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Former Mississippi governor helped Brett Favre obtain welfare funds for university volleyball stadium, texts show

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An investigative report by Mississippi Today revealed Tuesday that former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant helped former NFL quarterback Brett Favre obtain welfare funds in order to help build a new volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The news organization reviewed text messages from 2017 and 2019 that were filed Monday in the state of Mississippi’s civil lawsuit over misspent welfare funds. The texts were filed by an attorney representing Nancy New, who has already pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts of bribery, fraud and racketeering for her role in the welfare scheme. New was the founder of the Mississippi Community Education Center, which was tasked with spending tens of millions in federal welfare funds to help the state.

State auditors determined nonprofit leaders misspent at least $77 million in welfare funds in the largest case of public fraud in Mississippi history.

The texts show Favre, New and Bryant discussing how to divert at least $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium at Southern Miss. Favre played football at Southern Miss, and his daughter was a volleyball player there at the time some of the texts were sent.

“If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?” Favre asked New in 2017.

After telling Favre that “we never have that information publicized,” she circled back to him the next day.

“Wow, just got off the phone with Phil Bryant! He is on board with us! We will get this done!” New told Favre.

In another text sent in July 2019, Bryant told New he had just finished meeting with Favre and asked her if they could help him with his project.

Favre’s attorney, Bud Holmes, denied to Mississippi Today that the former quarterback knew he received welfare funds.

“Brett Favre has been honorable throughout this whole thing,” Holmes told the news organization.

Favre had told the outlet in 2020 that he had not discussed the volleyball stadium project with Bryant.

Bryant, who left office in January 2020, has long denied helping direct welfare funds to the stadium project, and he did not address the texts in a statement to Mississippi Today that accused New’s defense team of being “more concerned with pretrial publicity than they are with civil justice.”

Mississippi Today reported that the volleyball stadium is not part of the state’s civil lawsuit. Favre and Bryant have not been criminally charged.

Last year, Favre paid back $600,000 to the state of Mississippi, an amount he had been paid for speeches he never gave. Favre was commissioned in 2017 and 2018 to promote a state poverty-fighting initiative, receiving $1.1 million. The state auditor’s office reported that he initially gave back $500,000 of the amount, but earlier this month, Favre was asked in a letter to repay the remainder plus interest.

Then, in May, the Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a civil lawsuit against Favre because he had not paid back interest on the $1.1 million that amounted to $228,000.

According to the text messages in the filing obtained by Mississippi Today, the $1.1 million deal with the state was another means of funding the volleyball stadium project.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Ole Miss one win from first Men’s College World Series title after 10-3 win over Oklahoma in finals opener

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OMAHA, Neb. — Ole Miss, one of the last four teams invited to the NCAA baseball tournament, is now only one win away from being the last team standing.

Mississippi defeated Oklahoma 10-3 in the first contest of the best-of-three Men’s College World Series finals, powered to the victory by an unlikely arm: relief pitcher Jack Dougherty. The sophomore out of Collierville, Tennessee, was forced into service as a starter because the team’s 1-2 aces had been used up in Mississippi’s march to this championship series. The righty responded with his longest outing of the season: five innings of perfect baseball before leaving the mound in the sixth with a 4-1 lead and the bases loaded with no outs. His relief came by way of a freshman right-hander Mason Nichols, who struck out five of the seven batters he faced in two innings of work and surrendered only one run, charged to Dougherty.

A trio Ole Miss pitchers — Dougherty, Nichols and sophomore Josh Mallitz — enjoyed an early-established cushion, as their hitting teammates posted two runs in the top of the first and added one more each in the second and third innings. The last of those came off the bat of fifth-year senior and emerging Oxford, Mississippi, folk hero Tim Elko, who blasted his 24th homer of the season, the highlight of a 4 for 5 night at the plate, which was the first four-hit outing for any MCWS batter since 2009.

When teammates T.J. McCants, Calvin Harris and Justin Bench blasted back-to-back-to-back homers in the top of the eighth — the first team to do that since LSU in 1998 — the score was 8-2 and the game was essentially over.

Oklahoma squandered the opportunity of what looked like a huge on-paper mismatch, sending ace Jake Bennett to the mound with a week’s worth of rest, after having not pitched since the Sooners’ MCWS opening game against Texas A&M on June 17. Now, Ole Miss will have No. 2 starter Hunter Elliott and his perfect postseason record on the mound Sunday afternoon with a chance to clinch the title on five days’ rest. Should a Game 3 become necessary on Monday, the Rebels could presumably have ace Dylan DeLucia available for at least some work after his gutsy Thursday afternoon complete-game shutout that pushed Ole Miss into the finals.

