Jackson Free Press

This might be one of the most open seasons ever in college basketball for the Howell Trophy. Many years, it seems like the season begins with a clear favorite, but this season, no school boasts a Marshall Henderson, Jarvis Summers, Stefan Moody or Jarvis Varnado.

The only returning finalist from last season is Quinndary Weatherspoon of Mississippi State University. If there was a preseason favorite, it might be the 6-foot, 4-inch guard out of Velma Jackson High School.

Last season Weatherspoon ended his freshman season third on the team in scoring at 12 points per game, and he was named SEC All-Freshman and SEC Freshman of the Week twice.

The league coaches named him first-team All-SEC this preseason. He is the only Bulldog to land on the preseason honors. MSU has won six Howell Trophies, which is the best for any university.

A recent trend in the Howell Trophy has been the University of Mississippi’s dominance. The Rebels have won the last four awards, with Moody becoming just the second player to win the trophy in back-to-back years.

If the Rebels want to make it five straight, it would seem that the preseason hopes lie with forward Sebastian Saiz. The SEC coaches named him second-team All-SEC in the preseason.

Saiz finished last season with averages of 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He is the second-best rebounder to return to the SEC this season. The senior is the only Rebel to land on one of the two preseason teams. UM has won four Howell Trophies all in the last four seasons.

The University of Southern Mississippi returns guard Khari Price from last year’s squad. Price averaged 9.8 points and is the leading returning scorer.

Him winning the Howell Trophy seems like a long shot since the Golden Eagles are going to struggle due to NCAA sanctions. USM has seen just one player win the award since the trophy was first handed out in the 2004-2005 season.

Jackson State University might find itself losing the award because the Tigers have two players who can win. Both guard Paris Collins and guard/forward Chace Franklin were named preseason first-team All-SWAC.

Collins and Franklin were important parts of the Tigers’ successful season last year. Both players’ returns give JSU a nice one-two scoring punch.

Collins finished second on the team last season with 13 points and was the top rebounder with 6.1 per game. Franklin was third in scoring with 12.3 points per game and third in rebounding with 5.2 rebounds.

Both players could steal votes from each other if they lead the Tigers to an impressive season. Since the award’s beginning, JSU has had one Howell winner (2006-2007 season) but hasn’t had a finalist since the 2009-2010 season.

Mississippi Valley State University’s Howell Trophy hopes will be with Marcus Romain. He led the Delta Devils in scoring …

Play has been suspended in the True South Classic with round two still under way. Round one was delayed by rain on Thursday and a brief bit of rain slowed play on Friday making it harder to finish the first round and get the full second round done in the same day.

Leading the tournament before play was suspended is Billy Horschel who posted a 9-under 63 and 13-under for the tournament. His second round was highlighted by eagles on the par five fifth hole and par five 18th hole.

Horschel shot a 68 in round one to finish the round at 4-under. Day one leader Jason Bohn completed just nine holes in his second round and was at 4-under before play was suspended.

Bohn is tied for second place with Matt Bettencourt at 12-under, with both players still needing to finish their second round. Bettencourt finished his second round at 6-under and shot a 66 in both rounds of play.

Defending champion Chris Kirk finished his second round shooting a 68 for 4-under. Kirk is 9-under for the tournament heading into round three.

Brandon native Jonathan Randolph was unable to finish his second round and was even through four holes. Randolph currently is at 5-under for the tournament.

Australia’s Steve Bowditch is fourth at 11-under after carding a 66 in round one and a 67 in round two. J.J. Killeen is the only other player currently double digits under par at 10-under and is currently in fifth place but has not finished his second round.

When play was suspended the projected cut line was at 3-under. Play will continue at 7:30am with players finishing round two and starting round three, if there are no more weather delays.

While the Howell Trophy might be wide open, that is not the case with the Gillom Trophy. Can anyone wrestle the trophy away from Mississippi State University Guard Victoria Vivians?

The last two years have seen Vivians walk away with the award for best women’s player in the state of Mississippi. She is without a doubt the best player in the state and deserving of the award, and any other women’s player who wants to win it will have earned it if they best Vivians.

The MSU guard wasted no time in following up her incredible high-school career with a great start to her college one. As a freshman, she averaged 14 points per game, which was the best scoring output for any SEC freshman.

