| Thursday, March 15, 2018 |
| New veterans center director looks to build on Mississippi State reputation | |
 | For military veterans, college can be a different world. No one is likely to understand that better than Lt. Col. Brian Locke (U.S. Army, retired). Locke, a Tennessee native, spent 23 years in the military and earned three degrees while serving. "For so many military veterans, college is a different kind of environment for them," Locke said. "They are older than the typical college student. They don't have the parental support, so they are in this on their own. Some have families of their own. They have their own unique challenges." This week, Locke was named as the permanent director of the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Center for America's Veterans at Mississippi State University after serving in that role on an interim basis since early 2017. "It's a great opportunity for me," Locke said. "I'm so appreciative of the commitment Mississippi State has made to its veterans." |
| Innovation Challenge to foster young entrepreneurs in Starkville | |
 | The Greater Starkville Development Partnership and Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach in the College of Business at Mississippi State University are collaborating to bring the inaugural Innovation Challenge to junior high and high school students in Oktibbeha County. Sponsored by International Paper, the contest is a hands-on opportunity for innovative Oktibbeha County middle and high school students to experience a real-world entrepreneurial process. "This is a great opportunity for students to develop their entrepreneurial spirit in our community," President and CEO of the Partnership Scott Maynard said. MSU College of Business Director of Outreach Jeffrey Rupp also shared his excitement about the Innovation Challenge. "The e-Center and programs like Innovation Challenge continue blurring the lines between town and gown -- if we can support these students at an earlier age, it increases the likelihood they'll stay in Mississippi, and in our local community, to live and work," Rupp said. |
| Mississippi's booming agriculture industry | |
 | Agriculture is big business for Mississippi! In fact, it's the state's #1 industry. In all, this $7 billion sector brings in much more money than that for the state. Today we are taking a closer look at the industry, and one particular crop that's expanding. March is National Peanut Month, and this year is a good one for peanut growers in Mississippi; that's because they're celebrating record yields. Business is good across the board for agriculture in Mississippi. Poultry production is the highest valued category, timber covers the most acreage, and the state leads the nation when it comes to catfish. "Just about every commodity that we produce has increased over the past couple of years," says Dr. Brett Rushing, who is the director for Mississippi State University's Coastal Plains Experiment Station in Newton. |
| Mississippi State students talk staying behind | |
| Mississippi State University is on spring break this week, with most of its 21,000-plus students spending their time off away from campus and away from Starkville. However, a handful of students have elected to stay behind for the week citing many reasons. Work or other obligations kept some on campus, while distance was a factor for others. The SDN caught up with some students to see what kept them in the vicinity. A Starkville native, freshman biological sciences major D.C. Conrod, said he was staying with his family in town, and had come to campus to purchase food with his meal plan. He said he was spending most of the break in town with his fiance. Jacob Burger, a sophomore business economics and political science double major from West Palm Beach, Florida, cited a need to work and make money as the primary reason he stayed in Starkville. |
| Clay County woman dies after Monday morning wreck | |
| A Cedarbluff woman is dead after a four-vehicle collision on Monday morning in downtown Starkville sent multiple people to area hospitals. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt confirmed that 47-year-old Tonya Michelle Graham was pronounced dead on Tuesday at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo at 11:30 a.m. Graham -- a wife and mother of one daughter -- worked for more than two decades as a veterinary tech of anesthesiology at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The incident occurred on Lampkin Street before noon on Monday, on the stretch of road between Russell Street and South Montgomery Street. Few details about the incident have been released and SPD Public Information Officer Brandon Lovelady said the collision is still under active investigation. |
| $20M expansion at General Atomics to add up to 60 jobs | |
