Friday, March 16, 2018   
 
Mississippi State turkey research tracks habitat, movement
An ongoing Mississippi State University study is tracking wild turkey populations across the state and making efforts to understand the turkey's relationship to the landscape. The ongoing study is a collaboration between the MSU College of Forest Resources and biologists from the Mississippi Department of Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks. For the study, biologists are trapping turkeys across the state and fitting them with GPS trackers. The trackers show the turkey's movements and the types of habitat the birds choose and how long they stay. The data collected will help determine management implications. "For wildlife population management, you can do two or three things," said MSU professor of wildlife ecology and management Guiming Wang. "Number one is managing the habitat. You manage your habitat to grow more turkeys or deer. Second, you use hunting as a tool to sustain the wildlife population."
 
Mississippi State's Mike Richey receives ESGR Patriot Award | Starkville Daily News
Mike Richey, Mississippi State University Senior Associate Athletic Director, received the Mississippi Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award. Jimmy Vaughn, a volunteer with the Mississippi Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, presented Richey the award. "It was a great honor and a really big surprise," Richey said. Richey was nominated for the award by Petty Officer 2nd Class Chandrika Anderson, an employee of MSU Bulldog Club. Anderson serves with U.S. Navy Reserve in Meridian. Anderson said in her nomination of Richey for the Patriot Award that he goes above and beyond the requirements of Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act in supporting her service in the U.S Navy Reserve and her current deployment that was very short notice.
 
Hauling bill opposed by transportation officials awaits governor's signature
A proposal to increase the weight limit for hauling timber and other farm products now awaits the governor's signature to become law despite opposition from top transportation officials. The Senate on Thursday approved the House changes to Senate Bill 2418, which would increase the weight limit tolerance for harvest permit vehicles and vehicles loading and unloading at state ports. If signed by the governor, it would take effect July 1. Out of the 12 senators who voted against the proposal, one of them was Senate Transportation committee chairman Sen. Willie Simmons, D- Cleveland. Proposal author Sen. Jenifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, asked the Senate on Thursday to approve the House revisions to the bill from the week before.
 
Doty, Currie work together to get money for School of the Arts
Two Brookhaven lawmakers are trying to slide a little financial help to the arts school in the legislative session's last hour by attaching maintenance funds to the statewide bond bill. District 39 Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, and District 92 Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, worked together to amend House Bill 1650 to add $1.5 million in building and renovation funds for the Mississippi School of the Arts, which has done without in recent years under flagging state revenue and is currently under intense budget pressure due to cuts. The amendment was inserted by the Senate Finance Committee, of which Doty is a member. "The arts school has proven itself to be an asset to our state, and we want to support it," she said. "They operate on such a thin budget from year to year, they really have not had any money to do repairs." The House declined to accept the Senate's amendments to HB 1650 on Wednesday, and the bill will now head to a conference committee for work on final details. Doty said she and Currie were hoping to avoid a conference committee.
 
McDaniel: 'I'm asking to finish the term we felt we won in 2014'
Anti-establishment conservative Chris McDaniel never officially conceded the 2014 Republican primary in which he lost to Sen. Thad Cochran. On Thursday, when discussing why he would ditch his challenge of Sen. Roger Wicker and run for the Senate seat left vacant by the retiring Cochran, McDaniel got retrospective. "What I have is a situation in which I'm running for the same seat I ran for in 2014 – the seat we felt we won in 2014," McDaniel said. "Now God had other plans for that, obviously, and that's OK and we accept that. All I'm asking for now is to be allowed to finish that term that we ran for in 2014." In the 30-minute interview with reporters on Thursday, McDaniel covered several bases.
 
McDaniel says he will withdraw from Wicker race soon, but in reality no hurry
Chris McDaniel says he is running for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Thad Cochran's retirement instead of against Roger Wicker of Tupelo in the regularly slated Senate election. In reality, though, he could stay in both races for a while. Technically, McDaniel cannot qualify to run in the special election until Gov. Phil Bryant issues a writ establishing a period of time for candidates to qualify for the seat. And Bryant cannot issue the writ until he receives official notice from the Senate that Cochran has retired. The 80-year-old Cochran, who has been in the Senate since 1978 and prior to that was in the U.S. House for six years, has said he will step down on April 1. So, at some point after that, Bryant would issue the writ and within 10 days of the retirement notice, he is mandated by law to name an interim. On Thursday, McDaniel said he would officially withdraw from the Wicker race soon.
 
