Bishop Media Sports Network
Jason Bishop Show June 5 2024
NIL Sunshine
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
NIL is coming to the Sunshine State for high school athletes.
The Florida High School Athletic Association Board of Directors passed sweeping bylaw changes earlier in the month to allow name, image and likeness activities for its student-athletes without forfeiting the ability to play high school sports.
The new policy passed unanimously after about 45 minutes of additional debate, including an argument from a coach in opposition of the new bylaw. The measure takes effect in time for the 2024-25 high school season.
With the change, 36 local athletic associations now allow student-athletes to participate in NIL deals on the high school level. The South Dakota High School Activities Association could become the 37th to permit NIL activities for high school players when the results of a membership vote become public in the coming days.
There’s been a significant shift over the past year in how high school administrators view NIL and it’s now acceptable in a majority of states from coast-to-coast. Florida is now officially part of the change.
The Sunshine State is a perennial producer of top high school athletes across multiple sports markets. Florida’s 2025 class has four five-star prospects in football alone – including the nation’s No. 1 linebacker in Solomon Thomas – and there are 56 players ranked four stars or higher. Florida’s 2025 class in basketball features two five-stars, including Five-Star Plus+ standout Cameron Boozer.
Plus, Florida is home to top high school athletes in women’s sports. The state is a haven for standouts in non-revenue sports, such as golf, soccer and lacrosse. The changes mean recruits in Florida and high school athletes in Florida can participate in NIL brand deals without fear of missing playing time.
In many ways, the new Florida High School Athletic Association NIL bylaw mirrors what is now acceptable for other high schoolers nationwide.
The new bylaws state that student-athletes and their parents/guardians must negotiate any NIL activities independent of their school, school district or the FHSAA.
Student-athletes will be prohibited from monetizing their NIL with the use of their school’s uniform, equipment, logo, name, proprietary patents, products and/or copyrights associated with an FHSAA member school and/or school district, either in public, print or social media platforms. Student-athletes are also encouraged to seek legal counsel and tax advice when considering NIL activities.
Interestingly, the FHSAA does include a line in its new bylaws that says a student-athlete could impact their amateur status by hiring a registered agent to manage his/her athletic career – other than for the purpose of advising on NIL-related matters.
The new rules aim to protect against recruiting. High-school-oriented collectives are focused on retaining talent locally at the high school level. This was of significant concern for high school coaches and athletic directors in Florida leading up to the change.
Florida is one of the most progressive states when it comes to NIL at the collegiate level. On July 1, 2001, college athletes in Florida became eligible to profit off their name, image and likeness under a bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But up until recently, there has been some pushback from administrators and coaches about allowing it at the high school level.
Others have realized the threat of losing talent to other states (ones where NIL is allowed) as the biggest reason Florida is now allowing it.
The End of The Road
By: Charlie Moon
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Drinking my coffee, visiting family in Birmingham, AL, one song seems fit: “….I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name… uh uh huh, ahh ahhhh…”
I’m confident that in 1972, when Dewey Bunnell, of the band America, penned the group’s 1-hit wonder, he had no idea some overweight bald dude was going to tie his lyrics to Birmingham Southern College baseball in 2024.
I first heard of this story a couple weeks ago while heading home from work and thought of that song immediately.
Birmingham Southern College played Salve Regina University (Newport, RI) (Friday, May 31), on the very last day Birmingham Southern College was known as an active institution of higher learning. That’s right. The Panthers of Birmingham Southern competed for a national title, when the name on their jersey is a thing of the past.
Hence…. “Goin through the desert on a horse”.
Bunnell once said he wrote the song as a metaphor of being free, independent of societal constraints.
One thing is for sure. The Panthers are free. On March 27, head coach Jan Weisberg met with the team in their clubhouse after an 8-5 road win at LaGrange, GA.
Team leader Drake Laroche (son of former Atlanta Brave Adam Laroche) said, “We had no idea what coach wanted to say. It was a big win for us. After a rough stretch, we lost our way. But something clicked that night. The chemistry finally brewed. We thought coach wanted to ignite that flame a little.”