 | Very few people will get to see inside the new addition that will be built at General Atomics other than the 256 employees now working at the sprawling facility, plus another 60 who will get that opportunity once the expansion is complete in about a year. The $20-million project adds another 128,000-square-foot building to General Atomics' operations, which have already expanded nine times in the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South since 2005. About 35 new employees have been hired, and the remaining positions should be filled within three years, if not sooner. "General Atomics' latest expansion in Lee County strengthens Mississippi's position as a leader in the defense industry while highlighting to companies around the world our state's ability to compete and win in the global marketplace," said Gov. Phil Bryant. |
| No special session for school funding formula, Senate leader says | |
 | A Senate education leader put to rest rumors Wednesday that the Legislature may return to Jackson later this spring or summer to try once more to pass a new school funding formula. Senate Education chairman Sen. Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, said definitively during a Mississippi Economic Council breakfast: "There's not going to be any special session." "There are other issues the Legislature is taking care of, one being the BRIDGE Act, the infrastructure issue," Tollison said. "That (education formula) bill is dead, and to my knowledge there is no intent to bring this up." The bill in question is House Bill 957, which would have replaced Mississippi's current funding formula with the Mississippi Uniform Per Student Funding Formula Act of 2018, which lawmakers informally call "UPS." |
| Dilemma for Mississippi lawmakers: High schoolers, and how to test them | |
 | A state lawmaker is pushing to hold up Mississippi's K-12 funding bill over what state education officials are calling confusion or misinformation about the role high school assessments play in students receiving their diplomas. Last month, Rep. Tom Miles, D-Forest, hitched an amendment to the K-12 appropriations bill that would condition funding for the state's public schools on the state Board of Education eliminating what critics have referred to as exit exams. He said 600 students were unable to graduate last year, because they had not passed one or more of the exams, a figure the Mississippi Department of Education could not confirm. State education officials have argued that Mississippi no longer has exit exams. In 2015, the state Board of Education voted to provide students with alternative pathways to demonstrate mastery outside of the end-of-course assessments. Senate leaders sided with MDE, and the chamber removed Miles' language from the K-12 appropriations bill last week. |
| Gov. Phil Bryant slams Chris McDaniel for switch to Thad Cochran race | |
| State Sen. Chris McDaniel is dropping out of the race against U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker to run for the seat Sen. Thad Cochran is vacating April 1. McDaniel said that supporters have been urging him to run for the soon-to-be-open Cochran seat, and that they say it's his best path to win a Senate election. He would have faced a June 5 primary against Wicker. Now he will run in a Nov. 6 special election without a primary. But Gov. Phil Bryant is expected to name a Republican other than McDaniel to temporarily fill Cochran's seat until the Nov. 6 special election. And McDaniel hasn't endeared himself to the state GOP establishment, which McDaniel has railed against for years. "This opportunistic behavior is a sad commentary for a young man who once had great potential," Bryant said in a written statement on Wednesday. Sources close to the governor -- who himself has tea party and conservative bona fides -- say he is looking specifically for a Republican who can beat McDaniel. |
| McDaniel drops Wicker challenge, will run for soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat | |
 | Mississippi GOP state Sen. Chris McDaniel is dropping his primary challenge to Sen. Roger Wicker, he announced Wednesday, and will instead run for the open seat coming as a result of Sen. Thad Cochran's pending resignation next month. McDaniel's decision means Republicans won't have to spend resources against a potentially pesky primary challenger, but could be a headache for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose allies are determined to keep McDaniel out of the Senate. McDaniel nearly defeated Cochran in a 2014 primary challenge. But the announcement also dials up the pressure on GOP Gov. Phil Bryant, who will appoint someone to fill Cochran's seat until November. |
| With 2 US Senate races, Mississippi lawmaker switches pick | |