The University of Mississippi is one win away from not only its first MCWS title but the school’s second-ever NCAA-recognized national championship in any team sport. The women’s golf team won the university’s first title, only one year ago. The school does claim three national titles in football from 1958 to 1960, but none of those was honored by the Associated Press or coaches polls.

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Texas A&M Aggies cruise, ‘use that energy from the crowd’ to eliminate rival Texas Longhorns at Men’s College World Series

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OMAHA, Neb. — In the maddening wait before Micah Dallas took the mound in Sunday’s rivalry showdown against Texas, the Texas A&M right-hander deeply contemplated one piece of advice: It’s just another game.

But it was the Men’s College World Series, and Dallas couldn’t help himself. He charged onto the field after the Aggies’ 10-2 rout and flashed a double Horns down sign.

“It’s kinda something that’s just like breathing: death, taxes and Horns down,” Dallas said. “I mean, there’s no hate toward them at all. They’re a great ballclub.

“If you looked at social media before the game, you’d think it’s life or death. And the fans were just incredible today. Both sides made it fun. You can either let it affect you in a positive or negative way. The older you get and the more experience you have, you can use that energy from the crowd.”

Texas and Texas A&M have been playing baseball against each other since 1904, but the stakes had never been higher than on Saturday. It was the first time they’d faced each other in the CWS, and the loser would go home.

Texas was the team with the bluer blood; it has six national championships and is the winningest Division I baseball program of all time, while the Aggies hadn’t won a CWS game in 29 years.

Until Sunday.

Dallas, who grew up in Aubrey, Texas — nicknamed Horse Country, USA — was unflappable. In heat indexes that reached triple digits, he appeared to labor in the first two innings, throwing 51 pitches and surrendering two runs.

Dallas said A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle chatted with him after the first inning. “Just keep doing you,” Schlossnagle told him. It gave him confidence, Dallas said. He proceeded to stymie the Longhorns until the top of the sixth, and by then, the Aggies had built an 8-2 lead. Texas staged one last rally in the sixth, when Silas Ardoin and Dylan Campbell singled with no out.

That’s when the Aggies called on Jacob Palisch. The graduate transfer from Stanford struck out the next two batters then walked Mitchell Daly, who yelled, “Let’s go!” into the UT dugout. It loaded the bases for Longhorns slugger Ivan Melendez, who led the nation in home runs and RBIs.

Melendez connected on an opposite-field drive that sailed foul. Fans in burnt orange and maroon and white rose to their feet. Melendez struck out looking on an inside fastball at the knees.

Palisch pumped his fist. Melendez reared his body back in disbelief.

After the game, Texas coach David Pierce said he felt “numb.”

“I mean, I thought we had momentum early in the game,” he said. “We grabbed one in the first, I think one in the second. You just — overcoming big innings has been the story of the last three months. And that popped us today. And I think it just has worn on the position players and feel like at that point just constantly playing uphill. Maybe it just caught up to us, that feeling. We spent a lot of time standing on the field today.”

The Aggies (43-19) appeared to be the looser team on Saturday. They fed catcher Troy Claunch a Pringles chip when he scored in the second inning to tie the score at 2-2. The Pringles routine, or whatever you want to call it, started in March, when the Aggies lost to Houston. Schlossnagle told the team that winning needed to be like Pringles: You can’t just eat one.

Now when they score runs or come up with a big play, they eat Pringles.

A&M fans showed up at the team hotel Sunday morning to send the Aggies off to the team bus. Seth Martin, a College Station resident who sits in Section 203 during home baseball games, fist-bumped the players and headed for the stadium with his own survival kit: a maroon A&M koozie, a vial of bubbles to blow after every score, and, of course, a can of Pringles.

“Everyone hates TU,” Martin said, reversing the team’s initials.

“Can you tell how excited we are? We’re pumped.”

The Texas-Texas A&M rivalry lost a bit of its luster in 2012, when the Aggies moved from the Big 12 to the SEC. For three years, the teams did not play each other. In 2015, they agreed to an annual Tuesday game. Among the major sports, the baseball teams are the only ones that play each other.

But that will change in 2025, when Texas joins the SEC.

Dallas wasn’t thinking about any of that late Sunday. He said he had “conversations” with Texas during the recruiting process but went to Texas Tech. He transferred to College Station after last season, and now, while the Longhorns are headed home, Dallas’ unbelievable season continues.

