revenue -- $945 million -- came from media rights and marketing deals tied to championship events. The NCAA's deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery for rights to the men's Division I basketball tournament accounts for about $900 million annually. That means the men's tournament brought in about 69% of the NCAA's revenue. The value of the television deal increases yearly and the statements project an increase to more than $1 billion in 2025. The NCAA's expenses reached $1.17 billion, which includes $669 million distributed to the more than 363 Division I member schools and another $192 million to stage D-I championship events, the men's basketball National Invitational Tournament and other related programs. More than $100 million was also spent on Division II and III championships and programs, including some distributions back to D-II schools. The NCAA is currently facing at least five antitrust lawsuits, which challenge rules regulating recruiting, athlete transfers and compensation for athletes. House vs. NCAA was recently class certified and could put the association on the hook for a potential multibillion-dollar payout to former and current college athletes. |
| While NCAA tries to enforce its own murky rules, NIL collectives left hanging in limbo: 'The NCAA is grasping at straws' | |
| In Orlando this week, a group of college athletics stakeholders are gathering for meetings. Many of these people are influential to building rosters, compensating athletes and steering the future of major college football and basketball programs. They are not coaches, nor are they athletic directors or commissioners. They are leaders of more than two dozen NIL collectives. In a dose of convenient timing, The Collective Association, a trade association of booster-backed NIL collectives, is scheduled to convene its first-ever summit this week in Florida. The two-day event begins Thursday -- two days after one of the association's leading members, the Tennessee-affiliated Spyre Sports Group, became the center of a publicized NCAA investigation over NIL-related allegations. The investigation into Tennessee is the latest in what appears to be a sudden wave of NCAA enforcement action over NIL-related matters. The results of the lawsuit could establish a precedent as it relates to the NCAA’s governance over NIL matters. Does it have control or not? The NCAA is likely tasked, in court, with proving a collective or school’s intent was to induce a prospect -- a common-sense matter for some but something that must be backed by evidence in legal proceedings. “Ultimately, one side or the other needs to win. Right now, we’re living in both worlds,” said Charlie Winfield, an attorney who founded Mississippi State’s collective, The Bulldog Initiative. “You’ve got schools playing by NCAA rules and schools out there playing by what they understand the law to be. You have the threat of rules, and people who try to abide by them are effectively being punished.” |
| NIL collective association elects leaders at first summit | |
| As The Collective Association gathers in Orlando for its first-ever summit this week, the organization has elected its first batch of officials. Launched in July with seven founding members, the association has since grown to 32 collectives in the last six months. The organization was formed last summer in the wake of the NCAA continuing its full-court press on Capitol Hill for NIL reform and more signs pointing toward athletes eventually earning employee status. Hunter Baddour, the co-founder of the Tennessee-driven sports marketing agency Spyre Sports, has been elected as chairman. His vice chairman will be Walker Jones, the executive director of the Ole Miss-focused Grove Collective. Jones has emerged as a leader in the NIL space, testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in October. Russell White, the president of the marketing agency Oncoor, which manages and builds NIL collectives, has been elected to the role of president. White will be in charge of handling the day-to-day duties of the association. Mackenzie Mulvey, who works with Baddour at Tennessee, will fill the role of treasurer. Ingram Smith has been elected to the role of secretary. He currently serves as the executive director of The Battle's End, the main NIL collective at Florida State. Georgia's Matt Hibbs, Rob Sine the co-founder of Blueprint Sports, and South Carolina's Jeremy Smith will serve on the board of directors. The elections come after the NCAA launched an investigation into potential NIL violations at Tennessee earlier this week. |
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