 | With a rare opportunity to run for either of two U.S. Senate seats, an insurgent Mississippi Republican switched targets Wednesday. State Sen. Chris McDaniel, who earlier filed to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, announced Wednesday that he'll run for Sen. Thad Cochran's seat after the elder senator announced he's retiring April 1. The move smooths Wicker's path to re-election, turning the focus to Cochran's seat and who Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant will appoint to fill it until a Nov. 6 nonpartisan election for the remaining two years on the term. Bryant quickly made it clear that it wouldn't be McDaniel, flicking away the aspirant's call for the party to rally behind him. |
| McDaniel running for open Senate seat instead of challenging Wicker | |
| State Sen. Chris McDaniel is still running for the United States Senate, but not against incumbent Roger Wicker of Tupelo. On Wednesday, the Tea Party favorite announced he is withdrawing from his challenge of Wicker in this June's Republican Party primary and instead running for the open seat created when the state's senior U.S. senator, Thad Cochran of Oxford, announced his retirement. On Wednesday morning, McDaniel told reporters he had not decided yet whether to drop out of the race against Wicker and enter the contest created by Cochran's retirement. Then early Wednesday afternoon, Tea Party supporters of McDaniel hosted a news conference at the Capitol urging Gov. Phil Bryant to appoint McDaniel to the open post. Soon after the press conference, which McDaniel did not attend, he sent out the statement saying he was switching races. |
| McDaniel now running to replace Cochran | |
| Chris McDaniel has dropped out of the race for the Senate seat held by Sen. Roger Wicker, instead announcing a bid for the Senate seat that will be left vacant by Sen. Thad Cochran. McDaniel, the arch-conservative who has for months mounted a Senate campaign on beating Washington's Republican establishment, made the announcement Wednesday afternoon, just two weeks after announcing his challenge of Wicker. With both U.S. Senate seats up for grabs on the same night in November, McDaniel's flip shakes up an already wild political environment. Cochran's retirement, announced Feb. 5 and effective on April 1, will force a special election on Nov. 6 to fill the seat. |
| Insurgent conservative Chris McDaniel switches races in Mississippi | |
 | Insurgent Mississippi conservative Chris McDaniel plans to run for retiring Sen. Thad Cochran's seat, ending his primary challenge against the state's other Republican senator, Roger Wicker. "By announcing early, we are asking Mississippi Republicans to unite around my candidacy and avoid another contentious contest among GOP members that would only improve the Democrats' chances of winning the open seat," McDaniel said in a statement Wednesday. His decision spares Wicker a potentially bruising primary. But it opens up a new challenge for Republican officials who don't like the controversial conservative state senator. |
| Chris McDaniel softens his insurgency as he switches race | |
 | Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Thad Cochran. He had previously qualified to run against U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker before Cochran said he would retire April 1. This seat, as the Jones County Republican noted in his release announcing the switch, is the one he believes he deserves. Wicker said he'll proceed with caution until McDaniel officially withdraws. "Until Senator McDaniel removes his name from the ballot for this race, we have no choice but to continue our campaign as planned," he said in a statement. "Gayle and I are grateful for the outpouring of support we're receiving from all over the state. We will not take anything for granted and will continue the hard work of once again earning the support of Mississippi voters." |
| Forensic science: TV shows attract students to rigorous Southern Miss major | |
 | Taylor Hood, a senior forensic science major at the University of Southern Mississippi, developed a passion for the subject by watching television. "Growing up, I watched the CSI show and 'Law & Order,'" he said. "It sparked an interest. Being in college -- it's only gotten better." Hood may not drive a sports car and work on the beach, but there were other aspects of the television characters he admired. "I saw myself doing the things they did on the TV show," he said. "The characters seemed to enjoy what they were doing. They were charismatic. They were smart. I could see myself being like that some day." Hood said as he gained more experience as a forensic scientist, he knew he had chosen the right career. "You get internships, you get to see what's done in a police department, in a lab every day and it makes you want to do it even more," he said. "A lot of people think forensic science is all CSI-work and crime scenes," said Dean Bertram, assistant teaching professor in forensic science at Southern Miss. "That's just one area. "A lot of our students go straight to the laboratory and don't ever see a crime scene." |
| $15M marine tourist attraction now open in Gulfport | |
