
DESTIN, Fla. — Steve Spurrier is sticking with his plan to pay players. South Carolina’s outspoken coach first floated the idea at the Southeastern Conference’s spring meetings last year. Fellow coaches and league administrators listened, but it made little, if any, progress. He trotted out his stipend plan again this week and said Wednesday that [...] [...]

A veteran researcher and campus administrator is assuming a new role at Mississippi State. William B. “Benjy” Mikel has been named associate vice president for international programs and executive director of the university’s International Institute. He begins his role May 20, pending formal approval of the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning. Mikel [...] [...]
A nationally recognized authority on cyber-security and head of Mississippi State’s computer science and engineering department is the university’s new associate vice president for research. Rayford “Ray” Vaughn’s role in the Office of Research and Economic Development will provide leadership in a variety of efforts related to research funding, and he also will coordinate initiatives [...] [...]

Regions Bank has named Gary Sparkman community banking relationship manager in Tupelo. In this position, the 21-year banking and financial services veteran is responsible for developing relationships with commercial banking customers throughout the region, and managing lending relationships that range from $500,000 to $10 million and incorporate a wide array of deposit products and financial [...] [...]