Sadly, no. Coach Weisberg informed the team that Birmingham Southern College, a state-chartered Methodist school since its founding in 1856, was closing its doors.
Laroche says there were a few tears at first, but then they just sat around for about 2 hours, with questions…and answers.
“We didn’t know at first, if we were gonna be able to finish the season. If not, could we enter the transfer portal? Did we have to go home? Were we still gonna get meals on the road?”
Weisberg calmed everyone’s fears.
Laroche said: “Oh, it popped off. We got jacked up….like something out of a movie. We knew there was just one thing left to do – win a natty.”
There have been hundreds of times an NCAA school has finished their season, knowing their program had been shut down as of that season’s completion. Birmingham’s own UAB, after all, shut down its program just before the Blazers played in a 2014 bowl game. Of course, the Blazers wouldn’t go away.
And so have the Panthers. After beating the nation’s #2 Denison University, in the Regionals, they began the Division 3 College World Series.
And they’ll did it in style!
The team began a GoFundMe. Until their wins against Denison, it only had about $10,000. Suddenly, it ballooned to over $200,000.
The team was able to fly a private charter to Eastlake, OH. They’re stayed in a 5-star hotel and had all their meals catered.
Birmingham Southern alumni from all over the world flocked to Eastlake. It turned into a Panther Party at the Division III World Series.
That song we began our coffee cup talk with? It closes with: “After nine days, I Iet the horse run free, cause the desert had turned to sea.” The idea being…everybody can run free now.
Well, one thing is for sure, the Panthers all run free. I imagine one major difference. They won’t be constrained by a single thing.
Birmingham Southern’s run ended in the round of 8 double elimination. The Panthers lost to Wisconsin-Whitewater 11-10 to end their magical run.
“When the game got tight, I wasn’t worried about winning or losing,” he said. “I wanted one more night to be able to hang out with everyone. I think the ride we had the last three weeks is better than winning a national championship.”
A New Home
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We’ve documented so many changes to the GHSA and how the 2024-25 athletic year will look. Between the elimination of the 7A classification, which forced region realignment, and the fact of private GHSA schools in 3A and lower playing for a separate state title, the latest change for the upcoming year was announced late last week from the GHSA Offices.
At least for the 2024 football season, the GHSA State playoffs will have a built in off-week prior to the semifinal matchups giving the teams that are still playing the week of Thanksgiving off.
While “practicing on Thanksgiving” had been a badge of honor for some teams, meaning that you’re one of the few teams still playing at that point of the year now that week will be free for everyone.
While the casual fan of both high school football and college football in the state of Georgia will be spared from making the choice between a high school semifinal matchup, and “Good Ol Fashion Hate,” there are more reasons behind the shift in the schedule.
Allegedly purely coincidentally, the Georgia vs Georgia Tech matchup on the gridiron was announced last week as well to be taking place on ABC on Black Friday, but the GHSA office says that it is just that, purely coincidence.
GHSA executive director Robin Hines said that the shift in the schedule will give players and staff of teams still alive in the postseason to “have a normal Thanksgiving for a change.”
With the built in off-week in the schedule, the GHSA Football State Championships will now take place December 16-18 inside Mercades-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The location is another key factor in why the change occurs for the coming year. Because of a Leap Year…Yes, I said a Leap Year affects the schedule…the SEC Football Championship Game will be held in Mercades-Benz Stadium on December 7th which would have been in the middle of the originally scheduled GHSA Championships forcing the GHSA to find a new home.
All in all, as much as folks will also benefit from being able to watch the Georgia-Georgia Tech game on Black Friday, and as much as nay-sayers want to point to the college game dictating the GHSA schedule, it gets deeper than that.
While, yes, ONE college game does affect the schedule, it’s not the Georgia-Georgia Tech game that falls on the now bye-week for the high schoolers.
The majority of the decision comes to keeping the GHSA from having to find a new home for the GHSA State Championships which I can get on board with. The Championships should always be at “the Benz,” and this keeps the games where they belong.
