| Tuesday, May 28, 2024 |
| Weiskopf named chief of staff to MSU president | |
 | Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum recently announced his appointment of MSU alumnus Lee Weiskopf as the university's chief of staff in the Office of the President. The appointment coincides with the upcoming retirement of longtime Special Assistant to the President Kyle Steward. Steward, formerly a successful congressional staff member to the late U.S. Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery and later to U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, was Keenum's first executive staff member when he assumed the MSU presidency. Steward, a distinguished MSU alumnus, will retire from MSU on June 30. "Kyle Steward's service to MSU and me and my family has been invaluable. Kyle's institutional knowledge and work ethic set an extremely high standard," said Keenum. "I can think of no individual more qualified or capable of stepping into that vital role than Lee Weiskopf. Lee is deeply respected in both state and federal government circles and by the university leadership team on our campus. I look forward to working with Lee in this expanded role." In this new role, Weiskopf will oversee day-to-day operations in the Office of the President, working with Keenum and senior MSU executive leadership to advance the university's mission. Weiskopf will also retain the title of director of government affairs, a role he has held since 2016. In that role, Weiskopf is a key advisor to Keenum and MSU senior leadership on policy and political issues affecting the university, higher education and other state government matters. |
| Community Profile: MSU graduate follows love of robotics from Nepal to Starkville | |
 | As a teenager, Ajaya Dahal could see Mount Everest from his backyard. The hilly region of Nepal where he lived was "kind of perfect." But Dahal's love for robotics and embedded systems carried him away from his home country almost a decade ago, bringing him to the United States and eventually, to Mississippi State University, where he has spent the last five years. "If I had to leave my home and my family ... why not for the best place in this world?" Dahal said. Dahal said he first fell in love with robotics when he was in ninth or 10th grade watching robots fight in a competition on television. He started teaching himself how to build robots, taking apart old electronics to repurpose them and making a two-hour drive to purchase other necessary components from the nearest store that sold them. "I wanted to build a remote control car from scratch," Dahal said. "That's how it started." For Dahal's last two years of high school, he transferred to a school with a robotics club, fueling his passion further. Soon, he was working on robots in every spare moment, even working on robots until he fell asleep with the parts still in front of him. Once he was at MSU, Dahal said, he worked at a co-op with Hunter Engineering in Raymond, though the program was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dahal returned to Starkville, where he started working as a student researcher in MSU's Electrical and Computer Engineering department and IMPRESS Lab while he finished his degrees. |
| Nikki Lane brings her outlaw country attitude to MSU Riley Center on Aug. 8 | |
 | Outlaw country music queen and fashion icon Nikki Lane will bring her swagger to the MSU Riley Center for a 7 p.m. concert on Thursday, Aug. 8. Tickets are $20-$65 and available at msurileycenter.com. Lane, a singer-songwriter and the 2018 Ameripolitan Music Awards winner in the Outlaw Female category, has released four albums, including her 2017 breakthrough, "Highway Queen." She has also been featured on "Breaking Up Slowly" with Lana Del Rey on Del Rey's 2021 album "Chemtrails over the Country Club." She and Del Rey co-wrote the song. For her most recent LP, 2022's "Denim & Diamonds," Lane enlisted Joshua Homme, leader of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, as producer. The roots-music journal "No Depression" applauded the result: "Her brash kiss-offs, lovelorn pleas and plenty of that good old-fashioned American grit come out to play with producer Homme's thrashing rock and roll sensibility -- a deliciously satisfying combo." Lane has built popularity through live performances, winning over audiences across the country with the authenticity at the heart of such hit songs as "Right Time," "Jackpot," "First High" and "Denim & Diamonds." |
| For young entrepreneurs, Lemonade Day returns June 8 | |
| The Golden Triangle is once again gearing up for something sweet -- and citrusy. Lemonade Day is returning on June 8, according to Starkville Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp, who also serves as the interim director at Mississippi State University's Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (E-Center). Rupp encouraged everyone in the region to get ready to go out to their local lemonade stands. "The premise is that you register your stand at the Lemonade Day website, and then on June 8, everyone goes out in the Golden Triangle and sets up a stand, and the community comes out to support all the young entrepreneurs," Rupp said. "And then the entrepreneur that sells the most lemonade, we buy them a bicycle." While Lemonade Day is a national organization based out of Houston, Texas, the sweet-drink based entrepreneurship event only came to the Golden Triangle in 2018, starting in Starkville for its first year before expanding to the entire region in 2019. When Lemonade Day first came to Starkville, Rupp said, developer Mark Castleberry of Castle Properties helped to sponsor the Lemonade Day licensing fee from the national organization for the city. When the event expanded to the entire Golden Triangle, Cadence Bank came on as a co-sponsor to help cover the growing licensing costs, Rupp said. But Castleberry has continued to support Lemonade Day every year as a way to help young entrepreneurs learn crucial business skills, he said, like understanding expenses of materials, labor, site selection, marketing and more. |
| Sewer line improvements complete in Green Oaks, Rolling Hills | |
| The completion of a two-year project that refurbished 27,700 feet of sewer lines in the Green Oaks and Rolling Hills subdivisions in Starkville is an essential, if sometimes overlooked, factor in the city's growth and development, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said. "In order for us to continue to grow and develop and even maintain what we have, we have to have these upgrades," Spruill said of Starkville Utilities' $1.6 million project. "While it's not something people can see, it is something they use and to not have it would be a serious issue. "I think when our residents see this they are comforted by our aggressive approach in all things including plans for new water lines and new water towers. Infrastructure isn't sexy, but it's where every addition and improvement begins." Improvements of the sewer system included minimally invasive rehab-in-place technology that extended infrastructure service life by at least 50 years and improved the overall health of Starkville's sewer and wastewater systems. The project scope included the replacement of Rolling Hills' sewer system and completion of the third and final phase of Green Oaks' sewer upgrade. Although the projects focused on specific neighborhoods, Green Oaks and Rolling Hills aren't the only areas that will benefit. That's because sewer system upgrades also prevent groundwater and storm water intrusions that can overwhelm pipes downline, overload lift stations and send excessive volumes of non-wastewater to Starkville's water treatment plant. |
