Commentary: Mississippi Valley coach must be scratching his head‎

MVSU head coach Karl Morgan: "I am very positive and optimistic about where we can take this program." Last Wednesday, four of Valley players, including the potential starting quarterback and a offensive lineman, were charged with the sale of marijuana on a school campus, arrested and expelled with 11 others.

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. That old saying could easily apply to new Mississippi Valley State head football coach Karl Morgan although he says that's not the case at all. It's been a rough couple of first months since he was hired in January to replace Willie Totten. First, he didn't receive an overwhelming reception from the majority of Valley fans who wanted the school to hire MVSU alumnus Sam Washington, one of the five finalists for the job.

Second, Morgan was called out by some fans after not signing any players on National Signing Day after getting an extremely late start in the recruiting process. He was hired just three weeks before signing day. When Totten stepped down just a couple of weeks after the 2009 season, recruiting probably wasn't a priority for the assistant coaches who, knowing they weren't going to be retained by the new coach, were more worried about feeding their families than recruiting for another coach. So when Morgan came on board in mid-January, he probably had little to work with in recruiting.

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Mississippi Valley expels 15 arrested in sweep; includes four football players‎

Valley football coach Karl Morgan, who was hired in January, says football players Eddie Ivory (QB), Kyle Hurt (DE), Keldrick Hooks (DE) and Nicholas Dwayne Sherman (OL) were arrested and have been expelled from the University.

Mississippi Valley State University has expelled 15 students, including four football players, arrested in a drug sweep Wednesday morning. Sixteen people were arrested in a collaboration between several law enforcement agencies, including Valley police and the North Central Narcotics Task Force. Valley confirmed that 15 of those arrested were students. MVSU Police Chief Robert Sanders said he believes the bust nabbed a substantial amount of the drug activity on campus.

“We are continuing to put our officers out,” he said. “We are stepping up patrols and asking students, staff and faculty to be involved with reporting suspicious activity.” A six-week investigation culminated in 11 felony and five misdemeanor arrests by the narcotics task force. Commander Gordon Ward said about seven ounces of marijuana, $4,700 in cash and two vehicles were confiscated.

The arrests were made in dorm rooms, Sanders said. It was not clear if the expelled students had left the campus, but only two remained incarcerated as of this morning. “There is a policy in place that we do not tolerate any sort of drug activity on campus,” Sanders said. Ward said the task force had captured video evidence of the marijuana sales. The bust involved about 40 officers. The sweep involved the MVSU Police Department, Leflore County Sheriff’s Office, Greenwood Police Department, U.S. Marshals, Parchman K-9 Unit and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

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MVSU basketball falls to 0-11; SWAC schedule bailout needed

It took a while to chip off the rust from an 11-day layoff, but the Houston Cougars got things in gear and rolled to a 34-point win over Mississippi Valley State Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, 92-58. The Delta Devils, who have yet to play a home game this season, ran out of gas in the second half to fall to 0-11. The Cougars stepped on the gas in the final 20 minutes, putting 59 points on the board to win their sixth straight game (now 6-1 on the season). lvin Lewis led the way with 23 points, but the star was big Marcus Cousin, who overpowered MVSU's relative runts inside for 18 points and nine rebounds.

You have to feel for the Delta Devils. Like many SWAC teams, they've been farmed out as a rent-a-win crew, playing teams like Arizona State, Washington State, Oklahoma, Arizona, James Madison, Creighton and Kentucky. Coach Sean Woods (MVSU), who was a late hire and didn't get to do much recruiting, deserves better. So do his players, who worked hard, but simply didn't have the horses to run with the Cougars.

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