Starkville High expected to name former principal AD

STARKVILLE — Starkville High School will look to its past for a new athletic director.

Former SHS principal and current Arkansas High School administrator Dr. Stan Miller has been selected by Starkville School District Superintendent Judy Couey to replace Bill Lee, whose retirement becomes effective at the end of the school year.

New Hope Trojans, Lady Trojans rally for division titles

SALTILLO — A 14-point deficit couldn’t keep the New Hope Trojans from claiming their sixth-straight division championship Friday.

A a furious second-half rally propelled New Hope past Oxford 66-56 in the championship game of the MHSAA Class 5A, Division 2 Tournament. 

The Trojans hit a low point in the second quarter when the Chargers extended their lead 30-18, but New Hope coach Drew McBrayer’s squad wasn’t about to throw a wrench in tradition.

Powers back for final season at MSU

STARKVILLE — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss is the Mississippi State baseball team’s gain.

Most draft eligible juniors who are selected in the 11th round or higher of the Major League Baseball amateur draft take the money and turn pro.

That wasn’t the case for Connor Powers, who turned down a chance to work his way through the Dodgers minor league system and a shot at the big time to return to Year 2 of John Cohen’s building plan at Mississippi State.

MSU snaps out of funk

STARKVILLE — With so much at stake Thursday night, the Mississippi State Bulldogs picked a good time to snap out of a funk.

After losing four-straight games on the road, the Bulldogs got 18 points from guard Ravern Johnson and held the Ole Miss Rebels to 38 percent shooting from the field to post a 71-63 Southeastern Conference win at Humphrey Coliseum.

Mississippi State (17-7, 5-4 SEC) moved into second place behind Arkansas in the SEC Western Division with the victory.

Cohen anxious to see how MSU takes shape

STARKVILLE — Just one week away from opening day, Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen is anxious to see how his team takes shape.

With a recruiting class ranked eighth-best in the nation by Baseball America, Cohen and his staff reeled in some of the best pitching prospects in hopes of shoring up the biggest weak spot of the Bulldogs’ 25-29 campaign in 2009.

Cohen spoke at length about the new look of his team during a preseason press conference Thursday. Words like “exciting” and “potential” were used to describe the squad he’ll send out next Friday in the season-opener against Rhode Island.

MSU track gets results in recruiting

STARKVILLE — Building on last year’s success, Al Schmidt and the Mississippi State track teams have seen immediate results on the recruiting trail.

MSU’s men added another top-notch sprinter this week with the signing of Alabama prep sprinter James Harris.

Harris won the open 400-meter event at the 2009 Junior Olympics and chose MSU over Texas A&M and LSU.

MSU also added seven distance runners to the fold Wednesday, including Alabama Gatorade Cross Country Athlete of the Year Nathan Lewis, who won three state titles in his prep career.

MSU men look for repeat against Ole Miss

STARKVILLE — Back home after playing four of its past five games on the road, the Mississippi State men’s basketball team faces desperate times.

During that span MSU (16-7, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) has lost four games — all on the road — ahead of a tip at 8 tonight against the University of Mississippi (17-6, 5-4) at Humphrey Coliseum.

Volunteers’ unbeaten run ends

STARKVILLE — Jackson Prep’s boys soccer team showed no signs of being an underdog Wednesday in its first-round Mississippi Association of Independent School’s playoff tie against No. 1 seed Starkville Academy, allowing just one shot on goal and dismantling the previously unbeaten Volunteers 5-0.

SEC East has glaring edge against West

A season ago, the Southeastern Conference had three teams make the men’s NCAA tournament.

A stacked SEC East may change that this season.

With Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all ranked in the top 25 of the ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls, the East is in decent shape to send three, maybe more, to the tournament.

The disparity between the East and West this season is glaring, as the East holds a 17-4 edge against West opponents this season. Plus, all of the SEC’s ranked teams are in the East.

Starkville Academy favored to win state soccer championship

STARKVILLE — There isn’t much left for Starkville Academy’s soccer team to do this season besides hoisting the state championship trophy.

