McCready: 10 Weekend Thoughts presented by Harry Alexander

1. The worst day in Steven McRoberts’ coaching career began with a phone call at 3:15 a.m.

Hours later, Ole Miss’ volleyball coach was breaking horrible news to his team. Ty Laporte, one of the most popular athletes on the Ole Miss campus, had died Thursday night in a car accident near Holly Springs, Miss.

“She had a big bright smile,” McRoberts said Sunday night in a quiet moment in his home. “She was loud. She was the center of attention.”

McRoberts didn’t recruit Laporte. By the time he arrived in Oxford from Tulsa, Laporte had reshirted a season due to a knee injury and played two seasons.

“When we got here, we saw right away that she had a personality that wanted to command the room,” McRoberts said. “We had our moments where we butted heads but yet when it really came down to it, it brought us closer together because for it. She would challenge me. I would challenge her. Players like that make you grow as a coach.”

On the court, Laporte finished her Ole Miss career ranked third all-time in block assists with 280 and third all-time in total blocks with 334. She also ranks fifth all-time in kills with 999.

“It was really fun to see her grow on the court and off the court,” McRoberts said. “It was a lot of fun.”

During her last two years under McRoberts, Laporte helped lead the Rebels to consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in nearly three decades, the best start in school history and the most home wins with a 13-5 record in 2015.

As a senior, Laporte was named AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region and ranked among the top 10 in the SEC in hitting percentage. Laporte was also a member of the Ole Miss track & field team since her freshman year, competing in the high jump. She ranks ninth in school history in the outdoor high jump with a college-best clearance of 5 feet, 7.75 inches in 2014.

Laporte was almost 5-foot-11. She typically was squared up against Southeastern Conference players who ranged from 6-2 to 6-5.

“Her competitiveness and her drive was such that when she looked across the net, she didn’t care who was on the other side,” McRoberts said. “She wanted to prove to them that she belonged on the court. A lot of that was proving to herself, too. She had a great senior year. She was looking recently at some options in maybe playing overseas.”

Ole Miss is taking contributions for Ty Laporte's family to assist with funeral expenses.

Laporte’s legacy at Ole Miss was defined more, McRoberts said, by who she was off the court than the player she was on it.

On Friday morning, the team sat around in the locker room reflecting on their friend.

“Most of the time we were laughing,” McRoberts said. “She just lit up the room. She just had funny things about her all the time.”

After one game, Ole Miss volleyball t-shirts were passed out to fans as a promotion. Laporte had noticed an older gentleman who frequented the Rebels’ games.

“She said, ‘I want to make sure that guy gets a t-shirt,’” McRoberts said. “She pointed at a man in the stands. He was an elderly, shy man who came to a lot of the game and just watched the games. She said, ‘I want to make sure he gets a t-shirt for always coming.’ She walked up and handed it to the guy and he was smiling from ear to ear.

“If kids were around, she was always with the kids. If my kids walked in the gym, especially Nate, my two-year-old, she was always messing with him. She was really good at camp with the kids.”

McRoberts’ phone has rung all weekend with fans telling him their memories of Laporte. One lady told him about her daughter, an Ole Miss volleyball fan who was battling cancer. Laporte sent the girl one of her volleyball jerseys with all of the other players’ autographs.

“That’s her,” McRoberts said, his voice cracking with emotions. “She wanted others to see her competitiveness, her fire, her being loud, but really behind the scenes, she was really this sweet young lady who looked out for others.

“She was complicated but she loved us and we loved her.”

2. Let’s establish something on Ole Miss’ Notice of Allegations. The people accusing Ole Miss of lying about what’s in the letter don’t seem to understand a basic fact: Ole Miss will be compelled to release the document at some point fairly soon. Everyone inside Ole Miss’ athletic department knows it.

So why would Ole Miss lie? In short, that would be idiotic. Again, the document must be released in its entirety. If Ole Miss is lying about what’s in the document, the people responsible for those lies will lose any and all credibility.

So they’re not lying. Sure, there is spin, and it is reporters’ jobs to disseminate spin. Some of us _ hand raised _ didn’t do a good job in that category on the day the story broke. Others, such as David Brandt of the Associated Press, have done a terrific job disseminating the facts as best we know them.

