MSM 2010-11 Basketball Issue

MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE - 1

2 - MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE

808 Lake Harbour Drive Ridgeland, MS601-856-0789

22 Churchill StreetHattiesburg, MS601-288-7777

6341 Airport BoulevardMobile, AL 36608(251) 378-5955

3850 Promenade PkwyD’Iberville, MS228-396-9464


MISSISSIPPI SEEN


DY-NO-MITE...Mississippi State may have won the game in its first ever meeting against SWAC foe Alcorn State on the gridiron, but Alcorn definitely won the half-time show. Alcorn drum major Brandon Thurmond of Lexington, MS led the “Sounds of Dynamite” onto the field and got Davis-Wade Stadium rockin’. The half-time concession stand lines were short as most fans stayed in their seat to witness the band perform.

Photo by Greg Pevey - Mississippi Sports Magazine


MISSISSIPPI SEEN


RING THAT BELL...The new Cowbell ban handed down by the SEC offices this summer against Mississippi State did not dampen the spirits of these Bulldog fans. To show how little they thought about the rule, these fans came to the MSU/Auburn match-up on September 9th with their “jumbo” sized cowbells made from a metal bucket and table leg. Pretty innovative concept for these fans to attempt to show-up the SEC offices.



PRIME TIME...

MISSISSIPPI SEEN

Pearl and Brandon renewed their rivalry dating back to Thanksgiving Day 1949 on August 27, 2010 and the game lived up to the billing as the Pirates beat Brandon 27-24. The game was fueled by two Brandon students who thought it would be fun to vandalize Pearl’s $750,000 artificial turf field. Pearl QB Davontae Nichols rushed for 101 yards and scored two touchdowns and threw for two more TD’s including the game winner in overtime. The game was a part of CellularSouth’s Y’all vs. Us broadcast.




Volume 3, Issue 3

November/December 2010

Published by

Pevey Publishing, LLC

Publishers

Greg & Mendy Pevey

Featured Columnists

Steven Godfrey, Brian Hadad

Contributing Writers

Kevin Broughton, John Davis,

Tonya M. Huffman, Paul Jones, Donnell

Maxie, Kirk McDonell, Lanny Mixon,

Mike Nienaber, Wesley Peterson,

Chuck Stinson

Contributing Photographers

Cleveland Cavaliers, Greg Pevey,

Sports Information Offices of Ole Miss,

Miss. State, Southern Miss, Jackson State, MS

Valley State, Miss. College, Millsaps College,

Belhaven College

Advertising Sales

Greg Pevey, Jay Pevey, Mendy Pevey

Mississippi Sports Magazine™ is published bi-monthly by Pevey Publishing, LLC to promote Mississippi’s sportsmen and women, colleges, universities, high schools, communities and citizens in an informative and positive manner. We welcome contributions of articles and photos; however, they will be subject to editing and availability of space and subject matter. Photographs, comments, questions, subscription requests and ad placement inquiries are invited! Return envelopes and postage must accompany all labeled materials submitted if a return is requested. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Mississippi Sports Magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Pevey Publishing, LLC is not affiliated with any institution, college, university, or other academic or athletic organization. Subscriptions are $24 (1 year, 6 issues). Make checks payable to Pevey Publishing, LLC and mail to: 405 Knights Cove West, Brandon, MS 39047 or subscribe online at www.mssportsmagazine.com.

Pevey Publishing, llCMississippi Sports Magazine

405 Knights Cove West • Brandon, MS 39047Phone: 601-503-7205 • Fax: 601-992-2885

email: [email protected]

www.mssportsmagazine.com

MSM

To Contact MSM > LETTERS, STORY IDEAS AND PHOTO SUBMISSIONS • Email MSM at [email protected] or mail to Mississippi Sports Magazine, 405 Knights Cove West, Brandon, Mississippi 39047. Letters should include writer’s full name, address and home phone number and may be edited for clarity and space.

Opinions are like, well, you know...

F R O M T H E P U B L I S H E R

Ole Miss finally has a new mascot and man it’s still causing an uproar with the fan-base today. I guess when your team is not playing very well (to say the least) there’s nothing else to talk about on the message boards. You have people who think Ole Miss is now “The Bears” (the

uninformed) and those who want to have rally’s to bring back Col. Reb (he’s not coming back) and those who are OK with “Rebel” the Bear. I still hear people say “What does a bear have to do with Ole Miss?” Those people (the uniformed) need to take the time and do a little research and they’ll find out. I can understand those who think the new Bear will eventually mean Ole Miss will become the Mississippi Bears and the name Ole Miss and Rebels will be the next to get the axe. People want Dan Jones fired feeling that this whole mascot issue was crammed down their throats. Jones did however come out and say Ole Miss will always be Ole Miss and the Rebels name is not going anywhere. The Bear is OK with me. I understand the background and I think with a little tweaking on the concept he’ll turn out OK when he hits the field next season. • Houston Nutt is starting to feel the heat from fans as they complain of watching an uninspired team hit the field every weekend. Nutt’s staff can’t seem to get these kids to play two halves of football especially on the same day. Some think there should be some major staff changes at the end of the season. Mainly hire a real offensive coordinator and let him call the plays and also some want a change at defensive coordinator. I understand the offensive line has been decimated with injuries since week one and you have two sophomore tackles and true freshmen and walk-ons trying to fill in the middle. However, Ole Miss is still one of top offensive teams in the SEC. So the problem is defense, right? Surprisingly enough though, they still have a shot at a bowl. • Low and behold...barring a major meltdown the last half of the season, MSU is going bowling! Dan Mullen has got these kids believing in themselves and with the huge win at Florida they are playing for a better bowl each week. The defense has played solid and the running game is carrying the load. But, with the stretch of games coming up with Kentucky, Bama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss, the Dawgs will have to find some semblance of a passing game. Chris Relf is not a drop back passer and Tyler Russell is not a spread offense QB. A fan-base that has had to endure the “Croom” era, finally has reason to be excited. If not for Vandy, MSU would be last in the SEC in overall winning percentage. All fans deserve some success from time to time. The big problem in Mississippi has be sustaining success no matter what school you follow (see Ole Miss for example). But with all the success comes the question, will other schools come and try to lure Dan Mullen away from MSU? Florida may be looking for a new coach depending on the health issues of Urban Myer. I have to think if the Gators come calling Mullen will listen. Who wouldn’t? Does the name Tommy Tuberville mean anything to you. Could Mullen end up being MSU’s Tuberville? At least he’s not made any “pine-box” references this season. • The Egg Bowl is coming up soon. I’m sure nothing would make Dam Mullen happier than to take down TSUN on their home field. However, the roles are reversed and this year the Rebs have this game circled on their schedule. Nutt learned after last season’s beat down that this game means something to a lot of people. A bad loss to the Dawgs this season might just get Nutt “Croomed.” Just my opinion.

Greg PeveyPublisher

Philippians 4:13

Join us on Facebook.

ADVERTISE IN MSMCall 601-503-7205 for more information!


November/December 2010

CONTENTS10 GODFREY’S TAKE Steven Godfrey - Here’s to you Mr. Bianchi

11 BRIAN HADAD To Err is human, to Cheer for Ole Miss makes you a

Jerk

14 TOUGH GUYS Three local MMA fighters looking to make headway in

the world of Ultimate Fighting

18 JEFF MALONE Malone’s name always comes up when talking about

the best of the best at MSU

24 MO WILLIAMS Mo Williams is now the face of the Cleveland Cavaliers

with the departure of Lebron James

MSM

HOOPS ACTION STARTS ON PAGE 30

54

24

14

30 2010-11 BASKETBALL PREVIEW Dawgs picked No. 1 in SEC West with the Rebels right

behind them at No. 2. Can USM capture the C-USA Title?

54 EGG BOWL FLASHBACK John Bond and John Fourcade


Here’s to you Mr. Bianchi

By SteVeN GoDFreyFeatured Columnist

MSM G O D F R E Y ’ S TA K E

as one of the richest programs in the country, fighting for first with schools like Ohio State and those Texas Longhorns, and easily operat-ing with the fattest budget in the SEC. According to the Indianapolis Star’s online database, which compiled the athletic depart-ment financial information in 2004-‘05 for 215 public schools in the country, there is no com-parison between Gator Nation and anything the state of Mississippi could produce. Florida’s revenue ($77.7 million) is still $23.5 million more than Ole Miss ($28.7M) and Mississippi State ($25.5M) combined, only $2 million shy of being able to operate a whole other athletic department on State’s budget. Bianchi, playing the numbers, advocated that the Gators should find a way for the SEC to shed some its smaller schools (size being estimated by budget in this instance) to increase their slice of a disgustingly large ESPN/CBS/SEC TV rev-enue pie. Bianchi: Think about that for a minute: The Big 12 loses two name schools — Nebraska and Colorado — and will make the same amount of TV money without them as they did with them. Not only that but Beebe says he expects future TV revenue to grow even more. And that’s after losing Nebraska and Colorado. Think about if the SEC ditched Ole Miss and Mis-sissippi State. Would anybody even notice? Would anybody outside of Mississippi even care? Beware, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Don’t think the big boys of the Big 12 haven’t given the big boys of the SEC some bright ideas. Table your outrage, at least momentarily. He might have the gall to advocate destroying the tradition of the nation’s best football conference (Both Ole Miss and State are charter members of the SEC), but Bianchi’s thought was a re-spectable one - at least if you’re a heartless ac-countant trapped inside some investment firm and completely and totally unfamiliar with the tradition of the SEC. Florida boasts five of the 50 largest television markets by area (DMA) in the country (Tampa/St. Petersburg, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando/Daytona, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville). By comparison, Mississippi’s strongest TV market, Jackson, ranks 90th. You might be able to con-sider Memphis (ranked No. 49 nationally), but that’s a splintered market (Vols and Hogs and the local Tigers, oh my) and a bit of a reach. Nothing drives revenue more than television, and Florida continues to grow as a state and a viewership community. It was that cold math that led Bianchi to call

I f you’re a Mississippian but not a Missis-sippi State fan, you should’ve adopted the Dogs for a night on October 16…especially

if you’re (like me) on the Ole Miss side of the Mississippi equation. Don’t get me confused: There’s brutal shame in climbing aboard a bandwagon on the night of an “upset” win – and no matter what Dan Mul-len said, MSU’s 10-7 win at Florida was a mas-sive, ugly upset of the mighty Florida Gators. No fan should be allowed to creep into the party he didn’t help plan, and for a rival to share in the celebration? Heresy! But once every era, some journalistic act of sheer ignorance and pure bluster can unify even bitter rivals, and that shining light that hopefully joined hands across the Magnolia State was beaming off of the half-witted (and likely waxed) dome of Orlando Sen-tinel columnist Mike Bianchi. During the almost comical news cycle of 2010’s “Summer of Realignment” in college football, the majority of the nation’s power football conferences either dabbled with or dove headfirst into expansion or contraction. When the dust settled, relatively few meaningful moves were made (Colorado and Utah to the Pac-10/12, Nebraska to the Big 10), but countless rumors were fanned across the media landscape. At the height of this hysteria most SEC fans seemed to accept that the Big 12, having lost the Buffaloes and Huskers, would disband, and picking up a Texas A&M or Oklahoma seemed logical, as the buzz indicated Texas would try position itself to either join the Big 10 or form its own “Conference-Texas.” Enter Bianchi, who argued against expansion (at one point fans had dreamed up a “Super 16 SEC” by adding OU, A&M, Florida State and Clemson) in the name of economics. After all, among Bianchi’s beat as a sports columnist is the University of Florida, boasting the nation’s most goliath athletic department. The Gators are year in and year out estimated

for the expulsion of Mississippi – as an entire state – from the SEC, a conference it helped found, a conference it contributed countless decades of history and iconic names to. None of the history, the tradition, the pomp and cir-cumstance, emotion, family ties and the funda-mental way of life embraced in the SEC among its member families (because that’s certainly what they are) mattered to Bianchi. Just the cold math, and the idea that the Rebels and Bulldogs were doomed to be an afterthought. That’s why the entire state, all of the pith 2.5 million-ish of us, should have rose up for the Bulldogs on October 16. It was a win that was impossible to argue against – State attempted nine passes the entire game, and only one (a five-yard shovel) in the second half. Florida could never claim that they didn’t know what was coming, as the Dogs ran the ball on 24 con-secutive plays. The Gators missed three field goal attempts and turned the ball over twice, meaning that State’s 212 total yards rushing and 10 first quar-ter points, a meager offensive offering, was precisely enough to choke out a woeful, disin-tegrating Florida team. There were big, fat statistical “firsts” to go around. The first MSU win in Gainesville since 1965. The first three-game skid of Urban Mey-er’s tenure at Florida. The first time the Gators scored seven or less points at home since 2002. But the biggest, fattest first, one that should hang as some kind of newspaper columnist scarecrow for every gutless fool silly enough to deconstruct a sport so delicately woven into his readership’s very lives (at least up here in little Mississippi, maybe not so much in Orlando), was the column that Bianchi followed with on October 19. Mississippi is known as the Magnolia State, but I beg to differ. I think you guys should be known as the Mongolia State because you burn and pillage Florida like Mongol Emperor Geng-his Khan and turn the Gators into little stir-fried pieces of Mongolian barbecue. Not only have you beaten the Gators like Ricky Ricardo’s conga drum, you’ve actually contributed to Florida’s rise to prominence. Would Steve Spurrier have been able to come into the SEC and start immediately dominating without Mississippi-born quarterback Shane Matthews on his roster? Despite that stunningly horrific stab at hu-mility (and humor), my favorite part was this:

SEE GODFREY - BIANCHIContinued on Page 22


By BrIAN HADADFeatured Columnist

MSMT H E D AW G H O U S E

and grandfather’s days. The Rebels had some

decent teams, but they weren’t on the Sugar

Bowl’s radar. But from the kick blown back to

Tommy Luke’s run, State was 1-6 against its

rival in the formative years of my football fan

life.

What always strikes me about the Egg Bowl

is how vivid the memories of the losses are

compared to the wins. 1999 is all a blur, yet

every play of 1997 stands out. I can barely

remember Tim Nelson’s deflected pick six, I

can still see Romaro Miller hauling in the pass

from Deuce McAllister. The names of Stewart

Patridge, Marvin Courtney, and Dou Inno-

cent bring to mind days of sadness that is far

greater than the joy I feel when hearing the

names of C.J. Sirmones, Adam Carlson, and

Michael Davis. The Egg Bowl never fails to

bring me both to my knees in anguish and to

the air in exultation, perhaps on alternating

plays.

These days, with the explosion of internet

message boards and blogs, the Egg Bowl isn’t

what it used to be, and I mean that in the

worst way possible. I used to only hear Ole

Miss delusion from my classmates; they only

heard the backtracking reasoning of how we

were still better despite losing to them from

me. Today, I can get a thousand opinions of

how terrible State is in about thirty seconds

on the Ole Miss Spirit, and vice versa on

Gene’s Page. Don’t even get me started on the

comments section of the Clarion Ledger; it’s

like the monkey cage at the zoo. The hypoc-

risy is literally astounding, two programs that

have both been on NCAA probation lobbing

accusations at the other, two programs that

have finished last more than any other in the

SEC West calling the other mediocre, two fan

bases that live next door to each other, each

denigrating the other’s ancestry and heritage.

Of course, it’s all true about the Ole Miss fans,

but that’s beside the point. If ever anybody

lived in a glass house, it’s these two schools,

but each of us has a million rocks in our living

room.

They say that familiarity breeds contempt,

the rise of the internet has taken an already

heated rivalry and pushed it to the breaking

H ate is a strong word. It should be left

to describe your feelings towards

larger, abstract ideas. You should

hate war, death, the Department of Motor

Vehicles, and cauliflower. You shouldn’t hate

people, and more importantly, you shouldn’t

hate entire groups of people. It’s just wrong.

But it doesn’t stop me from doing exactly that.

My name is Brian Hadad, and I hate the Uni-

versity of Mississippi and all of its fans.

The breadth of that statement is over-

whelming. I am related to Ole Miss fans, went

to high school with dozens of them, work

with them, talk to them on a daily basis. I hate

them all. I can’t look at them when Ole Miss

wins, and I can’t stop laughing at them when

they lose. I would never classify any of them

as “best friend” or “favorite in-law” (Sorry,

Meredith). I believe that they are fundamen-

tally different from me on a genetic level.

Their brain is just not wired the same, and

for that reason, I cannot accept them into my

inner circle, and that’s probably the way they

prefer it. They don’t like me either.

Growing up in the 1980’s, it was tough to

be a State fan. I think I suffered a mysterious

stomach ailment almost every Monday after

the Egg Bowl, just to avoid going to school

and taking the ridicule. When Coach Sher-

rill took over and brought home the Golden

Egg in 1991, I might have been the first kid

through the door. It was the first time that I

felt that State had bridged the gap, that going

forward, the Egg Bowl wouldn’t be a foregone

conclusion to defeat, and let’s not act like State

was losing to a juggernaut like in my father’s

To Err is Human, to Cheer for Ole Miss makes you a Jerk

point. And if you are one of those people do-

ing this, my question is this: How many times

do you screw up and have to go back to put

the dollar sign in M$U or Ole Mi$$?

I remember the silent pity the Rebel fans

showed me in 2008, as they filed past me

following the blowout loss. I could hear the

whispers of “I thought we’d win, but not like

that” and the occasional headshake they gave

me as I stood outside Vaught-Hemingway. It

was unequivocally the worst feeling a football

game could have given. I’d have rather dealt

with a torrent of profanity and physical vio-

lence than that sad walk of shame. To be able

to win a game, a game few gave us a chance in

last season, was doubly sweet. I had no thought

of winning the game that day, but Chris Relf

and Anthony Dixon joined the list of maroon

heroes in the rivalry. It was a rare thing, for a

true underdog to win the Egg Bowl, first time

since 2001. This year, as it stands today, Ole

Miss will probably be the underdog, but will

any State fan go into Oxford sure of victory.

It’s been over a decade since a Bulldog team

left that city a winner.

Come November 27th, I will make the fa-

miliar trek to Eupora, head up the Highway

9-7-6 path, and ride into Oxford in full ma-

roon regalia. My friends and I will keep a tight

perimeter as we walk through the Grove. I will

tailgate with people I don’t actually like and

can never fully understand. I will set foot into

a stadium that literally stands for everything I

don’t believe in. I will watch my team, the team

that stands for everything decent and good in

this world, take on the other team which rep-

resents all that is dark and evil, and I will pray

for victory. There will be another man across

the field from me, who made a similar trip

dressed in red and blue, who soaked in all the

ambience of the Grove, who tailgated with his

best friends in the world, who stepped into a

stadium that is home to some of his greatest

memories, and he will watch the same game

with the exact opposite emotions from me.

Anonymous Rebel Fan, sitting there across

the stadium from me, I hate you. And I know

you wouldn’t have it any other way. - MSM


DON’T MISS ANOTHER ISSUEOF MSM. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Mail in the form below with $24 or subscribe online at www.mssportsmagazine.com and get your subscription NOW!