Vivians won the Gillom as a freshman and was the favorite to win it last year. She followed up a successful freshman season by averaging 17.1 points per game. It has hardly a surprise when she won the award for a second year in a row.

Now a junior, it seems Vivians is the frontrunner to take home a third Gillom Trophy. She is a preseason first-team All-SEC and leads a strong MSU that is nationally ranked and picked to finish second in the conference behind South Carolina.

Shandricka Sessom is the only other finalist for the Gillom to return this season. The University of Mississippi star had a breakout season as a sophomore.

Sessom should continue getting better this season and be even more of a scoring threat. To learn more about her, check out the Thursday, Nov. 10, Jackson Free Press Person of the Day.

Jackson State returns last season’s leading scorer Derica Wiggins, who averaged 12.2 points per game.

Coaches named her to second-team All-SWAC in the preseason. She will be expected to help JSU exceed its sixth place pick in SWAC.

Mississippi Valley State University boasts two potential Gillom winners: Ashley Beals and Christina Reed, who were both named to preseason All-SWAC teams.

Reed earned first-team All-SWAC honors after averaging 16.5 points per game last season. Beals earned second-team All-SWAC recognition for averaging 15.5 points a game that year.

Both Delta Devils might steal votes from the other by being teammates. Leading MVSU to the top of the SWAC after being picked to finish in ninth place would catch the eye of the voters.

Alcorn State University will turn to forward/center Henrietta Wells as its favorite to win the Gillom. Wells was named SWAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the preseason.

She doesn’t score a ton, averaging just five points, but she pounds the glass for 5.3 rebounds per game. Wells is the Braves’ rim protector, averaging 2.9 blocks per outing. She earned first-team All-SWAC honors for her defensive work in the preseason.

Vivians is the favorite, but any one of the women list …

Several women have played football at the college level for years now. Most of these young women were walk-on players, or players with no scholarship.

In 1997, Liz Heaston became the first woman to ever play and score in a college football game when she scored in a game for Willamette University, in Oregon, a then-NAIA-level university, in a 27-0 win over Linfield College, in Oregon. Heaston kicked two extra points, and her jersey hangs in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Two years later, Katie Hnida became the first woman to suit up for a NCAA Division I (now called the Football Bowl Subdivision) school at the University of Colorado. In 2003, she became the first woman to score in a Division I game at New Mexico State University. She became the first woman to try an extra point in a bowl game the year before, but an opposing player blocked it.

Before Hnida, Ashley Martin became the first woman to kick an extra point at the NCAA Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision) level for Jacksonville State University. She made three extra points without a miss in a 71-10 win over Cumberland University.

Former University of West Alabama kicker Tonya Butler became the first woman to kick a field goal in 2003 when she kicked a 27-yard field goal in a 24-17 win over Stillman College.

Other women have been kickers at nearly every level of college football. Some did get a chance to kick for their teams, and others were never called upon.

It hasn’t always been easy for women playing college football. Hnida alleged that she had been sexually assaulted while at Colorado. She didn’t press charges, but the incident became a major scandal at the schools, as other women spoke out about being sexually harassed and assaulted by members of the football team.

In 2014, Shelby Osborne became the first woman to play a position besides kicker when she became the first college defensive back at NAIA school Campbellsville University, in Kentucky. NAIA schools don’t hand out athletic scholarships.

Last week, April 14, 2017, Becca Longo became the first women to sign a national letter of intent to play college football. Longo will kick for NCAA Division II Adams State University, which is located in Colorado.

She is the first woman at Division II or higher to play college football on scholarship. The other kickers and players who made history didn’t receive a scholarship.

Each year, it is becoming more common for young women to play football at the high-school level.

As it becomes normal for them to play football in high school, it will become more common to see them at the college level. One day, a young woman might quarterback a college football team at the NAIA or NCAA Division III level of college football.

A little while back, I touched on Jackson State University, Mississippi State University and the University of Southern Mississippi all fighting for division or conference titles in baseball. Jackson State finished its quest by winning the SWAC East title over Alabama State University.

JSU finished SWAC play with a 20-4 record and the best record in either the East or West Division. Alabama State ended conference play with an 18-6 record, finishing two games behind the Tigers.