The details of the case are beginning to become apparent. It is apparent the NCAA believes then-Ole Miss staffers Chris Vaughn and David Saunders did something untoward six years ago with the ACTs of at least two _ I’ve heard three names _ student-athletes. I’ll say this: It probably isn’t coincidence that Delvin Jones, once a defensive end at Ole Miss, ended up at Louisiana-Lafayette. The other names, I suspect, aren’t difficult to guess.

If there’s a hammer for the NCAA to swing, it comes in the form of the alleged academic fraud. The rest of the allegations appear to be somewhat mundane.

A Memphis man, Walter Hughes, gave rides to Oxford to Herbert Moore and Bobby Billingsley. It is becoming apparent the NCAA views this as an improper benefit. Ole Miss, it seems, believes the previous relationship Hughes had with both Moore and Billingsley negates the NCAA’s assertion.

Among the unverified things we’ve heard from sources: A player (I’m guessing Laremy Tunsil, because both the NCAA and Ole Miss compliance appear obsessed with the former Ole Miss offensive tackle) stayed at a coach’s house or a booster’s house for a night or two. There was a bump rule violation. There was a mix-up on a stepfather’s accommodations on an official visit. There was all of the Tunsil stuff from the summer (Give Lindsey Miller credit; as bad of an attorney as he was, he got his pound of flesh. I wonder if that will be worth it when Tunsil gets an eight-figure signing bonus in May and his cut is a giant zero?).

There isn’t much there, unless there’s more. There isn’t much, other than the academic fraud (which could be significant, at least in my opinion) unless the predictions from message board types come true. If they’re right in saying there’s a second letter or an amendment to the first letter coming with new football allegations, then disregard everything I just wrote. However, that would mean Ross Bjork is either being lied to by the NCAA or he’s lying to the media when he says the investigation is over.

I find that scenario basically implausible.

I keep thinking of Occam’s razor. In other words, the simplest explanation is probably the right one. The simplest explanation here is there is no mysterious second letter. Instead, a long investigation was extended this summer when Tunsil’s troubles surfaced this summer.

There was another school (Louisiana-Lafayette) involved, and that complicated things. The ULL investigation is closed. The Tunsil situation has reached its conclusion as well.

The Notice of Allegations has been received, and Ole Miss is preparing a response. Anything other than that requires one to believe in a conspiracy on Ole Miss’ part to blatantly lie about a situation that will absolutely be made transparent before the summer. That makes no sense.

3. What is undeniable is there is a feeding frenzy surrounding the Ole Miss case. Some of it, maybe a lot of it, is a failure on Ole Miss’ part. There is a sense in the media that Ole Miss hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about this investigation since its inception three-plus years ago. Is that fair? Probably not entirely, but Ole Miss’ handling of this crisis is never going to be used as an example in Public Relations 101 classes either.

Pat Forde’s piece came out on the Friday before National Signing Day, and it’s clear now Ole Miss tried to the numbers that made up the Notice of Allegations. How many of the allegations occurred during Hugh Freeze’s watch? Did the Tunsil allegations, which apparently had nothing to do with Freeze, count against Freeze? You get the picture.

A week or so later, with National Signing Day in the rear view mirror, Brandt’s story provided more clarity and insight to the actual make-up of the Notice of Allegations.

The misinformation, however, fed conspiracy theories. Why did Alabama’s Bo Scarbrough get suspended early last season? He visited Ole Miss, after all. Why did Brandon Wenzel resign the day after National Signing Day? There’s no way that isn’t NCAA-related, right? (Actually, even if the worst rumors regarding Wenzel’s departure from the Ole Miss program are accurate, it wouldn’t be an NCAA matter)

Many in the media (and I use that term loosely for a few) are putting one and one together and getting seven. Message board posters are posting speculative penalties as if they’re fact. Again, I ask: How could the NCAA have decided on penalties for an institution before it even has responded to a Notice of Allegations. Short answer: It hasn’t. If it has, the level of corruption inside the NCAA is beyond measure.

