A group of Yazoo City students celebrate moments after hearing Fletcher Cox was selected by the Philadephia Eagles with the 12th overall selection. Yazoo City High School hosted a draft watching party for the former Indian that was filled with emotion with each selection.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

Four years ago when Fletcher Cox first came to Yazoo City High School, Leann Hardage never thought the “bean pole” of a student would be an NFL player.
“You could tell he was going to do something great,” Hardage, who taught Cox history all four years at Yazoo City, said. “But I never thought he’d be an NFL professional.”
On Thursday night that’s exactly what Cox became when the Philadelphia Eagles traded up two spots, from No. 14 to No. 12, to pick the ex-Mississippi State Bulldog.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Cox’s former high school coach Tony Woolfolk said. “He didn’t go in the top ten like we thought, but he’s a first rounder and that’s great.”
Cox joins a defense that gave up 4.9 yards per carry against runs up the middle. The Eagles, who have traded up in the first round only five times under head coach Andy Reid’s 10 plus years at the helm, believe that Cox could be the answer to the middle of the defense.
“We talked about Philly during the scouting process,” Woolfolk said. “He’ll fit in there good. He told me about Philadelphia after he visited them and thought he would fit into their scheme perfectly. And he will.”
In the weeks and months leading up to Thursday night’s first of seven round draft, Cox had leaped up the position rankings and mock drafts to where he was thought to be a top ten pick. When the Jaguars traded up to the fifth overall pick, the crowd inside Yazoo City’s cafeteria went silent with anticipation.
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Senior Mary Moses Hitt kept her undefeated record in one piece By Henry Barbour
Special to The Herald

LOUISVILLE–On Monday, April 23 the Manchester Academy girls tennis team won the district tennis championship and the boys team won second place at the conference tournament.
This was the first step towards crowning a state champion, and each conference champion and runner-up team moved on to the North State tournament next Tuesday in Grenada.  After an impressive conference tournament performance, all but two of the M.A. teams qualified to play at North State.
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Dione Milsap goes up for a one-handed dunk for EMCC this past season.Special to The Herald

JACKSON–Head Coach Tom Kelsey and the Belhaven men’s basketball program are pleased to announce the signing of four new recruits for the 2012-13 season. Jonathan Ratliff, Jordan Bedford, Dione Milsap, and DJ Young have decided to further their educations and careers as Blazers.
Milsap and Ratliff reunite on the hardwood two years since playing together at Yazoo County High School.
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Yazoo City senior Samuel Campbell was recently selected to be a member of the RBI national team in the upcoming Tournament of Stars at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, NC.By TAYLOR MITCHELL
Sports Editor

Every year, 144 of the nation’s best baseball players converge on Cary, NC for the annual Tournament of Stars. It’s a tournament that has produced players such as Joe Mauer, Justin Upton and Bryce Harper and is one of the most heavily scouted events in the country.
And Yazoo City senior Samuel Campbell is one of them and the first from the Mississippi RBI team.
“It’s a really big honor to be selected,” Campbell said. “It shows that I’m one of the best players in the country.”
The Tournament of Stars will be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in North Carolina from June 19 through June 24. Campbell, a 6-2 220 lb. left-handed hitting catcher, was selected as a member of the RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) National Team, managed by Chicago RBI instructor Ernest Radcliffe, who played for several years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
“I’m excited for Sam to get an opportunity like this,” Mississippi RBI coach Brian Emory said.  “He performed well at our annual RBI Scout Day (in Jan 2012) event and earned the right to join the RBI National Team.  He is very excited about going and still is in shock by the opportunity that has been given to him.”
Hundreds of professional and collegiate scouts will attend the week long festivities of the Tournament of Stars. It’s an opportunity for Campbell that could put him on a major college campus next fall or some team’s spring training camp next year.
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