“When you’re a little kid, you think about playing against your biggest rival on the biggest stage,” he said, “and that’s what happened today.”

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James Madison Dukes cancel softball season after death of player Lauren Bernett

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James Madison has canceled the remainder of its softball season following the death of catcher Lauren Bernett, the school announced Monday.

Bernett, 20, died April 25. According to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office of the Western District of Virginia, her death was classified as a suicide.

James Madison canceled its remaining games this week against Virginia and Elon. Five games were canceled last week. The team ends its season at 21-21.

“This was an extremely difficult decision and one that was not made lightly,” James Madison coach Loren LaPorte said in a statement. “We are so grateful for the support of our fans all season and for the love from the softball community during the past week. We will use this time to continue healing and to honor Lauren’s memory while finishing the academic semester strong. Most importantly, we’re thinking about our graduating seniors whose careers have come to an abrupt conclusion. We will make sure that they are honored for the commitment and dedication they have made as student-athletes at James Madison University.”

Bernett helped James Madison make a historic run to the Women’s College World Series a year ago and was named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week last week.

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Paint in Kansas Wesleyan baseball team’s water cooler; two juveniles suspected

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LINDSBORG, Kan. — Lindsborg police announced Thursday that two boys are suspected of being involved in the contamination of a water cooler used by the Kansas Wesleyan baseball team during a doubleheader at Bethany College last weekend.

Both schools contacted police to file a report about a foreign substance found in Wesleyan’s water. The home team, Bethany in this case, customarily provides water to the visiting team. Police did not say how it connected the juveniles to the tainted water.

“This incident generated wide-reaching media interest after initial comments on social media claimed that a college baseball program deliberately contaminated an opponent’s water cooler,” a police statement said. “The Lindsborg Police Department has taken this incident seriously and has conducted over 60 interviews so far, collected multiple pieces of evidence, photographed the scene, and followed various leads.

“Though the investigation is active and ongoing, it has been determined that no one associated with either college was responsible for tampering with the water cooler.”

The substance mixed into the water was paint used to put lines on the field, police said.

Police haven’t said if anyone drank the contaminated water or if anyone became ill and declined further comment.

Lindsborg is a town of 3,000 people in central Kansas. The campuses of Kansas Wesleyan and Bethany are separated by 18 miles and the schools are longtime athletic rivals.

The teams split the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday, with Kansas Wesleyan setting a school record for runs in winning the second game 33-2.

The alleged water cooler tampering was first disclosed on the Twitter account of KWU Barstool.

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Denver Pioneers advance to Frozen Four final with 3-2 win over Michigan Wolverines in OT

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BOSTON — Denver defeated Michigan 3-2 in overtime of their men’s Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday, advancing to Saturday night’s ice hockey national championship game in Boston’s TD Garden.

Carter Savoie’s goal with 5:07 remaining in the first overtime won the game for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers will face the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota and Minnesota State. It’s the first championship game appearance for Denver since 2018, when it won the title.

Denver, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, is seeking its ninth men’s hockey championship in program history, which would tie Michigan for the most in NCAA Division I history.

The overtime winner came as a result of a sloppy play by Michigan in its own zone. The Wolverines tried to transition to offense before securing the puck. Denver collected the turnover, and leading scorer Bobby Brink’s pass from the right corner was converted by Savoie at the front of the net, sending the Pioneers into a celebration and the top-seeded Wolverines home.

The game between the Pioneers and Wolverines wasn’t the offensive shootout many expected. Instead, it was an intense battle between two talented and deep teams that extended past regulation.

Denver took a 1-0 lead with 8:38 left in the first period on a goal by Brett Stapley, his 17th of the season. Defenseman Justin Lee shot the puck from the point. With a Pioneers player on his doorstep, goalie Erik Portillo deflected the shot to the slot. That’s where Stapley collected it, and with Portillo colliding with his center Matty Beniers, tucked into the open net for the Denver lead.

The Pioneers scored a goal before Michigan recorded a shot on goal, with the Wolverines finally putting a puck on Denver goalie Magnus Chrona with 3:56 left in the first.

Michigan head coach Mel Pearson’s message to his players after practice on Wednesday was “focus on the start and be ready.” The first period ended with Denver having the advantage, and the Pioneers were 20-1-1 when scoring first and 15-0-1 when leading after the first period.

The Wolverines knotted the game at 1-1 with 15:57 left in the second period on a Jimmy Lambert goal. Right wing Nolan Moyle made a nifty play to control the puck on a zone entry, sparking a Michigan cycle with senior linemates Garrett Van Wyhe and Lambert. The puck eventually returned to Nolan behind the Denver net, and he fed Lambert in front for the game-tying goal, his 6th of the season.