 | Wednesday, the dream finally became a reality. The 15-million-dollar Ocean Adventure attraction is now open at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. This new facility could become a game changer when it comes to luring visitor to the Coast. At Ocean Adventures, the lines were long. Once inside, the visitors came armed with cell phones shooting video, and there were plenty of smiles. According to IMMS director Dr. Moby Solangi there has always been a vision for the facility. "We wanted to bring back what everybody was so used to as a landmark facility, Marine Life. Make it bigger, better, and more attractive," said Solangi. Solangi says this is just a soft opening right now. A grand opening is planned for next month. |
| Racist videos 'not my first Armageddon,' says U. of Alabama diversity, equity, inclusion VP | |
 | Dr. G. Christine Taylor just finished shoveling snow on that January morning -- sweeping snow, really. With a broom. It was, after all, Tuscaloosa, not the wintry heart of Indiana, where she lived before joining the University of Alabama last summer as its first-ever vice president and assistant provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Now, she was baking. Out of the oven, she pulled a homemade spaghetti squash lasagna. Cooking "gives me comfort," Taylor says, evoking memories of her childhood in rural, segregated Harriman, Tennessee, vibrant images and "wonderful aromas" as her mother and grandmother prepared meals. "And there was always enough for neighbors passing by," she recalls. The telephone rang. On the other end was a university colleague from the strategic communications office. "We've got," the voice began, "a little challenge." |
| UGA awards journalism medal to New York Times reporters | |
 | The two New York Times reporters who broke the story of Harvey Weinstein's decades of alleged abuse toward women are the 2018 recipients of the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage. Investigative reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey will receive the medal from the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and its McGill Program for Journalistic Courage. The award ceremony will take place April 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the Peyton Anderson Forum, and Kantor will accept the award on behalf of both reporters. The public is invited to attend. Nominations for the medal came from journalists and journalism educators from across the country. Charles Davis, dean of Grady College, nominated the reporting duo. |
| Former U. of Florida researcher's study retracted | |
 | A scholarly article by a former University of Florida researcher was retracted after investigators found it contained falsified figures. The article, "Activation of the NF-kB pathway by adeno-associated virus vectors and its implications in immune response and gene therapy," was retracted in January from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Examining the relationship between a protein and a mild virus, the article was published in March 2011. An October 2016 investigative report examined whether the article's lead author, Georgiy Aslanidi, created false data and edited figures in the article. The process was conducted by Brandi Ormerod, from the biomedical engineering department, and Irene Cooke and Michael Scian, from the Office of Research. The report, presented to UF Vice President of Research David Norton, found that "Dr. Aslanidi's actions were sloppy and constituted errors in accepted scientific practice rather than research misconduct." |
| Stephen Hawking, Texas A&M had special relationship | |
 | It may not be obvious to the casual observer, but Texas A&M University's physics and astronomy programs owe a great deal to Stephen Hawking -- and an Aggie who held a long-standing fascination with the iconic man, according to College of Science officials. Hawking died early Wednesday at 76, more than 50 years after being diagnosed with the degenerative disease ALS. Over the period of nearly a decade leading up to 2012, Hawking gave four sold-out lectures on the A&M campus in College Station. Ed Frye, an A&M distinguished professor of physics who served as department head in 2002, said Hawking's relationship with the university can be credited with encouraging support that resulted in the department's success today -- largely through the interest and generosity of Texas A&M class of '40 graduate George P. Mitchell, who ultimately gave nearly $100 million to the university. |
| Mizzou Giving Day fundraising far outpacing last year's | |
