2013_02_07

February 7, 2013 Volume 97 Issue 36

STUDENT PRINTZThe

SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927

www.studentprintz.com

INDEXCalendar ........................ 2Crossword ...................... 2News .............................. 3Arts & Entertainment......4Feature ...........................5Sports...............................6

SCOTT ROBERTS

Page 5

Thursday

74/52Friday

72/44Saturday

71/52Page 4 Page 6

SIGNING DAYMICROBREWERIES WEATHER

The preferred candidate cho-sen to take the reins at USM has wanted to be a college president since his undergraduate days at Middle Tennessee State Uni-versity, and today he will intro-duce himself to the community of students and faculty he will likely serve as the tenth presi-dent of the University of South-ern Mississippi.

“The thing I’m really look-ing forward to is letting people see who I really am,” Rodney Bennett said in an interview at the Ogletree House Wednesday night. “I want people to get to know the passion I have for higher education and helping young people be successful.”

Bennett was announced as the preferred candidate for the USM presidency Friday by the state’s Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees after a 20-step process that began when Martha Saunders abruptly resigned in April 2012, a process that will most likely end today.

Beginning at 8 a.m. Bennett will speak at forums for faculty, staff, students and community members this morning in the Thad Cochran Center Room 218, and the IHL Board of Trustees will meet at 12:30 p.m. followed by a press conference at 1 p.m. concerning Bennett’s selection.

“You’re not going to find a person more excited than I am about being here,” Bennett said. “I feel like I’ve been sent here for a specific purpose; I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Bennett currently serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Georgia.

“I am extremely proud to see another University of Georgia

vice president chosen to serve in a presidential position,” UGA President Michael Adams told “The Red & Black,” the universi-ty’s newspaper. “Rodney brings a breadth of experience, talent and dedication to his work, and I wish him well as he begins this new leadership role.”

Though Bennett was not sure of when he would make the move from Athens, Ga. to Hat-tiesburg, he said he will most likely come sometime in March. However, despite uncertainty surrounding his starting date, Bennett knows that one of his first official actions as president

will be to hire a chief financial officer for the university.

“That is the head business person who keeps up with money coming in and out and makes sure we don’t over-spend,” Bennett said. “We don’t have a person in that role per-manently, so my first order of business will be hiring a chief financial officer.”

Since his announcement Fri-day, Bennett has been making national headlines for possibly being the first black president of a major Mississippi university.

Bennett visits campus, IHL to announce decisionON CAMPUS

Mary Margaret HalfordExecutive Editor

Dr. Rodney Bennett shares his vision for Southern Miss after a reception in the Ogletree House Wednesday night. Bennett will be on campus today meeting with students, faculty and staff before a press conference at 1 p.m. that will likely announce him as the university’s next president.

Mary Alice Truitt/Printz

Bennett speaks to a prospective freshman and his mother at a reception Wednesday night in Hattiesburg.

Mary Alice Truitt/Printz

You’re not going to fi nd a person more excited than I am about being here....I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.

Dr. Rodney Bennett, preferred presidential

candidate

“

”

See BENNETT, 4

CalendarPage 2, Student Printz Thursday, February 7, 2013

WHERE’S SEYMOUR?!WHERE’S SEYMOUR?!WHERE’S SEYMOUR?!WHERE’S SEYMOUR?!WHERE’S SEYMOUR?!

LOOK FOR SEYMOUR AGAIN IN TUESDAY’S EDITION OF THE STUDENT PRINTZ!!

THIS WEEK’S WINNER!!

Zachary Bennett

Mark Your Planner7 8 9 10 11

Happy Sunday! All Day Mardi Gras breakno classes

11 a.m.NPHC Valentine’s Day GiveawayUnion Lobby

11 a.m. Air Force ROTC/Eagle Booster Club TablingUnion Lobby

Happy Saturday!11 a.m. AASO Valentine’s Day GiveawayUnion Lobby

11:30 a.m.Enactus Valentine Dinner Giveaway Union Lobby

6:30 p.m.Secular Student Alliance Movie NightLAB 203

6:30 a.m.Alpha Kappa Aplha Mr. Esquire 2013 InformationWilber Stout A

7 p.m.RUF Large Group Bible StudyStout Hall B

8 p.m.SMAC Flicks at the Fountain Centennial Lawn

The Student Printz hopes you have a great Mardi Gras break!