At 10-0 and with a plus-47 goal differential this season, the Volunteers enter today’s Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA playoff tie against Jackson Prep (11-7) as favorites. The No. 1-seeded Vols have mowed through opponents and closed tight games this season, putting down more expectations to bring the program its first piece of hardware since the 2005 squad topped the then-MPSA ranks.

The anticipation leading up to today’s 3 p.m. kickoff at the Starkville Sportsplex hasn’t rattled the team down the stretch. Artie Cosby’s squad is built around nine seniors, which is why he feels his team needs no talking to about avoiding a letdown.

Mullen enjoys opportunity at CAFB

Building Mississippi State University football never stops for Dan Mullen, not even thousands of feet in the air.

MSU men will try to end slide

STARKVILLE — Another Rick Stansbury media gathering went by Monday with the Mississippi State University men’s basketball coach feeling pretty much the same about his team’s progression and the tools he has to work with.

MSU petitions NCAA to reinstate Sidney

STARKVILLE –– With Friday’s revelation that Mississippi State will petition for Renardo Sidney’s reinstatement instead of appealing the NCAA’s findings on the freshman forward’s amateur status, all that’s left now is for the NCAA to decide what Sidney’s punishment will be.

First reported by The Clarion Ledger on Friday, Don Jackson said MSU has moved forward by petitioning the NCAA to reinstate its McDonald’s High School All-American.

Mississippi State associate athletic director for compliance Bracky Brett declined comment Saturday.

Starkville staves off rally by Noxubee County

MACON — The Starkville High School girls basketball team avoided an upset Friday, staving off a fourth quarter rally by Noxubee County for a 53-37 win.

Starkville’s Shay Bonner led all scorers with 17 points, while teammate Kala Williams finished with 10.

The Lady Jackets entered the game a day after dropping a one-point district home loss to South Panola.

MSU puts emphasis on recruiting in state

STARKVILLE — Some folks might differ about the talent in the state of Mississippi, but that suits Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen just fine.

Even though rival Ole Miss and MSU virtually split the state’s top 10 recruits, Mullen stepped to the podium Wednesday at the Bryan Athletic Building and repeated what he said at this time last year.

“For the second year in a row we’ve recruited 16 high school players from the state of Mississippi, which is more than Southern Miss and the school up north (Ole Miss) combined this year,” Mullen said. “That’s the foundation of our program, recruiting high school players from the state of Mississippi.”

Next move in Sidney case in MSU’s court

STARKVILLE –– The next step in the Renardo Sidney case is in Mississippi State’s court.

Thursday, Sidney attorney Don Jackson forwarded the AMA’s analysis of the NCAA’s Fact Finding Committee’s conclusion.

Though most of the findings resulted in what Jackson estimated to be “less than $1,000,” his concern over his client being pegged with a violation of NCAA Bylaw 10.1-(d) was evident when reached Thursday for comment.

MSU’s Dudy Gras taken to new level this year

STARKVILLE –– Dudy Gras just keeps getting bigger, and Mississippi State baseball John Cohen is enjoying every minute of it. 

The annual parade celebrates the start of MSU’s baseball season, but organizers have taken it to a new level for this year’s edition. 

In addition to the annual parade that’s marched through Starkville and to Left Field Lounge at Dudy Noble Field, there will be a first-ever Dudy Gras Ball at the conclusion of “Eight Days of Dudy Gras” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn.

MSU track has high hopes with core of All-Americans

STARKVILLE — With a core group of All-Americans, the Mississippi State men’s track team is all about exposure these days.

After a nationally televised 4×400-meter relay win (3 minutes, 19.44 seconds) at the

Millrose Games on Jan. 29, the Bulldogs made a statement for the upcoming Southeastern Conference season.

With a potential Top 10 team and six All-Americans, though, MSU coach Al Schmidt is thinking on a grander scale.

Mullen fills OL needs

STARKVILLE — A National Signing Day surge saw the Mississippi State University football team land the state’s top offensive lineman and snag two more from other programs.

Sanders, Tigers announce college plans

MACON — Vincent Sanders is set to join a fellow Noxubee County High School playmaker in Oxford, while seven of his teammates are headed to junior college power East Mississippi Community College.