 | An hour and a half into MU's 24-hour fundraiser called Mizzou Giving Day, the university had received over $1.7 million in donations. Four hours later, that number grew to about $5 million, all from private funds. By 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Mizzou Giving Day had already raised over half the $8.3 million it received in 2017. At that time, more than 18 hours remained in the campaign. The second annual Mizzou Giving Day began at noon Wednesday, and members of the MU Advancement Team and Mizzou Alumni Association have been inviting students, alumni and community members to donate money during the 24-hour-long event. "Our main goal is just to get as many people involved as possible," said Eric Ferguson, MU associate director of advancement creative services. |
| College students join gun-reform walkout nationwide | |
 | The bell at the University of Virginia chapel rang 17 times Wednesday morning -- one chime for each death in the Florida high school shooting that has launched waves of unprecedented activism among students nationwide. A crowd of more than 1,000 students and others splayed across the lawn there, silent amid the ringing. Exactly one month after the Parkland, Fla., massacre, students across the country exited classrooms at 10 a.m., some quiet, some carrying signs demanding gun reform from lawmakers. The victims' names were read aloud in places, at others chants arose: "It could have been us." Much of the media attention on the planned walkouts Wednesday has been focused on secondary schools, with debate over students' First Amendment rights and whether they would be disciplined. Current college students also participated in these walkouts, with videos of the often emotional demonstrations appearing en masse online. |
| House GOP bill would raise colleges' costs for reimbursing federal aid when students drop out | |
| The Kentucky Community and Technical College System invests serious resources into student supports during the first four weeks of a semester -- the period in which at-risk students are most likely to drop out. Jay Box, the system's president, said its 16 colleges make student retention a top focus throughout the semester. Yet because of student withdrawals during a recent fall semester, the system still had to return about $2.6 million in student aid to the federal government. Under a GOP proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives, however, the system projects its bill would hit $8.1 million for that semester alone. "It's really not a good deal for us," Box said. That proposal, part of House legislation to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, would apply to all colleges and universities. But it would hit open-access institutions like community colleges particularly hard. |
| Can Higher Education Make Silicon Valley More Ethical? | |
 | The internet and the technology companies powering it have shown their dark side recently. Racism and sexism have flourished, mostly unchecked, on social media. Algorithms used by Facebook and Twitter have been blamed for the spread of fake news. And as phones, cars, and household devices scoop up their users' data, the expectation of privacy has practically evaporated. Under each of those phenomena lie ethical quandaries. Is technological development outpacing our ability to tease out its implications? If so, is higher education responsible for the problem? Jim Malazita, an assistant professor of science and technology studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, believes higher education has played a role. |
| Despite challenges, UMMC logged an exceptional 2017 | |
| Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, writes in The Clarion-Ledger: "As I begin my fourth year as chief executive at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, all I can say is, what an amazing journey! There have been exhilarating moments, like our groundbreaking in December for our Children's of Mississippi expansion. And there have been difficult and even painful times, such as the budget emergency last spring that resulted in a layoff of 195 valued employees. Fortunately, the good moments have outnumbered the bad, and this journey has been extremely rewarding, a credit to the hard work, the passion for excellence, and the dedication of our 13,000 faculty, staff and students as well as the support of many friends across the state." |
| New U.S. senators in Mississippi don't come along often | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "In my lifetime, Mississippi's two United States Senate seats have been held by five men -- John Stennis, James Eastland, Thad Cochran, Trent Lott and Roger Wicker. During roughly the same time period, there have been 12 presidents, 13 governors of Mississippi, 18 No. 1 hits (a disputed number) by Elvis Presley, 11 head football coaches at Mississippi State University and 12 head football coaches at Ole Miss. And that's not even counting the time period Stennis and Eastland served in the Senate before I was born. Gee, I am not that old. The point is that when Cochran announced his retirement last week that was big news -- simply because of the fact Mississippians don't often see their United States senators retire. Blue moons are more likely occurrences -- much more likely. But Cochran's retirement is significant for more than the simple fact that Mississippi senators have almost a lifetime job." |