Michigan pushed for the next few minutes of the period but had trouble executing, including four offside plays and an odd-man rush negated when Portillo lost his helmet after making a save. Denver finished the period with a 16-9 shot advantage, as the Pioneers didn’t convert on the teams’ lone power play opportunity of the period.

The Pioneers took the lead with 14:24 left in the third period. The puck was cycled back to defenseman Mike Benning at the right point, who floated a wrist shot that was deflected by Wright past Portillo. It was the senior winger’s 22 goal of the season in 40 games.

But Michigan tied the game at 2-2 with 10:51 left in the third. The play started with a sprawling shot block by Mark Estapa on a shot by Denver defenseman Antti Tuomisto. Michigan’s Michael Pastujov sped down the wing. His pass to the middle of the ice was deflected, but sophomore forward Thomas Bordeleau smartly slowed his progress in order to tap home the bouncing puck for the tying tally.

The Wolverines killed off a Denver power play after forward Brendan Brisson’s boarding penalty. With 5:31 left in the game, freshman forward Mackie Samoskevich was whistled for holding, drawing boos from the considerable number of Michigan fans in the stands. But the Wolverines killed that off as well.

The loss sends Michigan into an offseason of uncertainty. The Wolverines have seven players who were selected in the first round of the NHL draft, including four of the first five picks in the 2021 draft. Defenseman Owen Power, the No. 1 overall pick, is expected to sign with the Buffalo Sabres after the NCAA tournament. Pearson also does not have a contract beyond this season.

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Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas advances to women’s 200 freestyle final at NCAA swimming championships

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ATLANTA — University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas qualified for her second final at the NCAA championships Friday morning after finishing the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 42.09 seconds to secure the second seed for the evening finals.

Stanford junior and Canadian Olympian Taylor Ruck will be the top seed, after winning her heat in 1:41.89.

Thomas, who is a transgender woman, opened the race trailing USC senior Laticia-Leigh Transom. After the first 100, she was behind by nearly a body length. Thomas, however, passed Transom on the last turn.

Thomas entered the prelims tied for the third-fastest time in the country at 1:41.93. She held the top time until Wednesday, when Ruck (1:40.59) and Cal’s Isabel Ivey (1:41.35) posted better times, and Stanford’s Torri Huske tied Thomas, while competing in the 800 freestyle relay at the NCAA championships.

Thomas, Ruck and Ivey, who is seeded third, enter the final Friday night separated by 0.35 seconds, setting up a showdown for the NCAA championship. Also possible: beating Missy Franklin’s record time of 1:39.10, set in 2015.

Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship Thursday when she captured the 500 freestyle. Her victory came amid protests outside of the McAuley Aquatic Center, and noticeable quiet from the otherwise rowdy crowd inside of it.

Olympian and University of Texas freshman Erica Sullivan, who finished third, showed her support Friday morning in an op-ed published by Newsweek.

“I can’t sit silently by as I see a fellow swimmer’s fundamental rights be put up for debate,” Sullivan said. “Like anyone else in this sport, Lia has trained diligently to get to where she is and has followed all of the rules and guidelines put before her. Like anyone else in this sport, Lia doesn’t win every time. And when she does, she deserves, like anyone else in this sport, to be celebrated for her hard-won success, not labeled a cheater simply because of her identity.”

A small group of protesters returned to the lawn outside of the pool Friday morning. Yellow barriers lined the sidewalk and additional security was present. An event staff member said the additional barriers were due to the increased attention around Thomas.

Protesters stood behind the barriers, chanting through a megaphone.

“[Thomas winning a national championship] was really upsetting,” Save Women’s Sports protester Amy Sousa, who traveled to Atlanta from her home in Washington, told ESPN. “Lia Thomas didn’t win. He [sic] cheated. And he stole a place from multiple women. It was very devastating.”

In addition to the 200 freestyle Friday night, Thomas will also swim the 100 freestyle Saturday.

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Penn will work with NCAA to support transgender athlete Lia Thomas’ participation at swimming and diving championships

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Penn Athletics said in a statement on Thursday that it would work with the NCAA in support of swimmer Lia Thomas regarding her participation at the 2022 NCAA swimming and diving championships in Atlanta in March.

Thomas, a transgender woman, has posted some of the nation’s best times in the women’s 200-yard, 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle events. She has qualified for the NCAA swimming and diving championships in all three individual events.