| 'Engineer City': Vicksburg home to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers research, development sites | |
| Many people don't realize that Vicksburg has the largest concentration of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees in the world --- engineers, scientists, administrative personnel and technicians. "For that reason, we like to call Vicksburg 'Engineer City' because of the Engineering Research and Development Center on the Vicksburg campus, the USACE Mississippi Valley Division Headquarters (downtown Vicksburg), the USACE Vicksburg District (Clay Street), as well as the U.S. Army 412th Theater Engineer Command Headquarters located next to ERDC," said ERDC Director Dr. David W. Pittman. "As of the end of fiscal year 2023, ERDC is home to 1,515 engineers and scientists. Those are spread across our laboratories and multiple field sites. Four of ERDC's seven labs, as well as the ERDC headquarters, are in Vicksburg." ERDC has 2,525 full-time employees plus several hundred additional contract employees. Of those full-time employees, 1,183 have advanced degrees, and 449 of those have doctoral degrees. Of its total number of employees, 1,654 have a duty station in Mississippi. Pittman said ERDC invests very heavily in developing employees in leadership training and college degrees (primarily post-graduate). "We are a very well-educated and highly trained workforce," Pittman said. "In FY23, ERDC had a $204.5 million direct economic impact in Mississippi. As of December 2023, ERDC contributes $161 million in Mississippi salaries. We are the No. 1 employer in Warren County. In FY23, ERDC had $14.5 million in Mississippi small business partnerships and $29 million in research and development with Mississippi universities and large businesses." |
| Growing publisher buying 10 newspapers in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi | |
 | A rapidly growing publisher is buying 10 newspapers in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi from a company owned by Alabama's public pension fund. Carpenter Media Group said Thursday that it's buying the newspapers from CNHI. No price was disclosed. Among the newspapers being sold are three in Alabama -- The News Courier of Athens, The Cullman Times and the St. Clair News-Aegis. CNHI is also selling The Meridian Star in Mississippi and five newspapers in Georgia -- the Dalton Daily Citizen, The Union-Recorder of Milledgeville, the Valdosta Daily Times, The Moultrie Observer and The Tifton Gazette. Carpenter Media Group is based in Natchez, Mississippi, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It became independent last year when Chairman Todd Carpenter divided newspapers he owned from those owned by Boone Newsmedia, a company where he was a longtime executive. Boone and Carpenter had previously managed their newspapers jointly. Earlier this year, Carpenter Media, with support from Canadian investment firms Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight took over 150 newspapers, magazines and websites previously owned by Black Press Media of Surrey, British Columbia. CNHI is based in Montgomery, Alabama, and is owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, a pension fund for state and public school employees in that state. |
| Dems in full-blown 'freakout' over Biden | |
 | A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden's reelection prospects, even among officeholders and strategists who had previously expressed confidence about the coming battle with Donald Trump. All year, Democrats had been on a joyless and exhausting grind through the 2024 election. But now, nearly five months from the election, anxiety has morphed into palpable trepidation, according to more than a dozen party leaders and operatives. And the gap between what Democrats will say on TV or in print, and what they'll text their friends, has only grown as worries have surged about Biden's prospects. "You don't want to be that guy who is on the record saying we're doomed, or the campaign's bad or Biden's making mistakes. Nobody wants to be that guy," said a Democratic operative in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely. But Biden's stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election "are creating the freakout," he said. Despite everything, Trump is running ahead of Biden in most battleground states. He raised far more money in April, and the landscape may only become worse for Democrats, with Trump's hush-money trial concluding and another --- this one involving the president's son --- set to begin in Delaware. The concern has metastasized in recent days as Trump jaunted to some of the country's most liberal territories, including New Jersey and New York, to woo Hispanic and Black voters as he boasted, improbably, that he would win in those areas. |
| Trump Lawyer's Final Pitch: 'This Case Is About Documents,' Not Stormy Daniels | |
 | Donald Trump's lawyer began his final pitch to the jury Tuesday by arguing that the criminal charges the former president faces are mere recording violations, and not about paying off a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election. "This case is about documents," Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said. "It's a paper case. This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago." He told jurors that his client denied the encounter. Trump sat at the defense table, staring at a screen that showed various evidence in the case, including invoices. Blanche argued that jurors couldn't convict Trump just because he may have looked at those invoices -- which he didn't create -- while he ran the country from the Oval Office in 2017. "That is a stretch, and that is reasonable doubt," he said. While closing arguments are important in any case, they are particularly critical in the hush-money trial because of the legal complexity of the charges. Lawyers for both sides are expected for the first time to argue to jurors why the testimony of nearly two dozen witnesses meets or fails to meet the legal requirements for a conviction. Justice Juan Merchan has said that he expects on Wednesday to instruct jurors on the law, then send them off to deliberate. Jurors aren't expected to have a written copy of those instructions during their deliberations, as is the norm in New York state courts, but may ask the judge to read back certain sections. |