When you subscribe to Mississippi Sports Magazine, you’ll pay just $24 for 6 great issues (one year). Just fill out the form below

insert check or money order and mail to: Mississippi Sports Magazine, 405 Knights Cove West Brandon, MS 39047Make checks payable to Pevey Publishing.

Name: _________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________

City:_______________________________ State:_____ Zip: ______________

Send a one year gift subscription to: (additional $24)

Name: _________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________

City:_______________________________ State:_____ Zip: ______________

NO

VEM

BER

/DEC

EMB

ER 2

010


RIDGELAND/MADISON398 HWY. 51 N

601-853-1951

FLOWOOD PLAZAIn front of Wal-Mart

601-992-7272

BRANDON/PEARL1490 W. GOVERNMENT ST.

601-824-0068

MAYWOOD MART1220 E. NORTHSIDE DR.601-982-2007

McDOWELL ROAD717 W. McDowell Rd.601-373-1112


MSM A R O U N D T H E S TAT E

But they needed some new blood or, perhaps more accurately, some new sources of it. Happily, the neighborhood gym is a target-rich en-vironment when in the market for fodder made of equal parts ego, testosterone, vanity and muscle mass. “A lot of guys from the gym think, ‘I’m big, I lift weights. I can blow through these guys,’” says Little. “There’s a lot of difference between a body builder and a fighter, and most of them find out pretty quickly.” Many were the one-and-done wannabes who left “Hammer Hill” (the makeshift gym at Little’s Madison County home) physically and emo-tionally whipped. “We’d sit in the driveway after a training session and laugh,” Little says, knowing they wouldn’t see a given would-be fighter again unless it was a chance encounter at the squat rack. “Anthony was the first one who got his butt whipped and came back. He came back the next day. And kept coming back.” Anthony Mitchell had made the assumption that because he was big (he carried about 260 pounds on his five-foot-eleven-inch frame back then), he would muscle people around on the mat or in the ring. And like the other body builders before him, he got a jolt of cruel reality. But unlike them, Mitchell has a competitive streak that borders on the neurotic. After his first beat-down at the hands of Little, Albin and Wright, he challenged himself. “If somebody can walk through me like that, then obviously I have a flaw,” Mitchell says. “I need to learn what they learn.” Four years later you can tell he means it. His eyes gleam and he can’t suppress a smile as he recalls it. “After that first beating, I was hooked.” So hooked, in fact, that improving himself as a fighter would become his singular ob-session. And four years after that first beating, Mitchell found himself

TOUGH GUYSBY KEVIN BROUGHTON

Contributing Writer

rubbing elbows with Anderson “The Spider” Silva, widely acknowl-edged as the best fighter in the world.

• • • • • There was one gym rat the Hammer Hill guys couldn’t throw around on his first foray. Probably because he was closer to seven feet tall than six, and topped 300 pounds. And after working in law enforcement; after a stint in the NFL; after achieving fame in the SEC, well, the guy needed a challenge. And if God were to design a heavyweight MMA prototype, the finished product would probably look a lot like Wes Shivers. “He’s got all the tools,” Little says. “He’s big and strong and he’s got long arms. His hands are fast. He’s a super athlete, but he’ll listen to you. A lot of the big, strong guys won’t do that.” It’s that quality that sets Shivers apart, says his trainer. “His mind’s like a sponge. He wants to learn as much as he possibly can.” That combination of athleticism, physical freakishness (6’8”, 280 pounds) and an attentive mind landed Shivers what everyone around him thought would be his ticket to the big time: a spot on Spike TV’s season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. The world, it seemed, was the Brandon native’s for the taking. And then everything unrav-eled. Fans of the sport and the reality show are familiar with how things went down. Shivers flew from Jackson to Las Vegas on the last day of May, 2009. “We got to the house on a Monday night, and picked teams on Tuesday,” he says. “We trained on Wednesday and picked the first fights. That Thursday I cut 13 pounds of weight to fight on Friday morning.” Shivers no doubt wonders “what if” when he looks back on that first

It was the middle of 2006, and Johnny Little and Brian Albin were tired of beating up on each other. Along with Chris Wright and a handful of other diehards, the guys were seeking to make themselves Mixed Martial Arts fighters – almost from scratch. Little had a background in boxing; Albin, an Iraq war veteran, had done some grappling in the Marine Corps; Wright was just a mean cuss who worked at Nissan.


MEN ON A MISSION: From Left to Right: Wes Shivers (sitting), Jason Cefalo (middle), Anthony Mitchell (right).


week. What if his celebrity coach, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson hadn’t burned his first selection on overrated street brawler Kimbo Slice? What if Jackson (known for his heavy hands, gregarious manner, and mad sidewalk-driving skills) hadn’t pitted Shivers against the opposing team’s best fighter? What if he’d had a few more days to train and mitigate the alti-tude difference? Alas, that’s how it happened. Shivers was forced to fight James McSweeney, a seasoned Brit who’d spent the past year living and train-ing full-time with his coach, Rashad Evans. (Shivers, by contrast, worked a 9-to-5 until the week before he left.) McSweeney’s condi-tioning advantage was clear, but by most ob-jective accounts, Shivers won the two-round bout. But not in the eyes of the judges. Shivers was eliminated from contention, but made the best of his time in Vegas. He returned to Mississippi in July con-vinced he had a future with the UFC. But as the show aired and the season progressed, Shivers noticed a disturbing trend. He saw less of himself on each weekly episode, and lots more of Kimbo Slice, despite the fact that the latter was similarly eliminated early on. His hopes of being on the card of the live finale on Spike TV dimmed. A staph infection last fall ruled out serious training till the first of the year. Shivers, tired of being broke and waiting on a phone call that never came, threw up his hands. His trainer thought it was for good. “He’s done,” Johnny Little told friends at the time. “He just doesn’t want to do it anymore.” Shivers wouldn’t have argued at the time. “I had no intention of coming back,” he says. “I got offered a fight the first of this year and turned it down.” There must have been a glimmer of desire still in him somewhere, though, because he didn’t turn the next one down. Strikeforce, an MMA promo-tion affiliated with Showtime, will bring its “Challenger” series to Jackson Nov. 20. Shivers was of-fered a fight with Tupelo’s Gold-man Butler, some guaranteed money, and a venue to showcase his skills to a national television audience. He couldn’t pass it up. And as disap-pointing as the last half of 2009 was for Shiv-ers, opportunities continue to pile up for the big man just a year later. At press time, Shivers was on location in Louisiana filming “Never Back Down 2,” an MMA-centered feature film. When one door closes, another one often opens, as his Hammer Hill teammate recently discovered.

• • • • • Mitchell is also on the Strikeforce fight card on Nov. 20, but his route there was more roundabout. It started when he became BFFs

with Anderson Silva. He had met Israel Gomez, one of Silva’s trainers, at a jiu jitsu seminar on the Coast, and the two hit it off and stayed in touch. They crossed paths again when Gomez came to the opening of Knockout Fitness and MMA in Flowood. (The gym is operated by Hammer Hill teammate Chris Wright.) “Israel took a call from Anderson that day,” Mitchell said. “I thought, ‘That’s pretty cool.’” He had no idea. Later in the summer Gomez called him, and Mitchell must have thought he was being punked. “He told me Anderson wanted me to

come out to California for UFC 117,” he says. “I overcame a huge fear of flying to go out to Oakland. It was so surreal. I met (UFC Hall of Famer) Randy Couture. I was standing next to Dana White right before the weigh in.” He can only shake his head and smile as he re-calls rubbing elbows with the middleweight champ at the after party. He apparently made an impression, too. The next call from the Silva camp was another invitation: Come to Brazil in November; train and live with some of the best jiu jitsu prac-titioners in the world, and have your profes-

sional fight debut. “Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Mitchel says. To go to Brazil and try my skills where all this stuff got started. Man…” But it was not to be. Little, who was thrilled at the prospect himself, was forbidden by his doctor from making the 12-hour flight be-cause of a prior medical condition. Facing the prospect of traveling (on what would be his second-ever airplane flight) to a foreign country alone, and the language barrier once there, Mitchell reluctantly passed. But ever the optimist, Mitchell’s quick to talk up his

prospects at the Strikeforce event downtown. “Strikeforce is a classy organiza-tion,” he says.” Hats off to anyone competing with the UFC, and it’s a great proving ground for some-body who’s trying to make it big. This will be like a job interview for me.” If the up-and-coming promotion wants a resume with lots of jiu jitsu experience, they may like what they see in Mitch-ell, who’s obsessed on improving his ground game almost from Day One.

The ground game just came naturally for Mitchell, who had no prior wrestling experi-ence. In fact, his first fight – ever in his life – was inside a cage in 2007. But he’s been mani-acal about improving that part of his skill set. “Once I get on the ground, I relax,” he says. “I know I’m not gonna get knocked out. I’m confident in my submission defense. I’m very confident in my submission holds. Everything just comes naturally to me there.” Which is where he’ll no doubt want to take the fight on Nov. 19 on Showtime. He’ll face Jeffery Hedgepeth of Silver Creek in an am-

“A lot of guys from the gym think, ‘I’m big, I lift weights. I can blow through these guys,’” says Little.

“There’s a lot of difference between a body builder and a fighter, and most

of them find out pretty quickly.”


ateur bout. One hitch in his plans: Had the Brazilian fight happened, Mitchell would have fought at middleweight, or 185 pounds. He’ll be back in his familiar light heavyweight divi-sion for this bout. As a result, he’s been trying to bulk his shredded frame up by changing his workouts and eating more. Mitchell’s confident, but speaks of the bout almost as if he’s competing against himself. “If I put together a technically sound per-formance, like I’m capable of…this will be a great opportunity.” He puts more pressure on himself than anyone.

• • • • • By contrast, Shivers is in a relatively pres-sure-free environment for the first time in memory. “There aren’t any outside expecta-tions on Wes this time,” Little says. “I’ve told him, ‘Just enjoy this fight.’ Do it for you.” For his part, Shivers doesn’t let the bitter taste from his UFC/Spike experience linger. Not wanting to burn a bridge, the most he’ll say is “Spike had it pre-scripted the way they wanted.” Not necessarily diplomatic, but it’s certainly no rhetorical airstrike, because he likely knows that another shot at the big time could be within his grasp. “Some folks think that being on the reality show is the quickest way to make it big in the UFC, when it’s actually probably the hardest,” he says. You’re in that house with a bunch of other guys who feel like they’ve gotta promote themselves and get noticed. I wasn’t necessar-ily comfortable doing that stuff.” His realistic goal for the Nov. 19 Showtime event? “I’d like to walk out of there with an offer from Strikeforce.”

• • • • • And finally, lest local MMA fans think the big guys get the glory, consider the case of Jason “Sunshine” Cefalu. The Northwest Rankin senior had hoped to be on the Strike-force undercard, “But they couldn’t find any-body at 135 pounds to fight me.” The diminutive 18-year-old’s story is cer-tainly more “old school” than those of his Knockout MMA gym-mates Shivers and Mitchell. “My dad was a boxer when he was in high school. He knew I wasn’t gonna be big, so he put boxing gloves on me when I was about four or five.” And while he’d love to be on the card with his buddies, he’ll instead fight in his hometown of Meridian on Nov. 20. “I’m the main event, too.” Cefalu is already comfortable in the spot-light he’s already been cast on an MTV reality show, “Cage,” which will air after the first of the year. It ought to lead to some bigger op-portunities for me.” So like his two gym-mates, Cefalu has brushed close to the big time. By the last week of November, we’ll know how many of them may get a little closer. - MSM Kevin Broughton is a lawyer, writer and as-piring actor in Madison.


MSM F E AT U R E S TO RY

JeffMaloneWhen discussing the best shooters in Mississippi State basketball history,

former Bulldog guard Jeff Malone always enters the conversation and

rightfully so. As a four-year starter at MSU, Malone shot 51 percent

for his career and converted 80 percent of his free throws at the collegiate level.

The Macon, Ga., native earned All-American honors and was a three-time All-SEC per-former at Mississippi State. And last weekend, Malone was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Following college, Malone was drafted 10th overall by the Washington Bullets and spent 13 years in the NBA, and played in two NBA All-Star games. Today, Malone is married and has four children (three boys and one girl) and lives in Chandler, Ariz. The born-again Christian has now dedicated his life to helping youth - in life and in bas-ketball - while seeking to return to coaching.

MSU CAREER As a kid, Malone noted that he always loved shooting the basketball. But he credits his high school coach for perfecting his jumpshot, which was a site of beauty to MSU basketball fans. “I was always able to shoot well as a young kid,” said Malone. “But my high school coach - Coach Don Richardson - worked with my technique and fundamentals daily. I had such a daily routine that it became all about repetition and confidence. “When I shot the ball, in my mind I knew it was going in and confidence is so big in this game. I had the same follow-through and the same rotation every time. And I was a guy that always looked at my percentages. I wanted to shoot that 10-for-16 every night from the field.” After his prep career, Malone had plenty of big-time schools after his sweet shooting touch. “There were a lot of SEC schools offering me and also schools like New Orleans, Tulane and Purdue,” said Malone. “But I was locked in on the SEC and it came down to Mississippi State and Georgia.” As we all know by now, Malone chose the Bulldogs. “Georgia just got Dominique Wilkins and Georgia was a great school and a very nice

- BY PAUL JONESwww.bulldawgjunction.com


Photo courtesy Miss. State Sports Information


place,” said Malone. “But I went to Mississippi State because it felt right and was the best fit for me. Looking back, I know I made the right choice and those were four great years I had in Starkville.” And his stats prove as much. Malone still stands as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,142 career points. As a senior, Malone earned All-SEC honors for the third straight season and also earned All-Amer-ican honors via The Sporting News. Malone averaged 26.8 points his senior year to lead the SEC. Yes, back then, the SEC was also considered a football league despite the wealth of talent on the hardwood. “I had a great time in the SEC and there was a ton of talent,” said Malone. “I understand that the SEC is always a football-first conference but when I played, it was very competitive in basket-ball and you faced great players every night on every team.” For all of his individual honors, Malone said he would have traded them for one shot in the postseason. He came so close to that opportunity as a se-nior. Led by Malone, the Bulldogs finished 17-12 and 9-9 in the SEC and lost by one point to Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC Tourna-ment. But that turned out to be Malone’s last game in the Maroon and White. “That is the one thing I missed out on,” said Malone. “And we should have gone to the NIT my senior year. And I really wish we could have gone to the Big Dance because there is nothing like the NCAA Tournament. I love sports across the board but nothing compares to the NCAA Tournament. “The NCAA Tournament is so exciting and you have to raise your game every time out. It is not like a seven-game series in the NBA where you can relax a bit. It is one-and-done. It also gives the little teams a chance, like you saw with Butler last year. “I understand why the bowls mean some-thing in football but man, it would be great to see a playoff.” And Malone noted how far MSU hoops have come since his days. The Bulldogs have won SEC regular-season titles, SEC Tourney titles and advanced to the Final Four. While Malone would have loved to play in one NIT tourney, now an NIT invite for the Bulldogs signals a down year, Malone said. “And I would have loved one game in the NIT,” said Malone. “But what that does is tell you the job that Coach (Rick) Stansbury and his staff has done with the program. Now they ex-pect to go to the NCAA Tournament every year and it is a letdown when they don’t go. That is just a sign of a good program.” As noted above, Malone put up impressive numbers. But his stats would have been even



bigger had he had the luxury of shooting from three-point territory. “When I played, there was no three-point line and I would have aver-aged over 30 points if we had one,” said Malone. “I had better range in col-lege and that line is so short now. I would have loved to see my numbers if we had the three-pointer. “But other than that and the media exposure, the game hasn’t changed that much. You still have to defend and put the ball in the basket to win.”

PRO CAREER Malone played seven years in Washington and his final season in Wash-ington, he averaged a career-best 24.3 points a game. Malone later signed with Utah and played three and half seasons with the Jazz. Malone finished his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76er’s and the Miami Heat. As a pro, Malone averaged 19 points for his 13-year career and was among the leagues’ best shooters during his time - shooting 48 percent for his career and 87 percent at the charity stripe. And it was at the end of his junior season at MSU where Malone knew he had a chance to play with the big boys. “The one thing that hit me was at the end of my junior year,” said Malone. “I heard that I had a good opportunity to be drafted high so that off-season, I worked like I never had before and raised my game to a high-er level. “My senior year, I led the SEC in scoring and all the defenses were geared around stopping me. But I still had nights where I would score 35

or 38 or 42 points. I put myself in position to be drafted high and then Washington took me at No. 10 in the NBA Draft.” It didn’t take long either for Malone to realize he was playing at a differ-ent level. “When you leave college, everyone seemed to be the leading scorer for their school but it is a different level in the NBA,” said Malone. “And it used to be much more physical with all the hand checks. And our prac-tices in Washington were so physical. I had to go against our front line that had Rick Mahorn and Jeff Ruland. “The strength of the guys in the NBA was night-and-day difference than college. And when I played, it was more of a grinding game.” Obviously, playing in the NBA for more than a decade, Malone has his share of fond memories. And there are several moments that he cherishes today. “First of all, it was special being drafted and then it was great going to the All-Star games in back to back years,” said Malone. “Then I had the chance to play with Karl Malone and John Stockton in Utah and played under Jerry Sloan, who I think is the most underrated coach ever in the NBA. “Man, going to the (Boston) Garden was unreal and then playing in the Forum and facing Dr. J. Playing at the highest level against guys like that, and Clyde Drexler and Reggie Miller, was a high honor for me and something I always will cherish.” When asked who was the toughest player to guard during his time in the NBA, his answer was not a surprise. “Michael (Jordan) by far,” said Malone. “Everybody saw his great talent but nobody had a work ethic like him. When I was in the league, I was good friends with Ron Harper and he would tell me how competitive Mi-chael was in practice. That kind of work ethic is what I try to show to my youth and show that someone that is even mediocre can be great if they have the work ethic. “And the amazing thing is that Michael went to six NBA Champion-ships and never lost. The guy hated to lose and never did in the big series, and that is amazing to me.”

POST-PLAYING DAYS After the 1995-96 season, Malone retired from the game he still loves today.But he didn’t exit the sport, he entered the coaching profession. Malone coached in the NBA Developmental League for several seasons and even returned to Starkville when one of his teams played MSU in an exhibition game. Although he has left his pro coaching days, Malone still has the desire to coach again. “When I retired, I coached (at the pro level) for seven years and four or five of those years were in the NBA Developmental League,” said Malone. “And currently, I am looking to get back into coaching again and I have sent out some resumes to some high schools in my area.” While Malone experienced many levels of success in the game of bas-ketball, he says nothing compares to the decision he made in 2006. “I always considered myself a good guy,” said Malone. “But I always looked at myself and said there has to be more than this and wanted to know my purpose. So I gave my life to Christ in 2006 and it has been a beautiful ride. “I am more connected with my family and have a purpose in life now. And again, it has been a great ride.” And now, Malone is helping young kids looking for direction, not only in basketball but more importantly, in life. “At our church, we have started a youth center that has classrooms in it and I am also starting a Jeff Malone shooting clinic,” said Malone. “This is an opportunity that allows me to spend time with youth and help teach them about life and basketball. “I have always had a love for working with youth and we need more role models for our youth now. And I feel that is my purpose.” - MSM



Get the latest news & notes, photos, and commentaries about what’s going on in

Mississippi and with MSM.

