College football season is just around the corner as all the various major conferences will begin Conference Media Days this week in earnest. The Big 12 rolled out their head coaches last week while the SEC, Big 10, ACC and Conference USA will begin this week. The SEC will begin on Monday in Hoover at the Wynfrey Hotel. The SEC office sent out a press release last week that basically discouraged fans from attending due to possible COVID issues. Ole Miss will be on stage on Tuesday, and head coach Lane Kiffin and quarterback Matt Corral will join defensive back Jaylon Jones at the media circus. Mississippi State will be on stage on Wednesday as head coach Mike Leach joins linebacker Aaron Brule and wide out Austin Williams in Hoover. Southern Mississippi will hit the Conference-USA stage on Thursday as Southern Mississippi head coach Will Hall will join the C-USA zoom event on Thursday.
The Tokyo Olympics will be held without fans when it begins this Friday, July 23. Mississippi will be well represented at this year’s games. Six Mississippi State Bulldogs will be competing as Erica Bougard (heptathlon) and Curtis Thompson (javelin) will represent the USA. Anderson Peters (javelin) will represent his home country of Grenada. Marta Pen Freita (1500m) will represent Portugal while Brandon McBride (800m) and Marco Arop (indoor 800m) will both represent Canada. Five Ole Miss Rebels will be competing as Sam Kendricks (pole vault), Ali Weisz (women’s rifle), Brittney Reese (long jump), Raven Saunders (shot put) will represent the USA while Ole Miss women's soccer player Rafaelle Souza will represent her native country of Brazil in the games. Jackson State’s alum Anaso Jobodwana (200m) will represent South Africa while current JSU freshman Adell Colthrust will compete in the 4x100 meter relay while representing Trinidad and Tobago. Pass Christian’s Cory McGee (women’s 1500m) and Abbeville’s Shelby McEwen (high jump) will also compete for the USA. Wayne County native Jeffery Mays will also be part of the USA delegation heading to Tokyo as he will be part of the coaching staff for the Team USA Boxing squad.
Football Notes
A Florida business owned by a longtime University of Miami fan has committed to a large financial deal for Hurricanes football players to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). That comes on the heel of the NCAA new NIL rules that passed in many states on July 1. American Top Team, a chain of mixed arts gyms, is offering each player $500 a month to the 90 scholarship players for advertising the guys on social media -- worth $540,000 if every player signs on. Owner Dan Lambert told Rivals.com that he wants Miami to be the NIL “U”.
JCGridiron “Dirty 30” Preseason Football Rankings were released earlier in the month, and Mississippi, as usual, was well represented. Northwest tabbed as the No. 1 team entering the season over Hutchinson, Kansas. East Mississippi came in at fourth followed by Gulf Coast (7th), Jones (13th), Northeast (15th), Hinds (24th) and Coahoma (28th). The regular season begins on Thursday, September 2.
Alcorn State football is ranked 21st in the preseason HERO sports Top 25 poll.
Baseball Notes
The only Mississippi high school baseball player drafted in the MLB draft was Magee’s shortstop Brennon McNair by the Kansas City Royals in the 11th round.
Jackson’s Con Maloney was named the Rube Award recipient from the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame this past week. The Rube Award is named after Michael Rubenstein, the first director of the Sports Hall of Fame. The award is presented to the person that is most heavily involved in improving sports within the state of Mississippi.
Basketball Notes
Mississippi Scoreboard reported that the NYTimes.com just produced a documentary of former Delta State basketball great Lucy Harris. The Minter City native led DSU to three straight national titles (75-77), won an Olympic medal and was the first female inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The NBA New Orleans Jazz also drafted her in 1977.
Dale is a Waynesboro native who has been writing sports since 1973.