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 5, 2013

ACROSS1 Iraq’s main port6 Nonspecific

feeling10 Ukr. and Lith.,

once14 Find repulsive15 Waffle maker16 Be on the mend17 Dine19 Hathaway of “Les

Misérables “20 Afrikaans speaker21 Creator of Q and

M22 Chicks together23 Back muscle,

familiarly24 Commonly

controlledsubstance

27 ’50s flop29 His #4 was

retired by theGiants in 1948

30 Social suffix31 Sink below the

horizon33 Public hanging34 Pontiac muscle

cars35 Roy Orbison

classic39 __ even keel40 Glasgow veto41 Shelley’s “To a

Skylark,” e.g.42 Reunion gp.43 D.C. figure44 Inviting door sign48 1967 Human Be-

In attendee53 Gardner of the

silver screen54 Country bordered

by Niger andNigeria

55 Binary digit56 WWII British gun57 __ Grey tea58 Awe-inspiring

place where youmight find theends of 17-, 24-,35- and 48-Across?

61 “__ sow, so shall ...”

62 Sword with a bell-shaped guard

63 Upper body64 “So __ say”65 River down under?66 English Derby site

DOWN1 Go on and on2 Like an American

in Paris3 Some linens4 Howl with

laughter5 First animal

shelter6 Like super-

popular YouTubeclips

7 Goodnight girl ofsong

8 Fluffy wrap9 Terminate

10 Broken piece11 Title for Miss

Mexico?12 Deserted13 Big hammers18 Cartoonist Keane22 Lunch menu

letters24 Robert of “The

Sopranos”25 Like many

gangster movies26 When tots

become terrible?28 “Pardon the

Interruption”channel

32 Opera hero, often33 Gobbled up

34 FBI guys35 Being walked,

say36 Deli order37 After-shower

powder38 Pigged out (on)39 Quirky43 Ink holder45 Volga region

natives46 “Yeah, but ...”47 Hit-or-miss

49 __ Post, first pilotto fly solo aroundthe world

50 Sweetie pie51 Book end?52 “Life of Pi”

director Ang56 Sow’s supper58 Four-time All-Pro

Patriots receiverWelker

59 Choose (to)60 Numbered hwy.

Monday’s Puzzle SolvedBy C.C. Burnikel 2/5/13

(c)2013 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 2/5/13

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Serving Southern Miss since 1927

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News Student Printz, Page 3Thursday, February 7, 2013

The University of Southern Mis-sissippi’s Center for Writers will be hosting poet Don Bogen Friday, where he will do readings of his own work. Bogen is author of four poetry collections. He most recently wrote “An Algebra,” and “A Necessary Order: Theodore Roethke and the Writing Process.”

Bogen said he has been interested in poetry since his childhood.

“I loved the Dr. Seuss books and still keep a picture of him on my bulletin board,” Bogen said. “But I didn’t really write poems until high school.”

Bogen says that he didn’t write anything worthwhile until he was in his mid-20s.

“I actually started writing regu-larly in junior high, but it wasn’t poetry,” Bogen said. “I produced a number of perfectly terrible science fiction stories after hearing a talk by Ray Bradbury.”

The recipient of several pres-tigious awards such as the AWP Anniversary Awards Grand Prize, a Poetry Society of America Emily Dickinson Award and grants from the Ingram Merrill Foundation and

the NEA, Bogen is humble about his work.

“Recognition is a pleasure for any-one, of course, especially because writing is such a solitary activity,” Bogen said.

Bogen enjoys giving readings and meeting students and fellow poets.

“There’s also a pleasure in the act of writing itself- the sense of discov-ery and of adding something, how-ever small, to the world of poetry,” Bogen said. “You never know who might read your work, but I like thinking that someone I don’t know at all in some place I’ve never been may get something from a poem I wrote, just as I’ve deeply enjoyed reading the work of others.”

