Southern Jaguars Rise Early for Football Spring Practice

When players reported for the first session of Stump Mitchell’s first spring practice at Southern University, the lights shone above A.W. Mumford Stadium, and the temperature stood still at 33 degrees. It was Friday morning, while much of Baton Rouge was still hugging its pillow. Practice began at 5:30 a.m. — and in the month since Mitchell took over at SU, players have learned how to read pro football time. In other words, they needed to be ready at 5:20.

Why so early? The No. 1 reason, Mitchell said, is logistics. Because many players at SU have afternoon classes, before-dawn sessions are the only way to get the entire team together at once. “You have to have reps at something,” Mitchell said. “You can’t just watch it on video or watch somebody else do it and think you can be pretty proficient at it. ... So we go early, unfortunately. Or fortunately. It depends on if you’re an early riser or not.” Of course, there are a few ancillary benefits to the early rise. First, players aren’t as likely to oversleep and blow off class — and blowing off class, Mitchell said, is a big no-no with him.

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Southern women fall, 65-62 to Alabama A&M

Pugh says ‘game stolen from us’

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Southern University’s women’s basketball coach Sandy Pugh didn’t consider Saturday’s 65-62 loss to Alabama A&M a heartbreaker. Not under these circumstances. “I’m not sure we lost the game,” Pugh said. “I feel the game was stolen from us.” The Jaguars were whistled for 27 fouls to 15 for the Bulldogs. And A&M shot 31 free throws to Southern’s 16. And Southern had two players foul out while no one for A&M had as many as four fouls.

The loss played out in heartbreaking fashion. The Jaguars never trailed until Katrich Williams hit three free throws with 11 seconds left for a 63-62 edge. Then Williams iced the win with two more free throws with two seconds left. A&M outscored Southern 23-10 at the foul line. Asked about the disparity in fouls, Pugh said, “Like I said, I don’t feel like we lost the game. I feel like it was stolen from us.” A&M coach Altherias Warmly had her own theory on the foul disparity.

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North Carolina A&T women have plenty of bounce in victory

North Carolina A&T Senior guard Ta'Wuana Cook leads Lady Aggies to victory with six 3-pointers and 25 points over the S.C. State Lady Bulldogs.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- After losing their first conference game of the season to Hampton on Monday, the N.C. A&T Aggies bounced back on Saturday with an 83-63 win over S.C. State at Corbett Sports Center. The Aggies (18-8, 12-1 MEAC) won by 38 after their first conference loss in 2008, and they won by 33 after their first conference loss in 2007. Senior Ta'Wuana Cook led the Aggies with 25 points on six 3-pointers. Senior Lamona Smalley recorded her sixth double-double in seven games with 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Jaleesa Sams added 14.

A sideline intra-squad altercation occurred on the A&T bench during the game. School officials said they were unclear about the altercation. According to a staff journalist who attended the game, midway through the second half, freshman Amber Calvin and junior Jaleesa Sams had to be separated by fellow teammates and coaches. After the game, the journalist also said a man approached Sams and there was a brief scuffle between the two.

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After 9 Years, South Carolina State's Buddy Pough Still Having Fun

S.C. State's Coach Buddy Pough is becoming a bigger name in South Carolina football than his previous mentor-employer at the University of South Carolina, Coach Steve Spurrier. Coach Pough was named the 2009 Palmetto State College Coach of the Year, amongst many other awards. (Photo: Spurrier and Pough at mid-field following hard fought 38-14 win by Gamecocks over Bulldogs in 2009).

After nine years, the job is still fun for South Carolina State head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough. What’s not to love about coaching his alma mater in his hometown? From leading the Bulldogs to three Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles, two Top 15 finishes in the national Football Championship Subdivision rankings and a black college football national championship, Pough has reached many of his goals since succeeding Willie Jeffries in 2001.

