The Ole Miss Rebel Rifle team will open the 2009-10 season on Thursday at the Memphis Tiger Invitational before returning to Oxford to host the Ole Miss Invitational this Friday-Sunday.
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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Ka'ili Smith drove in eight runs and hit one of Mississippi State's four home runs as the Bulldogs swept Marion Military Institute 17-1 and 16-0 Tuesday evening at the MSU RecPlex.
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The 2009 Senior Awards Banquet/Silent Auction/Gala is scheduled for Saturday, December 12, 2009.
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The latest installment of the Alabama Football Notebook takes at look at the Crimson Tide defense and special teams, following a 35-7 win over Arkansas last Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide defense held the high-powered Arkansas offense almost 300 yards below its season average. The UA defense and special teams are highlighted each Wednesday on RollTide.com.
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Todd Van Emst, AuburnHead coach Gene Chizik greets fans at Auburn’s home Tiger Walk. For safety reasons, the University of Tennessee has asked Auburn’s band and cheerleaders not to participate in the Knoxville version of Auburn’s traditional Tiger Walk. Fans…

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Nolan Richardson was back in town this morning at a speaking engagement, and we had a chance to sit down with the former Razorbacks coach to talk about his recent jump into the WNBA.

Richardson, 67, was introduced as the coach and general manager of a proposed WNBA team in Tulsa, Okla., on Tuesday. Investors are hopeful they can start an expansion franchise or move a current team to the city by next season. Richardson says he expects to hear word one way or the other about the franchise by Oct. 15.

Nolan Richardson

Until then, it’s marketing the team and getting people to buy tickets to show the WNBA that Tulsa is a valuable market.

Richardson leaves for Tulsa tomorrow to start work with investors. Right now it’s all about drumming up support and selling tickets.

“I’m in the groundwork and that’s what maybe intrigued me more,” said Richardson. “… If it doesn’t happen, at least they gave their best shot and I’m going to try to give my best shot.”

In addition to general manager and head coaching duties, Richardson will also be vice president of the proposed franchise, he said.

On the court, Richardson is looking forward to getting back to his coaching roots. He’s still the only coach to ever win an NIT, junior college and NCAA national championship. The former Hogs coach won a national title at Arkansas in 1994 and coached the UA to three Final Fours.

After spending seven years away from coaching full time, he realizes his men’s coaching career is “over with.”

“I still love the game, and since I still love the game and they’re asking me if I can do some things on the women’s side, well, I’ve got the time,” Richardson said. “I feel I can do what I did in my career on the men’s side, on the women’s side.”

There are other positives for Richardson. Living so close to Tulsa was certainly a selling point. He has property in Tulsa as well and will live there, but isn’t looking to leave Fayetteville anytime soon.

“That’s a huge factor,” Richardson explained. “This is home. We’ve got a ranch here and it makes it a little bit easier if I can get back and forth.”

If Tulsa does get a WNBA franchise, don’t expect Richardson to change his coaching style. There will be plenty more 40 minutes of hell at the BOK Center once the season starts next May.

“I don’t want a game where we play half-court basketball and six girls play,” Richardson said. “I haven’t done that since my first two years as a coach in high school. After that, I changed. I have to have athletes who can run and trap, pitch the ball and hopefully you find some with [basketball] IQ.”

Last December, when Richardson took part in a press conference announcing that he and the 1994 national championship team would be honored in March at Bud Walton Arena, he faced plenty of questions. Most notably was whether the coach would attend more games at the arena after, it seemed, some wounds had been healed after his firing at the school in 2002.

Well, if Richardson and the Tulsa investors secure a WNBA franchise, you can expect the coach to be in the house he helped build on a regular basis.

Why?

He’ll be there to scout talent.

“I’ll probably be up there quite a bit now,” Richardson said. “All the teams in the Southeastern Conference, they’ve got players. I’m in the backyard of the players. It’ll eliminate a lot of traveling. I just go out my backyard and in 10 minutes I’m at the campus. That’s a plus for me.”

After seven years of avoiding Bud Walton Arena, Richardson joked last December that he almost parked his car in current Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Pelphrey’s parking spot prior to a press conference. If Tulsa secures a WNBA franchise, the UA may just have to set aside a parking spot for the former Hogs coach.

Video of Richardson explaining his decision, and his thoughts on the women’s game is below.

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— Brandon Marcello

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CollegeFootballNews: SEC Players to Watch in Week 5

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With Tebow in our thoughts and minds, most of us would be terrified about John Brantley starting in a week and a half, and rightfully so. I think Tebow will end up as a game-time decision, but that’s just my own opinion.

Given the choice, I highly doubt that any college coach would want his QB’s first start against a top-5 team on the road. But if it comes down to J.B. starting on that fateful day, he has intangibles that most others in his position would not.

He has a pedigree, with ancestors and a high school coach who played in the program. He’s gotten to learn under Tebow for the last two and a half seasons. And, of course, all that talent.

But most importantly, Brantley would bring in the element of surprise. All of his tape is mop up duty (And yes, I consider last week mop-up duty). Which means that there isn’t really a lot to prepare on, outside of the knowledge that he is more of a passer.

Expect to see lots of shotgun and some I if this happens. Oh, and don’t be surprised to see a more conservative approach.

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I have a couple of radio appearances today.

• I’ll be on with the mild-mannered and lovable Paul Finebaum at 4:30, where I’m sure we will discuss how either of us would be the last one to stir any sort of proverbial pot and how we both go out of our way to avoid any shred of possible controversy. Or maybe I have my friend from Birmingham, sometimes known as “Paul Fire-baum”, confused with someone else.

• Then at 6:05 p.m. I’ll make the drive over to the Clear Channel Communications studio to join Dick Gabriel on WLAP-630, where hopefully no leftover callers from the Leland Conway Show will inquire as to my views on the public option versus the triple option.

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The web site Wiz of Odds chronicles a growing rift between Mike Leach and his players at Texas Tech, which includes the suspension of a team captain and the ban of Twitter.

Here’s one tweet, from linebacker Marlon Williams, that might have prompted the ban:

“Wondering why I’m still in this meeting room when the head coach can’t even be on time to his on (sic) meeting.”

And here’s the former Kentucky assistant’s reply when asked about the tweet:

“Anybody that’s a malcontent doesn’t stay around here very long, because we’ve got a pretty good line of recruits that are fully willing to replace him. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t have a Twitter page anymore.”