I’m a guy who is fascinated by the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I’ve read more books on the topic than I can recall. I’ve researched conspiracy theories. Was it a CIA plot? Did Lyndon Johnson know it was coming? Did the Secret Service fire the kill shot? Was Castro involved? Was Lee Harvey Oswald a government patsy? Those theories are all sexy, but they require vast conspiracies.

The most logical conclusion, of course, is Oswald acted alone on that November day in Dallas. Jack Ruby acted on angry impulse two days later when he killed Oswald. That version of events isn’t nearly as captivating as the others.

There’s no doubt some journalists’ agendas against Ole Miss, for whatever reason(s), have been exposed. Their desired story _ an SEC school climbing the ranks from irrelevant to reaching consecutive access bowls before getting hammered for widespread cheating _ is sexier than a program being handed fairly mild penalties for a lot of self-reported violations (with nary a whiff of pay-for-play and no mention of the current head coach) and six-year-old academic fraud that occurred on the previous staff’s watch.

Maybe I’ll be wrong. Maybe there’s a figurative bomb still to fall, one that will cause immense collateral damage. If so, credit to those who have breathlessly assured the starving masses that there will soon be blood in the water.

If I’m right, though, I’m eager to see how a rather mundane story is spun.

4. I moved to Birmingham in 1996. I married in 1997, moved to Mobile in 1999 and then across Mobile Bay to Spanish Fort in 2004. All three of my children were born at the Mobile Infirmary. I worked at the Hoover Outlook, the Shelby County Reporter, the Birmingham Post-Herald and the Mobile Register. I hosted an afternoon sports talk show on WNSP for six years.

I left Alabama for Mississippi in March 2008. Almost eight years later, I’d like to issue an apology to the people of Alabama.

Here goes:

Dear Alabama,

You’re nuts. Seriously, you’re insane. Football is more than a sport in your state. It’s a way of life, and I mean that in as negative a way as can possibly be interpreted.

You people actually believe that if 85 kids you don’t know beat 85 other kids you don’t know in a college football game, your way of life is better than the way of life of the people who cheer for the other set of 85 kids. That’s frightening, but by God, you’re consistent about it.

Football means a lot in Alabama, and you’re damn good at it. The game has led to some nasty moments in your state. Twenty years later, Peyton Manning is hated because he led the band after a Tennessee win over Alabama at Legion Field. The killing of those oaks at Toomer’s Corner was downright sad.

However, I’m not going to make fun of you as much as I used to, even if I continue getting hate mail over a column I wrote in November 2006 that I actually think was dead on.

Hey, come to think of it, Alabama, you may have been passed again. Mississippi just might be crazier and more insane when it comes to college football than you these days.

This NCAA thing isn’t doing the Magnolia State any favors. A reporter covering Mississippi State for Scout.com, Steve Robertson, has been on the cutting edge of the story regarding Ole Miss’ NOA. When multiple local, regional and national outlets wrote stories that seemed to minimize the likelihood that Ole Miss’ football program would be decimated by the NCAA, Robertson doubled down and insisted there are more allegations coming. He has, I’m sure, benefited financially from his reporting and his public stance.

I don't begrudge Robertson that. If I'm anything, I'm a capitalist. There are rumors Robertson and several other media types met in Hattiesburg more than a year ago to come u with a media strategy regarding Ole Miss football recruiting. Do I believe it? I don't know, but I've heard enough names and specificity to believe it's possible. I know for a fact a certain Mississippi talk radio host has sent direct messages on Twitter to a national college football reporter that leave no room for even an air of objectivity. Maybe that radio host is right and the reporter in question is being taken for a ride by Ole Miss, but the messages aren't a good look.

Anyway, college football has gotten pretty nasty over here in Mississippi. It's ugly. The most recent recruiting cycle was especially disgusting. You've provided quite an example, Alabama. In November 2014, Mississippi State was No. 1. Fifteen months later, Ole Miss won the Sugar Bowl. These should be happy times, but you guys know the routine: Someone must die.