Shaky Knees
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Baseball is a metaphor for life, one of its most enduring lessons is that the universe gives not one whit for our collective desires; it will mete out blessings and hardships as it sees fit.
Last year, Ronald Acuña Jr. became the first player to hit 40+ home runs and steal 70+ bases in the same season, winning NL MVP for his efforts. It was a truly remarkable and historic season, one that fans of the Braves and the MLB will never forget.
In the first two months of the season, the Braves lost Spencer Strider, the 2023 MLB wins and strikeouts leader, with season-ending elbow surgery after two starts.
The Braves also lost Acuña, the first player to have as many as 40 homers and 70 stolen bases in a season, to an ACL tear. Acuña finished with 41 and 73 in 2023, while batting .337 with an NL-best 1.012 OPS.
Even with his early struggles this season, he still had a solid .351 OBP and was a threat every time he was at the plate and made opposing pitchers uneasy from the first pitch.
Leading off the first inning, he had a .333 average with an .857 OPS, and leading off any inning he hit .356 with a .420 OBP and .886 OPS. Not up to his lofty standards, but still the majors’ ninth-best average when leading off innings. A year ago, Acuña hit .384 with 18 homers and a 1.134 OPS leading off innings.
2023 was a triumphant return to form for Acuña after he tore his right ACL in July 2021. He returned to action in late April of 2022, but it took time to regain his mojo, posting a career-low 2.6 bWAR upon his return. (Not counting the shortened 2020 season.)
If that timeline is the career roadmap, then we may not see Acuña in peak form again until 2026. He will miss the remainder of this season.
Needless to say, Acuña’s absence is a huge blow to the Braves, who are currently chasing the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Of course, it was a big blow when Atlanta lost him in 2021 — and they went and won the World Series.
Which likely brings us to-gulp- 2026 for the next potential glimpse of Acuña at an MVP level. He will be 28 that year, still in his baseball prime.
If he stays relatively healthy from that point forward, he can still fulfill his Hall of Fame potential. But who can predict how this all might play out, especially now that he has twice suffered these freakish knee injuries?
Acuña is still just 26 years old. He’s been through this injury and rehab before, and there’s little doubt that he’ll be back to electrifying the baseball diamond soon enough.
The results of that work were not fully apparent when he returned in late April 2022, and did not become truly evident until ’23.
Acuña undoubtedly will adopt the same mindset again, knowing what steps he must take, literally and figuratively, to return to MVP form.
That will not make his rehabilitation any less lonely or frustrating. The last thing Ronald Acuña Jr. wanted was to go through this again. Forgive him if he wants to scream.
Man, what a huge bummer.
Its Good To Be First
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s good to be first. Jaylin Simpson has known that feeling several times already in his young life.
As a student athlete at Frederica Academy, he saw several firsts. Playing QB, he led the football team to its first AAA championship in the program’s eighth year of existence.
When it was all said and done, he wound up with 27 career TD passes and 17 rushing TDs in his time “Under the Oaks”.
On the defensive side of the ball, Simpson notched 13 INTs and 138 total tackles, garnering All Region and All State laurels for his efforts.
Off the gridiron, he secured two state championships in Track & Field, bringing further glory to the green and white.
After graduation, he became one of the first Frederica alums to play football in the Power 5 conferences when he and teammate Jashawn Sheffield went to the SEC and became Auburn Tigers.
In his five years On The Plains, the numbers kept adding up. He racked up 118 total tackles and seven career interceptions – including an absolute beauty against Carson Beck and the Georgia Bulldogs in 2023. He was named to the 1st Team All SEC squad by the Associated Press, was a Jim Thorpe Award semi-finalist, and played in the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Not bad for a kid from Brunswick, GA who was told he was spoiling his chances for greatness by going to a private school campus of around 400 total students in the K-12 years.
The next logical step would of course be fulfilling the dream of playing in the NFL.
Of course, there were doubters and naysayers as there have always been, but Jaylin knew he had what it takes.
At the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Simpson posted an impressive 39.5 vertical leap and a speedy 4.45 second 40-yard dash. At the combine, his brother and UCF Assistant Director of Player Personnel Alex Mathis told him “this town suits you.”