SPORTS
| Peters leads Mississippi State to NIT win without scoring | |
| Mississippi State only had one assist as a team in its SEC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Tennessee last week. That changed in a big way in the Bulldogs' opening round game of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night. Lamar Peters dished out a career-high 14 assists as fourth-seeded MSU defeated Nebraska 66-59 in front of 3,485 at Humphrey Coliseum. It was the Bulldogs' first postseason appearance since 2012 and first victory since defeating Jackson State in the 2010 NIT. MSU (23-11) will move on to play top-seeded Baylor in Waco, Texas, in the second round Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPN. |
| Mississippi State beats Nebraska to advance in the NIT | |
| Abdul Ado looked disinterested in taking the jumper at the top of the key, well beyond his range, despite the shot clock winding down. So with 3 seconds left, he was still looking to get rid of the ball despite the home crowd yelling at him to shoot. He found Tyson Carter a few feet beyond him for a 3-pointer. When Carter swooshed the 3-pointer, the small-but-vocal crowd at Humphrey Coliseum erupted because it gave Mississippi State a 5-point lead with just over two minutes left. Without Nick Weatherspoon (hip), Mississippi State beat Nebraska, 66-59, Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT. The Bulldogs advanced to visit Baylor (11 a.m. Sunday). It's not the NCAA tournament, but it's the middle of March and Mississippi State (23-11) is still playing basketball. It was the Bulldogs' first postseason win since 2010, so the jubilation was understandable. |
| Giving mood: Big night of assists for Peters, leads Bulldogs to NIT victory | |
| It's said that it is far better to give than to receive. That is indeed the case for Mississippi State because of the generosity of Lamar Peters, the Bulldogs are headed to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. Peters created opportunity after opportunity for his teammates all night on Wednesday as MSU topped Nebraska 66-59 in the NIT's first round at Humphrey Coliseum. Like a skilled maestro conducting a beautiful song, Peters dished out 14 assists in the victory. "He did a great job being patient," Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said of Peters. "He could have had 18 assists, but we missed some open looks. He's really distributing the ball and blossoming into quite a distributor and true point guard now." MSU couldn't have asked for a better time for Peters to put together a career night. |
| Peters' 14 assists help Mississippi St. top Nebraska in NIT | |
| Aric Holman had 16 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season, Lamar Peters was four assists shy of a NIT record with a career-high 14 and Mississippi State won its first post-season game since 2010 with a 66-59 victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night in the first round. Mississippi State (23-11) is in the postseason for the first time since a 101-96 double-overtime loss to UMass in the 2012 NIT. Abdul Ado added 15 points and nine boards for MSU, which plays at Baylor in the next round. Ado had 11 points, on 4-of-11 shooting, and seven rebounds in the first half to help MSU build a 33-28 lead. The Bulldogs' leading scorer Quinndary Weatherspoon was held to eight points. |
| Schaefer a finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year | |
| Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer has been named a finalist for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year. Schaefer has guided the Bulldogs to a 32-1 record and the program's first ever Southeastern Conference championship and No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Other finalists for the award are Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, Oregon's Kelly Graves and Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw. The winner of the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year will be announced on March 31. |
| Jones finds a good fit at Mississippi State | |
| Joey Jones started South Alabama's football program and spent nine seasons at the Jaguars' head coach. But for the last few years, Jones also had an active role in special teams and helped South Alabama have the No. 2 rated unit among ESPN's national special teams efficiency rankings. However, Jones resigned in December following a 4-7 season and was in search of work. It just so happens that new Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead was in the market for a special teams coordinator after his first hire Scott Fountain spurned the Bulldogs to return to Georgia after less than a month on the job. Moorhead hired the 55-year-old former Alabama All-SEC receiver as his 10th on-field assistant on Feb. 22. |