'Tea party governor,' Trump against Chris McDaniel over Senate race
A major internecine Republican battle is brewing over U.S. Senate midterm elections in Mississippi, one that could even split the more conservative, tea party-leaning branch of the state GOP. Gov. Phil Bryant on Thursday said state Sen. Chris McDaniel appears more interested in his own political career than serving Mississippians or uniting Republicans. The "tea party governor" and tea party darling McDaniel exchanged a few barbs via media. "This is not the business for you," Bryant said Thursday when asked what he has to say to McDaniel about seeking the Senate seat currently held by retiring Thad Cochran. During the same interview, Bryant emphatically said he would not appoint McDaniel to hold the seat in the interim before a Nov. 6 special election. Bryant said he -- and likely Bryant's ally President Donald Trump -- would campaign hard for Bryant's appointment and against McDaniel.
 
Mississippi Governor: National GOP Won't Choose New Senator
Mississippi's Republican governor said Thursday that his decision about appointing a new U.S. senator won't be influenced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or other GOP leaders in Washington, but he believes his appointee will receive campaign help from the president and vice president. "This decision will be mine and mine alone. No one from the outside, no one from 'the swamp' or outside world or Mars or Jupiter is going to come here and try to tell me," Gov. Phil Bryant told reporters at the state Capitol. "I'm going to make this decision for what I think is the best and highest purpose for the people of the state of Mississippi." The governor also said definitively that he won't appoint state lawmaker Chris McDaniel to succeed longtime Sen. Thad Cochran, 80, who's resigning April 1 because of poor health. "He is not on the list," Bryant said when asked if McDaniel is among those he is considering.
 
Black women candidates for Congress say they're reclaiming their time
Lauren Underwood was angry her Illinois congressman voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Omeria Scott thought poor Mississippians needed someone who cared more about their concerns. Pam Keith felt her experience as a Naval officer made her well equipped to fight for voters in her Florida district. "I said, 'It's on. I'm running. We deserve better,' '' said Underwood, a nurse whose Democratic primary is Tuesday. Underwood, Scott and Keith are part of a groundswell of interest from women of color, particularly African-American women, in running for Congress this year. The trend comes against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement focusing on sexual harassment, the historic Women's March and the critical role black women played in recent elections, including last year's upset in Alabama.
 
FEMA Drops 'Climate Change' From Its Strategic Plan
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the federal government's first responder to floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, has eliminated references to climate change from its strategic planning document for the next four years. That document, released by FEMA on Thursday, outlines plans for building preparedness and reducing the complexity of the agency. The document does not say what could be contributing to "rising natural hazard risk," or what conditions could require the "increased investments in pre-disaster mitigation." Similarly, under a section about "Emerging Threats," the document cites cybersecurity and terrorism. There are no references to global warming, rising sea levels, extreme weather events or any other term related to the potential impact of rising surface temperatures.
 
Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plants, U.S. Says
The Trump administration accused Russia on Thursday of engineering a series of cyberattacks that targeted American and European nuclear power plants and water and electric systems, and could have sabotaged or shut power plants off at will. United States officials and private security firms saw the attacks as a signal by Moscow that it could disrupt the West's critical facilities in the event of a conflict. They said the strikes accelerated in late 2015, at the same time the Russian interference in the American election was underway. The attackers had compromised some operators in North America and Europe by spring 2017, after President Trump was inaugurated. It was the first time the administration officially named Russia as the perpetrator of the assaults.
 
Conference for the Book returns for 25th year
The Center for the Study of Southern Culture is preparing for the 25th-annual Oxford Conference for the Book to take place next week. The conference is organized under director James G. Thomas, Jr. He is the associate director of publications at the center, which is housed in the University of Mississippi's Barnard Observatory. This year's conference will mark a quarter century of the conference attracting authors from around the South to come speak, meditate and fellowship on Southern literature. Festivities kick off on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Off Square Books with Michael Farris Smith.
 