Follow MSM On Facebook®.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, A Mutual Insurance Company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.® Registered Marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an Association of Independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.

Hard to believe, but the two Mississippi schools have gotten one Florida coach canned and made UF’s greatest player cry. One Missis-sippi — and there goes Zooker. Two Mississippi – and Tim Tebow’s in tears. Despite having never beaten Florida’s patron saint Steve Spurrier, Ole Miss has won three of the last four games against the Gators. Granted, two of those wins were against Ron Zook, but if that’s your argument, I’d refute that the only time Florida has beaten the Rebels in the last de-cade was against Ed Orgeron. And Mississippi State? The school that, by Florida’s fiscal standards, is operating on food stamps, charged into the Top 25 for the first time since the Jackie Sherrill era of a decade before, highlighted among other things with a 47-35 Gator beatdown of then No. 3 Florida in 2000. Guess Mike’s missed… all…of those games. The reason the SEC can stand above the five other BCS conferences (and a handful of upstart contenders) is that, year in and year out, it’s dangerously solid from top to bottom. Are there “tiers” of programs within the twelve members? Absolutely. Neither Magnolia program will ever sniff Florida’s money But the concept that the smallest of schools can topple the biggest program in the region

(and sometimes the nation) on the last truly equal means of comparison – the games them-selves – is reason enough to keep us poor Missis-sippians hanging around the Conference. Take us home, Mike: Heck, you even gave us our most renowned musician and Urban Meyer’s favorite singer. That’s right, Jimmy Buffett may write songs about Florida and have a house in the Keys, but

he was born in Pascagoula, Miss. In fact, my apology is rooted in a Buffett song. In the last two months, I guess you could say, I’ve had some changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes. Thanks. Idiot. - MSMSteven Godfrey is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He can be reach at [email protected] or on Twitter at @IACGodfrey.

GODFREY - BIANCHIContinued from Page 10


nExT iSSuE

Here’s a peek at what to look for in the January/February 2011 Issue...

Bank the wayyou want to.

People you trust.Advice that works.

Mobile banking / Online banking / Network of ATMs / More than 100 convenient

banking locations in Mississippi

trustmark.com

Member FDIC


MSM C O V E R S TO RY


In Demand:Mo Williams is now the face of Cleveland- BY TONYA HUFFMAN

MSMC O V E R S TO RY

T urn on your television sets, open your eyes and be on the lookout because America’s MW is on. America’s Most Wanted is the in-demand Cleve-land Cavaliers shooting guard Mo Williams. Mo Williams is no stranger to law and order because much of his life manifests itself in good

citizenship and consecutively. This number one shooting guard dons the basketball jersey number two. When it comes to family, he has three siblings and four children. In high school, he and his best friend hung out with five upperclassmen, and they all were his total six buddies who form his extended family, ‘La Familia’. And to this day, the seven of them continue to be close. And Mo’s consecutive style continues. So anyone who is familiar with Mo knows that there is mo’ to him than meets the eye. Maurice “Mo” Williams was born on December 19, 1982 in Jackson, Mississippi. The third of four children born to Isaiah, former manager of an electric power plant, and Griceldia, a for-mer special education teacher, Mo knows the importance of fam-ily and hard work. “Family is important. You are nothing without each other. You bond with family, and this creates unity. I come from Jackson, Mississippi and I have been faced with adversity all of my life; people generally don’t expect those from Jackson to do something positive with their lives. My hard work ethic has allowed me to prove doubters wrong,” said Mo. This good citizen knows that as time elapses, it is family you can always get and receive love and support from. This good vir-tue was instilled in Mo from his childhood and he had this mind-set as he entered grade school. In first grade, Mo met Jason Larry who became his best friend. And as Mo entered William B. Mur-rah High School in his native Jackson, he and Jason met a group of five more guys, and they all became extended family. A fan of Mafia movies and television shows, Mo’s friends nicknamed him

‘Mo Gotti,’ and sharing his passion, the group named themselves ‘La Familia,’ eventually having their collective name tattooed ver-tically down their calves in old-English letters. “It signifies us as a unit forever,” said Mo. “No matter what direction we go in life, we know we’re ‘La Familia.’ We’re together, no matter what happens. That will be with me forever.” And since forever, Mo has loved sports. While his father played football at Mississippi Valley State University and his older broth-er played football at Army at West Point, Mo wasn’t fond of the game after injuring his knee as a quarterback in eighth grade. Mo preferred to play baseball for he was a standout pitcher and shortstop. But even though he loved the sport, he also enjoyed basketball and eventually Mo chose to leave baseball behind to concentrate on hoops. “I was just getting more attention in basketball,” said Mo. In fact, Mo’s mother made sure he prioritized consecutively, for as he focused on 1.) his religion and 2.) school grades, only then could he 3.) play basketball. She knew her son was serious about bas-ketball when he did prioritize and when he asked her to wake him at 4AM daily so he could go to the YMCA to practice, rising and shining without complaining. Mo loved to play so much, that he agreed to play for just about anybody who asked him, but of course, since he was still a child, Mo’s father had to screen the of-fers. Fourteen year old Mo eventually joined an AAU summer team, and only after his teacher agreed to allow him some makeup work for a low grade he earned in summer class did Mo’s mother let him to travel with the team. “I played with one of the best travelling AAU teams in the sum-mer--the New Orleans Jazz,” Mo happily recalled. They lost in the semifinals of a national tournament in Orlando, Florida but Mo didn’t let this stop him. Extremely dedicated to basketball, he stayed up all night practicing his shooting drills until the coach


dragged him out of the gym. As Mo entered high school, his concen-tration stayed on hoops. “I went to a bas-ketball high school. Everything in basket-ball was done on a high level for me. I got noticed a whole lot more in basketball. I pursued it because I felt like that was the sport I could live out my dream in,” said Mo. So William B. Murrah High School’s bas-ketball roster bore Mo’s name. He donned jersey #25 because of family significance. “When my brother played basketball, he wore #25, so this number has family ties. This number stuck in our family and I de-cided to stay with it,” said Mo. Sporting jersey #25, Mo was content playing guard in his blue and silver Mus-tangs gear. He began playing as a freshman and was happy to be a part of a team with a good reputation. “My high school basketball team was ranked in the country,” said Mo. When Mo was a junior, the Mustangs lost in overtime of the state finals. He was disappointed and utilized his grieving period. “I cried my heart out. I didn’t go to school the next day. I don’t take losing very well,” said Mo pensively. But Mo did eventually get over the loss, returned to school, and kept it moving. Mo continued hooping it in his senior year and graduated in 2001. Following high school, Mo played in the McDonald’s All America Game in 2001. And he earned the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year Award in 2001. To keep his hoop dream alive and con-tinue to earn accolades, Mo envisioned himself guarding and shooting on a col-lege court, and hence, college was his next consecutive step. In the fall of 2001, Mo was a freshman at The University of Alabama as he rolled with the Crimson Tide. Donning a #25 crimson and white basketball jersey, Mo was ready to play and prove. Posting impressive numbers and start-ing all 35 games he played during the 2001-2002 season, Mo averaged per game 10.4 points and 4.5 assists and led his freshman team to a 27-8 record including an astonishing 17-0 home record. Mo was unanimously voted SEC Freshman of the Year during this season and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team by the league’s coaches. During the same season, the Sporting News named Mo National Freshman of the Year. During his 2002-2003 sophomore sea-son, Mo started all 29 games he played and led Alabama in scoring and assists, averag-ing per game 16.4 points and 3.8 assists. Also in 2003, he led the SEC in free throw shooting. Throughout his first two sea-

sons at Alabama, Mo started all 64 games he played, averaged per game 13.1 points, 3.9 assists, and 1.5 steals, and connected on .847 from the free throw line, hitting 182-215 attempts. In his two seasons, he earned Third Team All Southeastern Con-ference honors from the Associated Press. Mo was on fire, proving himself by per-forming up to par. Not only were coaches and spectators enamoured with his game, but so were NBA scouts who knew that rising to the occasion meant recruitment. Eligible for the 2003 NBA draft, the next consecutive step was Mo leaving college to enter. In 2003, Mo was selected in round 2, pick 47 by the Utah Jazz. “Being draft-ed was bittersweet. I thought I would be a first round pick. And even though I got drafted, as an athlete, I still had some work to do,” said Mo. So after Mo’s name was called, he was happy, but knew that the real work would begin when he put on his #25 jersey for Utah. During Mo’s 2003-2004 rookie season with the Utah Jazz, he scored in double figures ten times, including a season high 20 points versus the Denver Nuggets in a season best 32 minutes on January 20, 2004. When the Utah Jazz played the Sac-ramento Kings on February 27, 2004, Mo added 19 points, and at an April 8, 2004 game versus the Dallas Mavericks, Mo net-

ted 17 points. Although Mo missed 20 games due to DNP-CD and 5 games due to a left an-kle injury, out of 57 games played in his rookie season, Mo averaged per game 5.0 points, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 rebounds in 13.5 minutes. During the 2004-2005 season, Mo signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks. Mo was happy being a Buck. “I was happy signing with Milwaukee. I thought it was the best situation for me,” said Mo. In his new role for the up and coming Bucks team, Mo showed a knack for clutch plays. He finished third on the Bucks with 8 double doubles, including the first of his career on November 6, 2004 against the Cleveland Cavaliers with 10 points and 11 assists. On February 22, 2005 versus the Charlotte Hornets, Mo posted a season high of 14 assists. In 2005 at a January 5th game against the Toronto Raptors, March 1st against the Philadelphia 76ers, and a March 8th game versus the Atlanta Hawks, Mo registered 22 points per game. Dur-ing the season, Mo led Milwaukee in as-sists fifty-three times, points scored three times, steals eighteen times, and posted 3 games of at least 20 points and 10 assists. Mo finished strong during his first 2004-2005 season with the Bucks, for out of 80 games played and started, he averaged per game 10.2 points, 6.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds


in 28.2 minutes. The 2005-2006 season brought some excitement and as he showed a knack for clutch plays: he made several game win-ning shots this season. On November 12, 2005, Mo hit the game winning 3-point-er shot at the buzzer against the Indiana Pacers. On December 2, 2005 against the Washington Wizards, Mo scored 35 points and also a game winning 3-pointer shot as time expired. During this season, Mo scored in double figures thirty-six times, and he notched his lone double-double on December 3, 2005 against the Orlando Magic with 12 points and 11 as-sists. Throughout the season, Mo missed 23 games due to illness and injuries, but in 58 games played, he started 12 and averaged per game 12.1 points, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in 26.4 minutes. Mo helped lead Milwaukee to the 2005-2006 NBA playoffs. In the 5 playoff games he played, Mo aver-aged per game 7.2 points, 2.0 assists, and 0.6 rebounds in 15 minutes. During the 2006 off season, the Bucks

traded their starting point guard T. J. Ford to the Toronto Raptors for power forward Charlie Villanueva. This opened up a po-sition in the starting lineup for Mo. Dur-ing the 2006-2007 season, Mo recorded his first career triple double versus the Miami Heat at a December 20, 2006 game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. This helped him earn Eastern Conference Play-er of the Week honors for the week of De-cember 18-24, 2006. Mo scored 38 points on February 3, 2007 versus the Miami Heat and made a career high 16 field goals. Mo led the Bucks in scoring six-teen times, in assists a team high forty-seven times, and in steals nineteen times. He played 7 games where he scored 30 or more points. Mo spent 10 games on the in-

active list, missed 14 season games due to injuries, and out of the 68 games he played and started, he finished the 2006-2007 season averaging 17.3 points, leading the team with 6.1 assists, and a career high 4.8 rebounds, all in 36.4 minutes. In the summer of 2007, Mo was a free agent, but decided to stay with the Bucks by signing a six-year $52 million deal. During Mo’s last 2007-2008 season with the Bucks, he accomplished some amaz-ing feats. On January 9, 2008 versus the Miami Heat, Mo made all 12 of his free throws, a career high. He tallied a season best 37 points on February 26, 2008 versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, and this was one of six games where he posted 30 or more points. And he produced 6 point-assist double doubles between November and March during the season. During the season, Mo missed 12 games due to public symphysis. Out of 66 games played and started, Mo finished the 2007-2008 season averaging per game 17.2 points, a career high 6.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds in 36.5 minutes.

On August 13, 2008, Mo was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three team, six-player deal involving the Cavaliers, The Milwaukee Bucks, and the Oklahoma City Thunder that sent Cleveland’s Joe Smith and Milwaukee’s Desmond Ma-son to Oklahoma City, and sent Cleve-land’s Damon Jones and Oklahoma City’s Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Mil-waukee. Mo was satisfied with being trad-ed to Cleveland. “My agent and I pushed for my trade to Cleveland. I was very interested in coming to Cleveland, and this was a happy time in my life,” said Mo blithely. “Only after all the hard work did I truly enjoy being in the NBA.” Upon Mo’s arrival to Cleveland, he decided to change his jersey number to

2 because his traditional #25 was already retired by former Cavalier Mark Price. Mo was elated to be on the Cavaliers’ roster and don a #2 jersey, for he knew he’d be playing alongside some of the most talent-ed athletes ever to grace the court, includ-ing LeBron James. During the 2008-2009 season, Mo joined LeBron James as the highest scor-ing duo in the NBA at 46.2 points per game in the regular season, and for this he was nicknamed ‹The Silent Assassin›. Within the season, Mo was one of only two players to score at least .460 from the field, .430 from three point range, and .900 from the free throw line. On February 11, 2009, Mo scored a career high 44 points along with 7 assists and 2 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns. Mo played and started in a career high 81 games and finished the 2008-2009 season averaging per game a career high 17.8 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 35 minutes. During this 2008-2009 regular season, Mo helped the Cavaliers rank #1 in the east with a 66-16 record, and advance to the playoffs. During game 1 of the Eastern Confer-ence Finals versus the Magic, Mo hit a 67-foot buzzer beater to end the first half, giving the Cavaliers a 63-48 lead, but they ultimately lost the game and the series. In 14 games played and started during the playoffs, Mo averaged per game 16.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 38.6 minutes. He and then-teammate LeB-ron James were the highest scoring duo in the postseason at 51.6 points. During the 2008-2009 regular season, the Cavaliers had a great record, as they were one of the top five teams. But ironi-cally and to the Cavaliers› dismay, they were the only team in the top five without more than one All-Star 2009 weekend par-ticipant, and many Cavaliers players took their complaints public. Then-Cavaliers player LeBron James was the only partici-pant on the roster. The Most Wanted par-ticipant in the All-Star Weekend was Mo, and this good citizen and sport›s name eventually landed on the roster to play in the Skills Challenge as he replaced injured Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh. Mo was excited to be on the All-Star roster. “It has a beautiful ring to it. I was ex-cited for myself, my teammates, and the coaches. It›s a great thing; it’s one thing people can›t take away from you,” said Mo. It›s obvious that no one can take away Mo’s drive to hoop, and the guard shoots every opportunity he can. During the 2009-2010 Cavaliers season, out of the 69 games Mo played, he started 68 and averaged per game 15.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 34.2 min-utes. Mo helped the Cavaliers rank #1 in


the east, and earn a 61-21 record. So for a second time, with Mo on the team, the Cavaliers made the playoffs. In round one against the Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers swept the series, winning 4 out of 5 games. The Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Bos-ton Celtics. The Cavaliers started strong, winning the first game and giving fans hope of winning a championship. As the Cavaliers began on the up and up, they got down on their luck as the Celtics eventually swept the series, winning 4 out of 6 games. During the 11 playoff games Mo played and started, he averaged 14.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 37. 4 minutes. Because the Cavaliers held the best record in the Eastern Conference for two consecutive seasons, yet failed to bring home a title either season, the future about the Cavaliers’ organization was the subject of much fodder, and changes were well on the way. During the Cavaliers’ 2010 off season, head Coach Mike Brown who won NBA Coach of The Year in 2009, was fired and replaced with Byron Scott, for-mer Los Angeles Lakers guard, and former New Jersey Nets and New Orleans Hornets head coach. General Manager Danny Ferry resigned early June, and Chris Grant, bas-ketball executive that Ferry hired in 2005, was promoted to replace him. On July 8, LeBron James announced his intentions to leave the Cavaliers and join Miami Heat, and five days later, long time Cavalier Zy-drunas Ilgauskas also joined Miami Heat. In hopes to rebuild the team, late July, the Cavaliers traded Delonte West and Se-bastian Telfair to the Minnesota Timber-wolves for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins, and a 2013 second-round-draft choice. And also late July, the Cavs signed 2009 first round pick Christian Eyenga. As Sha-quille O’Neal signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics, the team that swept the Cavaliers during the playoffs, the Cava-liers signed free agent Joey Graham. And in mid August, the Cavs signed undrafted Jamaican rookie Samardo Samuels. Mo has endured the many changes to the Cavs or-ganization, including losing fellow team-mate LeBron James. Mo was depressed following LeBron’s departure. The sum-mer of 2010 was very stressful for Mo and because of the many changes in the Cavs organization, he lost a lot of love for the game and contemplated retirement. “Losing LeBron was tough on the city and the Cavs organization. I am not only a Cavs player but I’m also a Cavs fan, so I felt the pain that the city felt. We all went through a grieving period,” said Mo wist-fully. “This grieving period is comparable to what I think of as a “L” shaped hallway at a school where when you come out of

1st period, 2nd period is down the hall on the last classroom to the right. And the next class is on the other side of the hall-way. When going from one class to the next, you feel like you are walking down a hallway that will never end, having no clear vision of where you’re going. But eventually one day, you are focused on where you have to go and what you have to do, and you turn the corner and can’t see the hall anymore as you enter the next classroom. At this point you realize that life goes on and you know that you have to keep it moving,” said Mo. Throughout it all, Mo still holds his spot on the Cavaliers’ roster, remaining as one of the pure scorers and veteran leaders. With the team rebuilt, many feel that Mo’s new mission will be that of taking a larger role in the Cavs offense, having the ball in his hands early and often, likely increasing his numbers across the board, particularly in assists. Even though people feel they

know Mo’s new leadership role and feel that he has risen to be the new Cavs king in place of LeBron, Mo is humble, sees him-self as who he is, and knows for sure what his new responsibility will be. “I am not a king. I am Mo Williams. I will continue to play the way I have always played,” said Mo. “But rather than being silent about what takes place, I will have more of a vocal leadership role.” Mo feels that for the Cavs to keep a great record, advance to playoffs, and attempt to earn a title, the team has to build off of each other’s strengths. “We have to build unity and chemistry. The quicker we do this, the quicker we can win basketball games,” said Mo. It’s obvious that Mo will take consecu-tive strides to help the Cavaliers earn high rankings and advance to playoffs, endeavouring to bring home the title. But Mo also has a title role off the court. This good citizen steps up in paying it forward to the less fortunate. “I truly believe the opportunity for success is the right of eve-ry child. My family and I have a genuine passion to make a difference in the lives of children who may not have access to the resources needed to reach their full poten-tial,” said Mo.