“Penn Athletics is aware of the NCAA’s new transgender participation policy,” the statement said. “In support of our student-athlete, Lia Thomas, we will work with the NCAA regarding her participation under the newly adopted standards for the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship.”

On Wednesday, the NCAA released a new policy in which eligibility requirements for transgender athletes will be determined by each sport’s national governing body. The requirements go into effect immediately and replace the previous policy, adopted in 2010, that was a uniform hormone therapy requirement across all sports.

USA Swimming’s policy, adopted in 2018, uses a review panel to make individual determinations on eligibility. Elite athletes are subject to FINA and IOC regulations, which are currently in flux thanks to a November 2021 update to the IOC’s policy, which defers to individual policies of international federations. It is unknown which athletes — Olympians, collegians or both — are considered to be elite under USA Swimming’s current policy.

Thomas and Penn are next scheduled to compete Saturday at Harvard (11 a.m. ET, ESPN+).

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Oklahoma Sooners, Texas Longhorns formally notify SEC of membership request for 2025

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Oklahoma and Texas have formally notified the SEC they are seeking “an invitation for membership” beginning July 1, 2025, according to a joint statement from the flagship programs of the Big 12.

According to the release, OU and Texas sent SEC commissioner Greg Sankey their request Tuesday morning.

“The two universities look forward to the prospect of discussion regarding the matter,” the statement read.

According to the letter, which was dated July 27 and made public, Texas president Jay Hartzell and Oklahoma president Joseph Harroz Jr. wrote, “We believe that there would be mutual benefit to the Universities on the one hand, and the SEC on the other hand, for the Universities to become members of the SEC.”

Sources said the SEC presidents and chancellors are meeting Thursday to consider OU and Texas for official membership in what would become the first 16-team superconference. In spite of the formal notification from the Big 12 schools, a source familiar with the process cautioned that it still doesn’t guarantee the SEC will vote at that time. A three-fourths majority vote of SEC presidents and chancellors (11 of 14) would be required for invitations to be extended.

Sources previously told ESPN that it’s believed enough SEC schools will vote to add the two new members.

“While the SEC has not proactively sought new members, we will pursue significant change when there is a clear consensus among our members that such actions will further enrich the experiences of our student-athletes and lead to greater academic and athletic achievement across our campuses,” Sankey said in a statement. “The Presidents and Chancellors of the SEC, in their capacity as the conference’s Chief Executive Officers, will consider these requests in the near future.”

The boards of regents for both Texas and Oklahoma have scheduled separate special meetings Friday morning, during which athletic conference membership will be discussed. Oklahoma’s regents will meet in Oklahoma City, while Texas’ regents will meet via conference call.

Texas and OU stated in the letter that they intend to remain in the Big 12 through June 30, 2025, because that’s when the current Big 12 media rights deal expires — but that doesn’t guarantee they won’t find a way to leave before then. If it happens earlier, each university would have to pay a penalty of at least $75 million to $80 million to break that agreement, or hope that the Big 12 dissolves before the grant of rights contract expires.

One Big 12 source suggested the possibility that OU and Texas are banking on a relationship that turns so sour over the next few years, the Big 12 agrees to cut them loose for less.

A source within the SEC said the Longhorns and Sooners “have a lot of legal work to do before they can just walk over to us.”

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.

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Vanderbilt AD — Slurs used toward parents at College World Series ‘absolutely unacceptable’

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OMAHA, Neb. — Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee on Tuesday condemned the use of racially offensive language directed at some of the parents of the Commodores players during Game 1 of the College World Series finals.

“I am deeply troubled that some of our student-athlete parents were subjected to racist slurs during last night’s game,” Storey Lee tweeted. “This is absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful behavior, and such hateful language has no place anywhere in our society.”

Vanderbilt is playing Mississippi State in the best-of-three finals. The Commodores won 8-2 on Monday with Game 2 scheduled for Tuesday night.

Kristyna Engdahl, communications director for the agency that operates TD Ameritrade Park, said stadium officials were aware of an interaction between fans that involved the use of racial slurs.

Engdahl said the person or persons who used the offensive language left the stadium once security personnel were notified. She said she didn’t know if the person or persons left on their own or were ejected.

“We absolutely denounce this behavior and are saddened to learn that it took place in TD Ameritrade Park Omaha,” Engdahl wrote in an email. “Tonight, we will take additional security measures to ensure that everyone may feel safe in our stadium.”

Engdahl said officials were talking to event staff to gather additional information.

“We do stand behind the guests who were subjected to this unacceptable and appalling language, and we’re sincerely sorry for their experience in our stadium,” she wrote.



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