Grand jury probe into LSU fraternity pledge's alleged hazing death indicts 4 men
Six months after his death rocked the LSU campus and spurred some state lawmakers to action, an East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury that investigated the alleged hazing of 18-year-old fraternity pledge Maxwell Gruver on Thursday indicted a former student with negligent homicide and three others with hazing. Matthew Alexander Naquin, 20, is accused of negligent homicide, a felony that carries up to five years in prison, while Sean-Paul Gott, 21, Ryan Matthew Isto, 19, and Patrick Andrew Forde, 21, were charged on a misdemeanor hazing count, punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Police had said Gruver, of Roswell, Georgia, was targeted by senior members of Phi Delta Theta in a hazing ritual they dubbed "Bible study" that required pledges to chug 190-proof liquor when they incorrectly answered questions about the fraternity. Max Gruver's parents, Rae Ann and Stephen Gruver, traveled to Baton Rouge to attend the grand jury announcement -- the first time they had been back since their son died Sept. 14.
 
Defect will temporarily close new U. of Tennessee dorm two years after opening
A defect in the brick veneer on White Hall, a new University of Tennessee residence hall that opened in 2016 as part of a $234 million redevelopment project, will close the dorm for the 2018-2019 school year. "We've determined that certain defects either in the design or in the installation, or both, are present in the brick veneer," UT spokeswoman Katherine Saxon said in an email. "The university is now investigating the exact nature of the defects and what needs to be done to repair them." The cost of the repairs is not yet known, but the building will be closed the entire academic year to allow them to be done as efficiently as possible, Saxon said. At the same time, UT will re-open Reese Hall, a 500-bed residence hall that was shut down in 2017 with eventual plans to demolish the building.
 
UGA researchers battle neglected diseases
Lymphatic filariasis. Schistosomiasis. Cryptosporidiosis. They're some of the world's most widespread parasitic diseases, but many people have never heard of them. Those who live in Western nations are lucky as these diseases don't really have to be on their radar. But for more than 2 billion people across the globe, the risk of contracting a disfiguring or potentially deadly parasitic disease is constant. The University of Georgia's Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases is aiming to change that. Founded 20 years ago by Regents Professor of Cellular Biology Rick Tarleton, CTEGD consolidates UGA's extensive, campus-wide tropical disease knowledge and drug discovery expertise into an interdisciplinary research unit that focuses on finding solutions for parasitic diseases. The center has garnered more than $135 million in research funding, and its 25 faculty, spanning eight departments across four colleges and schools, focus on more than a dozen diseases commonly associated with poverty.
 
U. of Arkansas official says lack of funds to halt cleanup at nuke site
Every three months since December 2016, project leaders have met with residents to provide an update on the cleanup of a former nuclear test reactor site in rural Washington County. But at the latest meeting Thursday, about a dozen people in attendance at the Strickler Volunteer Fire Department heard that a lack of federal funding will mean a halt to cleanup of the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor, commonly known as SEFOR. The reactor, which ceased operations in the early 1970s, has been owned by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville since 1975. "I hope we'll be asking you to come back again sooner rather than later," Mike Johnson, UA's associate vice chancellor for facilities, said, expressing optimism that the project will be completed. Thousands of pounds of low-level radioactive waste has been trucked away, but the radioactive reactor core remains at the site.
 
U. of Florida School of Music to move to Leonardo's spot
As a Gainesville icon loses its home, the community could gain a venue for musical performances. The School of Music will take the place of Leonardo's by the Slice at West University Avenue and 13th Street, UF President Kent Fuchs said in an interview with The Sun on Wednesday. That corner is one of the busiest and most prominent locations in the city. The university secured $100 million in new funding in the state legislative session just ended -- but none of that was allotted to the School of Music building. The building will cost $55 million. UF has just $6 million in hand from last year's state legislative session. Kevin Orr, director of the school, said there is no timetable for the new music building.
 
Multi-use tool for first responders developed by Texas A&M team in 2014 gains traction
An idea that began more than three years ago on the Texas A&M University campus is continuing on its path toward becoming commercially available, with one of the founding members taking the product to the Red Bull Launch Institute at the South by Southwest festival in Austin. Dayana Hansley -- who is part of a team that developed a product that would combine tools used by first responders into one -- represented one of six teams of college students from around the country at the March 8-10 showcase where they received input from mentors on how they can move their products forward. In addition to Texas A&M, the participating college students came from universities including the University of Pittsburgh, Princeton University, Southern Methodist University and Lehigh University. During the three-day event, the student entrepreneurs got to participate in panel discussions, networking and development mentoring time with industry members and fellow entrepreneurs.
 