Mo’s desire to help the less fortunate coupled with his love for children gave birth to the Mo Williams Foundation in 2005. The mission is to assist Hurricane Katrina victims and underserved children with their education, health, personal de-velopment, and empowerment in the Jack-son, Mississippi and Cleveland, Ohio ar-eas. In fact, in Cleveland, Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena where the Cavaliers play, at every game, Mo donates 30 tickets to dis-advantaged children in an upper section called, “Mo Gotti’s La Familia.” Mo also donates tickets at some away games to families from Jackson, Missis-sippi. Through the Mo Williams Founda-tions’ own initiatives, through non-profit entitles, and with public donations, the mission is accomplished. In efforts to help the less fortunate, annually in July, the foundation hosts the Mo Williams Ce-lebrity Weekend where it offers a one day golf tournament, a one day Mo Williams

Tip Off Gala/Silent Auction with various sponsorship levels, and a four day basket-ball camp. Mo is aware that these events not only raise funds, but participating in them nurtures the future, our children in society and hence, quality harvest is pro-duced. “I know firsthand the importance of people caring enough to plant a seed and then watch it grow into something posi-tive,” said Mo. And Mo positively believes that when people log on to his website at www.mowilliams.org, they will find a blessing in paying it forward, whether they choose to make a donation, participate in a fun event, or even volunteer. This good citizen wants people to realize that giving back is where it’s at. So the next time you turn on your televi-sion set, go to a basketball arena, or even at-tend a fund-raising event, you may see Mo. As he continues to take consecutive steps on the basketball court and altruistic strides to help others, whether he is 1.) making a half court shot before the buzzer, 2.) writing a check to keep an education facility opened, or 3.) show-ing basketball camp participants how to make a layup, good citizen Mo continues to give people 1, 2, or 3 reasons to smile...and count-ing. - MSM

“Losing LeBron was tough on the city and the Cavs organization. I am not only a

Cavs player but I’m also a Cavs fan, so I felt the pain that the city felt. We all went

through a grieving period.”


The

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICESWeʼre Your Neighbors, We Appreciate Your Business.

Ask about our FUEL SAVER SPECIAL

Byram5758 Terry Rd • (601) 372-0872

Reservoir1191 Old Fannin Rd • (601) 944-4885

Byram5758 Terry Rd • (601) 372-0872

Reservoir1191 Old Fannin Rd • (601) 944-4885


2010-11 MSM COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW

Ole MissREBELS

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 24-11; 9-7 SEC WEST HEAD COACH: ANDY KENNEDY (5TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer5 DELTAST.(Exh.)12 ARKANSASST.17 MURRAYSTATE20 DAYTON26 PENNSTATE30 @Miami(Fla.)

DeCeMBer4 SOUTEHRNMISS.11 @Arkansas-Little Rock13 MISS.VALLEY18 E.TENNESSEEST.22 TexasSt.(Cancun)23 Appal.St.(Cancun)24 TBD(Cancun)30 ALCORNST.

JANUAry2 SELOUISIANA5 @SMU8 @Florida13 MISS.STATE15 GEORGIA19 @Vanderbilt22 @LSU29 TENNESSEE

FeBrUAry1 KENTUCKY5 @Arkansas9 LSU12 @Alabama16 AUBURN19 @Miss.State22 @SouthCarolina26 ALABAMA

MArCH2 @Auburn5 ARKANSAS10 SECTOURNAMENT (Atlanta)

Rebels’ Chris Warren leads Rebels as they strive to get into the NCAA tournament

The smile that Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy wore on his face as he greeted

the media prior to the season’s first press conference told the en-tire story. After four years in Ox-ford leading the men’s basketball team, Kennedy is just as energetic and enthusiastic about a season as he ever has been. Despite losing a bevy of talent-

ed players such as Terrico White, Murphy Holloway and Eniel Poly-ince from a team that advanced to the National Invitational Tour-nament Final Four in New York, Kennedy feels good about what his team brings to the table and what they can accomplish on the court this year. “I’m like a lot of coaches, I re-ally like my team in October. I

hope I like them in February and March. I’m excited to get started. There has been a lot of talk about the pieces that are no longer here, but I’m excited about the pieces that are. The offseason approach has been as good as any team I’ve had here. The kids have been very workmanlike in their approach and as a result, I think we’ll be able to hit the ground running,” Ken-

By John DavisThe Oxford Eagle

Photos courtesy Ole MissSports Information

CHrIS WArreN ZACH GrAHAMZACH GrAHAM


ROSTERNO NAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)

1 TERRANCE HENRY F 6-9/205 JR. Monroe, LA (Carroll HS)

2 REGINALD BUCKNER F 6-8/233 SO. Memphis, TN (Manassas HS)

3 WILL BOGAN G 6-1/180 SO. Caldwell, ID (Vallivue HS)

5 DUNDRECOUS NELSON G 5-11/190 FR. Jackson, MS (Murrah HS)

12 CHRIS WARREN G 5-10/168 SR. Orlando, FL (Dr. Phillips HS)

15 STEADMAN SHORT F 6-9/235 JR. Simpsonville, SC (Chippola College)

20 NICK WILLIAMS G 6-5/215 SO. Mobile, AL (Indiana Univ.)

22 BROCK SHORTER F 6-7/215 JR. Coldwater, MS (Coldwater HS)

23 TREVOR GASKINS G 6-2/210 JR. Alpharetta, GA (Chattahoochee HS)

24 WILL NORMAN G 6-5/225 FR. Lafayette, LA (St. THomas More HS)

25 DONALD WILLIAMS G 6-5/215 SO. Baton Rouge, LA (Antelope Valley HS)

32 ZACH GRAHAM G 6-6/218 SR. Suwanee, GA (Peachtree Ridge HS)

42 DEMARCO COX C 6-8/295 FR. Yazoo City, MS (Yazoo City HS)

44 ISAIAH MASSEY F 6-8/220 FR. McDonough, GA (Union Grove HS)

terrANCe HeNry

nedy said. “I think I have a pretty good under-standing of their work ethic. We’re seeing that in the amounts of times that we can be with them as well as the reports that we get from the strength coach. I think this is a group that is pretty no-nonsense and a lot of that is based on the leadership that our seniors our provid-ing. “Chris Warren is a no-nonsense guy. Zach Graham is a no-nonsense guy. Although Nick Williams, who sat out last year and has nev-er played a minute in a Rebel jersey, is a no-nonsense guy. He has really helped us from day one just from his approach. I like our work capacity, I like the fact that we don’t have to constantly have to work to get their attention. I think they are eager to get to work. Our motto all year is to simply be consistent, day-in and day-out and let’s see how good we can be to-gether.” Warren, a 5-foot-10 senior point guard, is the unquestioned leader of the Rebels, who were picked to finish second in the Southeast-ern Conference’s Western Division by league media. Warren, who was named to the pre-season All-SEC team for the third time in his career recently, averaged 17.2 points per game last year, good for third overall in the SEC. Kennedy likes the fact that he has such a vet-eran back, as well as six other players who have all been in the program for a year. “We’re returning the most experienced play-er and the most veteran player in the league in Chris Warren. It’s hard for me to believe that he’s going into his senior year and the road that he’s taken to get here. Zach Graham, who sometimes gets thought after the fact, has been a two-year starter and potentially start-ing in year three,” Kennedy said. “Every year that I’ve been here the SEC West has been a bit of a puzzle and I think this year is the same because I think we’re all dependent upon new guys. It’s one of the reasons why I have guarded optimism. I know what I’m going to get out of Chris Warren. I’ve got a pretty good under-standing on what I can trust from Zach Gra-ham. “I feel like I have a pretty good idea on what I can expect from Nick. He’s not a freshman. He was in some big games at Indiana and hope-fully he can pull from that experience. Ter-rence Henry showed flashes last year and our hope now as a junior, with the added strength and the added weight, that he can sustain it,” Kennedy added. “Reginald Buckner was tre-mendous for us as a freshman and was on the (SEC) All-Freshman team. We hope that he can continue to grow. We know what we get from Trev, for better or worse, and we get Will Bogan back. So we’ve got seven guys that have been through this a little bit which is not a bad place to start.” The maturity level, Kennedy said, has been something he’s been impressed with from his Rebels, who have shown an intense desire to work during the offseason in the new indoor practice facility.


“I think the new guys come in and the figure out what the standard is and what is accept-able and what they can get away with and what they can’t. I also think the temperament of our guys, they’re just a little more mature. The staff tries to maintain a level of what is expected but it really takes when it comes from the play-ers. We’ve got a group of upperclassmen that I hope can maintain this level of accountability that will bode well for us,” Kennedy said. “One of the things that this facility has done for us is what I imagined it would do. It has allowed us to go to work in the offseason. This is first offseason we’ve had in this building and I can see the early dividends. I’m an early riser and I get in this building and it’s a pleasure to here those balls bouncing. I don’t want to say it was 5:30 (a.m.), but guys are bouncing those balls at 6:30 with a full sweat which is telling me they’ve been in there awhile. I come up here sometimes at night to pick things up and they’re in there working. That’s great because that’s the only way we’re going to get better.” Some of the players that are expected to help make the team better from a backcourt stand-point include the 6-4 Williams, who sat out last season after playing his freshman year at Indi-ana, as well as freshman Dundrecous Nelson from Jackson’s Murrah High. “Nick Williams is kind of an old-school type player. His versatility is his calling card. He’s 6-4 and he’s about 6-7 with his wingspan. He’s about 215 pounds. He’s running better, he’s athletic and he’s probably in the best shape of his life. He’s a winner, a competitor. Typically when you come into practice my voice will be the loudest, his will be the second loudest. He’s a guy that brings a positive energy, a competi-tiveness to our game. He’s a very good shoot-er, a guy that I feel will make 50 to 60 3s. His game is not about that. We will be able to post him at times and have him play multiple posi-tions. He’s a big-time utility infielder that we can stick in different gaps and fill comfortable in his role,” Kennedy said. “Dundrecous is as talented as a kid as we’ve had in this program. From a start-go point physically, he has as much talent as we’ve ever had. He’s 5-11 about 195 pounds. Everybody talks about DeMarco may be playing the wrong sport, Dun might be. He’s got a little Adrian Peterson in him. He’s got some quick twitch (muscles), he’s hard, he’s very, very athletic and very, very strong. He’s got a max vertical of just under 40 inches which is borderline Terrico territory, who was No. 1 in the NBA draft. He’s got a lot to learn, but he’s got a great guy to learn from in Chris Warren. He’s shown a real propensity to want to work and want to get better.” Ole Miss’ frontcourt should be anchored by Henry and Buckner, but freshman Demarco Cox from Yazoo City should also see some time based on how he’s performed in the offseason. “We’re going to anchored up front by the guys that have been in real games and that starts with Terrence. I’ve been very proud of him. He’s a junior and typically when you talk

about a junior, you know what you got. He was a top 50 rated player in the country and be brought him here with the potential to be an all-league guy and he has taken huge steps towards that in year three. He’s up to about 210 pounds and he was 178 pounds when he got here. He’s worked extremely hard to where now, he can sustain a pretty high level. Also as a junior he has a true sense of urgency and that his role has changed. He’s always been a ver-bal guy, but he’s leading a lot of those young guys and given us the leadership we need in the offseason,” Kennedy said. “There is not a lot of silliness with Demarco Cox. He’s very serious between those lines. He wants to be a good player and he’s paid the price to be in position during the offseason. “Reginald Buckner, usually you see the greatest improvement from year one to year two and Reg had flashes last year that showed his tremendous potential. He was still able to get the shot-blocking record despite being hampered with a late-season injury,” Kennedy added. “It was unfortunate as well because we felt like he was coming into his own offen-sively when he went down at Auburn. Reg is bigger, stronger, more confident. His capacity for work has increased. His approach is more mature and as a result, those guys will anchor

us up front.” Ole Miss begins the season Nov. 12 against an Arkansas State team coached by former LSU coach John Brady. The Rebels follow up the opener with three more road games against some tough teams and then tangle with an ACC team in Miami for their first road game. Kennedy said the schedule may not have some of the heavyweights in college basketball on it, but it’s still challenging. “I know everybody wants to play Carolina, Duke, UCLA. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. You have to have a happy mix. If you look at our non-league schedule, it’s pretty challenging, especially our first six games. We play Arkansas State that is predicted to be at the top their league, a Murray State team that won 30 games and is returning six of their top eight guys. We’re playing a Dayton team that ended our season last year and are predicted to be near the top in their league. We play Penn State and from preliminary indications they’re

going to have the best team they’ve had in quite some time,” Kennedy said. “Then we go to Mi-ami and play an ACC opponent early in the season. Then we come home and play South-ern Mississippi and I’ve seen where (USM coach) Larry (Eustachy) is really excited about his team. It’s the most experienced team he’s had since he’s been there. So we jump right out of the gate and we challenge our group. Some of those six newcomers are going to have to play quality minutes, so they will have to learn quickly.” As for the SEC race, Kennedy said the West, like a lot of years, is up for grabs while the overall league could have five or six teams good enough to garner bids to the NCAA Tourna-ment. “I think the West with Mississippi State, with Dee Bost returning right at the start of league play, if you look at who they have returning in Bost, Ravern and Kodi Augustus, guys that have been through the fire as well and you bring in a talented guy like Renardo Sidney. I know Au-burn is going through a transition, not only with a coaching change, but they lost a lot of the major contributors off last year’s team. I know LSU is going through a major transition as well. Arkansas, you know they guys that are there but you also know the guys that are lost.

They will dependent on some new guys step-ping up same with Alabama with the loss of Mikhail Torrence, their all-league player. They still have. I think we’re all a little dependent on some new guys to step up and fill a role,” Ken-nedy said. “The East will be strong. I think Florida is going to be good, top 20 good. Tennessee, even though they lose some strong players, they have a strong nucleus. I think Georgia is going to take that next step with the returning play-ers that they have. Kentucky just reloads with a who’s who of talented players and (coach John Calipari) knows what he’s doing. Then you don’t even think about Kevin Stallings who might be the most consistent coach from a production standpoint. South Carolina is go-ing to be as good as ever. The league, top to bottom, will be a quality league. It will be back to the SEC standard which as coaches we hope is a five or six bid league and I think that will be the case this year.” - MSM

“Every year that I’ve been here the SEC West has been a bit of a puzzle and I think this year is the same because I think we’re all dependent upon new guys. It’s one of the reasons why I have guarded optimism. I know what I’m go-ing to get out of Chris Warren. I’ve got a pretty good understanding on what I can trust from Zach Graham.” - Andy Kennedy


FirstSouthLand.com

We Finance Land

Financing long-term land investments for up to 30 years.First South – the Land Experts.



Mississippi StateBULLDOGS

With the Sidney saga resolved, Bulldogs ready to win the SEC outright

Rick Stansbury has been affiliated with Mississippi State for over two de-

cades, either as the head coach or as an assistant coach. And each passing year, the goal remains the same - compete for champi-onships. Last season, the Bulldogs did add another title - co-Western Division champs - but that

served as a small consolation prize. MSU finished 23-13 over-all and 9-7 in the SEC and had to settle for an NIT bid instead of playing in the ‘Big Dance’ - the NCAA Tournament. What made matters worse was the fact MSU fell just short, liter-ally a second short, of defeating Kentucky and capturing the SEC Tournament title.

No doubt, that loss still lin-gered this offseason, and Stans-bury would be bothered if it didn’t. “Well, I think that is very ob-vious and I’d be concerned if it didn’t hurt,” said Stansbury. “But you can take that hurt and do take it one of two ways. You can find ways to sit around and feel sorry for yourself or find ways to

Photo by Mississippi Sports MagazineNoVeMBer6 LINDSEYWILLSON (Exh.)12 TENN.STATE19 APPALACHIANST.22 DETROIT26 TROY30 FLORIDAATLANTIC

DeCeMBer12 N.CAROLINAA&T13 NICHOLSST.14 ALABAMAST.15 BELHAVEN(Exh.)*18 VirginiaTech#22 WashingtonSt.%23 Byalor/SanDiego%25 TBA%29 @St.Mary’s

JANUAry8 ALABAMA13 @OleMiss16 AUBURN22 @Georgia27 VANDERBILT29 FLORIDA

FeBrUAry2 @Alabama5 @LSU9 ARKANSAS12 @Auburn15 @Kentucky19 OLEMISS23 LSU26 @Tennessee

MArCH2 @Arkansas5 SOUTHCAROLINA101-3SECTOURNAMENT (Atlanta)*Jackson#AtlantisResort-Bahamas%DiamondHeadClassic-Honolulu

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 24-12; 9-7 SEC WEST HEAD COACH: RICK STANSBURY (12TH YEAR)

By Paul Jonesbulldawgjunction.com

Photos courtesy Miss. StateSports Information

KoDI AUGUStUS ZACH GrAHAMreNArDo SIDNey


ROSTERNO NAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)0 JALEN STEELE G 6-3/190 FR. Knoxville, TN (Fulton HS)1 RENARDO SIDNEY F 6-10/270 SO. Jackson, MS (Fairfax, CA HS)2 RAVERN JOHNSON G 6-7/175 SR. Lyon, MS (Coahoma County HS)3 DEE BOST G 6-2/176 JR. Concord, NC (Hargrave Military Academy)4 TWANY BECKHAM G 6-5/195 SO. Louisville, KY (New Hampton, NH School)10 SHAUN SMITH G 6-6/207 FR. Macon, MS (Noxubee County HS)12 CHARLES PARKER G 5-10/168 SO. McKinney, TX (McKinney HS)15 RILEY BENOCK G 6-4/193 SR. Battletown, KY (Meade County HS)20 TAYLOR LUCZAK F 6-8/195 JR. Glens Falls, NY (Glens Falls HS)21 BAXTER PRICE G 5-9/156 SO. Brnadon, MS (NW Rankin HS)22 BRIAN BRYANT G 6-3/160 JR. Albany, GA (Northwest Florida St.)23 ARNETT MOULTRIE F 6-11/230 JR. Memphis, TN (UTEP)24 KODI AUGUSTUS F 6-8/224 SR. Baton Rouge, LA (Maine Central Institute)30 WENDELL LEWIS C 6-8-253 SO. Selma, AL (Selma HS)33 BRANDON BOLEN G 6-3/208 JR. Madison, MS (Madison-Ridgeland Academy)45 ELGIN BAILEY F 6-8/276 JR. New Orleans, LA (Belaire HS)50 JOHN RIEK F 7-1/250 SO. Khartoum, Sudan (IMG Academy, Fla.)

