STUDENT PROFILES

profiles RYAN RIGNEY

Growing up in Poplarville, Mississippi, newspapers were not a significant part of daily life. I thought the local paper was just something you got your name in if you made honor roll or shot a really huge deer. I had no interest in newspapers, but in high school, I signed up for a class called Journalism 101 with Mr. Stephen Seal. Other students said that Seal gave you freedom get better at writing, and then I’ll be better equipped to adapt to whatever the changing times call for. I briefly flirted with a backup plan, in case this whole getting paid to put words together thing doesn’t pan out in the future — I pulled together some friends and started a company to develop video games. We made two of them, one for Xbox and one for iPhone. The Meek School has, for me, been more than just a place for learning. It has offered an environment filled with gregarious people who are determined to work together to stay on—or ahead of—the cutting edge of the journalism field. In an industry as turbulent as this one, that matters. “ to do whatever type of projects you wanted, and that It was a learning experience, which is what people say sounded appealing. after they spend a lot of time and money working on a

Seal allowed me to develop a blog—it was harder to thing that doesn’t sell very well. (This is ironic, because make one back then — and run news for the school my company won first place in the 2012 Ole Miss website. I fell in love with writing, and Seal fed my Gillespie Business Plan Competition. Thankfully, it interests, introducing me to magazines that publish wasn’t a business execution competition.) great storytelling and encouraging me to develop my Throughout my time at Ole Miss, I’ve spent two abilities. Soon, I figured it out: Journalism was what I hours working on my own projects for every one hour wanted to do with my life. spent attending classes or doing homework. During

A few years later, I took my first class in the Meek all this, I’ve had an unbelievable amount of support

School. Now, I’ve just finished my senior year. and instruction coming from the Meek School staff.

Much has changed in these last few years. The Meek School has evolved, becoming a great place to learn how to produce multimedia. I’ve become a demonstrably better writer. I finally put on the “freshman fifteen,” although it took me four years to do it, and I’m still skinny as a stick. Talented teachers, like Vanessa Gregory and Mark Dolan, took special time out for me to help me grow in areas where I was lacking. Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni allowed me to take part in more than one of his many projects, including the crazy and unique ACT Experience conference. I could always count on Charlie Mitchell to be good for a half-hour, unschedThe Meek School will have to continue to adapt, as it has done in the past. As news is further decentralized, and it becomes even less common for journalists

Perhaps as many things have stayed the same. There are still no conveniently located bathrooms in Farley Hall. I still bite my fingernails to smithereens every time I write an article. Curtis Wilkie, who contributed a great deal to my development as a writer, still has the same epic beard and inimitable, rumbling voice. More worryingly, whenever anyone brings up “the uled and off-topic discussion about ... well, just about anything. I’d come into his office looking for advice about some issue or another, and leave with both the advice I needed and a grab bag of stories and opinions about topics too varied to count. The Meek School has, for me, been more than just a place for learning. It has offered an environment filled to get one job at a paper and stick with it for years on end, skills in the art of freelance writing and unsolicited story pitching will become more valuable. I learned these skills because my circumstances demanded that I learn them on my own, but many students would benefit from being exposed to them via instruction in future of print,” everyone still throws their hands up with gregarious people who are determined to work a classroom setting. That’s something that the Meek in the air and says, “I don’t know, somebody ought to together to stay on — or ahead of — the cutting edge School could, but does not, currently offer. figure that out.” Sometimes Meek School professors of the journalism field. In an industry as turbulent as I’ve balanced this essay with the usual amount of will follow up this admission by gesturing wildly at this one, that matters. measured caution about the future of journalism, but nearby students and declaring, “This one is up to you Yes, some parts about the future of journalism seem don’t take that to mean that I’m worried — I’m not. guys to solve! You teach me! You teach me.” sort of scary. The economics of online publishing don’t When the rules in a game change rapidly, that’s just

I don’t have the solution to print’s troubles either, seem to be getting much better — the word “Buzzan opportunity for the most innovative and hardest but I spent the last four years just trying to get published as much as possible. I sold stories to as many magazines as I could, wrote a book about people who’ve made famous iPhone games, and was hired as a Feed” gives me a headache — and a few magazines I’ve contributed to have shut down for good. I even had the undeserved honor of writing the last ever five-star review for GamePro, which at the time of its closing working players to leap ahead and build something new and great. If I manage to become one of the lucky ones who can do that, I’ll have my experience with the regular contributor to WIRED. (They make us format was the longest running video game magazine in Meek School to thank. it that way, I swear.) My logic was: If I write more, I’ll America (The review, by the way, was for Minecraft.) Ryan Rigney is a 2014 Meek School graduate.

By Austin Miller

Johnny Neumann is back.

After nearly 40 years of playing and coaching basketball professionally in the United States and overseas, a former All-American from Memphis, Tennessee, has returned to the University of Mississippi to complete an undergraduate degree.

Neumann is working toward a degree in general science, with minors in journalism and parks and recreation, while working part-time for Michael Joe Cannon and Cannon Motors in Oxford.

“I feel that when I left after my father suffered his heart attack,” Neumann said, “there was a lot of unfinished business that I wanted to continue to do. I feel that it is very important that student-athletes understand how important a degree is.”

