VIEW THE MOBILE ALPHA VERSION OF THIS SITE

News Nuggets, 01.30.06
 —  —  —  —  —
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

Previous Day Nuggets...             Next Day Nuggets...

Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Wolfpack sends cash to Southern Miss athletes

In what may be a new precedent in good will for college sports, a group representing the interests of athletes at N.C. State decided last week to make a significant financial contribution to their storm-battered counterparts at Southern Mississippi.

The N.C. State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee unanimously voted to donate $15,000 from its Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund to the Southern Miss Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund to assist athletes impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

"The generosity of the N.C. State student-athletes is overwhelming," stated Richard Giannini, USM Director of Athletics. "I give a lot of credit to the N.C. State student-athletes for seeing students from another school in need and unanimously voting to give money that is in place to benefit them. I also want to thank Jon Fagg, N.C. State's Associate Athletics Director for Compliance, for recognizing that our own funds would be quickly depleted helping our student-athletes, and with his support, this generous gift was made."

The Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund is intended to provide direct benefits to student-athletes or their families as determined by conference offices. As a guiding principle, the fund is to be used to assist student-athletes in meeting financial needs that arise in conjunction with participation in intercollegiate athletics or enrollment in an academic curriculum, as well as to recognize academic achievement.

Monies from the fund do not affect financial aid awarded to student-athletes, and all qualifying student-athletes are eligible to receive benefits from the fund.

"We hated that Southern Miss and its student-athletes had to go through Hurricane Katrina and everything associated with it," Fagg stated. "We are excited that our student-athletes voted unanimously to take it upon themselves to reach out and help in the manner in which they did. There wasn't a question about it, they were thrilled to do it. We played Southern Miss on the football field last fall and decided they would be the ones that would benefit from the gift. We are just hoping that this will catch on among more schools."

When Hurricane Katrina hit Hattiesburg, the Gulf Coast and New Orleans last fall, the Southern Miss campuses on the Gulf Coast and in Hattiesburg sustained more than $300 million in damage. More than half of Golden Eagle athletes were from the declared disaster areas.

"The most wonderful part about this is that our athletes decided to do it on their own," stated Lee Fowler, N.C. State Director of Athletics. "Nobody asked them to do that. Our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that advises the athletics department decided we ought to do that. Credit it all to the student athletes. It is money they get through the NCAA and they decided to give it to Southern Miss. What better feeling can you have than giving something to someone who is in a tough situation? Our student-athletes did that."

From a USM Athletics report.

C-USA Basketball Standings, Scores & Schedule

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:44 PM