| Thrifty Gen Z-ers and millennials drive demand for secondhand goods | |
 | Outside the trendy resale shop Pavement in central Houston's Montrose neighborhood -- the city's thrift shop corridor -- I sit down with Kaiya Krikstan, who shows me what goodies she's got in her reusable shopping bag: "I got some tank tops, Free People, you know ..." She got a t-shirt, a romper, "a cute little jacket for my morning meditation." Not a bad haul for just 80 bucks. For Krikstan, a chemistry student, the price is right. "When you go to the mall or something, and everything is like $30, $40, $50. It's like, 'OK, well, I can only get one thing.'" She's not alone in her hunt for affordable, secondhand goods. New research by eBay found a 400% year-on-year increase in sales of clothes, shoes and accessories with "thrifted" listed in the description. Gen Z and millennials are driving this era of "recommerce" as they hunt for bargains and more sustainable ways to shop -- for everything from sneakers to a bedside table. |
| University Club reopens after 3-year renovation project | |
| The renovations at University Club are now complete. The three-year renovation project includes an upgraded bar and ballroom, a new veranda and expanded space overall. Constructed in 1834, this historic building has been part of the University of Alabama since 1944. It was remodeled to restore and conserve the club's interior while honoring the historic exterior. The crew was even able to save much of the original paintings and artwork. "We're bringing back to life the University Club," said UA President Stuart Bell. "There have been so many people who have volunteered their time and efforts to make sure that every aspect of this new building is done just in the right way." "After three years of construction it's just great to be open and the University Club to be back in the community," David Colucci, club general manager said. "So, a lot of old members, a lot of new members, a lot of faculty and staff joined us this week and we're looking forward to seeing the rest of them the rest of the week." The purpose of the club is to provide a private dining and special events facility not only the university community but also to the broader Tuscaloosa area. The club currently has 780 members and is hoping to reach 1,000 before football season. |
| Birmingham-Southern celebrates final graduation: 'Forward Ever. Always.' | |
 | On Birmingham-Southern College's hilltop this week, students, staff and alumni shared memories, laughs and several tears as they said farewell to their alma mater. Not just for the school year. Forever. After years of financial distress, and a failed effort to secure a loan from the state legislature, the private liberal arts college is closing after 168 years. At the end of May, it will join dozens of other small, private colleges in the country to recently shut their doors. "Do not tell me the young today do not have the grit of previous generations," BSC President Daniel Coleman said at Friday's commencement ceremony, as he recounted how the college's final class of seniors had not only weathered through a pandemic, but two years of uncertainty as the school fought to stave off closure. "I give you the last class to graduate from Birmingham Southern College." Sitting under a white and gold tent, Lex Brown, a Birmingham-Southern administrator, chatted with her colleagues. Their jobs end May 31. Many are still deciding next steps. Brown was hired as the college's assistant dean of students this fall. She was a BSC senior in 2012, after critical mistakes started a long decline in the school's financial position. "As an employee and an alum, I'm sad for my students, I'm sad for people who have lost jobs, who are scrambling to find jobs, scrambling to find a school," she said. "I really can't put it into words." |
| LSU students plan new vision for the Baton Rouge waterfront for school project: 'A working river' | |
 | magine a Baton Rouge riverfront with multiple parks, a garden, a promenade, residential areas and outdoor dining integrated with a trolley to take you from place to place. A group of 22 LSU students was asked to do just that as the starting point of a class project in landscape architecture, merging the majesty of the Mississippi River with the city and its residents. The river -- perhaps Baton Rouge's most defining feature -- is both a linchpin for its industry and a major draw for visitors and residents alike. For decades, city leaders have sought to capitalize on the Mississippi to make downtown a hot spot for entertainment and living. But River Road, the levee and other factors have complicated that effort, disconnecting Baton Rouge from the river that helped birth it. The group of fifth-year LSU landscape architecture students drafted plans to revitalize the riverfront in an effort to reconnect the urban landscape of downtown Baton Rouge with the river. Led by LSU professor Kathleen Bogaski, students began drafting their ideas last fall. Proposals for the riverfront area included a shipping container plaza, a terraced garden and a lawn amphitheater between the current riverfront dock and the U.S.S. Kidd Museum. |
| Documents detail how Texas' DEI ban is changing university campuses | |
| In the most comprehensive picture yet of how Texas' DEI ban has changed campuses across the state, recent communications with lawmakers reveal the range of steps university leaders have taken to comply with the law and keep billions in state funding. University system leaders described their efforts in written responses to Sen. Brandon Creighton, the author of the DEI ban, after the Conroe Republican warned them they could lose their funding or face legal consequences if they weren't following the law, which went into effect in January. In documents obtained by The Texas Tribune and in public testimony before senators, leaders from all of Texas' seven university systems said they have closed multicultural offices, fired or reassigned DEI staff and stopped requiring diversity statements, or letters in which job candidates in academia share their previous efforts to promote diverse learning spaces and help students of all backgrounds succeed. Lawmakers have yet to indicate whether they're content with the universities' responses but have previously said they're ready to pass more bills to bolster enforcement if they feel schools need to do more to comply with the ban. |
| The Colleges Where You're Most Likely to Have a Positive Return on Your Investment | |
