Posted: 1:45 PM May 13, 2012
Reporter: The Associated Press

A newspaper reports that the Southern Mississippi athletic department's debt nearly doubled between the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year and fall 2011.

The Hattiesburg American reports that an audit acquired through a public records request shows that the department owed $439,255 in fall 2010 and $790,398 last fall.

The newspaper says football was the only sport that did not lose money in the 2010-11 school year. Football brought in $13,852. Men's basketball lost $484,300 and women's basketball lost $726,800.

Jeff Hammond has said that when he became interim athletics
director on Jan. 1, his staff quickly learned that the athletics department is $1 million in debt and will have to fight for years to overcome the current financial problems.

Hammond replaced longtime athletic director Richard Giannini,
who retired.

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