Sports – Page 69 – The Mississippi Link

Jackson State hires Brent to lead program

Jackson State has hired Wayne Brent to be its men’s basketball coach.

The 45-year-old Brent is an accomplished high school coach, winning four state championships in six seasons with Callaway High School in Jackson. He was also an assistant coach at Mississippi for four seasons in the late 1990s and early 2000s, helping the Rebels advance to the NCAA tournament three times.

Brent was introduced on March 25, and will have a strong nucleus to work with next season, including guards Dundrecous Nelson (Ole Miss) and Julysses Nobles (Arkansas), who will both be eligible after transferring from the Southeastern Conference. He’ll also have several returning players from last year’s team that finished with an 11-18 record. […]

Ole Miss hires Kentucky women's assistant Insell

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Matt Insell, who has spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with the nationally-ranked University of Kentucky women’s basketball program, has been named head coach of the Ole Miss women’s basketball team, athletics director Ross Bjork announced.

Insell has helped guide Kentucky to four 20-win seasons and four trips to the NCAA Tournament in his time in Lexington. The Wildcats have ended the last three seasons ranked in the top-25 and are currently ranked No. 7 heading into the team’s Sweet Sixteen game Saturday.

Insell, who was responsible for the guards while also having recruiting and player development duties, served as the top assistant coach and helped UK ink three top-10 recruiting classes and seven McDonald’s All-Americans. […]

Southern Miss tops Charleston Southern, 78-71

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Jonathan Mills tried to put away Charleston Southern. So did Neil Watson. Neither could do it.

Instead, it was four points in the final 20 seconds from unheralded Rashard McGill that gave Southern Miss a 78-71 victory over Charleston Southern in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The victory snapped a nine-game postseason losing streak that dates back to 1988. McGill hit an 18-foot jumper and two free throws – his first and only four points of the game – in the most crucial possessions of the night to seal the victory. […]

MVSU moving home games to Greenville

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Mississippi Valley State will play the remainder of its home baseball games at Greenville’s Legion Field.

Athletic director Ashley Robinson says unsafe playing conditions at Valley’s field in Itta Bena prompted the decision.

Robinson says playing field is not suitable or safe enough to have baseball players risking a possible injury. […]

Mississippi's Johnson out with broken fibula

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Mississippi defensive end C.J. Johnson is out for the rest of spring practice after suffering a broken fibula in his right leg during Wednesday’s practice.

Johnson was expected to have surgery Thursday, according to school officials. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said Johnson’s recovery time is expected to be about three months.

The 6-foot-3, 233-pound junior played in all 13 games last season and led the Rebels with 61/2 sacks last season. […]

Freeze, Mississippi trying to keep momentum

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Most of the recent news about Mississippi’s football program relates to the surprising and star-studded recruiting class Hugh Freeze landed in February.

The second-year coach is excited about bringing in that new talent. But for the next month, he’s focused on improving what he already has on the roster as the Rebels go through spring practice. […]

JSU stadium could derail downtown arena plans

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Jackson State University’s recently announced plans to build a domed stadium could effectively kill an effort to build a downtown arena.

The city and other arena backers have spent or pledged $180,000 in recent years to study building an arena to host concerts, sporting events and other entertainment, The Clarion-Ledger reported.

The key factor in the city of Jackson supporting the university’s plans is that it would only have to pay $10 million toward the university stadium, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said. A feasibility study in January estimated that a 9,000-seat arena would cost the city $115 million. […]

Southern Miss on probation after NCAA sanctions

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The NCAA has put Southern Mississippi on four years of probation and given the men’s tennis program a one-year post-season ban after citing the school with failure to monitor the tennis program.

Two former Southern Miss tennis coaches were cited for unethical conduct after the NCAA said they promised impermissible benefits to athletes – including offering $5,000 and the use of a car to one athlete – and engaging in academic misconduct. The NCAA also ruled that one of the coaches asked a player to lie during the investigation. […]

Henderson imperfect poster boy for upstart Rebels

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The talkative and brash Marshall Henderson is the face of Mississippi’s basketball program.

Sometimes that’s good, sometimes it’s not so good.

His play and antics have led to plenty of attention for the No. 16 Rebels (17-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference), who face No. 8 Florida (17-2, 7-0) in Gainesville on Saturday in a matchup of the SEC’s two top-ranked teams.

Henderson has been so good during his first two months in the SEC that the 6-foot-2 junior has brought a rare spotlight to a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2002. He leads the conference in scoring at 19.3 points per game; he’s averaging more than 21 in SEC contests. […]

Ex-Meridian softball coach indicted on sex crimes

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A former Meridian high school softball coach has been indicted on eight charges alleging inappropriate contact with students under the age of 18.

The indictment filed Feb. 11 in Lauderdale County Circuit Court, charges former Clarkdale High School coach Ricky Roberson with three counts of exploiting a child and five touching a child lustfully. […]