In Conference USA, Southern Miss completed a huge sweep over Florida Atlantic University this past weekend. The Golden Eagles hold a three-game lead at 19-5 in C-USA play over second-place Old Dominion University at 16-8, with six conference games left to play.

USM hosts the University of Alabama at Birmingham this weekend and will finish the season at the University of Texas at San Antonio. UAB is 10th in the current standings at 8-16 in conference play, and UTSA is sixth in the standings at 13-11.

Meanwhile, ODU will finish the season at home against Florida International University and on the road against Florida Atlantic. FIU is ninth in the conference standings at 11-13, and FAU is third in the conference at 15-9.

If both USM and ODU stumble, Florida Atlantic could make a move for the top spot. FAU finishes the regular season with a road game against Western Kentucky University and a home game against ODU. WKU is currently in last place at 4-20 in C-USA play.

Southern Miss just has to avoid imploding over the final two weekends to win the regular-season title. It will also give USM the No. 1 seed heading into the C-USA Tournament.

Over in the SEC, Mississippi State currently sits at 16-8 in conference play. MSU leads the SEC West over Louisiana State University by a single game and is tied with the University of Florida for the best record in the conference.

The Bulldogs have two SEC series left to play—one on the road against the University of Georgia this weekend and another at home against LSU to end the season. Georgia is in last place in the SEC East at 7-17 in conference play, and only the University of Alabama has a worst conference record.

LSU is 15-9 in SEC play and is a game behind MSU in the West, lurking around for the conference crown, as well. The Tigers end the season with games at home against Auburn University, who is 14-10 in SEC play, and on the road against MSU.

Florida, at 16-8 in conference play, will try to hold off the University of Kentucky for the SEC West crown and overall conference title. The Gators end the season with a game at Alabama, who is 5-19 in SEC play, and another at home against Kentucky.

Kentucky ends the regular season with a home game against the University …

It’s the day after Christmas. All the gifts have been opened, and family is being family. What better time to find an empty room and watch football? Lucky for us all, the St. Petersburg Bowl kicks off at 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 26, on ESPN.

This bowl game features two teams that got into the bowl picture late in very different ways. Both teams should be more than happy to be going to a bowl game, which should lead to highly motivated opponents.

Mississippi State University entered the 2016 season needing to replace the greatest player in program history, quarterback Dak Prescott, who now plays for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. MSU struggled with close losses against the University of South Alabama, Louisiana State University, Brigham Young University and the University of Kentucky, all by 13 points.

Thanks to a high APR score and a blowout win over the University of Mississippi in the Egg Bowl, the Bulldogs are playing a bowl game with a 5-7 record. It is a chance for a young team to get extra practice and build for the 2017 season.

Ohio’s Miami University, on the other hand, made NCAA history on its way to a bowl game. The RedHawks started the season 0-6, and any hope of a bowl game seemed like a distant wish.

Then, sophomore quarterback Gus Ragland returned from an offseason ACL tear and put the team on his back, carrying the RedHawks over the next six games. Miami won six straight games to finish the season 6-6 and earn bowl eligibility.

No team in the history of college football has started the season 0-6 and finished at 6-6. It was one of the most remarkable turnarounds this season and sent the RedHawks to a bowl for the first time since 2010.

MSU is making its school-record seventh consecutive bowl game. That record looked in danger before the Egg Bowl win, so there is some momentum for both teams.

The Bulldogs feature a stout rushing attack that averages 233 yards per game and is 24th in nation. Miami features the 33rd ranked rush defense, which only allows 140 yards per game.

This game will feature strength against strength, as the RedHawks’ rush defense tries to corral MSU’s rushing. Miami will focus on stopping Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who rushed for 1,243 yards with 14 touchdowns, and running back Aeris Williams, who rushed for 656 yards and four touchdowns.

The RedHawks have one of the weakest rushing attacks in college football, averaging just 134 yards for 109th in the nation. MSU features a middle-of-the-road run defense that is 69th in the country and gives up 178 yards per game.

Stopping Miami for the Bulldogs begins and ends with Ragland, who has passed for 1,274 yards with 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions in six games. He is the man who makes the RedHawks’ …