How prophetic that would turn out to be, as there was another first on the horizon.
On the third day of the 2024 NFL draft, Jaylin was selected 164th overall by the Indianapolis Colts, thus making him the first Frederica Knight to be drafted in the NFL.
“I’m just ready to get to work and continue to show why I feel like I was one of the best in this draft. I’ve got to prove still, so I’m just ready to get to work in Indy,” Simpson said during a colts.com interview.
And work he will. It’s what he’s done his entire playing career, bringing what he refers to as his “Plankton mentality” to the big leagues.
That term might sound familiar to fans of the long-running animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants,” but a lot of people get it wrong much to the chagrin of Simpson.
“People get it confused and it makes me mad. They say, ‘oh he never got the formula,’ but it’s not about that,” he explained in an interview with AL.com.
“It’s about every time you turn on an episode, he’s trying again. It doesn’t matter how many times he gets knocked down, he’s gonna keep trying. That’s all that matters. He’ll do anything to get what he wants and what I want is a win, so I’m gonna do what I can.”
Plankton mentality has gotten him this far, and now the Frederica faithful get to watch one of their own playing on Sundays. Sounds like wins all around from my point of view.
96
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As we stroll into the dog days of summer, many of us die hard Dawgs look to the upcoming football season while reminiscing about the great run that Georgia has been on. And it has been unquestionably the greatest run in University of Georgia History.
Yes, Wally Butts had some of those great early teams. The Rose Bowl win 9-0 over UCLA and national championship in 1942 was one for the ages.
It would be another 40-some-odd years before Vince, Herschel, Buck, Lindsey and the boys took UGA to the mountain top with the great run beginning with the 1980 national championship win over Notre Dame. Throw in the great games that year with South Carolina and above all Florida and it was a year like no other.
Fast forward to 2015 and enter one Mr. Kirby Smart. Since then, Georgia has been arguably the best college football team in the country.
Into this growing dynasty walks one Jack Podlesny in 2018. And he literally walks in as a walk on.
Coming from Glynn Academy, Jack Podlesny was a known commodity. He had hit 9 out of 10 field goals and 49-51 PATs. He was an all-region soccer player and had great technique. He had offers from Michigan, Georgia Tech and others but chose instead to walk on at the University of Georgia.
Georgia at the time was having a bromance with Rodrigo Blankenship. He was Georgia’s kicker and one of the most popular players on the team, and around the nation. It was hard not to love “Hot Rod” and those horn-rimmed glasses, but his time ran out at Georgia. It was time to find another kicker.
Enter Jack Podlesny. The young kicker redshirted and learned in 2018, backed up Blankenship in 2019, and then the next year won the starting job in preseason and responded by going 13-16 on field goals and nailing all 38 extra points.
It earned him a spot as a Lou Groza Award semifinalist. Who can forget the Peach Bowl and young Jack walking on the field to try a 53-yard game winning field goal with SEVEN seconds left on the clock. The ball is snapped, put down and the national announcer goes…… THERE IT IS…………………. GOT IT!!!! Jack was 3-3 on Field goals in the game and named the Offensive Player of the Game.
Podlesny would go on to be one of the greatest kickers in University of Georgia history. Kevin Butler, Rex Robinson, Blair Walsh, Billy Bennett, Rodrigo Blankenship…. All great players. And yet none have the trophy case that Jack Podlesny has. Two national championship rings, SEC special teams player of the year 2022, first team All SEC 2022, etc etc etc.
By the end of the 2022 season “Hot Pod” would go on to set numerous records including most points scored in a season at UGA. He would light it up for 151 points in 2022 and have the second most points 137 in 2021. He stands second in career field goal percentage to his mentor Blankenship at 82.47 for “Rod” and 82.43 for “Pod”.
While Jack is now with the Green Bay Packers, he recently received another honor that I’m sure he will cherish. UGA Sports just started counting down to the 2024 season by naming the greatest players in Georgia football history by descending numbers worn 99 to 0.
With number 96 worn by Jack Podlesny. A scrawny kid from St Simons, GA who grew up playing youth soccer on Jekyll then football at Glynn Academy.