Will U.S. Restrict Visas for Chinese Students?
Two major news organizations are reporting that the Trump administration is considering restrictions on visas for Chinese citizens, including students, as part of a forthcoming package of tariffs and investment restrictions against China. The Wall Street Journal and Politico have both reported that the administration is considering the visa restrictions as part of what the Journal described as a package of measures intended to punish China for allegedly violating American intellectual property laws and pressuring U.S. companies to transfer technology. According to the Journal, the White House is considering limiting the number of study and work visas for Chinese citizens and ending a program that allows frequent travelers to the U.S. to get visas that last 10 years. It's unclear if the potential visa restrictions will become policy -- Politico reported that some Trump administration officials are against them -- and just how broad they would be. But it is clear that restrictions on visas for Chinese citizens could have negative effects on U.S. colleges and universities.
 
Education Dept. Stops Providing Details on Resolved Title IX Cases
The U.S. Department of Education has stopped providing details on sexual-violence investigations resolved by its Office for Civil Rights, after changing its approach to public disclosure of that information some two months ago. To understand the shift, let's wind back the clock to 2014. In May of that year, the department publicly identified the colleges that it was investigating over their handling of issues related to sexual violence. After that, it updated its list of investigations on a weekly basis, and provided the list to the news media upon request. Under the Obama administration, the number of active investigations soared to more than 300 cases at colleges and universities across the country.


SPORTS
 
Coaches drive Mississippi State to be best
Chemistry is vital to Johnnie Harris. As important as that quality is to building and maintaining a successful coaching staff, Harris reserves the right to agree to disagree with Vic Schaefer, Dionnah Jackson-Durrett, and Carly Thibault-DuDonis. That's part of why she feels the Mississippi State women's basketball coaches work so well together. "I think we do a good job of figuring out what coach Schaefer wants and being able to cycle it down to the players," Harris said. "Sometimes that is hard because you might not all agree -- and we don't all agree -- but we agree to disagree, so I think for our players, for coach Schaefer, for everybody to see our chemistry and to see everybody work together, I think that makes for a great coaching staff." Harris has served as Schaefer's associate head coach for each of their six seasons at MSU.
 
Before the breakout came a decision for Mississippi State's Blair Schaefer
Vic Schaefer noticed a look on Blair Schaefer's face as she sat inside the Mississippi State locker room that he had never seen after any of her previous games. "Glazed over" and "unemotional" was the way Vic described it. This was two years ago in the moments after Mississippi State's season-ending lopsided loss to UConn in the Sweet 16. In an effort to raise her spirits, Vic mentioned to Blair, then a sophomore, that she had scored in each of the Bulldogs' NCAA tournament losses over the last two years. It was a solid and genuine try, considering the Huskies shut down MSU's offense with a 98-38 win. Blair was unfazed. "I could tell something was not right," Vic said. It wouldn't take long before Vic learned what was wrong.
 
Dillingham fits right in as student assistant coach for Bulldogs
Mississippi State practices have a familiar look this season. A year after being part of what was the winningest senior class in the history of the women's basketball program, Dominique Dillingham is in a new role as student assistant coach. Among the many roles Dillingham carries out, she occasionally takes part in MSU practices. When Dillingham does, she usually elicits a typical reaction from MSU coach Vic Schaefer. "That looks familiar," Schaefer said when asked what he tells Dillingham after he said she "dominates" a practice after not working with the team for a week. The fact that Dillingham still can have a big impact on the Bulldogs in practice is a telling sign for someone who epitomized the hard-nosed, gritty, defensive style of play Schaefer instilled in the program when he arrived in Starkville six years ago.
 
