swerte99 register Get essential daily news for Fort Worth area Sign up to receive insightful, in-depth local stories today. 📩 TCU has selected a national executive search firm to find its new athletic director and announced an interim director days after news broke that TCU Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati will head east this January to direct the athletic program at the University of South Carolina. TurnkeyZRG, which specializes in collegiate athletics, will head the search that will involve input from TCU leaders and campus stakeholders. The firm worked with TCU on previous searches, and has experience hiring for other high-profile positions, including the NCAA president and Big 12 commissioner. A search committee has already been established, according to a TCU press release. “TCU has shown again and again that not only are we committed to competing at the highest levels of college athletics but that we already do and continue to rise in prominence,” said Chancellor Victor J. Boschini in a statement. Boschini will step down from his longtime role as chancellor this summer, with TCU President Daniel Pullin taking on the role. “From our appearance in the College Football National Championship to our success across all sports, I am excited we have begun the search for the next AD and to build upon our firm foundation,” Boschini added. University of South Carolina’s board of trustees met and approved the hiring of Donati Dec. 5. His contract begins Jan. 2, 2025, and runs through June 30, 2031, according to the Greenville News . Donati will be paid $1.9 million per year with a chance to earn $400,000 in additional incentives. Get essential daily news for the Fort Worth area. Sign up for insightful, in-depth stories — completely free. His salary eclipses that of the previous South Carolina athletic director, who made $1.175 million . Donati’s salary at TCU was $1.33 million, according to the university’s 2023 tax filing . South Carolina is currently ranked No. 14 in the AP’s Top 25 college football rankings, while TCU did not make the cut. This weekend, the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks played the No. 9 Horned Frogs in women’s basketball and won 85-52 . “This is a time of historic change in college athletics ... much of what we know will never look the same,” said Donati in a press conference after his contract was approved. He came to TCU in 2011, took over the top role in 2017 and led the university’s programs to win eight team national championships. “I believe that the programs that will be most successful in these unpredictable times will not just wholeheartedly accept the changes in front of them, but they will adapt to this new environment,” Donati said. TCU has also named Mike Sinquefield as interim director of intercollegiate athletics. Sinquefield has been at TCU for nearly three decades, beginning as an athletic equipment manager and rising through the ranks, most recently as senior deputy athletic director, a position he’s held since 2018. “We have an incredible team of student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans, and I look forward to supporting their efforts as we continue building on our strong foundation,” Sinquefield said in a statement. He’ll oversee TCU’s football program, serve in a secondary role as sports administrator for men’s basketball and oversee day-to-day functions of TCU Athletics, according to TCU’s website. “This is a time of immense opportunity for TCU,” Pullin said in a statement. “We are committed to finding an exceptional leader to build on our strong foundation and advance our vision for athletics.” The university announced its strategic plan for growth earlier this year. Athletics, a third pillar of the university’s foundation, is central to that plan. Matthew Sgroi contributed reporting. Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus . Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org . Related Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism . Republish This Story Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License . Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). Do not copy stories straight from the front-end of our web-site. You are required to follow the guidelines and use the republication tool when you share our content. The republication tool generates the appropriate html code. 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You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. You can’t sell or syndicate our stories. You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. by Shomial Ahmad, Fort Worth Report December 9, 2024

Joseph Fourre, creator of the ‘No Thanks, I’m Good’ Campaign, is fighting to bring more awareness to the dangers of drug use. After in April of 2023, he created this campaign to try and get the message out that social use is not safe use. “The more that we can educate people about the dangers of fentanyl and recreational drugs, I think the better chance we have of saving lives and reducing the numbers of deaths that are occurring in our community,” said Fourre. “We have to get the word out there that we’re in a fentanyl crisis, there is so much fentanyl out on the street and it’s being mixed with so many different kinds of drugs that unsuspected recreational or social users are consuming drugs that are containing fentanyl, and they don’t know about it.” Fourre says Manitoba is on pace to set a record for substance use deaths in a year, with the office of the Chief Medical Officer releasing statistics that show 323 deaths in the first seven months of 2024 – while the total number for 2023 was 445. “We need to come up with a four-pillar plan that really addresses the issue of what’s happening in our communities, and I really believe that needs to include treatment, we definitely need treatment, we need law enforcement we need to start getting tougher on fentanyl dealers, we need harm reduction, but we also need awareness and prevention,” said Fourre. Fourre is calling for the government to come up with a more balanced approach that is not solely based on addiction, but also on prevention. Through his No Thanks I’m Good Campaign he has shared his son’s story at schools and has seen firsthand how educating the youth can make a difference. “There was this young 14-year-old boy who came up to me after the presentation and he had tears in his eyes and he said I’m sorry for your loss but thank you for trying to save our lives and bringing us this information, because we didn’t know.” Fourre says he hopes the No Thanks I’m Good campaign will help save lives in honour of his son Harlan and will be hosting the second annual fentanyl awareness day walk on September 13 next year.World News | Syrian Government Forces Withdraw from Central City of Homs as Insurgent Offensive Accelerates

JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Vernon is the small building society with a big heart showing the way

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — JuJu Watkins scored 21 points to lead No. 6 Southern California to a 66-53 win over Oregon in the Big Ten opener for both teams on Saturday. Watkins was 6 for 15 from the field, including 3 of 9 on 3-pointers, in 28 minutes before fouling out. Kiki Iriafen added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Trojans (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten). Deja Kelly scored 16 points and Peyton Scott added 13 to lead the Ducks (7-3, 0-1). Oregon led 13-12 after the first quarter, but USC scored the first 18 points of the second quarter and never trailed again. The Trojans built the lead to 40-19 at halftime with 15 points from Watkins. Scott opened the third quarter with four straight points, but USC scored five straight points right after and kept the lead in double digits the rest of the way. Takeaways USC: The Trojans won their fourth straight since a loss to No. 10 Notre Dame. USC returns to nonconference play over the next three weeks, including a trip to No. 2 UConn. Oregon: The Ducks started the season 6-0 and moved up to No. 23 in the AP poll but have now lost three of four games. Key moment Kelly scored to put Oregon up 13-12 early, but USC held the Ducks scoreless for more than five minutes to start the second quarter while scoring 18 straight points. Watkins had a seven-point run of her own within that span. Key stat USC outrebounded Oregon 45-31, including 34 defensive rebounds. The Trojans are averaging nearly 12 more rebounds per game than their opponents on the season. Up Next USC hosts Fresno State on Tuesday night, and Oregon hosts Air Force on Dec. 17. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: andGeorgia quarterback Carson Beck on Saturday announced his plans to enter the NFL draft, five days after having season-ending elbow surgery. Beck, a fifth-year senior, made his NFL plans official on social media. He suffered a right elbow injury in the first half of the Bulldogs’ 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Beck had surgery on Monday to repair his ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Beck is expected to begin throwing next spring. He could have returned for a sixth season but instead will enter the NFL draft. Beck posted on Instagram: “The past five years at the University of Georgia have been nothing short of a dream come true and I will forever cherish the memories that have been made.” Gunner Stockton, who took over for Beck in the second half against Texas, will make his first start for Georgia on Wednesday in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Beck has started every game of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He was 24-3 as a starter. Beck passed for 3,941 yards with 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2023 but had more difficulties with turnovers this season as he passed for 28 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards before his injury in the SEC championship game. Georgia coach Kirby Smart stuck with Beck despite a midseason string of eight interceptions in three games. “Obviously, you look at the stats and they aren’t the same stats as the year before,” offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said Saturday when reflecting on Beck's career. “The goal in this league is to win the SEC championship. And he was the quarterback of that team that got us to that game and put us in that position.” Added offensive guard Tate Ratledge: “I think Carson should be remembered as a great player. He’s who got us to this point of the season.” Stockton, a sophomore, completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards with one interception against Texas. He signed with Georgia as a highly recruited in-state player from Rabun County High School, where he broke Trevor Lawrence's state high school record for most career touchdown passes and Deshaun Watson's state record for combined rushing and passing touchdowns in a career. “Obviously when he was in high school, he was one of the best to ever do it in Georgia,” Bulldogs linebacker Chaz Chambliss said of Stockton before adding that he “just has that fire in him.” Georgia was preparing to start Stockton before announcing Beck's season-ending injury. Stockton will attempt to join a short list of quarterbacks who have been promoted from backup jobs to win national championships. The list includes Georgia's Stetson Bennett, who began the 2021 season as the backup to JT Daniels before taking over the starting job in October. Lawrence took over for Kelly Bryant during Clemson's 2018 championship season. The best comparison to Stockton's challenge during the CFP era may be Cardale Jones on the 2014 Ohio State national championship team. Jones' first start was the Big Ten championship game following an injury to J.T. Barrett, who began the preseason as the expected backup before Braxton Miller's injury. Stockton led Georgia to a touchdown on his first drive against Texas and has had extra practice time during the Bulldogs' break after receiving a first-round bye in the playoff. “To see his growth since he’s been here, he’s been waiting patiently, he’s been sitting and putting his time in and he’s been working while he was waiting,” Georgia safety Malaki Starks said Friday. “And now he gets a chance to go out there and prove what he can do. And, you know, I believe in him 100%.” Starks, who is from Jefferson, Ga., often faced Stockton's Rabun County teams in high school. “He’s always been, you know, that guy, you know, since I’ve been growing up,” Starks said. “He’s an easy guy to follow. I mean, Gunner is a great guy, you know, very respectful, great parents. I mean, he’s the guy that you want to lead. And a lot of guys have confidence in him. And I think you saw it during games in the SEC (championship game), how much the guys believed in him.”