| Young professionals graduating from public universities charging in-state tuition often receive a degree that is worth the money -- with one caveat. New graduates need to earn at least $50,000 a year, on average, in their first decade off campus for the degree to pay off, according to new research from Strada Education Foundation, a nonprofit that analyzed federal education and earnings data. If they can land that salary, or make $500,000 before taxes over 10 years, state school graduates across sectors will find the investment worth it and should be able to pay off their loans, Strada says. At a time when many Americans are questioning the value of a college degree---and some teens and 20-somethings are forgoing higher education for trade work like plumbing, welding and construction---four-year state universities are a bargain compared with their private counterparts and still often provide a path to financial security. "As long as you're above that $50,000, even in the most expensive states, you'll still have that positive return on investment," said Nichole Torpey-Saboe, Strada's vice president of research. Public university alumni are more likely to secure good-paying jobs if they had access to college internship opportunities, career coaching and strong job markets, Torpey-Saboe said. |
| Current Students are Feeling the FAFSA Burn, Too | |
 | Much of the attention on the troubled FAFSA rollout has focused on improving completion rates and communication with first-year applicants and their families. But the debacle has had just as great an impact on current students, who are counting on continued financial aid to plan their fall semester. "Normally, returning students start receiving financial aid packages around now so that they know that they're able to continue their education," said CJ Powell, director of advocacy at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). "It's crucial that we don't lose sight of those students." Many feel they've been largely ignored -- if they're even aware of the challenges to begin with. A survey conducted earlier this month by Inside Higher Ed and The Generation Lab found that 21 percent of current college students don't know about changes to the FAFSA; half of those students currently receive federal aid. The share of incoming students completing a FAFSA has lagged far behind last year's rate -- a gap of 15.5 percent as of May 17, according to the National College Attainment Network. The setback is raising concerns about a sizable enrollment dip come fall, especially among low-income and first-generation students entering college. Resources and media attention have been heaped on the problem; last month the Education Department pumped $50 million into a last-ditch completion effort, and school districts are ramping up their outreach. But comparatively few resources have been devoted to helping these students. |
| FAFSA delays prompt angst about summer financial aid at some colleges | |
 | Enrolling in college has been especially fraught this year, and financial aid experts are raising new concerns about the unforgiving timeline students could face if they rely on federal dollars to attend school this summer. While most college-goers register solely for the fall and spring terms, some, especially nontraditional and low-income students, depend on summer school to finish their degrees as quickly as possible and save money. Under changes made by the U.S. Education Department in 2017, those students are eligible for year-round government assistance. But this year, a congressional mandate to streamline the process of applying for college financial aid threw the whole system into disarray. Students across the country reported widespread troubles filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, while the government botched crucial data that colleges needed to make aid offers. Though the situation has improved over the last month – FAFSAs are now being processed in one to three days, the Education Department says -- many colleges are still far behind their typical schedules. The disorder has forced schools, in some cases, to rely on their own systems to calculate costs for certain students who want to enroll this summer and are eligible for Pell Grants, a need-based federal financial aid program. But the timetable leaves little room for error, some experts say. "We are extremely worried about anyone who wants to enroll in college starting in the summer term and beyond," said MorraLee Keller, the senior director of strategic programming at the National College Attainment Network. "The FAFSA fiasco has not left any part of higher education untouched." |
| Progressives push Biden administration to cut ties with Missouri student loan servicer | |
 | A group of advocates and progressive Democratic lawmakers called on the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday to end its contract with MOHELA, a Missouri-based student loan servicer. U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Greg Casar of Texas and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts urged the department to cut ties with MOHELA, also known as the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, during a press conference hosted by the Debt Collective, which advocates for canceling student debt. Advocates and the lawmakers accused MOHELA of being a predatory loan service and failing student borrowers, citing mismanagement, administrative failures and hours-long wait times for assistance. MOHELA is at the center of two class-action lawsuits in recent months accusing the nonprofit of a "failure to timely process and render decisions for student loan borrowers enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program." The student loan servicer has also taken heat from the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group, and the American Federation of Teachers, a major teachers' union. In a report from February, the two entities accused the nonprofit of failing "to perform basic servicing functions." Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said during Wednesday's event that "at every step," MOHELA has "failed student loan borrowers." |
| How campus protests flip-flopped America's free speech debate | |
 | The battle lines over free speech on college campuses were largely entrenched before pro-Palestinian encampments rapidly spread across the country last month. Professors or speakers who broke with prevailing progressive points of view -- particularly around issues of race, gender and social justice -- were often subject to losing their job or other forms of "cancel culture." This left conservative voices on campus and in Congress positioning themselves as the defenders of free speech and, somewhat paradoxically, champions of liberal values around the need for open debate in America's bastions of higher learning. The Hamas-Israel war has scrambled these dynamics, said Alex Morey, vice president of campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). "Free speech hypocrisy has been the name of the game on campuses for a long time," Morey told The Hill. "We're used to seeing that kind of hypocrisy on the left, but now it's flip-flopped." FIRE estimates that almost 200 professors have been fired for various speech-related offenses since 2011, and there are many more examples of progressive student groups pushing to cancel appearances from right-wing figures on campus. In recent months, however, House hearings about college campuses have focused instead on various ways to suppress speech deemed antisemitic or "pro-Hamas" -- as protesters rail against U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza, as well as the Zionist movement they blame for the historical oppression of Palestinians. |
