Jackson Free Press

Jackson's newest professional team—the Jackson Wildcats of the United States Basketball League—tips off its first season Friday, April 13, in Gary, Ind. The first home game is scheduled for April 20 against Delaware.

The Wildcats are the third pro team to try to make a go of it in Jackson in recent years, and will play their home games at the Mississippi Coliseum.

Courtside tickets are $25, $15 floor riser and $8 general admission. There are also $6 tickets available to children under 12 and senior citizens.

The Wildcats will play most of their games on back-to-back nights, presumably to minimize travel costs.

The USBL, which has been around since 1985, is the most minor of pro basketball minor leagues. The league's 2006 champion, the Nebraska Cranes, folded in the offseason. The league Web site lists nine franchises, but the Wildcats schedule has nine opponents. There's a good chance a franchise could fold or be added before the season starts. The schedule is subject to change, as they say.

The biggest names on the current Wildcats roster are three former Jackson State players, Ernest Hassell, Dakarai Wallace and Julius Young. The coach's name hasn't been announced.

Rebel QB Quandary
Quarterback Seth Adams was the star of last Saturday's Grove Bowl spring game at Ole Miss. Adams is a former walk-on who played at Delta State and Hinds Community College before transferring to Ole Miss.

At the scrimmage on Saturday, April 7, Adams completed 16 of 20 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown while leading the Blue team to a 23-21 victory. Brent Schaeffer, who started 12 games as QB for the Rebels last season, only took a few snaps with the second-team offense, but did show some flashes of brilliance.

Some of the reporters who covered the game believe that Adams has won a starting position. At Ole Miss, however, the official line is that the job is still up for grabs.

"I was really pleased with Seth's play(ing)," Rebels coach Ed Orgeron told the (Biloxi) Sun Herald. "I thought (Schaeffer) had an OK day; he had an OK spring. … It's an open competition and we'll keep it that way."

That's not the way Orgeron did things the past two seasons. Upon being hired in 2004, he anointed Michael Spurlock as the 2005 starter. Spurlock, whose inconsistent play contributed to the firing of Orgeron's predecessor, was a bust again. In 2006, Orgeron signed Schaeffer, a former Tennessee starter, out of a California junior college and promptly named him the starter. Schaeffer didn't arrive until summer 2006, thanks to academic problems, and then he had on-field problems. He completed just 47 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions as the Rebels went 4-8.

Orgeron didn't exactly give Schaeffer a vote of confidence, telling the Biloxi paper: "He needs to compete, continue to do the things I would expect of our quarterback, have a great finish in school, have a great summer and come back in shape and ready. Last year, he came in late, wasn't in shape, and hurt the progress of our offense."

Orgeron knows he can't afford to make another mistake at quarterback.

So how do things stand after the spring game?

"I think Seth definitely got a leg up if anybody has a leg up," Orgeron told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal of Tupelo.

SWAC Conflict
If you're planning an event, Tim Bennett might not be the guy to organize it. The Clarion-Ledger reported last Sunday what close readers of The Sked already knew: The SWAC baseball tournament is scheduled to be played at Trustmark Park May 16-20. Unfortunately, the Mississippi Braves will be playing a homestand at the same time.

Bennett told The Clarion-Ledger he's trying to figure out a time when the Pearl park can host the tournament. If he can't, the tournament will probably be moved to Smith-Wills Stadium.

SWAC baseball fans, you'd better plan on going to Smith-Wills.

Giant Wedding
There's a royal wedding in the works; football royalty, that is. Former Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning has proposed to longtime girlfriend Abby McGrew, according to The (Nashville) Tennessean.

McGrew, a Brentwood, Tenn., native, met Manning at Ole Miss; the couple has been together for five years. She works in the fashion industry in New York City. The couple plans to wed after the 2007 NFL season.