make yourself better. Hopefully we all find a way to make ourselves better. You have to put it behind you and move on. “But I do think we’ve had a good summer. The kids have worked hard.” As usual, there was a lot of transition as well in the offseason. MSU already had to deal with the graduation losses of the NCAA’s all-time leading shot-blocker in Jarvis Varna-do and Barry Stewart, who made more three-pointers than anyone in school history. Then forward Romero Osby transferred to Oklahoma and valuable sixth man Phil Turner exited and ended up at Delta State. But the silver lining is the Bulldogs are only dealing with one health issue, a far cry from last season. A year ago, center Elgin Bai-ley and guards Twany Beckham and Shaun Smith missed the entire season with injuries. “I think our biggest question marks are just this,” said Stansbury. “Who’s healthy and who do we have? It seems to be that Twany and Shaun are in good health right now. The question mark is Elgin’s health. Not that he’s done anything to put him behind because the doctors say he is ahead of schedule. But where will he be at when the season starts? “He just got cleared last week and started individual workouts and conditioning. He hasn’t played basically in a year and a half now.” The Bulldogs will also be without highly-touted center Renardo Sidney and point guard Dee Bost. Sidney must sit the first nine games due to a NCAA suspension while Bost will miss all of the pre-conference slate. But it’s still better knowing when he will get those stars back in the lineup. “This year is easy compared to going into last year,” said Stansbury. “Right now, we have some pieces and you know when we are getting some parts back. To me, that is not near as stressful as what it was (last year). “It’s always an easy problem, to have when you can plug in guys that can play. I think the positive thing is we’re able to give some other guys experience early on.” As noted, the Bulldogs will be without the services of Bost, who averaged 10.9 points and had a team-best 156 assists last year, in the pre-SEC schedule. But there are some veterans back on the perimeter as well as sev-eral newcomers. Twany Beckham played meaningful minutes two years ago and served as Bost’s backup. With Beckham being more of a true point guard, Stansbury said it creates more scenarios once Bost returns. Senior Riley Benock also returns to the mix and has been a steady contributor off the bench during his MSU career. But now as a senior, Stansbury needs to see more from Benock from an offensive standpoint. “I think Twany is a guy and (junior college transfer) Brian Bryant is a guy at the point,

rAVerN JoHNSoN


ery day. He taught me the meaning of block-ing shots. That wasn’t part of my game but that’s what I am trying to add.” During his time on campus, Bailey has battled injuries but when healthy, he’s proven to be a solid defender. And more importantly, he is considered the top leader on the team. “Elgin is a guy that brings a lot of tough-ness and leadership and a different toughness and leadership than we’ve had,” said Stans-bury. “That really helps from that standpoint. Jarvis and Barry led by example but we have a guy this year in Elgin that can lead vocally and by example.” When all of Stansbury’s “pieces” do come together this season, the Bulldogs should have more versatility that years past. In fact, without a true offensive presence in the post of late, the addition of Sidney and return of Bailey could mean less of the four-guard look for Stansbury, something the staff was often forced to do the past couple of seasons. “It’s just about us putting this team togeth-er with a lot of new parts and a lot of new pieces to the puzzle,” said Stansbury. “A lot of guys play differently. We could have a big-ger team with Elgin and Sidney out there at times. Those two guys weigh more than our

whole team did last year. And we have good athletic guys in Kodi and Ravern who can also shoot the ball well.” Yet another key will be how his new faces react early in the season with the two “cor-nerstones” watching from the sidelines. “This is a new team and playing without Jarvis and without Barry, two guys that have been part of four championships in a row,” said Stansbury. “Then without these two guys (Bost and Sidney), two cornerstones, some other people have to step up.” While Stansbury and his staff have also brought in enough talent to win, one signifi-cant area was lacking last year. But so far, that area seems to have taken a 180 degree turn. “I think we have good chemistry and I like our guys attitude,” noted Stansbury. “I like the feel of our guys already. I can see and feel more togetherness than last year already.” - MSM

too,” said Stansbury. “And with Dee’s situa-tion we have to wait and see. When we have Dee, you may see some Twany and Dee to-gether and there are a lot of combinations you can have. “Riley Benock, you talk about experience and we have three seniors in Riley, Ravern (Johnson) and Kodi (Augustus). And you need your seniors to step up. All of those guys’ personalities are not very aggressive but we need them to step up. The opportunity for Riley is there to step up and to take a dif-ferent role than he’s played on this team.” Bryant earned juco All-American honors at Northwest Florida Community College and was his conference’s player of the year. The Bulldogs also added Tennessee prep standout Jalen Steele to the backcourt in the offseason along with Bryant. “Steele has come in and had a great sum-mer in both of the terms he was here,” said Stansbury. “He is ahead of the curve for most freshmen because he comes from a very good high school program where he’s been coached defensively and he has some strength about him. He can make shots and overcomes a lot of things. “Brian is kinda the opposite. He is thin and comes from a really good junior college pro-gram. He is a different kind of player that can play the one or the two. He is a crafty type player. He’s not going to come in here and try to lead you in scoring but he’s gonna come in here and help you win games. He is a good mixture from that standpoint. He is different than anyone we have in that he can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim.” Although he redshirted last year, Smith is basically a rookie as well. Smith was consid-ered one of the top prospects in the Magnolia State two years ago but has battled injuries over the past couple of seasons. “They’ve done great and I am really pleased with our new guys,” said Stansbury. “And you can really thrown Shaun Smith in there as a new guy and he’s never played.” “Shaun is just a perimeter guard and likely at the two. And he’s a guy that can shoot and knows the game. It’s just about him getting experience.” And naturally, that group gets even more support when Bost returns in early January. “I just want to be there for my teammates and help the young guys,” said Bost. “The SEC is a rough schedule and it’s a grind every night. I am thankful I have another chance now and I want to make the most of it.” While many new faces are in the back-court, Stansbury and company have several veterans returning in the post and in the block. And a couple of those forwards also have the ability to stretch the defense and make defenses guard the perimeter. Johnson averaged 12.1 points last year and made a team-best 83 treys. He is expected

to regain his spot at the small forward spot while fellow classmate Augustus returns at power forward. Augustus averaged 6.2 points a game last year and is also a threat on the perimeter. But the senior from Baton Rouge is focused on expanding his game. “I have to do a better job of crashing the boards,” said Augustus. “That’s where I have to get better to help my team out in that area and do a better job with Jarvis gone.” However, the center position is more up in the air. Sophomore Wendell Lewis saw limited time last year and is more of a power forward. And 7-foot-1 sophomore John Riek is still getting accustomed to the college level. So with Sidney out of action early on and Bailey’s health a question mark, the Bulldogs will have to bide their time in the opening stages. “Sidney brings a lot as he continues to get into shape and progress,” said Stansbury. “He gives you a guy you can go to in the paint and come away with something. It was very obvi-ous Jarvis got better in that low post as time went on. “But Sidney stands in there at 270 or 280 pounds at the five and gives you a lot of bulk

we haven’t had, him and Elgin both. And I think he gives you some versatility, too, and can step out and play the four and the five. The guy can shoot it from the perimeter, has great basketball instincts and a great ability to pass the basketball.” Of course, as Stansbury noted, getting back in playing shape is the main goal for Sidney. “I haven’t played in a year and a half so it’s been tough getting back into conditioning,” said Sidney. “But it’s coming along real well. I am still gonna work out with the team and still be practicing.” Although he didn’t play a single minute last year, Sidney said just being able to prac-tice against Varnado improved his own game. “He used to block my shots every day and I never had that in high school,” said Sidney. “Playing against him got me better and got him better, also, cause we were competing ev-

“But Sidney stands in there at 270 or 280 pounds at the five and gives you a lot of bulk we haven’t had, him and Elgin both. And I think he gives you some versatility, too, and can step out and play the four and the five. The guy can shoot it from the perimeter, has great basket-ball instincts and a great ability to pass the basketball.” - Rick Stansbury


Expect more determination.There’s no such thing as a small goal, in sports or anywhere else. For every athlete who sets a world record, there are millions of us with personal aspirations that feel just as important. That’s why Regions starts by listening to you and learning what drives you each day. Then we work harder than anyone to help you get where you’re going. So whether you’re opening your fi rst checking account or starting your fi rst business, you can count on our strength and stability while we handle the heavy lifting and let you enjoy the thrill of victory.

1.800.regions | regions.com

© 2010 Regions Bank.

MS-SW100942 MS_SportsMag.indd 1 10/19/10 9:38 AM



Southern MissGOLDEN EAGLES

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 24-14; 8-8 CUSA HEAD COACH: LARRY EUSTACHY (6TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer4 WILLIAMCAREY12 @SouthFlorida17 SOUTHALABAMA22 McNEESEST.27 SPRINGHILL

DeCeMBer1 ALCORNSTATE4 @OleMiss11 @CalStateMontery12 @California22 E.TennesseeSt*23 Northeastern/ St.Louis*24 TBD*29 MSVALLEYST.#30 SAVANNAHST./ SELOUISIANA#

JANUAry5 HOUSTON8 @Marshall12 @Rice15 CENTRALFLORIDA19 MEMPHIS22 @SMU26 @E.Carolina29 TULANE

FeBrUAry2 @UAB5 MARSHALL12 @Memphis16 UTEP19 E.CAROLINA22 LOYOLA(N.O.)26 @CentralFlorida

MArCH2 UAB5 @Tulsa9 C-USATOURNEY*CancunGovernorsCup#HardwoodClubHolidayTournament

Eustachy has Golden Eagles on a roll with its sites set on a C-USA Championship

There is a growing feeling surrounding the Southern Miss men’s basketball pro-

gram this year and that feeling is cautious optimism. The Eagles fresh off the most successful hardwood campaign since 2001, earned a post season bid and look for that success to carry over into the 2010-11 season. This season, head coach Larry

Eustachy returns six of his top eight scorers from a team that finished 20-14 a year ago and made an appearance in the Col-legeInsider.com postseason tour-nament. The 2010 invitation to the CIT Tournament marked the 11th trip to post season play for the Eagles, who had previously been to two NCAA Tournaments (90,

91) and eight appearances in the NIT (81, 86, 87*, 88, 94, 95, 98, and 01). Southern Miss won the 1987 NIT Tournament Cham-pionship and holds an overall record of 6-9, including a 5-0 re-cord during the 87 NIT run. And while the step may not be as big as many Golden Eagles fans would have liked, it’s a step in the right direction.

By Lanny Mixonbiggoldnation.com

Photos by Bobby McDuffie

Photo by Mississippi Sports Magazine

r.L. HortoN ZACH GrAHAMGAry FLoWerS


ROSTERNO NAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)

0 LASHAY PAGE G 6-2/180 SO. Dillion S.C. (Chipola JC)

1 MAURICE BOLDEN G 6-10/200 RS/JR Jackson, Miss. (Marion Military Inst.)

3 JOSIMAR AYARZA F 6-9/235 SR Panama City, FL (Cuesta College)

4 GARY FLOWERS F 6-8/214 SR Dallas, TX (Chipola College)

5 TORYE PELHAM F 6-6/225 SR Nashville, TN (Chipola College)

10 CEDRIC JENKINS G 6-2/185 FR LaPlace, LA (Riverside Academy)

14 SAI’QUON STONE G 6-6/225 RS/SR Brooklyn, NY (Laurinburg Prep)

15 R.L. HORTON G 6-0/180 SR Jackson, MS (Lanier HS)

22 KODY WILLIAMS G 6-2/180 FR Niceville, FL (Niceville HS)

23 ANGELO JOHNSON G 6-0/180 RS/JR Minneapolis, MN (USC)

25 AHYARO PHILLIPS F 6-8/210 JR New Orleans, LA (Lamar St. TX JC)

31 KAYLAND PARTEE G 6-1/180 SO Jackson, MS (Holmes CC)

32 TRENCY JACKSON G 6-2/175 FR Jackson, MS (Wingfield HS)

33 DEVONTE NEWBILL G 6-4/195 FR Philadelphia, PA (Strawberry Mansion HS)

ANGeLo JoHNSoN

It’s been a long road for Southern Miss to get to this point under Eustachy and he would be the first to agree. “When I originally took this job I knew it was going to take a while to get to where I wanted it to be,” Eustachy said. “Last year we were closer than we’ve ever been. We’re closer now and we’ll be even closer next year.” Nobody ever said that coaching basketball at Southern Miss is easy, and Eustachy didn’t approach it with a quick-fix mentality. “This is not an easy job,” he said. “That’s not making excuses; Southern Miss isn’t a traditional basketball school. Tradition wise it’s had it’s moments and it’s had some great moments. We’ve tried to bring in an attitude that it can be more than just moments. I think it can be one of the basketball powers in the South. It’s got a unique location to play-ers from everywhere. It’s a beautiful school to recruit too, our facilities are better with the improvements” Despite the hard going the last few seasons the post-season bid last year showed a glim-mer of the light that Eustachy and the pro-gram have been working towards. “It’s been a long go,” Eustachy said. “But, we’ve arrived. We arrived last year, I said that and I think we proved it. We fought through some tough scheduling and got to the post-season for the first time in years.” This year the program looks like it could be poised for a break out season under the veteran head coach, who looks to have his best team ever at Southern Miss and he keeps looking toward the future. “Our team is better this year,” he said. “We’ll be better next year with who we have coming back and the recruiting class we have coming. I don’t just want to have moments. I thought we had a moment last year. In my opinion that was a moment, it was one of the few times the program has gotten to post sea-son play.” One of the biggest reasons for all the opti-mism surrounding the program is the return of senior post player Gary Flowers. Recently C-USA coaches named Flowers to the pre-season All-Conference 1st Team. As a junior the 6-foot-8, 215-pounder led the team with 15.0 ppg and 8.3 rebounds. A well rounded defender he was second on the team in steals and blocked 60 shots on the year. Almost every NBA analysts projects Flow-ers as a solid draft pick following his senior season in Hattiesburg. “Gary has worked really hard,” Eustachy said. “He had a great summer and he’s had a great fall. He has to develop a consistency of play every night to do what we want to do, so there’s a lot of pressure on Gary and he wel-comes it.” Flowers senior leadership will be vital for a team that features seven first year players on the squad. But, he won’t be the only upper-


classman there to help steady the ship. Senior Sai’Quan Stone returns for his forth year with the program and is the emotional leader of the team. His contributions to the team don’t always show up in the box score, last year he averaged just over five points per game and pulled down just under four re-bounds a contest. He is usually charged with defending the oppositions best player, a tena-cious defender that at 6-foot-6, 225-pounds can pose a challenge for guards or forwards. R.L. Horton returns for his senior season and could have a career year. More depth on the team will allow the 6-foot-0, 175-pound combo guard a few more minutes to breath each game which could help improve his 9.2 ppg from a season ago. Horton is likely to see time at both the point and the two guard posi-tion this year. Senior forward Torye Pelham may be the best athlete on the team at 6-foot-6, 225-pounds is a human highlight reel in a slam dunk contest. Last year he experienced some growing pains transitioning from Chi-pola (Fla.) CC to the division I level. This year look for those troubles to be a thing of the past and for him to be a more consistent contributor. Josimar Ayarza a 6-foot-9, 235-pound post player will add quality depth and provide a solid back-up for Flowers and also make a great front court tandem paired together when the Eagles see larger line-ups. This past season Maurice Bolden did a lot of growing up on the court, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound shooting guard Bolden may have the highest potential of any of the Golden Ea-gles. As a sophomore this past season he aver-aged 8.7 ppg and seven rebounds. At times the Division I game was moving two fast for Bolden, but he settled in, continued to work and looks poised for a break-out season as a junior. Junior Angelo Johnson made big strides this past year sitting out the previous year af-ter transferring from Southern Cal. The tal-ented point guard averaged 10 points a game and led the team in assists. Like Horton, he’ll benefit from the depth at the guard position this year. The new faces on the Golden Eagle basket-ball team come in with some pretty high ex-pectations and the staff looks for a number of them to contribute immediately. “It’s the best talent we’ve recruited since I’ve been here,” Eustachy said of his newcom-ers. “So, we have some pretty high expecta-tions.” The most highly touted of the group is Trency Jackson from Wingfield (Jackson, Miss.) High. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound com-bo guard selected Southern Miss over offers from Indiana, Marquette, Missouri, UAB and Southern Cal. Jackson isn’t the only incom-ing player to select the Eagles over traditional

basketball powers. Devonta Newbill (6-foot-4, 200) from Strawberry-Mansion (Philadelphia, Pa.) High selected the Golden Eagles over programs like Drexel, LaSalle, Marquette and WVU. Lashay Page from Chipola (Fla.) CC was ranked as one of the top 100 high school pros-pects in the nation in 2008 with offers from Clemson, South Carolina and others before academics detoured him to junior college. Page took advantage of his red-shirt while at

Chipola and will have three years to play at Southern Miss. Freshman guard Kody Williams may be the most unique story of the signing class. Wil-liams was one of the top ranked players in the state of Florida this past year in football, not basketball. Rivals.com ranked Williams as a three-star WR prospect who held more than a dozen offers from programs like Il-linios, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss and Tennessee. But, his heart was set on hoops, so much so that he had decided to turn down all those football offers and play junior college basket-ball. Southern Miss had a scholarship come open late and saw the opportunity to pick up an outstanding athlete with passion for the game. Cedric Jenkins from Riverside (LaPlace, Lou.) Academy selected the Eagles over offers from La Tech, Tulane and UTEP, while post

player Ahyaro Philips selected the Eagles over James Madison. More so than just about any team under Eustachy this group has a distinctly local fla-vor with five players hailing from the Mag-nolia State, two from the New Orleans metro area and one from the Florida Panhandle. Bolden (Wingfield), Jackson (Wingfield), Horton (Lanier) and walk-on Kayland Par-tee (Forest Hill) all played for Jackson Public School programs. Hayden Eustachy played at

Presbyterian Christian in Hattiesburg. Eustachy has been criticized by Southern Miss fans the past few season for lack-luster schedules that featured multiple home games each year against NAIA programs. Those games are not counted by the NCAA or NIT selection committees when post-season bids are at stake. Southern Miss kicks off the 2010-11 sched-ule on November 4 with an exhibition game against cross town neighbor William Carey before hitting the road on November 12 for a game against South Florida in Tampa, Fla. The schedule features 14 games against 11 teams that participated in postseason play last year and 15 home games over the course of the season. The schedule includes games against in-state competition – Alcorn State, Mississippi, and Mississippi Valley State. Cali-fornia, Memphis, UAB and UTEP also high-light the slate. - MSM

LArry eUStACHy


ADVERTISE IN

HAVE YOUR BUSINESS

SEENSTATEWIDE

Pevey Publishing, LLC can place your ad campaigns in Mississippi’s top sports magazine with a state-wide audience of avid fans every month in print and online. The appeal of sports magazines is their consistent ability to deliver favorable product impressions that are REPEATED and LASTING. College sports fans rank among the most avid and passionate audiences of all. There are few better opportunities to build powerful and lasting brand images than to associate them with the passion of these audiences. Mississippi Sports Magazine is typically read by their audiences during their times of relaxation and leisure - when they are more likely to be receptive. Print Ads in regional sports magazines offer the best alternative for delivering repeated and lasting images that can significantly enhance brand recognition. These readers rank among the most affluent and highly educated people in America - thus assuring one of the highest affordability indexes of all audiences. Mississippi Sports Magazine is available every two months through subscriptions, retail outlets and the complimentary copies delivered to businesses and on campus. With a longer shelf life, your ad stays out in the public eye for at least 60 days, usually much more, as Mississippi Sports Magazine issues are regarded as “keepsakes”. More people will see your message.