| Speaker White's Holmes County background colors his views on Medicaid expansion | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: There is a reason first-term House Speaker Jason White has been more out front in his support of Medicaid expansion than perhaps any other Mississippi Republican leader. Granted, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann for years has talked favorably about Medicaid expansion, but he was slow to act -- primarily because he knew getting a bill out of his conservative Senate would be difficult. But even before White was officially selected as the Republican nominee to serve as speaker during the current 2024-2028 term, he made it clear that Medicaid expansion would be seriously debated and considered during his first year as the House's presiding officer. White's commitment was stunning since other leaders in his party, such as his predecessor former Speaker Philip Gunn, and Gov. Tate Reeves, had publicly opposed Medicaid expansion and even blocked debate on the issue. But true to his word, a bill to expand Medicaid to provide health care for the working poor was one of the first measures passed by the House -- by an overwhelming 99-20 margin with a vast majority of White's Republican caucus voting for the legislation. The proposal later died during the final days of the 2024 session when the House and Senate could not reach consensus on what would have been a landmark measure. |
| Cut school taxes to provide tax relief | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Speaker Jason White wants to study elimination of income taxes and cuts to grocery sales taxes. He ought to focus on property taxes. That's more the interest of supervisors, mayors, and school officials along with lots of taxpayers. "Property tax revenues are a vital component of the budgets of Mississippi's local governments," explains the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Its publication Understanding Mississippi Property Taxesshowed entities highly dependent on those revenues: 82 counties; 298 municipalities; and 140 school districts. Local property taxes also often pay for bonds; streets, roads and bridges; garbage collection; fire protection; libraries; and community college support. Property taxes represent the one type of tax that cities, counties, and schools can increase (within limits) to cover ever rising costs. A January column by Sid Salter raised the question, "can a showdown on property tax relief be too far in our future?" |
SPORTS
| Diamond Dawgs Headed To Charlottesville Regional | |
| Mississippi State baseball is officially headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 40th time in program history. The Bulldogs' postseason run is set to begin on Friday when MSU takes the field as the No. 2 seed in the Charlottesville Regional, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee revealed on Monday. Other teams in Charlottesville will include the regional's top seed and host Virginia, third-seeded St. John's and fourth-seeded Pennsylvania. State will face St. John's in a 6 p.m. CT game Friday at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park. Virginia and Pennsylvania will meet in Friday's first game of the day. The regional will continue with a pair of games on both Saturday and Sunday. If necessary, a winner-take-all regional final will be on Monday. The winner of the Charlottesville Regional will take on the winner of the Fayetteville Regional in a best-of-three Super Regional series next week with a trip to the College World Series at stake. Teams in the Fayetteville Regional include the NCAA Tournament's No. 5 overall seed Arkansas, as well as Louisiana Tech, Kansas State and Southeast Missouri State. |
| Mississippi State baseball's Chris Lemonis blasts NCAA Tournament host selection process | |
| Mississippi State baseball is hitting the road for the postseason as a No. 2 seed in the Charlottesville Regional hosted by Virginia. However, coach Chris Lemonis believes the Bulldogs (38-21) should have been picked to host a regional at Dudy Noble Field. On Monday, after the NCAA Tournament field was unveiled, Lemonis voiced his displeasure with the selection committee. "It's just so subjective in that room," Lemonis said. "They take the pieces they want and move them around." The selection committee is made up of 10 athletic directors across the country. East Carolina, the final team selected to host, has its athletic director Jon Gilbert on the committee. During an interview with ESPN following the bracket unveiling, Coastal Carolina AD Matt Hogue -- the head of the baseball committee -- said Gilbert was not allowed to be in the room or chime in when ECU was discussed. "A lot of things (Hogue) talked about didn't have anything to do with us," Lemonis said. "We didn't get swept on any road trips. We played one of the hardest schedules in the country." Lemonis wasn't happy with the uncertainty surrounding criteria. He believes RPI -- a rating metric used to help configure the field -- hurt Mississippi State. "RPI is not the indicator, I'm sorry," Lemonis said. "Football has gone away from it. Basketball has gone away from it. ... That's the only knock you've got on us is RPI, and it's not the best thing. It's the best if your team is in that situation." |
| Mississippi State not selected as a host, will head to Charlottesville for NCAA regionals | |
| Chris Lemonis spent more than a week telling anyone who would listen why his Mississippi State team deserved to host an NCAA regional, and he had plenty of talking points in his favor. The Bulldogs had 16 Quadrant 1 wins, more than anyone else except Tennessee, Kentucky and Texas A&M -- who ended up being the top three national seeds in the NCAA Tournament. They finished fifth in the toughest conference in college baseball at 17-13, and really had 20 Southeastern Conference wins, factoring in the Governor's Cup victory over Ole Miss and two wins in the SEC Tournament last week in Hoover, Alabama. But it was not to be for MSU thanks to a weak non-conference schedule, some bad early losses and a resulting RPI of 25. The Bulldogs instead will be the 2-seed in the Charlottesville Regional, hosted by No. 12 Virginia, with a first-round game Friday evening against St. John's. The final hosting spot came down to MSU, Duke and East Carolina, with the Pirates -- despite the nation's No. 71-ranked strength of schedule -- getting the nod at No. 16. East Carolina athletic director Jon Gilbert was on the committee this year. "That was a collection of teams that we spent a great deal of time on," committee chair Matt Hogue, the athletic director at Coastal Carolina, said on the ESPN broadcast. "We looked at common opponents, the amount of series wins, consistency of play throughout the year. ... At the end of the day, the committee felt that East Carolina deserved that spot." |