The best football player in University of Georgia History to wear Number 96.
Super Post-Season
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For college baseball fans, this is the best time of year…College Baseball Postseason!
College baseball postseason is structured a little differently than most other sports in college athletics but has become one of the most entertaining postseasons recently.
This week (May 20 thru May 26) is the week for most league’s conference tournament.
Following “Championship Sunday” where most leagues will have the championship game, there’s a dead period of about 18 hours or so that leave teams convincing themselves (or sometimes sweating it out) that they will hear their name on Selection Monday.
At high noon on Memorial Day, the college baseball world will be locked into the selection show to wait on which 64 teams will head to an NCAA Regional.
Since 1999 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams, NCAA Baseball has structured the postseason with ranking the top 16 national seeds and those 16 teams will “host” a Regional at their home ballpark and welcome in three other teams determined by the NCAA selection committee.
With the 31 Division I conferences each receiving one “automatic bid”, that leaves 33 at-large bids up for grabs that are also selected by the committee. Most of the 31 auto-bids are given to the conference tournament champions.
Once the field of 64 is set, and the Regionals are determined, the top 16 national seeds will host the NCAA Regionals Friday May 31st through Sunday June 3rd. The Regionals are a miniature double elimination tournament between the four teams assigned to that Regional site. The winner of each Regional advances to the Super Regional round.
With just one team advancing out of each Regional, the field quickly gets trimmed from 64 to 16 over one weekend. When the Regionals are set, two Regionals are paired together (#1-seed & #16-seed paired, #2-seed & #15-seed paired and so-on) and the winner from each of those regionals will face off in the Super Regional which will be hosted at the higher ranked team’s park. With the field cut down and only 8 Super Regionals going on, this round consists of a best-of-3 game series.
If you’re one of the eight teams lucky enough to win a Super Regional, it’s time to head to the college baseball mecca…Omaha, Nebraska.
Now to the casual fan, Omaha, Nebraska may not sound majestic, but to a college baseball player, coach, fan….broadcaster….it is the “Magical Land of Oz of College Baseball.”
Since 1950, Omaha has been the destination on the mind of every college baseball team as the host of the College World Series.
From 1950 until 2010, Rosenblatt Stadium was the site for the CWS before moving in 2011 to Charles Schwab Field (formerly TD Ameritrade Park).
Make no mistake, no matter the stadium, no matter the year, Omaha is the perfect site for the grand finale to college baseball.
Each of the 8 Super Regional winning teams will flock to Omaha and be embarrassed with open arms from the community that treats this event like Christmas.
The Omaha area essentially is laser focused with everything that isn’t around the College World Series and serving the visitors shutting down.
The college baseball postseason may seem odd and somewhat drawn out to casual fans, but to baseball fans, it’s an almost month-long celebration of another season of the game so many love…College Baseball.
In The Courts
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Big 12 presidents and chancellors voted to approve proposals of what is expected to be a multi-billion dollar settlement in the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit.
Their approval is another step toward a resolution in the landmark case likely to reshape the college sports business model.
The Big 12 is the first of the suit’s defendants to vote on the settlement terms. The remaining power conferences and NCAA Board of Governors also expected to vote this week.
Settlement details are expected to include north of $2.7 billion in back-pay damages the NCAA will owe to former Division I athletes, as well as a revenue-sharing model between power-conference schools and athletes for NIL deals in the future, according to sources briefed on the negotiations.
The damages, made available to Division I athletes dating back to 2016 as back-pay for lost name, image and likeness (NIL) earning opportunities, would likely be paid out over 10 years via a combination of NCAA reserve funds and reductions in future revenue distributions to conferences.
The revenue sharing would be an optional model for power-conference programs, potentially as soon as next year, in which 22 percent of those schools’ average annual revenue — or roughly $20 million a year — will be distributable directly to athletes.
If finalized, a process that will take several months, the settlement would be the next and most significant overhaul to the long-standing framework of amateurism in college sports.