For advertising information call Greg Pevey at601-503-7205, Mendy Pevey at 601-941-1323,

or Jay Pevey at 601-209-7000

PUBLISHING

PUBLISHING

Mississippi Sports Magazine • 405 Knights Cove West Brandon, MS 39047 • Phone: 601-503-7205 email: [email protected] us online at: www.mssportsmagazine.com



Jackson StateTIGERS

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 19-13; 8-8 17-1 SWAC HEAD COACH: TEVESTER ANDERSON (8TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer3 MILESCOLLEGE (Exh.)8 CONCORDIA COLLEGE(Exh.)12 @TCU15 @CentralFlorida18 @Baylor20 @Lousiville22 @Marshall24 @Chattanooga

DeCeMBer1 @Nebraska4 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL11 @NorthTexas14 SPRINGHILLCOL.16 TALLADEGACOL.20 @Bradley

JANUAry4 @AlabamaState6 @AlabamaA&M8 ALCORNSTATE10 SOUTHERN15 @TexasSouthern17 @PrairieView22 @Grambling29 MSVALLEYSTATE31 UAPB

FeBrUAry5 @Alcorn7 @Southern12 TEXASSOUTHERN14 PRAIRIEVIEW19 GRAMBLING26 @MSValleyState28 @UAPB

MArCH3 ALABAMASTATE5 ALABAMAA&M9-12SWACTOURNEY

JSU misses shot at the Dance last season, vows to take care of business in 2010-11

T he Jackson State men’s bas-ketball team will open the 2010-11 season with a chip

on its shoulder. Despite finishing the 2009-10 regular season with a conference best 13-1 record and a Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title, the Tigers have a score to settle. In the opening round of the 2009-10 SWAC Tournament the

number one seeded Tigers fell to Grambling State. This was the first time in seven seasons that the Tigers had been knocked out of the conference tournament in the opening round. “We had a good regular season,” said head coach Tevester Anderson. “But, our goal was and still is to win both the regular season and the conference tournament titles.”

Following last season’s disap-pointing conclusion the Jackson State Tigers are reloading and pre-paring for another SWAC title shot. “I really like this team, said An-derson. “This group has the poten-tial to be the best team I have had since coming to Jackson State.” The 2010-11 Tigers will have a lot of experience and depth. JSU returns four starters and the top

By Wesley PetersonJackson State Sports Information

Photo courtesy Jackson State Sports Information

Photo by Mississippi Sports Magazine

CASoN BUrKe


ROSTERNO NAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)1 CASON BURK G/F 6-5/205 SR. Jackson, MS (Provine)3 ROD MELVIN G 6-1/180 JR. Brandon, MS (Brandon HS)4 DONTE HIMES G 6-3/200 FR. San Antonio, TX (Wagner HS)5 JENIRRO BUSH G 6-8/180 JR. Starkville, MS (Arkansas-Fort Smith)10 TYRONE HANSON G/F 6-7/200 SR. Brooklyn, NY (Nevada/Arkansas Ft. Smith)11 KEESLEE STEWART G 5-9/165 FR. Edwards, MS (Hinds AHS)12 GERTAVIAN BLAKE C 6-11/260 SR. Jacksonville, FL (Siuthern Union State CC)13 CHRISTIAN WILLIAMS G 6-1/180 SO. Manteca, CA (Sierra)15 JONATHAN LEWIS G 5-10/160 SO. Jackson, MS (Provine)20 HEN TAMIR F 6-9/220 FR. Qityat Ono, Isreal21 PHILLIP WILLIAMS G 6-1/195 JR. Gary, IN (Hales Franciscan)23 De’SHAUN DIXON G 6-4/200 SR. Leland, MS (Leland HS)24 OLIVER JEFFERSON C 6-9/235 JR. Terry, MS (Terry HS)25 DAVON JOHNSON F/C 6-8/230 SO. Detroit, MI (Oak park HS)32 GRANT MAXEY G/F 6-7/200 SR. Toledo, OH (Scott HS)35 JOSH ARMSTRONG F 6-6/185 FR. St. Louis, MO (Gibson HS)40 JAMARIOUS SYKES C 7-2/270 FR. Port Gibson, MS (Port Gibson HS)44 RAYMOND GREGORY C 6-10/255 SO. Atlanta, GA (Redan HS)45 CHRIS HYCHE G 6-5/200 G Jackson, MS (Provine HS)50 JACOLBY PITTMAN F/C 6-10 SO. Canton, MS (UNO/HOLMES CC)

four scorers and rebounders from last season. With the majority of last season’s team intact JSU will make run at representing SWAC in the 2011 NCAA tournament. Leading the way for the Tigers will be senior Tyrone Hanson (6-7, 200, F). Hanson was the second leading scorer for JSU last season with an 11.4 ppg average and was second in rebounds with a 4.4 average. Hanson also shot a staggering 40 percent from the three point line. Senior De’Suan Dixon (6-5, 200, G) was the third leading scorer with 10.6 ppg average. He was also the team’s top rebounder as he pulled down 1214 boards (6.7 avg), as well as leading the team in steals (49). Junior Rod Melvin (6-1, 180, G) served as floor general. He averaged 5.4 ppg and dished out a team high 117 assists (3.8 apg). Senior Cason Burk (6-5, 200, G/F) had a breakout season and emerged as a reliable scorer, defender and rebounder. He averaged 4.9 ppg and 6.5 rpg. He also blocked seven shots and re-corded 16 steals. Red-shirt senior Grant Maxey (6-7, 210, F) re-turns for his final season as a Tiger after suffering a season ending ankle injury in the second game last season. Heading into last season Maxey was the pre-season conference player of the year and was expected to help lead the Tigers to an NCAA tournament bid. In two games he averaged 6.5 ppg and 2 rpg. Other returning players who look to make an impact on the hardwood for JSU include: senior Gertavian Blake (6-10, 260, C) will look to make a significant contribution in the post. Last season he scored 2.3 ppg and pulled down 2.8 rpg. He also blocked a team high 23 shots. Sophomore Raymond Gregory (6-10, 260, F/C) will also play a significant role in the front court. He averaged 2.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg and blocked 22 shots. Senior guard De’Suan Dixon made a huge improvement in his play last season. He is one of the more athletic guards in the SWAC. He has a solid jump shot and can use his athleticism to finish around the basket during tough confer-ence play. “De’Suan was probably the hardest working player on the team heading into last season”, Anderson said. “He was extremely committed to his workout program during the summer and it showed with his play last season.” Rod Melvin, a Jackson native, will be the pri-mary ball handlers for the Tigers. Melvin is a true point guard is projected to be the starting point guard. Melvin has the ability to control a game without scoring a point. He is a good defender and can get into the paint any time he wants. “I expect Rod to really explode on the scene this season. He had opportunities to start the last two seasons and now I look for him to become one of the top point guards in the conference. Junior guard Phillip Williams (6-1, 185) will also see time in the back court at both the point and shooting guard positions. Despite his side he is a tough defender and a good rebounder. Last season he averaged 4.6 ppg and 2.1 rpg. Cason Burk will vie for more minutes this season. His size, ball handling ability and toughness makes

him a versatile player for JSU. Sophomore guard Christian Williams (6-1, 170) will look to get more playing time this sea-son. He has one of the prettiest jump shots on the team, with the ability to shoot deep from three-point range. Junior guard Chris Hyche (6-5, 200) will look to get back into JSU’s regular rotation after sitting out last season. Hyche has the reputation of being the best dunker on the team. In addition to his high flying act, Hyche is a solid shooter from the perimeter. JSU will add a lot of depth at the wings, begin-ning with junior Jenirro Bush (6-8, 190, G). Bush was a standout at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, where he averaged 14.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg and 1.6 apg. Freshman Josh Armstrong (6-6, 185, F) should see significant playing time. The Tigers backcourt will also be strength-ened by the addition of freshmen guards Donte Himes (6-3, 200, G) from San Antonio, TX. JSU’s front court boasts some of the best tal-ent in the SWAC. All-SWAC performers Grant Maxey and Tyrone Hanson anchor the Tigers’ presence in the paint. “Grant is still one of the best players in the SWAC. He has been a first team all-conference member, and the conference player of the year two years ago. Over the summer he has worked extremely hard to rehabilitate his ankle.” “Tyrone is one of the best deep shooters in the SWAC. He has a high basketball IQ and can help bring the ball up if it is needed.” Gertavian Blake will likely be the starting cen-ter for JSU. His size and toughness will be an as-set around the basket for the Tigers. Raymond Gregory will look to get more minutes this sea-son. The sophomore could see playing time with Blake when JSU has to go big. Junior forward Oliver Jefferson (6-9, 235) did not play much last season due to a broken leg. He can get his own shot in the paint and is a pretty good rebounder. “I expect Blake to have a breakout season. He

has worked on the fundamentals of the game over the summer and has shown a lot of im-provement. Raymond is really coming around and becoming more consistent in his play.” Two newcomers will also add depth along the front court for JSU. Jamarious Sykes (7-2, 270, Fr., C) and Jacolby Pittman (6-10, 235, So., C) will provide size for JSU. The Tigers will again have a tough schedule. JSU will have nine non-conference road games, while hosting three at the Lee E. Williams Ath-letics and Assembly Center. The Tigers will take on the No. 14 ranked Baylor Bears on Nov. 18 in Waco, TX. The Tigers will also have four na-tionally televised games broadcast on the ESPN network. JSU will open the season with a trip to Fort Worth, TX on Nov. 12 to face TCU before play-ing five games in nine days (JSU will face Central Florida on Nov. 15, Baylor on Nov. 18, Louisville on Nov. 20, Marshall on Nov 22 and Chattanoo-ga on Nov. 24). The Tigers will host Isaiah Thomas and Flor-ida International to Jackson on December 4 at the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Cen-ter. JSU will conclude its non-conference home schedule with Spring Hill College on Dec. 14 and Talladega College on Dec. 16. JSU will open conference play on the road when the Tigers travel to Montgomery, AL to face Alabama State. Games that Tiger fans should circle on the schedule include: Jan. 8 – arch rival Alcorn State will visit the Lee E. Williams AAC. Jan. 22 - JSU visits Grambling State. The GSU Tigers knocked JSU out of the 2010 SWAC Tour-nament in the opening round. Jan. 29 - in-state rival Mississippi Valley State visits the AAC. Feb. 14 - Prairie View A&M, the defending SWAC Tournament Champions, will play the Tigers on ESPNU in Jackson. Mar. 5 – JSU’s final game of the regular season will be against Alabama A&M. - MSM



MS Valley StateDELTA DEVILS

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 9-23; 8-10 SWAC HEAD COACH: SHAUN WOODS (3RD YEAR)

NoVeMBer3 VICTORYUNIV. (Exh.)8 DELTASTATE(Exh.)12 @Georgia16 @Indiana21 @St.Mary’s23 @BYU26 Liberty*27 TBA*

DeCeMBer11 @Butler13 @OleMiss15 @Arkansas18 @Kentucky21 @Marquette29 SouthernMiss#30 SavannahSt./ SELA#

JANUAry4 @UAPB8 ALABAMAA&M10 ALABAMAST.15 @AlcornSt.17 @SouthernUniv.22 PRAIRIEVIEW24 TEXASSO.29 @JacksonSt.31 @Grambling

FeBrUAry5 @AlabamaA&M7 @AlabamaSt.12 ALCORNST.14 SOUTHERNUNIV.19 @PrairieView21 @TexasSo.26 JACKSONST.28 GRAMBLING

MArCH3 UAPB9-12SWACTourney*SouthPadreInvitational#HardwoodClubHolidayClassic

Delta Devils feel they finally have the pieces to compete for a SWAC Title

There are two keys to solv-ing a jigsaw puzzle – make sure you have all the

puzzle pieces and make sure that they fit. Head coach Sean Woods and staff have spent the last two recruiting periods finding all the right pieces for the MVSU bas-

ketball puzzle; now there sights are set on making sure that the pieces fit – or at least can be made to fit. The 2010-11 MVSU basket-ball team enters their third sea-son under Woods and staff and this season looks to be the most

promising campaign yet. With the departure of senior guard Julius Cheeks, and ten returning players and four newcomers, the Delta Devils have set themselves for a serious run at the SWAC basketball crown. Leading the way for the Delta

By William Bright, Jr.MVSU Sports Information

Photos courtesy MVSUSports Information

SHANNoN BeHLING


ROSTERNAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)

1 DARIAN DONALD F 6-5/185 SR. Columbus, MS (EMCC)

3 TERRENCE JOYNER G 6-3 JR. Mendenhall, MS (Genesis One)

5 J EROME HARRIS G 6-3 JR. Chicago, IL (Cpoon Rive CC)

10 RICKY LAMB G 6-6/190 SO. Jacksonville, FL (Raines HS)

11 D’ANGELO JACKSON G 6-1/170 SR. Milwaukee, WI (AR Fort Smith CC)

12 AMOS STURDIVANT F/C 6-8/230 JR. Besemer, AL (Jess Lanier HS)

15 SHANNON BEHLING G/F 6-7/250 SR. Columbia, SC (TCU)

21 COR-J COX G 6-5/190 JR. Washington, NC (Pam Pack HS)

22 ORLANDO SMITH F 6-5/210 SR. Columbus, MS (Columbus HS)

23 FALANDO JONES F 6-4 JR. Greenwood, MS (MS Delta CC)

25 KEVIN BURWELL G 5-10/185 SR. Philadelphia, PA (Maryland-Eastern Shore)

30 MARK HOLMES F 6-6/215 SO. Chicago, IL (Guerin College Prep)

32 PAUL CROSBY C 6-8 JR. Lansing, MI (Navarro JC)

42 JASON HOLMES F 6-9/225 JR. Chicago, IL (Cochise College, AZ)

Devils this season is all-expecting, all-every-thing combo player Shannon Behling. The 6-foot-7 senior is the team’s top returning player averaging 11.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game with 20 blocks and 53 steals on the season. Joining Behling is guard D’Angelo Jackson and center Amos Studivant. Jack-son (6-1, Sr.) averaged 6.4 points and 1.9 rebounds while garnering 50 assists off the bench; Studivant (6-8, Jr.) slowly came on last season, finishing with averages of 6.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Other players to watch this season include forwards Darian Donald, Jason Holmes and Orlando Smith along with guards Kevin Bur-well, Cor-J Cox. Donald (6-5, 185, Sr.) started slow last sea-son, but moved into the starting lineup by season’s end. The athletic forward finished

averaging 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Holmes (6-9, 225, Jr.) steadily became a presence in the paint for the Delta Devils. His ability to play with his back to the bas-ket joined with a growing knowledge of the offense made him vital as the season pushed on. Averaging 5.7 points and 3.0 rebounds along with garnering 21 blocks and 21 steals, Holmes used his height to become a defen-sive presence for MVSU. Smith (6-5, 210, Sr.) joined the team in the second semester and brought intensity and toughness to the court. Although he averaged 4.0 points and 3.0 re-bounds, the tenacity and intangibles that Smith displayed will be needed even more as MVSU looks to be successful. In the Delta Devil backcourt, along with Jackson and Behling, are players with ex-citement, intensity and experience. Burwell (5-10, 185, Sr.) was the team’s starting point

guard and his leadership will be needed again this season. He handed out 114 assists and had 26 steals while averaging 5.8 points and 2.1 rebounds. Cox (6-5, 190, Jr.) along with Behling provided excitement for the fans and players who were versatile on the wings for the Delta Devils. Cox finished averaging 4.4 points and 2.0 rebounds off the bench, but has dedicated himself to becoming even more aggressive on both ends of the court. An exciting crop of newcomers will join the program this season, bringing athleticism and toughness to the mix. Falando Jones is a Greenwood native who just finished play-ing at Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead, Mississippi. The 6-foot-4 for-ward averaged 15.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He shot 72 percent from the free throw line while shoot-ing 47 percent from the field including 33 percent from three-point range. As a fresh-man at MDCC, he averaged 12.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists while shooting 57 per-cent from the field and 33 percent from long range. Jerome Harris comes to MVSU from Spoon River Community College and Collins High School in Illinois. The Chicago, Illinois, native is a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 9.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists last season for Spoon River. He connected on 18 three-pointers while shooting 45 percent from the field and 26 percent from three-point range. Paul Crosby (6-foot-8, Center, Lansing, Mich-igan/Holt High School) was a 2009 NJCAA All-Region second team selection, second-team all-conference pick and a member of the Region XIV Tournament Team. He av-eraged 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 41 percent from the floor. Terrence Joyner was a

standout performer at Genesis One Christian School in Mississippi before spending a year at both New Mexico State and the College of Eastern Utah. As a point guard at Genesis One Christian in Mendenhall, Miss., Joyner aver-aged 13.0 points, 9.0 assists and 3.0 steals in 2006-07. Joyner led Genesis One to the Na-tional Christian School Athletic Association (NCSAA) National Championship game. The schedule for the Delta Devils will be a challenging one as they will face some of the stiffest competition in Division I basketball. After opening the season with road games at Georgia and Indiana, the Delta Devils will participate in the South Padre Invitational. After opening at St. Mary’s and BYU, MVSU will take on Liberty and an opponent to be determined during the team’s stint at South Padre Island. The month of December has MVSU facing five opponents in ten days – all on the road. Among those opponents are national runner-up Butler (Dec. 11), Mississippi (Dec. 13), Arkansas (Dec. 15), Kentucky (Dec. 18), and Marquette (Dec. 21). All five of the teams are possible NCAA tournament participants and will be a tough measuring stick for the Delta Devils. The calendar year ends with a visit to the USM Hardwood Club Holiday Tourna-ment – facing host Southern Mississippi and either Savannah State and Southeastern Loui-siana. Conference play opens with the rivalry game at Arkansas-Pine Bluff on January 4. Notable conference games include hosting Alabama A&M (Jan. 8), hosting Prairie View (Jan. 22), at Jackson State (Jan. 29), and at Texas Southern (Feb. 21). The conference tournament will take place March 9-12 at the Special Events Center in Garland, Texas. - MSMD’ANGeLo JACKSoN



Delta StateSTATESMEN

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 19-8; 10-4 GSC HEAD COACH: JASON CONNOR (5TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer5 @OleMiss(Exh.)8 MSVALLEYST (GREENVILLE)12 @RollinsCollege*13 ST.LEOUNIV.*16 @VictoryUniv.23 SHEPHERDTECH27 @Alabama Huntsville29 @N.Alabama

DeCeMBer2 @W.Alabama4 W.GEORGIA12 W.FLORIDA14 VALDOSTAST.17 CONCORDIACOL.

JANUAry3 @LambuthUniv.4 @ShepherdTech8 S.ARKANSAS13 OUACHITABAPTIST15 HARDING20 @HendersonSt.22 ARKANSASTECH27 CHRISTIANBROS.29 @Arkansas- Monticello

FeBrUAry3 @Southern Arkansas10 @OuschitaBaptist12 HARDING17 HENDERSONST.19 @ArkansasTech24 @ChristianBros.26 ARKANSAS- MONTICELLO

MArCH3-6 GSCTOURNEY -Southaven,MS*GSCSClassic

All new faces bring new challenges for DSU as they prepare for 2010-11 Season

The Delta State University Statesmen will enter the 2010 season coming off

a 19-8 campaign that saw the green and white machine post an 11-2 mark at home. The big question this season is how the team will fair after losing

everyone from last year’s team, with the exception of Marqueys Brown (6’9”/forward). Despite losing 11 players off the roster with seven graduating, head men’s basketball coach Ja-son Conner feels like they are not rebuilding, but reloading.