| Why Mississippi State baseball will -- and won't -- win Charlottesville NCAA Regional | |
| Mississippi State baseball's last trip to the NCAA Tournament ended with a celebration at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. After defeating Vanderbilt, MSU ended the 2021 postseason by securing its first national title. Getting back to the pinnacle this year will feature a tougher path. The Bulldogs won't have the comfort of Dudy Noble Field to host postseason games. Instead, Mississippi State is a No. 2 seed in the Charlottesville Regional. Virginia (41-15), the No. 12 overall seed, is the host while St. John's (37-16-1) is the No. 3 seed and Penn (24-23) is the No. 4 seed. Here's a look at why the Bulldogs -- who open play Friday (6 p.m., ESPN+) against the Red Storm -- will, or won't, make it to a super regional. To win the Charlottesville Regional, Mississippi State will likely have to go through Virginia. That means facing the ACC's top offense. UVA led the conference with a .339 batting average and 546 runs scored while ranking second with 114 home runs. Florida State (501) is the lone other ACC team with more than 500 runs scored this season. The Cavaliers are led by Bobby Whalen who is hitting .399 and Harrison Didawick whose 24 home runs are tied for second in the ACC. However, Mississippi State poses a threat at halting the UVA offense. The Bulldogs' 4.15 team ERA – which ranks fourth in the SEC – would be best among ACC teams. "I feel good with our staff," MSU coach Chris Lemonis said Monday. "I think we have one of the better staffs in the country." |
| Virginia thrilled to host Charlottesville Regional for second straight year | |
| For the second straight postseason and for the 11th time in coach Brian O'Connor's tenure, Virginia will host an NCAA Regional at Disharoon Park. "We're pumped," Cavaliers pitcher Evan Blanco said while standing just outside the first-base dugout following the NCAA selection show on Monday. "I mean, playing in front of a crowd like this, in a stadium like this, you can't beat it. The atmosphere here last year during this time of year was unbelievable and I'm looking forward to it again." The Hoos (41-15) are the No.-12 overall seed for the 64-team field and the top seed for the Charlottesville Regional, which starts Friday and features second-seeded Mississippi State, third-seeded St. John's and fourth-seeded Penn. UVa will open the four-team double-elimination playoff on Friday against Penn at noon, and later on, Mississippi State and St. John's square off at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers are one of only four teams nationally -- along with Arkansas, Clemson and Kentucky -- to host a regional last year and this year. Last year, UVa advanced out of the Charlottesville Regional and Charlottesville Super Regional on its way to the sixth College World Series appearance in program history. Of the 10 previous regionals held in Charlottesville, the Hoos won it five times in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2023. |
| Two Mississippi State women's throwers qualify for NCAA Championships | |
| Mississippi State seniors Ella Knott and Jhordyn Stallworth advanced to the NCAA Championships in their respective throwing events with strong performances at the NCAA East First Rounds in Lexington, Kentucky. Knott will compete in the javelin and Stallworth in the shot put at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, next month. Knott, who grew up in Oregon and transferred to MSU from Oregon State, placed seventh in the javelin with a personal record mark of 51.83 meters. She joins Remi Routeget and Franck Di Sanza on the men's side representing the Bulldogs in the javelin in Eugene. Stallworth, the school record holder in the shot put, finished 11th in Lexington at 16.44 meters and will also try to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the discus on Saturday. Senior Rosalee Cooper and sophomore Jessicka Woods will compete in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday for a chance to advance to Eugene as well. Both finished third in their respective heats, and Woods' time of 13.23 seconds was a personal best and ranks fifth on MSU's all-time list in the event. Cooper finished a mere hundredth of a second behind Woods in the heats. |
| Lopez Ramirez Named WGCA First Team All-American | |
| Mississippi State women's golf standout Julia Lopez Ramirez was named a Women's Golf Coaches Association First Team All-American, the national organization announced Friday. Lopez Ramirez's achievement of becoming a three-time WGCA All-American and a back-to-back First Team All-American is a testament to her exceptional talent. In doing so, she has etched her name in Mississippi State's golf history, becoming only the third Bulldog to earn WGCA All-American honors three times, a feat previously accomplished by Carri Wood (1991-93) and Kathe Kingston (1983-85). Similarly, she joins an elite group of Bulldogs who have earned a pair of first team honors, including Ally McDonald (2013-14) and Carri Wood (1992-93). A native of Malaga, Spain, Lopez Ramirez has made a name for herself as one of the best collegiate golfers in the country. The junior All-American has again put together an impressive campaign, marked by numerous individual and team honors throughout the 2023-24 season. Lopez Ramirez was named the SEC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after becoming just the fifth women's golfer in SEC history to win back-to-back individual SEC Championships. She helped lead the Bulldogs to their third straight NCAA Championship in 2024, becoming one of just 14 teams nationally to make each of the last three championships. |
| Logan Earns All-Region Honors | |
| Mississippi State's Hunter Logan earned PING All-Region honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America on Saturday. He is the fourth Bulldog to be tabbed all-region in program history and the third in the last four years. Garrett Endicott was an all-region selection last year on his way to an honorable mention All-American recognition. Ford Clegg earned the distinction in 2021. Logan led the Bulldogs with a 71.06 stroke average this season and a career-high-tying 21 par or better rounds. He finished his career with 74 par or better rounds and 33 rounds in the 60s, both of which are second in program history. His 15 rounds in the 60s in 2023-24 came one shy of the program's single-season record set by Alex Rocha in 1999-00. The Steens, Mississippi, native earned three top-five finishes in his final season and claimed his first career individual victory. He also won the Dogwood Invitational over the summer that earned him the right to play as an amateur on the PGA Tour Australasia this year. Mississippi State reached the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. The current run is a program record, and the longest streak previously was three years. |
| Mississippi State Tennis: Six Bulldog tennis players earn CSC Academic All-District honors | |