Bogen also gave some advice for aspiring writers or poets.

“Read, of course, both systemati-cally in courses, including old work and new and on your own, finding favorite writers and exploring new directions.”

Bogen said that taking classes fo-cused on writing will help as well at-tending as many readings and events as possible.

“Subscribe to a literary magazine like ‘The Cincinnati Review,’” Bo-gen said.

In fact, Bogen is the poetry editor of “The Cincinnati Review.”

“Check out online journals like ‘Memorious’, which is now edited here at USM,” Bogen said.

The most important thing Bogen stressed is to keep writing.

“Ray Bradbury recommended a thousand words a day for fiction, not poetry, and share what you write with others,” Bogen said. “A commu-nity can make a real difference.”

Because writing processes vary among individuals, Bogen believes that an individual has to explore himself in order to find the right process.

“I’ve actually written a book about the poet Theodore Roethke’s writing processes and studied other poets’ ways of working, so the topic interests me,” Bogen said. “My own process can vary a bit depending on the poem, but I suppose the key point is that I start, like many poets, with some small bit of language, an image, or a pattern of sound rather than a large overall topic. Then there is a process of exploration and discovery until I begin to see some of the shape and focus of what’s de-veloping.”

Bogen tends to speak the lines of his work aloud over and over as he writes “to get a feel for their music.”

Revision is a necessary part of writing, which Bogen enjoys “when

I’m not tearing my hair out.“Because of this, it takes me a

good while, years in some cases, to finish any given poem, and many things never get finished or even close.”

This is balanced by the fact that Bogen is always working on sev-eral poems at various stages of completion.

“I keep notes and drafts in fold-ers, so when I sit down to write I can plunge into work on older things or see what I can generate from the blank page.”

Assistant professor in the Depart-ment of English Rebecca Morgan Frank said her favorite works from Bogen include his most recent work “An Algebra” and “Luster.”

“Don Bogen has contributed to poetry with his original works of po-etry and his translations, as you can see by the numerous awards he has won,” Frank said. “He also has done important work in the field as the poetry editor of the literary maga-zine ‘The Cincinnati Review.’”

Seven poems from the magazine were selected for inclusion in the 2012 Best American Poetry An-thology, rivaling only “The New Yorker” in the number of poems in this selective and well-respected anthology.

Frank said this event is a wonder-ful opportunity for creative writing students to meet and work with an established writer and editor.

“Poetry is not just for poets; it is for all of us, and I think his visit, as well as the rest of the Visiting Writ-ers Series, offers a unique cultural opportunity for the members of the USM and Hattiesburg communities to share.”

Southern Miss will also be host to several other award-winning writ-ers, including Peter Orner, author of “Love and Shame and Love: A Novel” as well as two other works of fiction. He will do a reading of his works on Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. in Inter-national Center Room 101.

On April 16, Brooklyn poet Far-rah Field, author of two books of po-etry, including “Wolf and Pilot,” will read with poet Jared White.

On April 5, Skip Horack, author of the novel “The Eden Hunter” and the story collection “The Southern Cross,” will be brought to campus by the English Graduate Organization and C4W, the Center for Writers graduate organization.

The readings are free to the public.

Award-winning poet to speak at USMON CAMPUS

Arielle EdwardsPrintz Writer

Arts & Entertainment Thursday, February 7, 2013Page 4, Student PrintzLocaL

Science teacher Scott Roberts has taken a break from his busy sched-ule to pen his latest book, “The Last Days of Neil Armisted.” Roberts is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, and this new release will be his third full-length book. On Friday, Twelve Oaks Ac-cessory Garden in downtown Hat-tiesburg will host an in-store book release party complete with refresh-ments and store discounts to cele-brate the new manuscript.

Jason Le Viere, co-owner of Twelve Oaks, is excited to welcome the local writer to the store.

“We were thrilled to be able to

host S.D. Roberts for the launch of his newest novel,” Le Viere said. “While the specific content may not be what our business is all about, the final product certainly falls

right in line with what we love at Twelve Oaks: local art. These books are written in Hattiesburg, and the materials that make each book are made of recycled products. We love when something old becomes something new.”

Each physical copy of the book is held together within the cover of old, discarded books that Roberts has saved from local libraries or thrift stores. The covers have been hand-painted to give a face-lift to these old copies.

Roberts had this idea with his first novel.

“When I wrote my first book, I came up with the idea to bind my own book into a forgotten book,” Roberts said. “I think it brings the old books back into the light

while giving a new book that old book smell that a lot of people re-ally enjoy.”

On the day of the event, nine of these repurposed books will be ready for sale at 20 dollars each.

The stream of consciousness story revolves around the inner thoughts of the main character, who has decided to commit suicide within the first line of the book.

“When writing, I have often en-joyed writing nothing but dialogue between characters, and at times I feel that I have hidden behind that,” Roberts said. “This book was an attempt to take the stream of con-sciousness to another level than I am used to. There was no dialogue to hide behind. I could only make this character speak.”

In the story, the character finds himself making arrangements to get to the Walnut Street Bridge in Tennessee after becoming obsessed with it. The protagonist meets a host of characters throughout the last days of his life, from his girl-friend and landlord to a tattooed coffee shop barista.

Roberts hopes that the journey of this character will speak to a wide audience.

“Everyone struggles with life and all the things that make up life, and, frankly, everyone at some point sits down and questions the validity of life and the point of it all,” Roberts said. “At least I hope they do.”

The book release party will last from 6 until 8 p.m.

Twelve oaks to host local authorCaitlin Seale

Printz Writer

Nappy Roots branches out to the ‘BurgMusic

Hattiesburg has managed to land best-selling hip hop group Nappy Roots to entertain the town’s pleasure seekers tonight at Benny’s Boom Boom Room.

Country and proud of it, Nappy Roots is an alternative Southern rap quartet that was founded in 1995 around a sextet of students attending Western Kentucky Uni-versity, according to an interview with the group by SOHH.com, a premiere hip hop news website.

The core of the group con-sists of Kentucky natives Skinny DeVille, B. Stille and Ron Clutch

and Georgia native Fish Scales. In 2007, Oakland, Calif. native R. Prophet left the group, and in 2012 Kentucky native Big V left, both pursuing solo careers, ac-cording to HipHopDX.com.

Nappy Roots released their in-dependently produced full-length debut album “Country Fried Cess” in 1998. The group’s talent and distinctive twist on Southern bounce quickly reeled in the big fish, landing them a deal with At-lantic Records.

In 2002 they released their label debut: multi-platinum best-sell-ing album “Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz,” which featured popular singles “Headz Up”, “AwNaw,” and “Po’Folks.” The follow-up album

“Wooden Leather” came out only a year later, after which they left Atlantic and started their own label, N.R.E.G. (Nappy Roots En-tertainment Group) with distri-bution rights through Fontana/Universal Music Group.

Since then, they have released two more albums. In 2008, the much-anticipated album “The Humdinger” was issued and was the first not to feature member R. Prophet. Their most recent full-length album, “The Pursuit of Nappyness,” was released as a quintet in 2010.

Last June, the remaining four Nappy Roots released their mix tape “Sh!t’s Beautiful.”

“We wanted to make a project

that’s able to promote our upcom-ing releases, as well as introduce the world to the individuals who make up the collective Nappy Roots,” member Skinny Deville told AllHipHop.com. “We try to make the best music possible and hit as many cities as we can, and without fans’ support, none of that would be possible.”

Their exceptional commitment to the fans might be why Hatties-burg is a stop on their tour, but fans are aflutter with excitement, and apparently the band is too.

“The Nappy Roots are just as excited about this show as we are,” said Boom Boom Room owner Ben Shemper.

“It’s going to be a good day for

us po’ folk,” said Hattiesburg local and fan Amanda Terry, referenc-ing two of the groups songs. “It’s only $15 to see a legendary group, and I’m pumped.”

The Facebook event page alone suggests that over 200 people plan to attend.

“You can pretty much guar-antee a sold out show,” Shem-per said. “Their manager actu-ally asked me for advice on how to promote shows. I was flattered but told him I didn’t do a thing. It’s the Hattiesburg scene.”

Presale tickets are $10 and reg-ular tickets are $15 at the door. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. with lo-cal DJ group Ca$h Fountain set-ting the stage.

Paul WhitePrintz Writer

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BeNNeTT, from 1For Bennett, however, the

historical significance of his hiring is not something he wants to focus on.

“I was a little concerned that the focus was going to shift from what it really should have been about, and that was really providing high quality higher education to students,” Ben-nett said. “Most students are thinking about the cost of at-tendance and of getting a de-

gree, not whether or not we have the first black president.”

Hank Bounds, Commis-sioner of Higher Education, said the choice to hire Bennett had nothing to do with his race but everything to do with his qualifications.

“I really don’t care the color of their skin, whether they’re short or tall,” Bounds said Wednesday night. “We were looking for talent and Rodney

fit that bill.”Bounds added that every-

one who has had the chance to meet Bennett has quickly be-come a supporter.

“If you just spend a few min-utes with the guy you quickly recognize that he’s brilliant, quick on his feet and has a real passion for students,” Bounds said. “He has very good experi-ences from an institution that has been very successful, so he

has had an opportunity to see what good looks like.”

When asked what he wanted students to know about him, Bennett said he is the type of university leader who will be hanging out in Subway and the Fresh Food Company.

“I want students to feel like I’m their president, and I’m not this mystical person in the dome removed from day to day student life,” Bennett said.

“I want to be in the residence halls and at Greek Life func-tions.”

“Southern Miss has diversity of majors, small classes and plenty of outlets for social ac-tivities,” Bennett said. “When I found out this job was avail-able I thought it was the per-fect place. I knew someone needed to become president, so why not me?”

Courtesy Photo

Feature Student Printz, Page 5Thursday, February 7, 2013

Southern Prohibition brews downtownLocaL

In the heart of downtown Hat-tiesburg, in a furniture ware-house from the 1940s comes the beginning of great things for Hattiesburg. Previously locat-ed in Keg and Barrel on Hardy Street, the craft beer company, Southern Prohibition, is ex-panding to East 2nd Street.

“Demand was so high for the craft beer coming out of the Keg and Barrel, along with an overall love of craft beer,” said Emily Curry, outside sales of Southern Prohibition. “The law changing in July was the last kick for Quinby (Chunn) and John (Neal) to pursue their dream together.”

The law Curry is referring to is the craft-beer bill, which was approved last April to become legal in July. The bill allowed for beer to contain up to eight per-cent alcohol where previously, anything above five was illegal.

Since the passing of the law, Hattiesburg has seen the emer-gence of two local craft beer companies, Southern Prohibi-tion and Gordon Creek Brew-ery. Southern Prohibition has more than 20 barrels in the warehouse and plans on having at least three different types of craft beer, including a seasonal ale which they will switch out in the fall.

“We are pleased with the ad-dition of two new breweries to the downtown area,” said Betsy Rowell, director of Historic Hattiesburg Downtown As-sociation. “ I believe this new industry will be important to attracting visitors downtown. With that in mind, we are plan-ning for the addition of a beer festival to enhance our Festival-South series in June.”

Southern Prohibition plans to can the craft beer, which will be sold in a four pack of 16 oz. cans instead of the average six packs.

“Canning craft beer is a rath-er new concept to Mississippi,” Curry said, “and we are eager to change the perception beer drinkers have of the can.”

Southern Prohibition is set to open in mid April and is eager to share their craft beer with Hat-tiesburg. Launch parties are be-ing planned for the company as well as pairings with other brew-eries in the South region. With their downtown location, they plan on having a tasting room, hold brewery tours and even plan for multiple beer crawls.

“There are a few things up our sleeves, just keep a close eye on us (Facebook or Twitter) and wait,” Curry said. “We want Southern Prohibition to be a common name in the community.”

Gordon Creek Brewery, in size, is a much smaller brewery but has similar ambitions. The brewery hopes to have 2-4 dif-

ferent beers on a regular basis and hold weekly beer tastings to get the community involved in perfecting their product.

“Beer geeks travel to try new beers and with two local brew-eries, a local brew pub and Hat-tiesburg’s rich culture, I expect we’ll see a lot of tourism from it,” said the Gordon Creek brewer, Sam Sorrells.

Sorrells is the brewer for the company, where his wife Kathy

Sorrells, owns the business. They will have five barrels and be placed among the smaller breweries, but Sorrells is excit-ed about the possibilities.

“Small scale brewing is much more the norm in places like the UK and Belgium,” Sorrells said.

Although they are open-ing much later than intended, Gordon Creek looks to open around March.

Ashleigh JohnsonPrintz Writer

From left to right: Quinby Chunn, owner; Emily Curry, sales; John Neal, owner; and Ben Green, brewer plan their next step inside what is to become Southern Prohibition Brewing Company.

Christopher Little/Printz

Southern Prohibition Brewing Company has already stimulated the local economy with its hiring of Ben Green and Emily Curry.

Christopher Little/Printz

Sports Thursday, February 7, 2013Page 6, Student Printz

Student Shout-outs

To see your anonymous comment in � e Student Printz, submit it under the ‘Contact’ tab on

studentprintz.com.

”

“I scoffed while reading the line in the article about Superbowl commercials which implied that older generations are responsible for “creating” the behavior of the current one. It’s time for this generation to take responsibility for its actions rather than blame those who came before them. You cre-ate your future.

Shout out to Campus Book Mart for having Tracey Lampley and Gerald McRath signing au-tographs before the basketball game on Saturday #SMTTT

To the cute drummer I met on Saturday night, you played to the beat of my heart. We should do that again sometime. -A

So there I was walking up to the bookstore ate 6:39 about to buy a drink. The book-store was closed at 6:40, but they’re not supposed to close till 6:45. I was frustrated, all I wanted was an Arizona Tea and all I could think was IWT-GBTP!

If you see kayTell him he maySee you in teaTell him from me

I’ll take The Who over Be-yonce any day.

I’m pretty sure it’s a fi rst come fi rst serve lot but you people parking in the drive waiting for a spot is rediculous. Move on and stop blocking others so you won’t have to actually walk. Lazy!!!

I ordered a vegetable sand-wich from Starbucks on campus and got a messy egg and cheese thrown between two pieces of bread. When I took it back, they said that’s what a veggie sandwich is at Starbucks. According to google the technical term I should have used was “panini.” Maybe then they would have known what I was talking about because a sandwich and panini are sooooo different. My bad. (said sarcastically)

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Nat’l Signing Day a walk to rememberFOOTBALL

I am an ACC apologist stuck in an SEC fan’s body, and, yes, it is as bad as it sounds.

I grew up an ACC fan before attending Alabama for my un-dergraduate studies. (I’m cur-rently here as a graduate student). I’m not one of those guys who couldn’t get into LSU but still wear an LSU hoodie on campus when it gets cold, and, yes, guy in the LSU hoodie, your actions are frowned upon.

Before my freshman year of college, National Signing Day did not mean anything to me. I did not care what recruits did until they were sleepwalking through an upset loss on the road at NC State. And, yes, that’s also as bad as it sounds.

For some insight into the aver-age Saturday for an ACC fan, I was actually encouraged when Florida State beat Wake Forrest 52-0 this year. Why? Because that meant they showed up on the road and beat a lesser team like they were supposed to. � at is ACC football. � ose are our trap games.

Enough of an apology. Now back to the league the wins Na-tional Signing Day: the SEC, the league where your trap game is coming home to Texas A&M af-ter battling LSU in Death Valley, the league that has won the last seven national championships and the league that, based on this year’s recruiting, is nowhere near ending that streak.

This year, no matter what site you look at, the SEC has placed six recruiting classes in the top ten nationally. Kentucky, the second worst class in the SEC, would place fourth in the Big 10. What is happening in this con-ference is unheard of. This year’s recruits were in fifth grade the last time an SEC team did not win a national title.

My time at Alabama changed my view of National Signing Day. I now see it as a fun day of bragging that gives college foot-ball fans an excuse to delve back into the sport during the o� sea-son, much like dra� day for the NFL. I’m not one of these crazed fans who live and die by the de-cisions of high school seniors. I still wait for them to strap on the pads before I get too crazy. � is year, I followed NSD all day long for you, the reader. And now, our walk to remember....

Monday, February 4, 2013, around 9:50 p.m.

A tired me, who has to be at work at 8 a.m. the next morn-ing, is not trying to fall asleep for the night. I’m watching “The New College Football Show” on Fox Sports South waiting to hear where the best middle line-backer in the country, Rueben Foster, will be playing football next season.

A kid who has already decom-mitted from Alabama and Au-burn, only to keep both schools in his top three choices. A kid who, before decommitting from Auburn, got a tattoo of the Au-burn logo that takes up his entire le� forearm. A kid who will prob-ably fail freshman year English yet still make more money than me in my lifetime.

Foster ultimately chose to recommit to Alabama, but the smart fans (which I know are few and far between) will not feel comfortable with his commit-ment until the fax machine girl in the houndstooth skirt receives his letter of intent on Wednesday.

Wednesday, February 6, 2012, around 8 a.m.

I woke up, checked the photo I was tagged in on Facebook, and logged onto Twitter, where I spent the rest of my day.

Robert Nkemdiche, the con-sensus number one player in the country, had already announced his decision to play at Ole Miss

next year. It was a huge get by the Rebels and smart of him to an-nounce early. Now, recruits who were on the fence about where to announce have a bearing on where the number one guy will end up and could base their de-cisions on that. Dominoes could fall quickly and early.

Fax machines around the country had already started blowing up by the time I woke up. Southern Miss received its � rst letter at 7:18 a.m. and put a solid class together. As of 8:20 a.m., the Golden Eagles � lled needs on the defensive side including � ve defensive backs, three defensive linemen, and a linebacker.

Wednesday, a little a� er noonWhile I was eating lunch, to-

day’s crazy story surfaced. � ere’s always one. Alex Collins, a four-star running back from Planta-tion, Fla., committed to Arkansas over Wisconsin and Miami on Monday on the same show Fos-ter did, ironically. Apparently his mother wasn’t happy about it.

It came out that Arkansas had yet to receive his letter because his mom had stolen his letter. As of noon, she’s not happy with his choice to go so far from home and he can’t � nd her. � is is ri-diculous to me, and I feel sorry for this young man.

� e Eagles currently have the fourth best class in C-USA, ac-cording to Rivals.com. South-ern Miss had 22 recruits signed today, with another two who enrolled early in January. Two quarterbacks have their names on this year’s list: Nick Mullens of Hoover, Ala. and Parker Ad-amson of Oxford, and both will mostly likely get a shot to help stop the revolving door the Eagles had at that position last season.

Southern Miss best ranked re-cruits will all � ll areas of need. � e Eagles boast seven three star recruits at the moment with an-other one committed. � ree of those play on the defensive line,

one is a tight end, two are wide receivers and an o� ensive line-man signed with another defen-sive lineman committed.

Wednesday, slightly before 6:00 p.m.

My day is done and so is Southern Miss’s. Rivals.com still has the Eagles ranked fourth in C-USA. � e cornerstones of this year’s signing class are found on the defensive line. Christopher Robinson out of Shreveport, La., is rated as a four star defensive tackle by ESPN. Rod Crayton of Dadeville, Ala. is a three star de-fensive tackle who recorded 157 tackles, four sacks and six fum-ble recoveries during his senior year. Dylan Bradley of Macon is rated as the tenth best recruit in the state and recorded 21.5 sacks during his senior year.

� ose three, with the rest of the 12 defensive recruits, should help sure up a porous Eagle de-fense. In total, Southern Miss signed 25 incoming freshmen who bought what Coach Todd Monken was selling.

When asked during his in-troductory press conference in December about what he would sell to recruits a� er an 0-12 sea-son and having no head coaching experience himself, Monken re-sponded, “Eighteen of the last 19 years, you’ve had a winning sea-son. � at’s still damn impressive.”

With this National Signing Day in the books, fans around the country have been taken on an-other roller coaster ride, but that’s what you get when you’re hang-ing on the words and decisions of 17 and 18 year old players.

Ultimately, fans need to be re-minded that a good recruiting class is nice, but it will come down to the players and the coaches on whether these classes will pay o� or disappoint. I will know wheth-er they’re worth it when they play at NC State on a � ursday night in October.

Ben WelchPrintz Writer

Sports Student Printz, Page 7Thursday, February 7, 2013

�rasSouthern Miss Sports

Box Score:Men’s Basketball

02/6 at UCF L, 60-58

Upcoming Games:02/07/135:00 & 7:00 p.m. So� ball at Cal State FullertonFullerton, Calif.

02/09/13All Day Track and Field at Vulcan InviteBirmingham, Ala.

11:00 a.m. Women’s Tennis at Northwestern StateNatchitoches, La.

11:00 a.m. So� ball at Sacramento StateFresno, Calif.

3:30 p.m. So� ball at Fresno State Fresno, Calif.

3 p.m. Men’s Basketball vs. MemphisHattiesburg, Miss.

1 p.m. Men’s Tennis at TroyTroy, Ala.

02/10/1312:00 p.m. Women’s Tennis at Mcneese StateNatchitoches, La.

1:15 p.m. So� ball at UC DavisFresno, Calif.

3 p.m. Women’s Basketball at UTEPEl Paso, TX

02/08/1311:00 a.m. So� ball at UC DavisFresno, Calif.4:00 p.m. So� ball at UC RiversideFresno, Calif.

Head football coach Todd Monken speaks to fans at the Signing Day Social held at the Lake Terrace Convention Center on Wednesday.

Christopher Little/Printz

FOOTBALLSouthern Miss football signing class 2013

Devin Farrior 6’5 300 OL Wayne County HS Waynesboro, Miss.

CJ Perry, Jr. 6’2 225 LB Bessemer Academy Bessemer, Ala.

Kelsey Douglas 5’11 175 DB Hightower HS Missouri City, Texas

Tyre’oune Holmes 5’11 170 ATH Tylertown HS Tylertown, Miss.

Branton Lee 5’8 163 WR North Florida Christian Tallahassee, Fla.

Jomez Applewhite 6’1 175 DB Bassfi eld HS Bassfi eld, Miss.

Tyler Sarrazin 6’3 190 K/P Dutchtown HS Geismar, La.

Rod Crayton 6’1 300 DT Dadeville HS Dadeville, Ala.

Cameron Tom 6’4 285 OL Catholic HS Baton Rouge, La.

George Payne 6’0 200 RB St. Luke’s Episcopal Mobile, Ala.

Trae Collins 5’11 181 DB New Hope HS Columbus, Miss.

Ja’Boree Poole 6’2 230 DE Brookhaven HS Brookhaven, Miss.

Dylan Bradley 6’1 255 DL Noxubee County Macon, Miss.

Evan Osborne 6’3 198 DB Pearl HS Pearl, Miss.

Jalen Square 5’10 180 DB McGill-Toolen HS Mobile, Ala.

James Cox 6’1 193 WR Northridge HS Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Marquise Ricard 6’2 180 WR Southern Lab Baton Rouge, La.

Jerry Harris 6’3 295 DT Hueytown HS Hueytown, Ala.

Nick Mullens 6’1 185 QB Spain Park HS Hoover, Ala.

JaMarcus Revies 5’11 175 WR Petal HS Petal, Miss.

Draper Riley 6’4 245 TE West Jefferson HS Harvey, La.

Christopher Robinson 6’2 270 DL Woodlawn HS Shreveport, La.

Parker Adamson | 6’4 205 QB Oxford HS Oxford, Miss.

The Student Printz Thursday, February 7, 2013Page 8, Student Printz

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