“We certainly fill like we’re re-loaded, but at the same time a lot of guys are going to have to re-ally commit to what we are ask-ing them to do in order for this thing to work. We are going to have to communicate, compete and concentrate because we have

By Donell MaxeyThe Bolivar Commercial

Photo courtesy The BolivarCommercial

ZACH GrAHAMMSU trANSFerPHIL tUrNer


ROSTERNAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)Romeo Domino G 6-1/175 Rf. Baton Rouge, La. Jamarkus Holt F 6-9/230 Sr. Vero Beach, Fla.Jay Murphy G 5-11/170 Fr. Jackson, Tenn. Wesley Aldridge G 6-3/185 Fr. Clarksdale Eric White G 6-4/200 So. Baton Rouge, La.Phil Turner G 6-3/197 Sr. GrenadaChris Lovelace G 5-9/172 Fr. Decatur, Ga. Marqueys Brown F 6-9/205 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.La Mar Burks G 6-3/170 Fr. Chicago, Ill. Ladarrin Williams F 6-5/190 Fr. Monroe, La. James Berry F 6-6/180 Jr. GrenadaChris Poellnitz G 6-3/210 Sr. Lenior, N.C.Arian Maliqi G 6-6/215 Sr. Pristine, KosovoRob Sikes F 6-8/270 Jr. Memphis, Tenn.Marc Liyanage G 6-6/185 Fr. Hamburg, Germany TJ Allen G 6-3/190 Jr. RidgelandKaran Bajwa C 7-0/270 R-Jr. Amsterdam, NetherlandsZach Carnell F 6-8/265 Fr. Tupelo Andre Pitchford G 6-2/200 R-So. Detroit, Mich.

a bunch of new guys and a bunch of young guys,” said Conner. With the pressure to compete for a West Division title in the Gulf South Conference, the Statesmen have added significant pieces from high school recruits, Division I trans-fers, redshirts and walk-ons to field a quality basketball team this season, that Conner feels will make serious noise in the conference. Already the Statesmen have been picked to finish second in the West Division of the Gulf South Conference for the second consecutive year. Brown was named to the Preseason All-GSC West Team, following a sophomore campaign in which he led the Statesmen in rebounding with 6.4 boards per game, and finished second in scoring with 11.5 points. The Memphis, Tenn., native was named First Team All-GSC last season. Seniors Phil Turner and Chris Poellnitz were tabbed top newcomers for the States-men. Turner, a senior transfer from Missis-sippi State University averaged 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Bulldogs during his ju-nior season. Poellnitz, a senior transfer from the University of Central Arkansas averaged 14 points, four boards and three assists in his junior season for the Bears. “You may need to get your tickets now be-cause It looks like we are going to have a pret-ty solid group this year of quality young men who are exceptional basketball players. This team has a sense of toughness and unity that we never tasted last season as a team,” Conner said. In all Conner has brought in 18 new guys, 19 if you consider Arian Maliqi, who played for Conner in 2009, and redshirted last sea-son and is back for his final year of eligibility. Leading the way in Conner’s recruitment class is Turner (6’3”/guard). “We’re excited that Phil has decided to fin-ish his collegiate career at Delta State,” Con-ner said. “Phil has been a part of Southeast-ern Conference championship basketball and I believe his talents will help us reach that level here as well. He wants to help us win a championship and I’m looking forward to getting him on the floor.” Conner said he believes Turner’s impact in the locker room will be just as valuable as his role on the floor. “He’s a good youngster and a quality per-son. He works hard and defends hard. He is a kid that gets it and understands his responsi-bility as a leader. He’s going to connect with people here and really be a quality person for our team, university and the community,” said Conner. “Phil is versatile enough to play anywhere on the floor. He played power forward for State so that shows his toughness,” Conner said. Poellnitz (6’3”/guard) is a player Conner feels will add toughness to the guard posi-tion.

“He was recruited heavily out of junior col-lege as a freshman, but broke his foot and a lot of people backed off him. I believe in this kid and his ability to help this team,” said Conner.Conner has also brought in Jamarcus Holt (6’9”/203-pound/forward) who transferred from Alcorn State University. Holt is a tough kid who wants to be great according to Con-ner. Another transfer is Robin Sikes (6’7”/ 270-pound/forward) who enrolled at Delta State in the spring. Sikes transferred from D-II Lincoln Memorial. The Statesmen re-cruited the Biloxi native out of high school and is very familiar with his skill set. “He is a tremendous young man with great hands and a knack for scoring the basketball in the post. He has been working hard every since he got here and we are excited to have him,” said Conner. Redshirt Freshman Romeo Domino (6’1”/guard) as well as Maliqi (6’6”/ guard) should both add much needed experience to Con-ner’s system for the new comers. Conner is really excited about his fresh-man class which include: Jay Murphy, Ladar-rin Williams, Zach Carnell, Chris Lovelace, Wesley Aldridge, La Mar Burks and Marc Li-yanage. “I believe this is the best freshman class we have had here at least in the 90’s and 2000’s. I think our program is in great shape for the future.” Williams (6’6”/forward) enters DSU by way of Monroe, La. and Richmond High School. Averaged 14 points and seven re-bounds per game. Liyanage (6’6”/G-F) from Hamburg, Germany, finished eighth overall in Germany in 2008 and was named a mem-ber of the extended roster for the Under 20 National Team in 2009. Liyanage helped lead

his team to the 2008 Hamburg City Champi-onship. “Ladarrian and Marc are both talented wing players that are going to be great for us. They are long and can do a lot of things on both ends of the floor.” Carnell (6’8”/center) played at Ingomar High School and averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds per game as a senior. “Zach is a tough big kid who is physical. He has to learn to play at this pace at this level, but he’s showing a lot of improvement and works extremely hard and isn’t far from being where we need him to be,” Conner added. Lovelace played at Whitfield Academy in Georgia where he led the team to three Class-A Region titles. Murphy is a 6-foot point guard from Bolivar (Tenn) Central High School. In his final year he averaged 14.3 points per game and 5.1 assists. “Our freshman have the chance to be one of the best groups we have had here. They are a tough group who are both athletic, quick and tough. They are also sharp in the class-room. I think our averaged ACT score among them is 24,” said Conner. The Statesmen will kick off the season with exhibition games against Ole Miss and Mississippi Valley State. On November 12-13 Delta State will participate in the Gulf South/Sunshine State Conference Crossover Classic at Valdosta where they will play Rollins Col-lege and Saint Leo University. “We start with a strong schedule where we play Huntsville and Valdosta early. Huntsville has everyone back, Valdosta is going to be one of the best teams in this conference, Ark. Tech has a good group back and Christian Broth-ers has everyone back,” said Conner. With a strong recruiting class, Conner ex-pects his Statesmen to right in the thick of it as the season progresses. - MSM



Miss. CollegeCHOCTAWS

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 19-7; 14-6 ASC EAST HEAD COACH: DON LOFTON (5TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer

4 @SouthAlabama

(Exh.)

20 PensacolaChristian

22 Univ.ofNew

Orleans

27 TexasLutheran

29 Schreiner

DeCeMBer

2 @SulRossState

4 @HowardPayne

11 ConcordiaTexas

14 MaryHardin-

Baylor

30-31MillsapsHoliday

Tournament

JANUAry

3 @Univ.ofNew

Orleans

6 @McMurry

8 @Hardin-Simmons

11 @LACollege

15 E.TX.Baptist

20 Texas-Dallas

22 Ozarks

27 @LaTourneau

29 @Texas-Tyler

FeBrUAry

3 LaTourneau

5 Texas-Tyler

10 @Texas-Dallas

12 @Ozarks

15 LACollege

19 @E.TX.Baptist

25-27ASCTournament

Winning on the court is commonplace for Choctaws as they prepare for this season

One thing you can count on when basketball sea-son rolls around is for

the Mississippi College men’s basketball team to have a win-ning season. The Choctaws have experienced success in their past 22 campaigns, dating back to the 1988-89 season when Mike Jones coached his first season in Clinton. Head Coach Don Lofton

has taken over right where Coach Jones left off and has tallied one of the top winning percentages (131-37, .780) in all NCAA Divi-sions. The 2009-10 season saw the Choctaws go to their 14th Ameri-can Southwest Conference Tour-nament in 14 tries. MC opened the season 10-0, but finished 19-7 after struggling coming back

from the New Year’s break. The senior-laden squad alternated wins and losses over their last 10 contest, finishing with a semi-fi-nal exit in the conference tourna-ment. The Choctaws only return three of their top 10 scorers from last season, and the team only boasts six seniors on the 2010-11 squad. With the ASC getting

By David NicholsMiss. College Sports Information

Photos courtesy Miss. College Sports Information

CAMeroN BoUNDS


ROSTERROSTERNOTAVAILABLEATPRESSTIME

tougher and tougher every year, the Choctaws will have to gel quickly to qualify for their 15th straight ASC Tournament. The front court lost its top two players from a season ago in Andre Thomas and Lu-ther Suggs, who each averaged more than 10 points per game. Thomas led the team with 6.2 rebounds per game, while Suggs finished second on the team to Thomas (56% FG) in field goal percentage (.545). On the front line, the Choctaws boast play-ers both with experience and talent in Camer-on Bounds and Ken Black. Bounds returns as the reigning ASC Freshman of the Year from a season ago after scoring 4.8 points and pull-ing down 3.8 rebounds per game. Bounds was a force around the basket, blocking 39 shots to lead the Choctaws and finish fourth in the league. The coaching staff is looking for Bounds to have more of a low-post pres-ence to free up shooters on the outside. Ken Black is one of the most athletic play-ers on the team and runs the floor well. The Canton native can jump out of the gym and is a great finisher on fast breaks. Ken scored 6.0 points and brought downs 3.5 rebounds per game. If Black can become a force on the boards for the Choctaws, he could combine with Bounds to provide one of the more for-

midable front courts in the conference. Two other players to look for in the front court are returner Joey Tisdale and newcomer Chad Jones. Tisdale has worked hard in the off-season and looks to be picking up the game after playing soccer his first two years at MC. Coach Lofton and his staff are looking for Tisdale to provide a key contribution this season. Jones is a transfer from Southwest Mississippi Community College and comes in as a highly-touted shot-blocker with a good mid-range game. Tisdale and Jones will push the starters for playing time and provide good depth as the season goes along. Last season, the Choctaws had a steady core of seniors that providing a scoring punch and ball-handling ability. Donnie Haywood led the way with 13.5 points per game and shot 48% from the field. Chazz Hawkins and Joshua Harvey were the outside shooters for the Choctaws with 31 three-pointers made apiece. Point guard Jeremy Stewart led the team with 72 assists and played 16.3 minutes per game. The back court also brings back some fa-

miliar faces to provide experience in Kelvin Lester and E.C. Williams. Lester is a steady leader that always puts the ball in the right hands at the right time. The senior is calm under pressure and is one of the most talent-ed ball handlers in the conference. Lester av-eraged 20.0 minutes per game, while scoring 3.0 points and 2.0 assists per game. If Lester can be a leader on the floor and distribute the ball to the playmakers, the Choctaws will en-joy another successful season. E.C. Williams joins Lester as a returner in the backcourt. The Atlanta, GA native is a sharp-shooter that opens up the floor for the inside players to pick up offensive rebounds and second-chance points. Williams also gives the Choctaws length on defense and has good skills with anticipating the passing lanes. The senior averaged 2.0 steals per game a year ago. Williams needs to be the long-range spe-cialist that takes pressure off the Choctaws on the block. The Choctaws have several newcomers that will give Coach Lofton options in the back-court. Pierre Hadley is a talented athlete and ball handler that will back up Lester at the point guard position. The Itawamba Com-munity College transfer provides great leader-ship and can penetrate the defense. Another point guard with good skill is Kendre’ Smith, who transfers form ASC rival East Texas Bap-tist. Two seasons ago, Smith was named to the All-ASC Freshman Team while with the Tigers. His strength is his ability to get the basket and open passing lanes for teammates. Jesse Taylor and Pate Shackelford give the Choctaws good size and shooting ability on the wing. Taylor is a great shooter that has shown the ability to lead his new teammates in the early part of the season. Shackelford is a hard-nosed, tough-minded player that will be a shut-down defender for the Choctaws on that end of the floor. The Choctaws will open their season with an exhibition on the road against South Ala-bama on November 4th beginning the regular season on November 20th against Pensacola Christian at home. The schedule sees MC playing two games against Division I Univer-sity of New Orleans, hosting the Privateers on November 22nd. With a tough schedule right out of the gate, the Choctaws will have little time to figure out their most potent lineup. The ASC is a league that continues to improve, and MC will have to work quickly to stay on top of the stand-ings, where they have been since the inception of the conference. Coach Lofton is a proven winner that will have to incorporate the re-turners with the incoming talent to keep the “Golden Dome” rocking in 2010-11. - MSM

KeLVIN LeSter



MillsapsMAJORS

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 12-14; 8-8 SCAC HEAD COACH: TIM WISE (7TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer

12 @SWLouisiana

16 DILLARDUNIV.

19 PENSACOLA

CHRISTIAN

23 UNIV.OFDALLAS

28 @Huntingdon

College

DeCeMBer

3 AUSTINCOL.

5 COLORADOCOL.

13 LaGRANGECOL.

17 HENDRIXCOL.

18 @RhodesCol.

30 MISS.COLLEGE*

30 RUSTCOLLEGE*

JANUAry

7 @TrinityUniv.

9 @SouthwesternU.

14 @DePauwUniv.

16 @CentreCol.

21 BIRMINGHANSO.

23 RHODESCOL.

28 @OglethorpeU.

30 @Sewanee

FeBrUAry

4 TRINITYUNIV.

5 SOUTHWESTERNU.

8 COVENANTCOL.

12 @HendrixCol.

18 @AustinCol.

20 @ColoradoCol.

25-27SCACTournament*MillsapsNewYear’sClassic

Loss of key players from last season may hinder Majors success in 2010-11

M illsaps is looking to im-prove upon their suc-cess late at the end of

last season’s 12-13 effort with an-other appearance in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. It will be challeng-ing, however, with the loss of graduated seniors Blake Mar-tinez, a second team All-SCAC selection, and Cameron Varnado

and Chris Ingle. The trio was re-sponsible for a full 58-percent of the Majors’ offensive output in 2009-10 with 840 points among them. With that much scoring to make up the Majors will have to look to a large core of sopho-mores and freshman to step up and fill the void. Quinn Lemieux, a forward out of Catholic High in

New Iberia, La., enters his sopho-more season after a breakout freshman campaign, for which he received votes in a tight race for SCAC Newcomer of the Year. As a freshman, Lemieux started 21 games for the Majors. He finished second on the team in rebounds at 121, just one board behind se-nior Cameron Varnado, and he scored 116 points for an average

By Mike NienaberMillsaps Sports Information

Photos courtesy Millspas Sports Information

QUINN LeMIeUX


ROSTERROSTERNOTAVAILABLEATPRESSTIME

of five rebounds and 4.8 points per game. He has a good eye for the ball, leading the team with 14 blocked shots and adding 14 steals for his efforts. Joining Lemieux in the front court will be junior Jeff Brown, a forward out of Marist High School in Atlanta. The absence of In-gle in the starting lineup should make more room for upperclassmen, like Brown, who saw an average of just seven minutes per game last year. In that time, however, he had a .632 shooting percentage and .750 from the free throw line. Major fans will have to wait and see if Brown can step up and make the most of his opportunities on the freshman and sophomore heavy roster. Aaron Caldwell, a forward from across the Pond in London, should also compete for minutes right away with Brown. The British sophomore averaged nine minutes a game last season in limited opportunities, scoring 35 points on the year. Coach Wise has added five new freshmen to the mix at the forward position in the off-season to supplement his returners. Jer-emy McLemore (Shreveport, La./ C.E. Byrd High), Kyle Kinnear (Clearwater, Fla./Coun-tryside High School), Ryan Berger (Kenner, La./ Brother Martin High School), Jayson Montgomery (Humble, Texas/Humble High School), and Brandon Allison (Covington, La./Christ School) will all look to contribute in their first collegiate season.

Brian Merkle, a junior out of St. Michael the Archangel in Baton Rouge, La., is the only other returning player on the roster with sig-nificant starting experience. Merkle averaged 29 minutes a game last season, scoring 102 points and pulling in 71 rebounds. Merkle also adds solid defensive play into the lineup with 21 steals and two blocks last season. Brian was the teams’ leading assist-dealer last season with 70. He also went 62-of-79 from the foul line for a solid .785 percentage from the stripe, a driving factor in the Majors’ lead-ing that category last season in the SCAC with a team percentage of .730. The Majors’ lone senior this season is L.V. Sumler out of Flora, Miss and Hinds Com-munity College. In his first season as a Major, Sumler saw action in all 25 games, but did not break into the starting lineup. He did score 109 points, however, and pulled down 106 re-bounds off the bench. His 65 defensive boards helped the Majors to finish second in the SCAC last season in scoring defense. The Ma-jors allowed their opponents and average of just 60 points per game last season, and with so much of the offensive power a question mark this season, which will have to continue this year if the Majors hope to find success in conference.