| Mississippi State saw six of its men's and women's tennis players honored with Academic All-District commendations over the weekend by the College Sports Communicators. Three players from each team represented the Bulldogs on the annual list. Women's team players Chloé Cirotte, Maria Rizzolo and Alessia Tagliente were named for their academic success, joined by Petar Jovanovic, Nemanja Malesevic and Dusan Milanovic from the men's team. The Balkan trio helped the men's team advance to the third round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Ohio State, the top overall seed in the bracket. The team finished the season ranked 13th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. The three women's players combined for 28 individual wins as the team finished 11-16 overall in 2024, losing to Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference tournament. This is the second time Cirotte, Jovanovic and Malesevic have received the honor as Bulldogs, making the list in 2023. Milanovic is named for a second time as well, first achieving the honor while playing for Presbyterian College. Rizzolo and Tagliente received CSC Academic All-District honors for the first time. |
| Greg Sankey would 'welcome' national standard for college sports | |
| SEC commissioner Greg Sankey laid out in general terms on Monday evening what congressional help for college sports could look like, saying they constitute "a national system that deserves national standards." In his opening remarks at the SEC's annual meetings here, Sankey addressed what college sports could look like in the wake of an agreement by the Power 5 conferences and the NCAA to settle three antitrust cases. As the terms of the settlement came together in recent weeks, college sports officials cautioned it should not be viewed as a magic bullet to the issues -- both legal and otherwise -- in college sports but rather as just the beginning for forging a new era where schools share revenue with athletes. "I think Congress has still an opportunity to use the structure of this settlement to enact legislation to strengthen the future of college sports," Sankey said. Sankey said he already has been to Washington, D.C., at least five times this year. He added that in entering his 10th year as the SEC commissioner, one significant change is the number of members of Congress in his phone. He described the effort evolving from a "curiosity" to "a little bit of interest" and that the education of what's needed would be a "continuing repetition." I would welcome action between now and the election," Sankey said. "Most people with whom I converse say that's unlikely, and so your educational process will continue post-election, and it will depend on who's in leadership of each party within the House and Senate, where the majorities lie and who occupies the White House. Those realities guide conversations. So, as much as it's been unpredictable, I think it will still be unpredictable." |
| Greg Sankey: SEC will discuss availability reports during spring meetings due to gambling | |
| Though perhaps not immediately, a pro sports staple could be coming to the SEC. Speaking before the league's spring meetings in Miramar Beach, Fla. on Monday, league commissioner Greg Sankey said conference stakeholders will discuss availability reports throughout the week. Sankey said not to expect a decision one way or the other. However, the discussions will likely occur. "That's obviously different than the culture that's existed around much of college athletics over time," Sankey said. "...I know that we don't just rush into something. It's not injury reporting. It's very different circumstances given some of the privacy issues that we have." Sankey acknowledged the elephant in the room. The call for some sort of injury reporting comes most loudly from gamblers, who would like as much information as possible before putting their money down. According to Sankey, discussions won't just include football. Availability reporting will be talked about for men's and women's basketball, baseball and volleyball as well. "I think all of those catch our attention," Sankey said of the gambling dollars. SEC spring meetings are set to begin Tuesday morning. |
| What's on tap for SEC meetings: 4 storylines to keep an eye on in Destin, Fla. | |
 | The SEC convenes Tuesday for its annual spring meetings, and the good news for those involved is the future football schedule is not the main topic. The bad news is the future football schedule is not the main topic. Whether to go to nine conference games or stay at eight seems quaint now compared with the heavy reality that SEC presidents, athletic directors, coaches and commissioner Greg Sankey must confront this week: revenue sharing, roster limits and other results of the settlement in the House v. NCAA case. SEC presidents voted unanimously -- at least in the final vote it was unanimous -- to approve the settlement terms, which if approved will result in around 22 percent of annual revenue being paid to athletes, starting next year. It's a landmark agreement, and the timing is good for SEC administrators, who can start to hash out what comes next in Destin. There are, of course, other things going in the conference: A quarterback at Georgia is suing Florida. Oklahoma and Texas officially join the league in July, and their coaches will be present in Destin for the first time. Nick Saban is no longer coaching football. John Calipari is still coaching basketball but for a different SEC program. But the state of college athletics, present and future, will be the main topic in Destin. |
| SEC to wade through heavy surf of issues facing college athletics at spring meeting | |
| The coaches and administrators convening here this week for the annual Southeastern Conference spring meeting won't have a lot of time to dip their toes in the sand and surf. It is a time of too much change in college athletics to take the eye off the ball and put it on a beach ball for very long. As expected, the conference whose ubiquitous motto "It just means more" is on the tip of the spear of that change, both internal and across the college sports spectrum. Here's a look at the key issues that will be making headlines as the SEC's annual main business meeting begins Tuesday. With ESPN/ABC televising all SEC football games starting this season, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said to expect less six- and 12-day windows for scheduling games. Instead, expect more of an NFL-like schedule plan with more game times set well before the season with some "flex" games thrown in. Sankey said kickoff times for the Saturday early windows, starting at 11 a.m. Central, will be set by mid-June, with the first three weeks of the season announced here this week. "Roughly half of our other games will be in flex windows designated for afternoon or evening," Sankey said. As for a permanent football schedule format beyond 2025, Sankey said don't expect a lot of conversation in Destin. "Given all that has happened around us" with conference realignment, Sankey said, "it's just kind of out there. We'll continue to talk about it and have updates." |