Once the NCAA and power conferences agree on the terms and both sides in the case sign off, the settlement will be submitted to Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California for preliminary approval. If that gets granted, there would be a set period of roughly 90 days in which those in the retroactive damages class have an opportunity to opt out, and those in the future revenue-sharing class can object to the terms of the agreement.
That’s followed by a final approving hearing, at which point, if the judge approves, the settlement officially goes into effect.
A settlement would give the NCAA more input on payment structures for the damages and revenue sharing, as well as safeguards against other impending legal battles.
Settling the House case would resolve Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA, two other high-profile antitrust suits in which the plaintiffs are represented by Berman and Kessler in the Northern District of California, and hinder any additional antitrust complaints over the next decade, according to sources briefed on the settlement negotiations.
This is considered an important aspect of the settlement terms for the NCAA, which has faced an onslaught of legal challenges in recent years.
Newly configured roster limits for power-conference sports are also expected as part of the settlement, with specific scholarship figures to be decided collectively by those leagues in the coming months.
The Big 12’s approval comes in the wake of internal dissension within the NCAA in recent days, as the smaller, non-FBS Division I conferences argue that the proposed funding plan for settlement damages puts a disproportionate financial responsibility on them.
Lingering questions also remain beyond the settlement over Title IX’s role in future revenue sharing, the future of third-party NIL collectives and the ongoing debate over unionizing efforts and employment status.
Even though this may be the start of the settlement, we are still far from the future that College Athletes deserve.
The ACC Domino
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Once upon a time, the ACC was a premier athletic conference.
Having North Carolina and Duke means the conference has a shot at a national championship almost every year in basketball.
In football, they have a few solid programs. Clemson won a national championship in 1981. Georgia Tech won a share of the national championship with Colorado in 1990. The Yellow Jackets also have claimed three more national championships (1917, 1928, 1952) and three unclaimed national titles (1916, 1951, 1956).
Florida State joined the ACC July 1, 1991 and started playing football in 1992. The Seminoles won or shared a conference championship in their first nine seasons. They also won national championships in 1993, 1999 and 2013.
FSU was a top program in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Their rival, Miami was also an elite team dating back to the 1980’s. The Hurricanes won national championships in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001. They were undefeated before losing the BCS Championship Game in overtime in 2002. UM was an independent before joining the Big East in 1991.
In 2004 they left the Big East for the ACC along with Virginia Tech and Boston College. At the time it looked like the ACC was going to elevate to an elite football conference.
The Hokies played Florida State in the 1999 national title game and they routinely produced NFL talent. Boston College is a solid program that would normally make it to bowl games.
Unfortunately, the only team that lived up to expectations early on was Va Tech. They were the ACC Champs in their first year (2004) and won again in 2007, 2008 and 2010. They defeated Boston College in the conference championship game in 07 and 08.
Miami has never won the ACC since joining. Florida State falling off in the 2000’s and Miami never living up to expectations are the foundation to why they are in jeopardy of shutting down in the near future.
Dabo Swinney took over as the head coach for Clemson during the 2008 season and turned them into a national power. He led the Tigers to their first ACC title in 2011, then again from 2015-20 and 2022. They also won national titles in 2016 and 2018.
Clemson was the only marquee team in the conference for most of this time.
In another round of expansion Syracuse and Pitt joined the ACC in 2013. Notre Dame also joined that year in all sports except football. Louisville joined in 2014. These moves show adding teams just for the sake of it but not actually improving anything. Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten in 2014.
This season is another round of expansion with SMU, Cal and Stanford joining the conference in all sports starting in 2024. This is another case of adding schools but not gaining any real value. Perhaps it can be looked at as expanding the recruiting footprint to Dallas and northern California at best.
Looking at it honestly, these are teams that do not compete for conference titles and certainly not on a national level. The conference is like a dead man walking at this point.
By comparison, the SEC adds Texas and Oklahoma this season. Two historically great football programs.
As you have heard by now, Clemson and FSU are suing the ACC to leave the conference. It is also reported that UNC wants to leave. This is the last domino to fall in creating super conferences in college sports if any of the current members can escape their contract with the ACC.