Cannon told Neumann, “You’re setting an example, even though you don’t know it, for these younger guys because word will get around.

“He’s progressing,” Cannon said. “I told him that it’s going to take some time, but you can’t give up and you have a lot of fight in you. That’s part of playing college athletics and what it does for you.”

After Neumann moved back to Oxford, and Kyle Veazey’s centerpiece feature on Neumann appeared in The Commercial Appeal in October 2011, Steve Farese, a former teammate, got in touch with Neumann, and he lived with Farese for two years, on and off.

As a result of Veazey’s article, Dr. Robert Wyatt, a kidney specialist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, contacted Neumann. Dr. Wyatt helped to cure former NBA star Alonzo Mourning, who had a kidney problem, and Neumann hopes he will be as successful treating Esmeralda, his 6-year-old daughter who suffers from nephrotic syndrome.

When Neumann moved back to Oxford, he brought his family here temporarily, and then his wife, Liliana, and daughter went back to Moldova, where his daughter could continue to learn her native Romanian language and be with her grandmother.

Then, Peter Vecsey, a sports columnist for The New York Times, and legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson paid for Neumann’s family’s tickets to bring them back permanently.

“Getting them here has been a help,” Neumann said, “and has made me more solidified into the community, but not that many people actually know that I am going back to school here. I want them to be aware of that and, when I’m more established, I want to put on some basketball clinics and coaches clinics to help younger coaches.”

Eddie Crawford, special assistant to the athletics director, helped recruit Neumann to Ole Miss when he was enjoying a great career at Overton High School in Memphis.

“Johnny was a great basketball player, one of the best we have ever had here,” said Crawford, Ole Miss head basketball coach from 1963-68.

Neumann’s older brother, Bob, had attended the University of Memphis (then known as Memphis State University). So Neumann was interested in the Tigers, but they played a slow-down game under coach Moe Iba, and Neumann wanted to play in an up-tempo game under Ole Miss coach Cob Jarvis.

“I wanted some place close to home where my parents could see me, and I loved the atmosphere at Ole Miss,” Neumann said.

“The Rebels impressed me so much because they recruited four-to-five high school All-Americans other than myself, and we had the possibility to do something really big-time.

“At that time, you couldn’t play as a freshman. You played your sophomore year. We were voted the No. 2 freshman team in the nation. We only lost one game.

“I felt that this was where I should be. The coaches were very good. It was a different atmosphere than anything I was exposed to. I liked the small-town community and the major football program.”

Neumann left his mark in the record books. His 40.1 points-per-game scoring average during the 1970-71 season led the nation and ranks fifth all-time. Pete Maravich holds each of the top three spots.

“Johnny Neumann was Mississippi’s version of Pete Maravich,” said Rick Cleveland, former prize-winning sports editor of The Clarion-Ledger, in Jackson. “And then he was gone, just like that.

“No telling what he could have achieved had he played his junior and senior seasons in Oxford.”

Neumann also occupies the top four spots on the Ole Miss single-game scoring chart, with his 63-point performance against LSU topping the list. That performance against the Tigers also ranks seventh all-time in NCAA Division I.

“I was able to accomplish that because I had other great players with me who got me the ball,” Neumann said of the 1970-71 season. “The majority of the systems were run for me.

“We were a completely different team from LSU, where Pete dominated everything.

“I could also pass extremely well like Pete and do things similar to Pete, where here I was used as a scoring weapon and played small forward.”

However, after his sophomore season, his college career at Ole Miss was cut short by extenuating circumstances, and he signed a professional contract with the Memphis Pros of the American Basketball Association.

He played for several teams in the ABA and later in the NBA before playing and coaching overseas, which included working under legendary coach Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics and most recently as coach of the Romanian national team.

“My father suffered a severe heart attack, and somebody had to take care of the family,” Neumann said of turning pro after his sophomore season.

“Memphis offered me a good contract, and it was something that I had to do. But if my father had stayed healthy, I would have stayed the full four years at Ole Miss.”

While Neumann starred on the basketball court for the Rebels, Archie Manning led the football team to an 8-3 record and a Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas in 1969, and a 7-4 record with a Gator Bowl appearance in 1970.

With back-to-back wins in bowl games in football and the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002 and second SEC tournament championship in basketball, the Ole Miss program is enjoying a similar renaissance under athletics director Ross Bjork.

The number one thing, Neumann said, is the pride is back, that even if they lose a game, the players continue to play hard and not give up.

“We’re really coming back with Coach (Hugh) Freeze, and Andy (Kennedy) is doing a remarkable job with the basketball program. It’s like it was when I was here back with Archie,” Neumann said.

Neumann was recognized at the Ole Miss-LSU basketball game in 2012, and down the road he wants to give back to the university and the athletics program for what they have given him.

“I would like to be a color commentator for them and be able to be used in any way possible, whether it’s raising funds or recruiting student-athletes,” Neumann said.

“I would like to do that and use some of the expertise I have gained from coaching against the likes of Phil Jackson and George Karl, and all these other people I have played against and coached against.”

The author is a writer and blogger for OleMissSports. com. He joined the staff in June 2013 after serving as sports editor of The Daily Mississippian.