| Southeastern Louisiana rally too much for No. 19 Mississippi State at MGM Park | |
| Trailing No. 19 Mississippi State 5-1 in the bottom of the first, Matt Riser took it upon himself to re-focus his Southeastern Louisiana squad. "You're dealing with 18 to 22 year old young men who have the attention span of a gnat sometimes," the Picayune and PRCC alum said with a smile. "We've got to continue to stay aggressive with whatever we do, whether it's pitching, hitting or playing defense." Clearly, the fiery pep talk from the Lions head coach worked. SLU (13-6) scored ten unanswered runs to rally and knock off the Bulldogs at MGM Park, their sixth-straight win over Mississippi State. "Obviously we did not put the pressure on them offensively," MSU interim head coach Gary Henderson told HailState.com. "We talked about the things that we did well, we talked about getting away from some of our strengths, we talked about the fact that we're going to have to be able to go on the road and play in a good environment." |
| Conference USA announces CBS Sports as league's primary multimedia rights holder | |
| Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod announced Wednesday new innovative multimedia rights partnerships. A multi-year agreement makes CBS Sports the primary rightsholder for C-USA football and men's basketball, televising the conference's best games, including the championship game in each sport on CBS Sports Network. MacLeod also announced that Stadium has expanded on last year's partnership and will receive a strong selection of C-USA football and men's basketball games. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The previous deal gave each C-USA school approximately $200,000 annually. |
| A safe hire? No, Ole Miss crushed it with Kermit Davis Jr. | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "Ole Miss soon will hire Kermit Davis Jr., as its new basketball coach. Good for Ole Miss. Good for Ross Bjork. Good for Davis, a guy I have followed since he was a little gym rat hanging about his dad's Mississippi State teams in the early 1970s. The guy can coach, really coach. 'But he's no Ben Howland,' somebody responded the other day when I tweeted just that. ...Another columnist called the hiring of Davis 'safe,' 'not visionary' and 'not bold.' Here's what I call it: wise." |
| Plainsman Patio opens for business at home Auburn baseball games | |
 | Beer and baseball now can be found together in a designated area of Plainsman Park. "Plainsman Patio" celebrated its grand opening Tuesday night as the Tigers defeated Georgia Tech 12-7. For a $50 season pass or $5 single-game entry for ticketholders, Auburn baseball fans can purchase alcoholic beverage in the patio area. "It is a premium hospitality opportunity for baseball ticketholders that operates in a controlled area," Auburn Athletics spokesperson Kirk Sampson said. "The operation of Plainsman Patio follows SEC and Auburn University policy." The Southeastern Conference allows stadium alcohol sales only in premium seating areas. Alcohol is not sold in general seating areas. The patio is open for all midweek games, Friday and Saturday SEC games, and the entire LSU series, according to the Auburn baseball Twitter account. |
| Georgia turns attention to Tom Crean in coaching search | |
| Georgia's search for a men's basketball coach after getting turned down by Thad Matta on Wednesday was expected to include former Indiana coach Tom Crean at or near the top of its list. School officials have had "forward movement," in that regard with a meeting expected as early as Thursday, according to a Tweet from USA Today's Dan Wolken. Crean is serving an ESPN analyst after being fired by Indiana after last season. He went 301-166 in nine seasons with the Hooisers including three Sweet 16 trips and four NCAA tournament appearances. The 51-year old Crean reached the Final Four in 2003 with Marquette where he coached for nine seasons. Matta visited the UGA campus and met with athletic director Greg McGarity on Monday and Tuesday and turned down the job Wednesday despite being offered in the range of $3 million per year. |
| Football coaches across SEC negotiating rich rewards even for losing | |
| During Steve Spurrier's first interview for a college football head coaching job, there were no lawyers or agents or advisors in the room. It was just Spurrier and Duke athletic director Tom Butters having a pleasant, one-on-one conversation. The subject of money never came up. "I had no idea," he said. "I walked in and he said, 'The last coach here made $74,500. I'm going to bump you all the way up to $75,000 even.' So I got $500 more than Steve Sloan. That was it. It was a one-year deal." That was back in 1987, 31 years ago. But it might as well be 100 years ago now, given how much has changed with the business end of college football since then. |
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