As Robertson said, it should be an interesting year to say the least here in Mississippi. Anyway, sorry for the ridicule, Alabama. For the first time in forever, you've got nothing on this place.

Your pal,

Neal

5. Lots of people are coming out with their post-NSD 2016 SEC football predictions. I don't want to miss the party. Here are mine, starting with the SEC East:

1. Tennessee -- If the Vols aren't in Atlanta in early December, it's a referendum of sorts on Butch Jones.

2. Georgia -- The Bulldogs will get some juice from the natural energy that comes with a coaching change.

3. Florida -- Jim McElwain will have his hands full in '16, as a lot of talent has left the Gators' roster.

4. South Carolina -- Yep, the East will be every bit as bad in '16 as it was a year ago. Will Muschamp will hover around .500 and discover the joy of lowered expectations.

5. Missouri -- The Tigers will enjoy the new coach bounce as well as being free of the distractions that derailed the 2015 season.

6. Vanderbilt -- The Commodores' season could include coaching rumors if Vandy doesn't get off to a decent start.

7. Kentucky -- See Vanderbilt.

6. And now for a way-too-early look at the SEC West:

1. Alabama -- Blake Barnett will be the Crimson Tide's quarterback. For the past two seasons, it really hasn't mattered who's under center in Tuscaloosa.

2. Ole Miss -- That said, it's a quarterback league, and Ole Miss' Chad Kelly gives the Rebels a chance at another special season.

3. LSU -- The Tigers have a championship-caliber roster except for quarterback. There's no real reason to believe 2016 is significantly different than '14 or '15.

4. Auburn -- Hello, chaos. The bottom half-plus of the division has more question marks than answers. The Tigers do have playmakers all over the field, but Gus Malzahn must win big to keep the wolves at bay.

5. Mississippi State -- Give Dan Mullen credit. The ship may take on some water here and there, but it never sinks. The schedule is favorable, but replacing Dak Prescott will be incredibly difficult.

6. Arkansas -- The Hogs must replace tons of talent, including quarterback Brandon Allen.

7. Texas A&M -- There's a transfer at quarterback, a new offensive coordinator and a coach on the hot seat. If the SEC West were a soap opera, the Aggies would get a starring role.

7. Speaking of the SEC East, why isn't this story out of Tennessee getting more national play? Here's the cliff's notes, courtesy BleacherReport.com:

"Six women filed a federal lawsuit against Tennessee on Tuesday, claiming that the school "created a student culture that enables sexual assaults by student-athletes, especially football players, and then uses an unusual, legalistic adjudication process that is biased against victims who step forward."

Here's just a sampling of the allegations in the report:

Five athletes, including former football players A.J. Johnson, Michael Williams and Riyahd Jones and an unidentified current player, accused of sexual assault.

Violation of Title IX laws and creating a hostile sexual environment for female students.

The blame for this environment, according to the lawsuit, falls at the top of the Tennessee administration, including chancellor Jimmy Cheek, athletics director Dave Hart and head football coach Butch Jones.

Investigation processes delayed until the alleged perpetrators either transferred or graduated."

There are some bylines I keep expecting to see attached to follow-ups or editorials on this story. Day after day, I fail to find that content. No matter how badly Ole Miss gets hit by the NCAA, no one would argue that there's nothing inside the Rebels' Notice of Allegations that remotely rivals the charges made against Tennessee's football program in a federal lawsuit. If the women's allegations are true and their lawsuit is successful, the fallout at the University of Tennessee and inside the Vols' football program would be enormous. For the most part, at least to this point, that hasn't been enough to draw the attention of some in the college football media. That's fascinating.

8. The attention this week will be all on the present, as it should be. Ole Miss defeated Arkansas Saturday in Oxford, 76-60, to improve to 16-9 overall and 6-6 in the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels' NCAA tournament hopes may be on some form of life support, sure, but they're not dead.

A win Tuesday at Texas A&M would be a resume-enhancer, for sure. After the trip to College Station, Ole Miss travels to Auburn Saturday. The final two weeks of the regular season include a home game against Missouri, a trip to Georgia, a home date against Mississippi State and a road game at Tennessee.