Mississippi State assistant coach receives national recognition
Vic Schaefer is not the only member of Mississippi State's women's basketball coaching staff that is receiving recognition this season. Assistant coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis was named to the WBCA Top Thirty Under 30 in her second season with the Bulldogs. Thibault-DuDonis has not only helped MSU to a 32-1 record this season but has also been instrumental in its recruiting efforts as well. The Bulldogs have signed the best classes in school history in back-to-back years, including a top 10 class for 2018. Thibault-DuDonis is the daughter of WNBA head coach Mike Thibault of the Washington Mystics.
 
Origin of Mississippi State's success doesn't get old
The Dispatch's Adam Minichino writes: "People in Starkville know the story well. But with women's basketball fans from Louisiana, New York, and Oklahoma set to arrive in Mississippi, it's a perfect time to tell the tale again. It's kind of like when Santa Claus visits Starkville every year to read 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' to the children on the court at Humphrey Coliseum. We're still months away from Christmas, but Mississippi State women's basketball team and the NCAA tournament are becoming quite the tradition. In a season filled with history, the fact that seniors Blair Schaefer, Victoria Vivians, and Morgan William are part of the first class to play in the NCAA tournament every year might be the biggest accomplishment. The growth started with a 13-win campaign in 2012-13. But the ups and downs in coach Vic Schaefer's first season as MSU coach didn't diminish the potential he and his wife, Holly, saw when they visited Starkville and considered leaving Texas A&M and the state of Texas."
 
Bulldogs open SEC play hosting Vandy
Ready or not, the Southeastern Conference season has arrived for No. 19 Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 10-7 and have battled through the turmoil of having their coach abruptly leave three games into the year. Now MSU welcomes 13th-ranked Vanderbilt to town this weekend to begin league play. "Every year in that first SEC weekend, you're going to always come out looking for a battle," said MSU pitcher Konnor Pilkington. "Vanderbilt is a really good club. We're going to stick with the plan that we've always stuck with and go out there and compete." Pilkington will get the ball first in tonight's 6:30 p.m. opener on the SEC Network. The junior left-hander is 1-1 on the year with a 1.17 earned run average with 35 strikeouts and only one walk over four starts this season.
 
Pilkington, Mississippi State arms look to carry load as SEC begins
It has been an inconsistent start to this baseball season for Mississippi State. Both at the plate and on the mound, the Bulldogs have shown flashes of being a solid club, and had moments of frustration. Friday night though, when MSU (10-7) takes on Vanderbilt (12-5) in the Southeastern Conference opener at 6:30 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field, State will be counting on a guy who has been just about as consistently good as could be hoped for – junior starting pitcher Konnor Pilkington. "I'm really comfortable right now," Pilkington said. "It's just a mindset. When I'm on the mound, I believe I'm the best person in the whole stadium and no one can take that away from me." As the ace of MSU's staff, Pilkington will try to set the tone for this weekend's series against the Commodores, a set that will continue with 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday. To do that, all Pilkington has to do is what he has been doing lately.
 
What's behind Konnor Pilkington's absurd strikeout-to-walk ratio?
With every changeup Konnor Pilkington unleashed during Mississippi State's opener last month against Southern Miss, he became more convinced. Instead of pulling the changeups, the Golden Eagles were swinging through them. The lefty who had long relied strictly on his plus-fastball and breaking ball now had something else that worked. "It was kind of weird," Pilkington said. "I know it's not that good. I mean, it's an average changeup and they were swinging right through it. So I was just like, 'Wow.'" Pilkington's fastball and the location of it is so good, one scout said, that he doesn't necessarily need a great changeup to get batters out right now. A serviceable and improved one, though, has helped Pilkington register an absurd 35:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first four starts of the season, which ranks first in the country.
 
Peters provides plenty of assistance for Mississippi State
There is a lot to remember from the loss that ended the Mississippi State men's basketball team's hopes of making the NCAA tournament. There was the corner 3-pointer Xavian Stapleton had that could have changed the game. There also was the injury to Nick Weatherspoon that changed the game. But the number one stands out. MSU had only one assist in a three-point loss to Tennessee that denied it an opportunity for a victory against a ranked opponent. On Wednesday night, Lamar Peters remedied MSU's issue with a career-high 14 assists in a 66-59 victory against Nebraska in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Humphrey Coliseum. The victory pushes MSU (23-11) into a second-round matchup against Baylor (19-14), which beat Wagner 80-59 on Tuesday, at 11 a.m. Sunday (ESPN) in Waco, Texas.
 