| What will SEC football schedule look like in 2026? Greg Sankey offers update | |
| Eight or nine conference games? Don't expect an answer to emerge from the SEC this week at the conference's spring meetings. Even as the SEC expands to 16 teams this year with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, the conference will maintain an eight-game conference schedule in football for the 2024 and '25 seasons. Opponents have been announced. And the format for 2026 and beyond? That remains unsettled. Commissioner Greg Sankey expects it to remain unsettled even after conference meetings conclude Thursday. "I don't expect a lot of conversation here about football scheduling," Sankey said Monday, on the eve of the three-day conference meetings. Last year, the schedule debate formed a hot topic throughout the meetings. The eliminated divisions but retained an eight-game schedule format. Eight conference games puts the SEC in line with the ACC, while the Big Ten and Big 12 play nine conference games. "Given all that's happening around us, scheduling kind of is out there (to be determined later), and we continue to talk about it," Sankey said. Sankey teased a bit of scheduling news, though. The SEC on Thursday will announce game times for this season's first three weeks, along with a few select other game times. |
| Greg Sankey sets the table for the 2024 SEC Spring Meetings by saying a lot, and nothing at all in some cases | |
| On the eve of the annual SEC Spring Meetings, Greg Sankey did something he's never done before. The SEC's commissioner, now in his ninth year on the job, came off the sunny, Florida beaches and delayed any Memorial Day dinner plans by holding court with reporters for more than 40 minutes Monday evening before the event officially starts on Tuesday. In his first public comments since the historic NCAA V. House settlement case, Sankey addressed a wide range of topics that will command attention throughout the rest of the week. He made a little news (the SEC is actively considering injury reports for certain sports and some football kickoff times will be released this week), had a very strange comment about taxes and ushered his usual array of corny (but true) dad jokes. "Eight years ago I said, the times, they are a changing," he paused with a chuckle. "That was the understatement of the decade." |
| Tennessee earns No. 1 national seed for NCAA baseball tournament after sweeping SEC titles | |
| Tennessee, the Southeastern Conference regular-season and conference tournament champion and the consensus No. 1 team in the country for a month, on Monday was awarded the top national seed for the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals. Winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 14. The national seeds following Tennessee (50-11) are Kentucky (40-14), Texas A&M (44-13), North Carolina (42-13), Arkansas (43-14), Clemson (41-14), Georgia (39-15) and Florida State (42-15). Seeds Nos. 9 through 16: Oklahoma (37-19), North Carolina State (33-20), Oklahoma State (40-17), Virginia (41-15), Arizona 36-21), UC Santa Barbara (42-12), Oregon State (42-14) and East Carolina (43-15). The SEC set a record with 11 teams in regionals and five among the top eight national seeds. The Atlantic Coast Conference has eight teams in the tournament and the Big 12 has six. Defending national champion LSU, in danger of missing the tournament six weeks ago after losing 12 of its first 15 SEC games, has won 18 of its past 24 overall and made a run to the conference tournament championship game to earn a No. 2 regional seed at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Vanderbilt has the longest active streak with its 18th straight appearance. |
| Southern Miss baseball is a No. 2 seed in the Knoxville Regional of NCAA Tournament | |
 | Southern Miss baseball is in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth season in a row. And for the second consecutive season, it didn't have to sweat much on Selection Monday as an automatic qualifier for repeating as Sun Belt tournament champions. The Golden Eagles (41-18) were assigned to the Knoxville Regional as the No. 2 seed. Tennessee (50-11), who beat Southern Miss in last season's Hattiesburg Super Regional, is the host and No. 1 overall seed. Southern Miss will play No. 3 seed Indiana (34-24-1) on Friday (Noon CT, ESPN+) and the Vols take on on No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky (35-22) on Friday (6 p.m., SEC Network). First-year coach Christian Ostrander took over Southern Miss for the retired Scott Berry and the Golden Eagles haven't missed a beat. They've won 14 of their last 15 games including a claim of the Sun Belt tournament title with Sunday's dramatic 14-11 win against Georgia Southern. They also reached 40 wins for the eighth straight season, the longest active streak in Division I. It came while Southern Miss lost half of last season's roster to either graduation or the draft, too. |
| The N.C.A.A. Agreed to Pay Players. It Won't Call Them Employees. | |
| The immediate takeaway from the landmark $2.8 billion settlement that the N.C.A.A. and the major athletic conferences accepted on Thursday was that it cut straight at the heart of the organization's cherished model of amateurism: Schools can now pay their athletes directly. But another bedrock principle remains intact, and maintaining it is likely to be a priority for the N.C.A.A.: that players who are paid by the universities are not employed by them, and therefore do not have the right to collectively bargain. Congress must "establish that our athletes are not employees, but students seeking college degrees," John I. Jenkins, the president of the University of Notre Dame, said in a statement when the agreement was announced. It is the N.C.A.A.'s attempt to salvage the last vestiges of its amateur model, which for decades barred college athletes from being paid by schools or anyone else without risking their eligibility. That stance came under greater legal and political scrutiny in recent years, leading to the settlement, which still requires approval by a judge. The settlement is also an N.C.A.A. attempt to cap the amount of money its institutions will have to pay athletes, said William W. Berry III, a professor of law at the University of Mississippi who has studied the issue of player compensation in college athletics. Under the formula laid out by the plaintiffs in the case, the settlement would pay players around 22 percent of future revenue. Mr. Berry noted that was much lower than the shares paid to players in professional leagues like National Football League and the National Basketball Association. "What they've done with the settlement is they're saying, 'We're going to share some of the revenue with you,'" Mr. Berry said, adding that a loss in court could have funneled even more money to the players and been financially ruinous for the N.C.A.A. |
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