Ole Miss needs wins, lots of wins, and probably has no margin for error at all barring a four-day run next month in Nashville at the SEC tournament.

No matter what happens, there are some real signs of optimism heading into next season. Marcanvis Hymon, forced into a major role during Sebastian Saiz's three-week absence, came off the bench Saturday to score 10 points and grab 11 rebounds in 28 minutes. Freshman guard Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in 16 minutes, and the Memphis native is playing with confidence. His role in 2016-17 promises to be an integral one.

"He's starting to earn our trust," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "Slowly but surely, he's earning our trust. He kind of looks like he's about to twist his ankle and throw it away and he doesn't know what play we're in and next thing you know, he's in the lane. So he's making plays because he does have the ability to get by you on the bounce.

"Defensively, he's very good on ball. He's going to be a really good defender in time. He's got length. He's got anticipation. He's got good lateral feet. He gets lost off the ball. They were running pin-downs away and he kind of got caught up a little bit in that but he's come a million miles. ...He's going to be a big part of what we've got going forward."

9. It’s old news in and around Oxford, but the Pavilion at Ole Miss remains the talk of the Southeastern Conference.

The arena, which opened in early January, is creating quite a buzz from teams that make their first trip to Oxford to play in the building that replaced Tad Smith Coliseum.

“It’s got a lot of nice amenities and they did a great job with it,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “I’m sure from Andy’s standpoint, it’s a heck of a lot easier to recruit to it and that sort of thing. I think it’s probably energized their fanbase a little bit. That was the best crowd we’d seen there in years.”

“It was extremely well done,” Georgia’s Mark Fox said. “I’m not sure there’s a nicer arena in the conference. It is fantastic and there are a lot of really nice ones in the league. Mizzou has a great arena. Arkansas has a wonderful place to play, but The Pavilion was extremely well done and you have to give the people at Ole Miss a lot of credit. I think it’s a game-changer for their program. …The arena has an NBA-feel to it.”

Alabama’s Avery Johnson said the Rebels’ new arena is a “first-class, state-of-the-art building. It’s probably the envy of a lot of coaches, not only around the SEC but around the country.”

Auburn’s Bruce Pearl said the arena reminded him of the Tigers’ fairly new arena, which replaced Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.

“They’ve raised the roof on the design and they have a lot more upstairs,” Pearl said. “The scoreboard is impressive. It’s just a great facility. It’s great for Ole Miss and a great addition to the league.”

10. One of my first sports memories was the 1979 NCAA national championship game between Michigan State and Indiana State. Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Spartans beat Larry Bird's Sycamores that night. On Sunday night, Johnson was called on to recognize the brilliant 19-year career of Kobe Bryant. Watching the Lakers' legends embrace at the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto, I felt old. I'm in the minority, I know, but in my mind, Johnson and Bryant are among the five greatest to ever play the game. I told my son, Carson, that I saw them both live. He was in awe. I know the feeling. When I saw Magic on that night in Dallas and Kobe on that night in Memphis, I was certainly awestruck.

Here are some links I enjoyed over the past few days. Hopefully, you will too.

Sirhan Sirhan was denied parole despite the call for his release from an RFK confidante.

Why Marc Gasol remains the heart of the Memphis Grizzlies.

From Space, Scott Kelly says the Earth's atmosphere looks very fragile.

Some Warriors executives believe Kevin Durant will sign with Golden State after the season.

I believe Durant will sign a two-year extension, with a one-year opt-out, with the Thunder. So do others.

Superdelegates might not save Hillary Clinton.

I love Andy McCullough's work. He moved from the Kansas City Star to the Los Angeles Times. Check out his story on first-year Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

The Cubs' message to Jason Heyward is simple: Be yourself.

With Heyward gone, what are the top 10 questions the St. Louis Cardinals must answer this spring?

We won't soon forget the 2016 NBA Slam Dunk Competition.

Donald Trump ordered a well-done steak. That can't happen.

Inside Cincinnati's bid to join the Big 12. Damn, Oklahoma, that decision to spurn the SEC and the Pac-12 looks worse and worse.

Finally, apropos of nothing, a video of a crab wielding a knife...