HOOPS UPDATE PART 2

We welcome Marcus Grant, MSU Men’s Basketball assistant coach, for his season preview.

EDUCATION EXCELLENCE

Next week we honor outstanding teachers and students from half of Oktibbeha County’s schools.

LAST WEEK

Invocation and Pledge: Mike Cason

Attendance: There were 101 members (29 exempt, 1 honorary) present, and 100 (26 exempt, 9 honorary) absent.       

Guests and visitors: Visiting Rotarians were Bill Overstreet, West Point, and Tom Knecht, Habersham County , Georgia. Members’ guests included Barbara Tucker of Allan Tucker, Ben Howell of Bob Wolverton, Bob Mooneyham of Buddy Staggers, and Mike Black of Betty Black. Guests of the Club were Taka Sato, Youth Exchange Student, Jarrod Reneau, Ambassadorial Cultural Scholar, and David Franz, Pack 14 Cubmaster.

Makeups reported: Lynne Richardson made Philadelphia, Miss., and Judy Couey in West Point.

Club notes: President Chip read three delightful thank you notes for dictionaries from third-graders.

Chip reminded members to check the e-mail that he forwarded with Alli Noffsinger’s report of her activities as a Rotary Scholar in Tel Aviv.

Rotary Minute:  Zach Rowland explained Rotary’s zone organization. The 34 worldwide zones consist of approximately 15 districts each. Our district 6820 is in zone 29. A director is responsible for 2 zones.

PAUL HARRIS FELLOWS

Robert Clark, annual giving chair, announced that the Club’s latest group of 16 Paul Harris Fellows probably is a record. In order to highlight the individuals’ accomplishments, presentations will be spread over several club meetings.

Four new fellows are Kristi Brown, Don Norman, Linda Karen Smith and Debra Hicks. Keith Remy was awarded a three-sapphire pin signifying more than $4,000 in donations. Dave Boles received a one-sapphire pin marking his second $1,000 in contributions.

A Paul Harris designation is earned when a Rotarian contributes $1,000 to the Rotary International Foundation. Locally, all members contribute $25 per quarter. When a Rotarian is within $250 of a $1,000 milestone, he/she may request Club matching funds to fill out the donation.

CUB SCOUT PACK 14

Cubmaster David Franz accepted the first of the year’s two sponsorship checks for and reported on Pack 14. As an example of how our funding supports the unit, Franz noted that 56 scouts were provided with model rocket kits to launch at an event at Bryan Field.

Our younger Scouting unit boasts 83 boys and 15 adult leaders. The pack is a Centennial Quality Unit and many of the boys have earned the “Purple Panda” patch recognizing environmental efforts. The year’s main fundraising activity, popcorn sales, is drawing to a close.

The next major community service project will be “Scouting for Food” when the boys will gather canned goods for area food pantries. At its Oct. meeting, our Rotary board recommended that the Club partner with its scouting units by contributing canned goods. For the next several weeks, we will have food donation boxes at the front door. Let’s set a good example for our youth.

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING TO DO WITH MSU

We congratulate Rotarian Roy Ruby for stepping in as interim MSU president. Little did we know last week, as he regaled us with his humor, that he already had answered the call. He’s the right man for a tough time.

Coach Sharon Fanning is excited and optimistic about the upcoming Lady Bulldogs’ basketball season that opens Nov. 13 with the first of five games played in “The Hump” against a variety of opponents.

She says team strengths are experience and depth – the key to success will be to determine the most effective combinations and develop good team chemistry.

Although her remarks were laced with her usual humor, she began on a serious note.  The brief story emphasized the importance in life of developing trust and compassion in relationships, being positive about the future, a willingness to adopt new ideas, and giving people an opportunity to improve themselves. “That’s my philosophy in basketball!”

This will be Fanning’s 32nd year as a head coach, her 14th at Mississippi State and she said “I have never had a more skilled and aggressive coaching staff.  Three of them have been very successful head coaches.”

Assistant coach Greg Franklin came to MSU last year from Southeastern Illinois College, where his team had achieved national ranking among junior colleges (NJCAA) and he had been named regional coach of the year in 4 of his 5 seasons.

Franqua Bedell, who Sharon calls Coach Q (“because I can’t pronounce his name”), had been Franklin’s assistant coach at SE Illinois and succeeded him as head coach, leading his team last year to a record 32–4 season and a national sixth  NJCAA ranking.

Also new this year is Sharrona Reeves, a University of Alabama graduate who for the past 2 years was a highly successful head coach at NCAA Div. II Long Island University.

Turning to the team, Fanning said 8 of 9 returning players are experienced, with 6 of them starting experience. “At this point I can’t tell you who our starters will be.” There are three returning seniors.  Point guard Marneshia Richards, who is on the injury list, hopefully will be ready when conference play starts in January. Other seniors are forwards Robin Porter and Lauren Roberts.

Four juniors are Bethany Washington, Tysheka Grimes, Channa Campbell, and Alexis Rack.

Two sophomores are Danielle Rector and Mary Kathryn Govero, who was named to last season’s SEC all-freshman team.

Coach Fanning is excited about four newcomers to this year’s Lady Bulldogs roster, three of them junior transfers from SE Illinois, where they played for both Coach Franklin and  Coach Q. All three came to SE Illinois College from The Congo. “These kids are self-motivated. They were among the top Jucos in the nation, but they’ll find that SEC play is much more physical.”

Armelie Lumanu is a guard who led her Illinois  team in both scoring and rebounds, and in 2006-07 led the nation in steals. “Melie’s  the quickest of all the players.

Rima Kalonda is 6' 3" and “can scratch her knees without bending over!” She plays at both forward and center position, and Coach Fanning expects her to see considerable action backing up the center position.

Chanel Mokango is the third of the trio (and the tallest at 6' 4"). She plays both forward and guard and is a good shot blocker. She also “can really shoot the three.”

The fourth newcomer is Diamber Johnson, a freshman guard from Pontotoc. “She’s special and very skilled. She wants to be a coach. She will back up the point.”

Probably the one thing of which Fanning is most proud is the commitment of her players to academics. “Senior Marneshia Richard has almost a straight 4.0 GPA in engineering. Alexis is doing almost as well majoring in chemistry. The team’s average GPA is 3.2.”

Coach Fanning challenged Rotarians to “come to our games.”   There will be  plenty of opportunities to see the Lady Bulldogs this year – with the exhibition game, there are 18 contests on the home court.            She said the long-promised women’s locker room is under construction, thanks to several major gifts. “How would you like your name on a locker – we have several left for a donation of only $1,000. We hope it will be finished by the first of the year.”

Fanning emphasized the importance of the proposed practice facility for both women’s and men’s basketball programs. “We’re seeking major donors to get the project underway. We need it badly to enhance our practices and especially for recruitment. It will be constructed on the football stadium side of “The Hump.”

Winners of T-shirts in Coach Fanning’s pop quiz were Loren Zimmerman and Jeff Read.

Dave Boles introduced Fanning, as not only the winningest coach at MSU (533 career wins, 210 of them at Mississippi State) but as probably the university’s best public relations person.