Taking over point guard duties this season will be Ben Cooper, a junior out of Gunters-ville, Ala. Cooper averaged 11 minutes per game in the point last season and started five. He scored 110 points in his sophomore sea-son playing behind both Martinez and Varna-do. Other returners in the back court include sophomores Nick Cortese (Lafayette, La. / St. Thomas More), Drew Guidice (Tallahassee, Fla. / Maclay School), Taylor Meades (Walker, La. / Walker High School), and Tim White (Zachary, La. / Zachary High School), all of whom averaged single-digit playing times last season. Add freshmen Murray Kastner (Frisco, Texas / Frisco Centennial), Tyler Muzzi (Shaw, Miss. / North Sunflower Academy), and Ryan McKay (Atlanta / St. Pius X Catholic High School) to the mix of guards and the Majors will have plenty of competition for playing time this season. After leaning so heavily on Martinez and Varnado last season, the chance for any one of these guards to have breakout years is there for the taking. The Majors will open up play with Division I Southeastern Louisiana in an exhibition game in Hammond. The now annual contest is a good opportunity for the Majors to come up against competition that they are unlikely to see for the remainder of the season, provid-ing excellent preparation for the regular sea-son. Last year the Lions took an 81-49 win in a regular season contest. The Majors’ 25-game regular season sched-ule (14 home, 11 away) is marked by three back-to-back home games to open the regu-lar season against Dillard University, Pen-sacola Christian, and soon-to-be SCAC-rival in the University of Dallas all in the opening two weeks of the season before they head out to Montgomery to take on the always talented Huntingdon College Hawks. But, of course, all that serves as mere pre-amble to the brutal SCAC schedule which opens this year at home on December 3 as the Majors host the Austin College Kangaroos at 8:00 p.m. Major fans will remember that last year’s 60-56 win over Austin in the final game of the regular season punched the Majors’ ticket to the SCAC tournament. The Hangar Dome will once again serve as host for the SCAC Basketball Tournaments as the top Division III programs from around the Southeast will battle it out for the confer-ence’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. The eight team tour-nament will begin February 25 and continue through the 27th until both the men’s and women’s champions are crowned. This will be the second year in a row that Millsaps has hosted the tournament in Jackson. - MSM

BrIAN MerKLe



BelhavenBLAZERS

2010-11 SCHEDULE | 2009-10 RECORD: 24-10; 12-6 GCAC HEAD COACH: TOM KELSEY (6TH YEAR)

NoVeMBer6 @BlueMountain12 DILLARDUNIV.*13 TOUGALOO*16 BLUEMOUNTAIN19 @Truett-McConnell College20 @Emmanuel College30 PensacolaChristian College

DeCeMBer4 @Tougaloo11 PENSACOLA CHRISTIANCOLLEGE15 Miss.State**17 SHORTERUNIV.18 TXWESLEYANUNIV.30 Miss.College#31 MillsapsorRust#

JANUAry3 BellevueUniv.%4 Collegeofthe Ozarks%8 XAVIERUNIV.(LA.)13 @Auburn-Mont.15 UNIV.ofMOBILE20 @WilliamCarey22 @LoyolaUniv.(LA.)24 @DillardUniv.(LA.)27 FAULKNERUNIV.29 @SpringHill

FeBrUAry2 @XavierUniv.(LA.)5 AUBURN-MONT.10 @Univ.ofMobile12 WILLIAMCAREY17 LOYOLAUNIV.(LA.)19 @Faulkner24 SPRINGHILL

MArCH2-5 SSACTourney*Coachesvs.CancerClassic**MSColiseum#MillsapsHoildayClassic%CollegeofOzarksTourney

Blazers look to repeat last seasons success with another run at the title

The Belhaven men’s basket-ball team turned in a his-toric 2009-10 season that

saw the team break the school record for most wins in a season with 24. The Blazers also headed

to Kansas City to participate in the Buffalo Funds NAIA Na-tional Tournament for the first time since 1972. Belhaven com-pleted the season with an over-all record of 24-10 and finished

in a three way tie for second place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with Tougaloo Col-lege and William Carey Univer-sity. The Blazers made a strong GCAC Tournament run losing

By Kirk McDonnellBelhaven Sports Information

Photos courtesy Belhaven Sports Information

DetrICK JoHNSoN


ROSTERNO NAME POS HT/WT YR HOMETOWN(LASTSCHOOL)00 BBOBBY GRIER G 6-0 SR Atlanta, GA1 DARYL ARNOLD F 6-6 JR Jackson, MS2 ROB WALLACE G 6-0 SR New Orleans, LA3 ANDREW FORESTER F 6-3 FR Jackson, MS4 FOREST YARBROUGH G 6-4 FR Montgomery, AL5 MIKE RIVERS F 6-7 SO Tuscaloosa, AL10 WADE SCIONEAUX G 5-10 FR Grand Isle, LA11 NATHAN DAY G 6-1 FR Pensacola, FL12 JAYBRI WILLIAMS F 6-3 SO Vicksburg, MS21 BERNARD MALONE G 6-1 SO Houma, LA22 TERRENCE STRINGFELLOW C 6-8 SO Memphis, TN23 REINIS OZOLINS G 6-1 FR Latvia24 CHRIS COFIELD G 5-11 FR Omaha, NE30 STEPHEN COLLINS F 6-5 SO Pine Bluff, AR34 NATHANIEL ROCHE’ F 6-8 SR New Orleans, LA35 BRITTON SMITH F 6-5 JR Atlanta, GA42 DETRICK JOHNSON G 6-1 SR Clinton, MS45 LUKE ROGERS F 6-4 FR England50 RYAN MOODY G 6-0 FR Montgomery, AL

to LSU-Shreveport 101-94 in the champion-ship game after having completed the GCAC schedule with a 12-6 conference mark. “Our 2009-2010 was a special season for a lot of reasons,” said Head Coach Tom Kelsey. “We were able to set the school record for wins in a season and it was the first time back to the NAIA Division I National Tournament since 1972. Also we had some players that re-ally played well at key times during the year. We had a great group of seniors: Larell Bai-ley, John Jibol, AJ Taylor and Krayleon Win-ston that each made major contributions to our program.” Nathaniel Roch’e, a 6’8 senior forward from New Orleans, LA, led the Blazers dur-ing the 2009-10 season averaging 13.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and is a key re-turner for the 2010-11 season. Roch’e hit just over 56.5 percent of his field goal shots in 2009-10. Roch’e was fourth in the GCAC in field goal percentage at 56.5 percent and is fourth in the league in rebounds per game at 8.1 for the season. Roch’e was an NAIA Hon-orable Mention All-American Selection and will once again anchor the Belhaven front court in 2010-11. Belhaven added four new front court play-ers in the offseason that will come in and make an immediate impact. Daryl Arnold, a 6’6 junior forward transfer from the Uni-versity of Southern Mississippi is very ver-satile and will be one of the best athletes in the SSAC. He can play any position on the court and always comes to work hard. He played for Wayne Brent in high school at Piney Wood and then attended Southeastern Louisiana where he averaged seven points per game and three rebounds per game as a freshman. He transferred to Southern Miss where he was redshirted by rule for one year and played last year. The Blazer coaching staff feels like Arnold has the potential to make a major impact this season. Brittion Smith is another key offseason acquisition by the Blazers. Smith is a 6’5 ju-nior forward transfer from NCAA Division II Mars Hill. Smith is a big time athlete that rebounds the ball well and is tremendous at scoring in transition. He played at East Mis-sissippi CC before transferring to Mars Hill and averaged eight points and 3.5 rebounds per game while playing in 18 games and starting 16 of those contests. Stephan Collins, a 6’5 sophomore forward transfer from Arkansas Pine Bluff, will pro-vide help on the wing and in the post this year. Collins is a great athlete that can re-ally defend and rebound. He saw action in 29 games last year for Arkansas Pine-Bluff, a team that won the SWAC and played even-tual National Champion Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. He played 16 minutes at Kansas State where he scored six points. Jaybri Williams, a 6’3 sophomore for-ward transfer from Wesley College, has great

bounce and may be the best jumper on the team. Williams has a chance to develop into a great player for the Blazer program. He has a good jump shot and can rebound well for his size. Belhaven will have three key players re-turning for the 2010-11 season in the back-court. Bobby Grier, a 6’0 guard from Atlanta, GA, will be a senior and averaged 6.1 points per game last season and led the team in assists with 112. Rob Wallace, a 6’0 senior guard from New Orleans, LA, averaged 10.8 points per game last year and was second on the team in assists with 90. Detrick Johnson, a 6’1 guard from Clinton, MS, is back for his senior season after averaging 3.2 points per game in 2010-11. Johnson’s strength is on defense as he came up with a team best 62 steals last year. Belhaven welcomes four talented new-comers to the backcourt this season to join Grier, Johnson, and Wallace. The first is Ber-nard Malone, a 6’1 sophomore guard trans-fer from Louisiana Tech University. Malone has a great deal of raw basketball talent and is very skilled with the dribble and has a good feel for the offensive end of the floor. Bernard has not played in two years, but is starting to pick things up quickly and the coaching staff believes he can have an impact on this year’s team. Chris Cofield, a freshman guard from Omaha, NE, has been incredibly solid dur-ing the preseason and has a great feel for the game. The coaches have been impressed at how well he does running the team on the break. Luke Rogers, a 6-4 freshman guard from England is another exciting young player for the Blazers. Rogers is strong, can shoot the ball, rebounds well, and can run the point guard position at times. Forest Yar-

brough, a freshman guard from Montgom-ery, AL, has tremendous potential for the Blazers as well and Coach Kelsey feels like he has a chance to set some records before his career is over. Forrest is a big time shooter, is fearless and very dangerous if he is able to get a good look at the rim. Belhaven will transition to the Southern States Athletic Conference in 2010-11 after being longtime members of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. Four other former GCAC schools also made the transition to the new league including the University of Mobile, Loyola University of New Orleans, Spring Hill College, and William Carey Uni-versity. These schools along with Faulkner University and Auburn-Montgomery will make up the West Division of the SSAC. Belhaven should be strong once again with three experienced guards returning to the back court along with Roche’ in the post. “Coach John Aiken and I are very excited about the 2010-2011 season,” says Coach Kelsey. “With this past season’s success we feel that our recruiting has gone well. We head into a new conference, the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC), which will be one of the toughest NAIA leagues in the country. Our schedule is going to give us some good challenges in the non-conference part of the schedule. We still have some of the former GCAC members (Dillard, Touga-loo and Xavier) on our schedule and hope to keep those rivalries going.” Belhaven will open the regular season on Saturday November 6th when they travel to Blue Mountain College for a 3:00 PM tipoff. The Blazers will play their home opener on Friday November 12th against Dillard Uni-versity in the Coaches versus Cancer Classic tournament starting at 8:00 PM. - MSM


MSM E G G B O W L

EGG BOWL FLASHBACK:

BOND vs.FOURCADE

STORY BY PAUL JONES • PHOTOS COURTESY MISS. STATE & OLE MISS SPORTS INFORMATION

Over the past century, the Egg Bowl has produced life-long memories for players, coaches and fans alike at Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Two former participants definitely enjoyed their share and they happen to share

the same first name and position - former Ole Miss quarterback John Fourcade and former MSU quarterback John Bond.

JOHN BOND AND JOHN FOURCADE TALK ABOUT THEIR EGG BOWL MATCH-UPS IN THE 80’s


Fourcade played at Ole Miss from 1979-82 and helped direct the Rebels to three wins in four Egg Bowl contests. And Bond, who played at MSU from 1980-83, led the Bulldogs to a pair of Egg Bowl triumphs. While both were on opposite sides, they both understood the importance of that week within the Magnolia State. But it is also talked about the other 51 weeks of the year. “I grew up in Starkville and lived there until I was nine years old,” said Bond. I lived beside (former MSU basketball coach) Kermit Davis so I would still come back to basketball camps. Folks were either talking about the Egg Bowl that just happened or the one coming up. “Being part of it as a quarterback was huge. You sure didn’t want to go out there and make a fool of yourself. I remember my first Egg Bowl and that there was a lot of pressure. We were in a brand-new offense (wishbone) that year. I played receiver mostly in high school so I was still getting my feet wet. It was nerve-racking that week and a lot of hype that week. Coach (Emory) Bellard tried to keep it like a normal game but it is

hard to do that with the Egg Bowl.” Unlike Bond, Fourcade did not grow up in Mississippi. But he was quickly educated on the importance of beating the Bulldogs and the heated rivalry. “To be honest, I didn’t think much about my first Egg Bowl,” said Fourcade. “Being from New Orleans, I knew nothing of the Egg Bowl. When I was growing up and heard of the Egg Bowl, I said ‘what the heck is an Egg Bowl?’. I wondered how they came up with that name and wondered who got what if they won that game.” “So my first year, I thought it was just another game. But my teammates told me quickly it wasn’t that way. I soon found out after that first game of the hatred between the two schools.” Of course, in the SEC, Ole Miss and MSU had other rivals within the league. So being hated was kind of the norm, Fourcade added. “I’m not sure how John (Bond) felt back then, but when I was playing at Ole Miss a lot of other teams hated us,” said Fourcade. “Tennessee, LSU, Florida and Alabama all hated us, too. LSU and Ole Miss fans hate each other. I never knew why they hated us so much but whatever rival we were playing that week, that was our biggest rivalry game of that week. But you get up for all those rivalry games and granted, our biggest rivalry game was that last one we played every year.”

Of course, decades ago, most of the players on both sidelines were familiar with each other and their families. Often times, former high school teammates would quickly become fierce rivals and suited up in the red and blue or the maroon and white. “I think it was heated a lot because a lot of guys played high school ball against each other,” recalled Bond. “So the history was already there before you went to college. Then when out-of-state guys came in, they quickly learned early on and picked up their intensity with that game. Then after your four years come and go, that feeling lingers with you and remains with the guys coming in.” Obviously, that dislike of each other is also evident among the fan bases. “Players come and go but fans don’t,” said Fourcade. “You got eight-year-old kids hating Mississippi State folks that Egg Bowl week. Go down to Jackson and you have 60 or 70-year olds hating Mississippi State or Ole Miss that week. For whatever reason, it’s just the nature of the game.

There is no intentional harm with it and without the fans, there is no football. That is what makes the Egg Bowl special, too.” And Bond agreed. “I actually think the bad blood is more so with fans,” Bond said. “As a player, you do treat it more than just another game. But fans also know there is something extra behind it. You have to listen to all that crap if you lose and nobody wants to do that. It’s not like losing to Auburn or Alabama. If you lose those games, you just go back home and you don’t hear much about it. “But if you lose the Egg Bowl, you are already back home and you will hear it (laughing).” During their playing careers, the Egg Bowl was always held at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson. So Bond nor Fourcade got the chance to play on the campus of their rival, something that is an annual event today. “I would have loved to had that opportunity and it adds more to the game now,” said Bond. “But back then, neither school had a stadium that could compete with Jackson and hold that many people. But now both schools have stadiums that hold close to or over 60,000 fans. But when we played, Jackson had a bigger venue and the schools could make more money.

“I actually think the bad blood is more so with fans,” Bond says. “As a player, you

do treat it more than just another game. But fans also

know there is something extra behind it. You have to listen

to all that crap if you lose and nobody wants to do that. It’s not like losing to Auburn or Alabama. If you lose those

games, you just go back home and you don’t hear much

about it. “But if you lose the Egg Bowl, you are already

back home and you will hear it (laughing).”


sticks in your craw, especially with that official apologized later for that call, sent a letter of apology to Coach Bellard and then retired from officiating. “I like to tell people I won four Egg Bowls and lost two of them (laughing). We had that horrible call and then the wind-blown field goal deal my senior year.” But Bond added that questionable call should have never decided the fate of that outcome. “Coach Bellard didn’t say much after that game but you could see that it was eating him up,” said Bond. “He said ‘well, that’s the way the ball bounces’ but you knew he was upset about that call. But as players, we knew we should have been out in front enough to where it didn’t matter. You could never count Ole Miss out and we gave them their shot and they took it.” Which Fourcade did despite Ole Miss lining up in the wrong formation. “Another thing that isn’t talked about that much was the penalty State got for kicking the ball,” said Fourcade. “After that penalty in the end

zone, one of their guys kicked the ball out of frustration and the ball got moved to the one-yard line from the two. “And it is funny now because it worked, but we lined up in the wrong formation on that touchdown. We didn’t have a tight end on one side and the guy flanked out wide. We ran the 38-option goal line but we still walked in. I remember before that play walking to the sideline saying ‘this is the end for me and no one is touching the ball but me’.” As noted, Fourcade made the most of the opportunity, and walked off the field that day in Jackson with the Egg Bowl Trophy lifted high above his head. He began his college career knowing little of the Egg Bowl but exited the rivalry with a great understanding of that game. As have many before him and as many will after him. “In my eyes, hell yea it was pass interference,” said Fourcade with a laugh. “But maybe that official was an Ole Miss fan and gave us one. But the question we need to ask John Bond is why their coach kicked a field goal and left me 30 seconds (laughing). I was happy they kicked that field goal on third down and that was actually one of the biggest mistakes of the game. I know coaches sometimes kick it on third down in case something happens instead of kicking it on fourth down. But it came back to haunt them.” - MSM

“But it was still a lot of fun going to Jackson and playing in front of 65,000 people. I believe either the 1980 or 1981 game is still one of the largest crowds ever to see an athletic event in the state.” Naturally, Fourcade and Bond had fond and successful memories of their days performing in the Egg Bowl. For Bond, his first-ever Egg Bowl experience sticks out to him when the Bulldogs won 19-14. Bond also recalls his junior year at MSU when the Bulldogs capped off the year with a 27-10 victory over the Rebels. “The first one would be my favorite memory,” said Bond. “Then I would I would say my junior year would be the next one. We had a great offense my junior year and I think it’s still the most productive offense in school history. On the second series of the game, I took one for about 65 yards and we just moved the ball at will that game.” And contrastingly, Fourcade’s favorite Egg Bowl was actually his last one and rightfully so. After all, he scored the game-winning touchdown on the final play from scrimmage to give Ole Miss a 21-17 victory. “Whether you are playing high school, college or in the NFL, you

always dream of making that play to win the game with no time left on the clock,” said Fourcade. “So that one sticks out. It was a great way to end my college career, walking in for that touchdown on my final college play for the Ole Miss Rebels. “And that season, we had lost some close ones and things didn’t work out as we planned. It was the end for us seniors and we just put everything together in that last game. We gave it all we had for 60 minutes while Mississippi State only played for 59 minutes and 30 seconds. A lot of folks don’t remember that but Mississippi State decided to kick a field goal and left me 30 seconds on the clock. That was plenty of time for us.” Of course, Bond has a different take on that Egg Bowl in 1981, as do fans from both sides and it’s an argument that still lasts today. Before Fourcade and the Rebels got in position for the game-winning touchdown, pass interference was called on the Bulldogs in their own end zone, and set the stage for Fourcade’s heroics on the next play. “Believe it or not, that pass interference is the first thing I think of when someone says Egg Bowl,” said Bond with a laugh. “Our guy never touched the receiver and that was awful. But the reason it sticks out is because we had three plays that year that lost three games for us - Ole Miss, Alabama and Southern Miss. We could have won 10 games that year. So that really

“In my eyes, hell yea it was pass interference,” says Fourcade laughing. “But

maybe that official was an Ole Miss fan and gave us one. But the question we need to ask John Bond is why their coach

kicked a field goal and left me 30 seconds (laughing). I was happy they kicked that

field goal on third down and that was actually one of the

biggest mistakes of the game. I know coaches sometimes

kick it on third down in case something happens instead of kicking it on fourth down. But it came back to haunt them.”


58 - MISSISSIPPI SPORTS MAGAZINE Born

REa

dySave Lives.

Protect the Environment.

Defend your country.

Are you Ready?

Boatswain’s Mate (BM)

Gunner’s Mate (GM)

Operations Specialist (OS)

Damage Controlman (DC)

Electrician’s Mate (EM)

Electronics Technician (ET)

Information System Technician (IT)

Intelligence Specialist (IS)

Machinery Technician (MK)

Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT)

Aviation Survival Technician (AST)

Avionics Electrical Technician (AET)

Food Service Specialist (FS)

Health Services Technician (HS)

Marine Science Technician (MST)

Public Affairs Specialist (PA)

Storekeeper (SK)

Yeoman (YN)

Investigator (IV)

Port Security Specialist (PS) Aviation

Computer Engineering

Computer Science

Command and Control

Electrical Engineering

Electronics Engineering

Engineering

Engineering Management

Information Technology

Industrial Management

Information Resource Management

Information Technology Management

Intelligence

Law

Marine Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Network Engineering

Naval Architecture

Naval Engineering

Software Engineering

Systems Engineering

Telecommunications Engineering

Telecommunications Management

Documents

MSM 2010-11 Basketball Issue