Pough’s 67-26 record after eight seasons is virtually identical to the legendary Jeffries’ after nine seasons (66-27-4). Nevertheless, Pough begins preparation for Year Nine of his tenure with the start of spring practice Monday with many unattained goals on his agenda.

In this week’s Sunday Conversation, Pough discusses the program, life in Orangeburg and what to expect during the spring.

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JSU Tigers Work Overtime to Claim 9th Straight Win

When teams scout Jackson State to ID the shooters and scorers, Rod Melvin and Cason Burk aren't likely to be in the conversation. The two entered Saturday's game against Grambling State averaging less than 10 points combined. Burk is the rebounding, hustle man. Melvin is a true pass-first point guard. Nobody at Hobdy Arena was ready, then, for the duo to come out firing, but they did, and for SWAC-leading JSU that was a good thing.With Burk scoring a career-high 19 and Melvin adding nine, the visiting Tigers held on for an 84-79 overtime victory, extending their winning streak to nine games.

"Teams are keying in on me. They think they know how to stop us," said Garrison Johnson, JSU's leading scorer with 22. "They fail to realize we have an arsenal. ... They held it down. "They bring it every night, but usually it's in a different aspect." JSU (15-11, 13-1) looked like it would glide to victory after opening with a 15-5 run and extending the lead to 14. Grambling (6-16, 4-10) cut it to six at halftime, but JSU jumped the lead to 13 early in the second half.

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Mississippi Valley Delta Devils Deliver Statement to TSU

Texas Southern University head basketball coach Tony Harvey.

Mississippi Valley State basketball coach Sean Woods wanted this game in the worst way. His message to his players was well received by the Delta Devils as they blew out Texas Southern 62-44 Saturday night at the R.W. Harrison Complex in Itta Bena. Woods, whose team lost 74-73 at TSU four weeks ago, called this a "statement win." When asked why he put so much into this game, Woods didn't hold back: "They (TSU) are so arrogant. They've got a lot of talent, but, hey, so do we. I told our guys that we have just as much talent as they do. We've just got to put it all together and believe in ourselves."

With the win, MVSU moves to 8-19 overall, 7-7 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. TSU falls to 12-13, 8-5 in the SWAC. Valley led 30-23 at the break and controlled things for most of the second half. TSU made a little noise when it quickly trimmed an 11-point deficit to four. Travele Jones had a 3-point play to make it 40-36 with 11:38 left. But less than two minutes later, the Delta Devils pushed their lead to 15 before the Tigers knew what had hit them. Shannon Behling capped the home team's 11-0 run with a slam dunk and a layup in less than a 20-second span.

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UAPB Lady Lions Upset Short-Handed Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers

University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Women Basketball Head Coach Cary Shelton.

It was right at tip-off that Cary Shelton realized the best team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference was at less than full strength. Shelton’s Arkansas-Pine Bluff women’s basketball team entered Saturday’s game in need of a win to keep its hopes for a berth in next month’s SWAC Tournament alive, and facing it was the team at the top of the standings — Prairie View A&M. But missing from Prairie View — which suited just eight players — was leading scorer Latara Darrett, second-leading scorer Candice Thomas and leading rebounder Gaati Werema, thanks to an assortment of injuries.

Shelton, though, said it didn’t matter that his Lady Lions were playing a skeletal form of the Lady Panthers. UAPB needed a win. And thanks to a decrease in turnovers from a loss on Monday and a continued emphasis on forcing them, the Lady Lions got a win, 72-59, over the defending conference champions at H.O. Clemmons Arena.

“It doesn’t matter who is out on the floor, you’ve got to go out and compete at a high level,” Shelton said. The first-year coach was disappointed with a level of competition displayed in a loss Monday night at Alcorn State, a game in which the Lady Lions committed 29 turnovers. On Saturday, he had no complaints.

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WEATHERS' LATE SHOT GIVES UAPB OVERTIME WIN

Ark.-Pine Bluff 57, Prairie View 55