Mississippi Today

Opinions on State’s hire of Lebby, on Kiffin, on USM keeping Hall, and the Conerly Trophy

Published

6 months ago

November 27, 2023

Staff Editor

So much happening in Mississippi sports and so much upon which to comment. Here goes:

Mississippi State hired Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as its head coach.

No big surprise here, at least not on this end. Lebby's name came to mind immediately two weeks ago when Zach Arnett was dismissed. Why? Number one, given this year's struggles, you had to figure State would go offense, and Lebby's track record as an offensive coordinator is most impressive.

Secondly, Zac Selmon, the man doing the hiring, came to State from Oklahoma so there was a relationship there. And, thirdly, the best coaching hire State has made in recent history was surely Dan Mullen, a successful offensive coordinator at the time of his hiring.

Lebby, a 39-year-old native Texan, strikes me as a solid hire who could well turn out to be splendid head coach.That said, he faces a massive roster overhaul, not to mention a 2024 schedule that will include these eight SEC games: Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas.

True, with the portal and NIL, you can overhaul a college football roster more quickly than ever before. But keep in mind, where the NIL is concerned, State will be bidding for talent against many of the same schools listed in that previous paragraph, not to mention Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma and others.

Put it this way: Nick Saban — or Knute Rockne, or Bear Bryant, or Steve Spurrier — would have a difficult time dealing with what Lebby must deal with in the coming months and years.

Ole Miss finished 10-2, Lane Kiffin's second 10-victory season in three years and his fourth double-digit win season in his last seven years as a head coach.

Kiffin is now 33-15 overall and 20-13 in the SEC at Ole Miss. No Rebel coach since John Vaught has been so successful.

And yet the Rebels, losers to only Alabama and Georgia this season, are ranked behind Missouri, also 10-2, in the College Football Playoff rankings and therefore the bowls' pecking order. Can someone please explain? I cannot.

Yes, Missouri played Georgia a lot closer than Ole Miss. But the better comparison is this: Both Missouri and Ole Miss both played home games against LSU. LSU beat Missouri 49-39 Ole Miss beat LSU 55-49. Non-conference? Ole Miss's 10-2 record also includes a 37-20 road victory at Tulane, the Green Wave's only defeat. On the same Saturday Ole Miss was handing Tulane its only loss in its last 16 games, Missouri was winning 23-19 against Middle Tennessee State, which finished 4-8. Missouri has not beaten a Top 25 team, while Ole Miss is 10-2 against a schedule that is among the nation's most difficult.

Just don't see how Missouri rates ahead of Ole Miss, who might be relegated to a non-New Years Six bowl because of it.

Southern Miss finished 3-9, and Will Hall kept his job but dismissed three assistant coaches.

I'd have kept Hall, too, and I'll tell you why. Southern Miss played its best football the last month of the season after losing seven straight games. Much like his first USM team in 2021, Hall's Golden Eagles continued to play hard in the face of extreme adversity. Too, he appears to have recruited well if he can hold the current class together.

Patience has been rewarded before at USM. Bobby Collins was 2-9 in his second season in Hattiesburg. Two of Jeff Bower's first three Golden Eagles teams had losing records. And it has become increasingly apparent in recent years that Bower deserves a statue in the USM football complex.

Back to Hall: USM's biggest of several issues in his three years has been the lack of competent quarterback play. True freshman Ethan Crawford showed some promise late this season and incoming freshman John White (Madison Ridgeland Academy) is as accurate a high school passer as these eyes have seen. They would appear to be USM's — and Hall's — future.

Delta State's dream season – and Patrick Shegog's brilliant Statesmen career – ended with a playoff loss to Valdosta State.

Valdosta scored the game's last 10 points in the last three minutes for a 38-31 victory and avenged an earlier 49-25 home loss to Delta State.

The Division II playoffs lend much credence to the old adage that it's really difficult to beat a really good team twice in the same season. In the first round, Delta State avenged its only regular season loss to West Florida. In the second round, the Statesmen were defeated at home by a team they beat soundly on the road back in October. Still, Todd Cooley's Statesmen has won back to back Gulf South Conference championships, no small feat.

Quinshon Judkins or Shegog?

The C Spire Conerly Trophy will be awarded Tuesday night at Country Club of Jackson, and it appears a two-horse race. Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins, last year's winner as a freshman, and Shegog, the former South Panola star, are far and away the leading candidates. Judkins rushed for 1,054 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore after rushing for 1,567 yards and 16 TDs last year. Shegog accounted for 41 touchdowns — 32 passing and nine rushing — this season. The most eye-popping Shegog stat: 32 passing touchdowns vs. two interceptions.

No doubt, Judkins has far more professional football potential. Indeed, his punishing running style reminds this writer so much of the great Walter Payton. But this award is not about pro football potential as the note that accompanied the ballots states: “You should choose the nominees who have made the most impact for their team during the 2023 season. Do not take into consideration their NFL prospects, only their collegiate play for the 2023 complete regular season.”

Regardless, either Shegog or Judkins would be a worthy Conerly winner.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur

Published

12 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Vickie King – 2024-05-17 11:53:33

Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…

“I gotta get out of these woods.”

She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.

“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”

A variety of soaps created by Renada Stovall. Stovall is a chemist who creates all natural skin and hair care products using natural ingredients.

In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.

Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.

Renada Stovall, owner of Nadabutter, selling her all-natural soaps and balms at the Clinton Main Street Market: Spring into Green, in April of this year.

Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.

“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”

Soap mixture is poured into a mold to cure. Once cured, the block with be cut into bars of soap.

Renada Stovall, making cold process soap at her home.

Renada Stovall adds a vibrant gold to her soap mixture.

Tumeric soap created by Nadabutter owner, Renada Stovall.

Soap infused with honey. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1954

Published

17 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-05-17 07:00:00

MAY 17, 1954

Ella J. Rice talks to one of her pupils, all of them white, in a third grade classroom of Draper Elementary School in Washington, D.C., on September 13, 1954. This was the first day of non-segregated schools for teachers and students. Rice was the only Black teacher in the school. Credit: AP photo

In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.

The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.

In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Every university but Delta State to increase tuition this year

Published

17 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Molly Minta – 2024-05-17 06:30:00

Every university in Mississippi is increasing tuition in the fall except for Delta State University.

The new rates were approved by the governing board of the eight universities, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Thursday.

The average cost of tuition in Mississippi is now $8,833 a year, a roughly 3% increase from last year. Students can expect to pay tuition ranging from $7,942 a year at Mississippi Valley State University to $10,052 a year at Mississippi State University.

In recent years, universities have cited inflation and rising insurance costs as reasons for the tuition increases. At Thursday's meeting, the board heard a presentation on how property insurance is becoming more expensive for the eight universities as Mississippi sees more tornadoes and storms with severe wind and hail.

But it's an ongoing trend. Mississippi's public universities have steadily increased tuition since 2000, putting the cost of college increasingly out of reach for the average Mississippi family. More than half of Mississippi college students graduated with an average of $29,714 in student debt in 2020, according to the Institution for College Access and Success.

At Delta State University, the president, Daniel Ennis, announced that he will attempt to avoid tuition increases as the regional college in the Mississippi Delta undergoes drastic budget cuts in an effort to become more financially sustainable.

“We will resist tuition increases so that our most economically vulnerable students can continue to have access to the opportunities that a college degree can provide,” he wrote in a memo to faculty and staff on Monday. “We will move beyond basic survival and into a place where we have the capacity to take better advantage of our undeniable strengths.”

Delta State didn't increase tuition last year, either. Officials have been concerned the university is becoming too pricey for the students it serves.

Tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, by school: