Walters column: Prep Football Countdown - Week 5 Questions

The lights will burn brightly this weekend as Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) and Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) open the prep football season with jamboree games around the state.

Minichino column: Howard can make immediate impact on Bulldogs

Rebounding drills should be plenty of fun for the Mississippi State women's basketball team this season.

Mark your calendars for West Point-Starkville game

We have reached the midway point of our annual countdown to the start of the prep football season.

Volunteers set to embark on new journey

Chase Nicholson isn't a big fan of jewelery, even a ring it took more than four months to earn. That's why Nicholson left the championship ring he received for the Starkville Academy football team's 2017 Mississippi Association of Independent School (MAIS) Class AAA title on the table next to his bed for the school's annual media day July 10.

Walters column: Prep football countdown continues with questions, answers

Congratulations, you have almost made it.

Gearing up for exciting 2018 season

Dust off the clipboards. Print out the stat sheets. Sharpen the pencils and prepare the rain gear. The 2018 football season is almost here.

Henderson, MSU baseball coaches deserve thanks for season

Thank you Gary Henderson. Thank you Mike Brown, A.J. Gaura, and Trevor Fitts. Thank you Elijah MacNamee for doing your part to extend the Mississippi State baseball team's 2018 campaign deep into June.

MSU's Wilcox had smile on face throughout fight with cancer

When Mississippi State softball coach Vann Stuedeman sat down in January to preview her upcoming season, the interview ran the gauntlet of emotions.

Partial to Home: Sounds of summer

Sitting astride his bicycle, his foot on the curb, a man with a small dog was having a conversation with an unseen person on the other side of the street. Though they were a block away, the cyclist's voice reverberated down the street blending with the chorus of katydids, cicadas and crickets.

MHSAA gets it right by moving softball finals to college campuses

Neshoba Central High School fast-pitch softball coach Trae Embry has coached in some of the state's biggest games this decade. On Friday, Neshoba Central won a sixth-straight Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A State championship with a 6-2 victory against Pearl River Central.

MSU commit Wesley powers Neshoba Central

STARKVILLE -- If Aspen Wesley dominated a sport like football or basketball, almost all sports fans would know her name. Instead, the Neshoba Central High School junior dominates in the rather quiet world of fast-pitch softball. However, playing for a sixth-straight state championship and pitching for the nation's No. 1 team is a pretty good situation and not one to be taken for granted.

New Hope will try to capitalize on home-field advantage

When the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) baseball playoffs shift into the semifinal round tonight, few teams have a more daunting task than Kosciusko.

Nickens excited about opportunity at Caledonia

After a winless 2017 season, new Caledonia High School football coach Tim Nickens knows he and his players might face some challenges along the way as he starts to rebuild the program. However, lack of personnel isn't one of them.

Prep baseball season coming down to final weeks

The month of April typically means Twitter is over-run by prom photos and that graduation invitations pile up at the post office. It also means the end of the prep baseball regular season. In this state, baseball has one of the nation's shortest regular seasons before the start of a postseason that almost is as long as the regular season.

MSU's challenge is to build on legacy

COLUMBUS, Ohio Vic Schaefer worried for weeks he wouldn't have the words when he finally had to say goodbye to seniors Roshunda Johnson, Blair Schaefer, Victoria Vivians, and Morgan William.

MSU women have plenty of fuel left for Final Four

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Starkville's Fantastic Four is set to take Columbus, Ohio. It will be the last push for seniors Roshunda Johnson, Blair Schaefer, Victoria Vivians, and Morgan William to lead the Mississippi State women's basketball team to a national title. Their next step will come at 6 p.m. Friday (ESPN2) when MSU (36-1) will take on Louisville (36-2) in the first national semifinal. Connecticut (36-0) will take on Notre Dame (33-3) at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the second semifinal. The winners will meet at 6 p.m. Sunday (ESPN) to determine the national champion.

Toughness leads MSU women back to Sweet 16

STARKVILLE The Bulldog in the 2017-18 Mississippi State women's basketball team reared its head Monday night. MSU coach Vic Schaefer said it best following his squad's 71-56 victory against Oklahoma State that he felt like the Bulldogs "bowed their neck" and showed the toughness and grit he loves to see in his players.

Origin of MSU's success doesn't get old

People in Starkville know the story well. But with women's basketball fans from Louisiana, New York, and Oklahoma set to arrive in Mississippi, it's a perfect time to tell the tale again. It's kind of like when Santa Claus visits Starkville every year to read "A Visit from St. Nicholas" to the children on the court at Humphrey Coliseum.

Listen up: Cast your votes for Schaefer, MSU

The first salvo missed its mark. Maybe an accompanying riff from sonic pioneer Tom Morello would help the cause. A better idea might be to package a recording device inside a cardboard box and send it out to all of the voters who have a say in The Associated Press' Coach and Player of the Year and the annual All-America squad.

Minichino column: Schaefer makes championship prediction come true

Vic Schaefer talked about winning championship when he arrived in Starkville in 2012.

Best of the Triangle 2017

Best Area Professionals 2017

2018 Dining Guide