Bulldogs hope great softball season continues into league schedule
It has been a great softball season to this point for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. After 26 games, MSU has a 23-3 overall record and have achieved a No. 20 national ranking. The Bulldogs have reached the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule and they know that nothing they have done so far means very much right now. "We're always looking forward and not looking back on the past," MSU senior Morgan Bell said. "We're going to come out and play against the game every single day." For their first SEC series, the Bulldogs have made the trip north to face the Missouri Tigers. The series begins with Friday's 6:30 p.m. start, then Saturday's matchup starts at 4 p.m. and the three-game set concludes Sunday at noon.
 
Lukabu reunites with Moorhead at Mississippi State
Tem Lukabu worked for two months as Joe Moorhead's defensive coordinator for two months in 2012 before an opportunity with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers luring the promising young coach to the NFL. Although they never coached a game together, the bond Lukabu and Moorhead shared during their brief time together was enough for Lukabu to return to the college game to serve as Moorhead's linebackers coach at Mississippi State. "I knew in the back of my mind that if I ever got the opportunity to work with him again, I'd be very aggressive about taking that job," Lukabu said. Lukabu left his post as defensive quality control coach with the San Francisco 49ers after the season to reunite with Moorhead.
 
Ole Miss tabs Kermit Davis as men's basketball coach
Kermit Davis got his start in college coaching at one of Mississippi's SEC programs. Now he's returning to his home state to take over the other one. Ole Miss has hired Davis as its men's basketball coach. Davis, who's spent the last 16 seasons at Middle Tennessee State, replaces the program's all-time winningest coach in Andy Kennedy. The school's official announcement Thursday came just a day after multiple reports surfaced that Davis was Ole Miss' choice. Davis had long been linked to the job given his combination of ties to Mississippi and work in turning MTSU into one of the nation's premier mid-major programs. A native of Leakesville, Davis played at Mississippi State from 1980-82 and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs. His father, Kermit Sr., coached Mississippi State from 1970-77.
 
Southern Miss hoops coach Doc Sadler gets 1-year contract extension
Doc Sadler led the Southern Miss men's basketball team to its best season in four years. As a result, athletic director Jon Gilbert has rewarded him with a one-year contract extension. Now, Sadler's contract runs through March 31, 2021. The Golden Eagles recently completed Year 4 under Sadler, finishing 16-17 and beating FIU and Middle Tennessee at last week's Conference USA tournament. Southern Miss is set to lose only one member from this season's roster (D'Angelo Richardson) and is expected to add four scholarship players, bringing the total to 12 (up from nine). "I am encouraged about the direction we're headed," Gilbert said. "I think everyone that attended (games this past season) can see we're a lot more competitive than we've been. And I think with greater roster stability, we'll be even better."
 
SEC to debut expanded replay, wireless communication between catcher, pitch caller
Starting this weekend, Southeastern Conference coaches will have expanded replay opportunities available to them, allowing them to challenge more types of plays. The SEC is being used as a sort of guinea pig for what the NCAA is calling an "experimental challenge system." Coaches will be able to challenge twice as many things as they were under previous replay rules. The new replay system, which can only be used in conference games, was expanded to include challenging force- or tag-outs, hit by pitch, placement of runners on a boundary call and runner interference on double plays. Replay can also be used to determine if one runner passed another on the bases, or if a player tagged up properly.
 
Georgia basketball's new top Dawg: Tom Crean hired in six-year, $19.2M deal
Georgia landed its new men's basketball coach Thursday that it hopes will elevate the program. Former Indiana coach Tom Crean, who made three Sweet 16 appearances with the Hoosiers, agreed to a six-year deal that will pay him $3.2 million annually. The executive committee of Georgia's athletic board approved the hire Thursday night in a hastily called meeting about a half hour after university president Jere Morehead and athletic director Greg McGarity landed from Sarasota, Fla., the area where Crean lives and where they met to hammer out an agreement. Morehead and McGarity took part in the athletic board call sitting in a car in the Athens-Ben Epps airport. McGarity walked to the car carrying a briefcase and talking on his phone after wrapping up a coaching search in five days after firing Mark Fox on Saturday after nine seasons.



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