Calvin propels UAPB Golden Lions to finals

University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions guard Terrance Calvin hits another winner.

Terrance Calvin has hit a lot of memorable last-second shots during his time at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The senior hit his most memorable one Friday. The shot sent his Golden Lions to the Southwestern Athletic Conference finals for the first time since 2006. Calvin made a 10-foot jumper with a defender in his face with 1.04 seconds left to clinch a 46-44 win over No. 3 seed Alabama State at the CenturyTel Center. The Golden Lions meet the winner of Grambling State-Texas Southern in the finals at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

"This is my No. 1 shot all-time," Calvin said. "We finally get to the finals. I've never been before. This feels great. Make it or miss it, I was going to take it. I made it." How Calvin got the last-second shot was even more thrilling. Allen Smith intercepted Alabama State's Tramaine Butler inbounds pass under ASU's basket with 26.59 seconds left. Savalance Townsend shot a pass to Calvin, setting up the game-winning shot from the left side.

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*** Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Recaps *** (Friday, March 12th)

SWAC TOURNAMENT Calvin carries Lions into final

Alabama State outmuscles Alabama A&M

Alabama State University Lady Hornets Coach Freda Freeman-Jackson

BOSSIER CITY, La. - The Alabama A&M women's basketball team's dream of reaching its first SWAC tournament championship game died Friday at the hands of a familiar foe. Alabama State closed Friday's semifinal game on an 11-4 run over the final 3:50 to end the Bulldogs' season with a 61-53 loss. A&M (16-13) entered the semifinal game as a higher seed for the first time and had swept the Hornets during the regular season.

Alabama State controlled the physical nature of the game, especially over the last 15 minutes. Conference player of the year Katrich Williams' only 3-point basket of the game at the 16:38 mark gave A&M a five-point lead at 32-27. Williams finished with a game-high 24 points, but struggled to free herself from Alabama State's defensive pressure. "There were a lot of bumps and pushes out there," A&M coach Altherias Warmley said. "We needed to be more responsive to their physical play, and we failed to do that today."

The Bulldogs' response to the physical play came to a head with 1:41 to play in the first half when Chelsea Marshall and Alabama's Erica Henderson entangled on an off-ball screen. Henderson was tagged with a personal foul, but officials determined that Marshall threw a punch in the altercation and was ejected. "Clearly my player made an inappropriate reaction to that situation," Warmley said.

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ASU moves ahead with plan to upgrade athletic facilities

Excerpt:

ASU's board of trustees ap­proved two proposals in recent weeks that call for the construc­tion of a new football complex and a complete overhaul of the team's practice field, including the installation of synthetic turf. The football complex project, which is still in the "early plan­ning stage," will cost the school around $6 million, according to Kippy Tate, ASU's vice presi­dent for buildings and grounds, and has an estimated time of completion of 18 months. The new two-story building will be approximately 25,000 square feet and will be located on the north side of Hornet Stadium, where the school's old bus barn currently stands.

Under those current plans, which Tate said are far from be­ing finalized, the bottom floor of the facility will contain the stan­dard facilities for players, in­cluding a locker room, trainer's room, meeting areas and an aca­demic center for tutoring of all student-athletes. The second floor will primarily consist of coaches' offices, a lounge and meeting areas. The field project, which will cost the school around $900,000 and is close to entering the bid­ding stage of the process, should be completed prior to fall drills in August. The new Sprinturf synthetic turf will be identical to the turf in place at Cramton Bowl, where the Hornets play their home games.

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ASU coordinator Nixon discusses defense

Mixed results in ASU Hornets' scrimmage

Photo Gallery: ASU football offices, practice field
Photo Gallery: ASU football practice

Alabama State defensive coordinator Jo Nixon wants his players to think. It's not enough for the ASU defensive players to just play a position and execute a predetermined set of movements. Nixon wants them to understand why they're being asked to make those moves. Even more important: He wants his players to learn how an offense is going to attack in every conceivable situation, and then make the necessary adjustments before the play develops.

Year of the Hornets will be 2009 as the Coach Reggie Barlow led ASU Hornets have a schedule deep with in-state home games (see schedule below).

Because of those expectations, the first-year coordinator couldn't call the Hornets' first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday morning a defensive success. But he couldn't call it a failure, either. "We had a lot of situations today where we just didn't play very smart football -- where we weren't ready for what was likely to happen," Nixon said. "We're going to get that corrected. If you're going to play in this defense, you've got to understand how an opponent is going to attack us. We've improved in that area, but there were still some gaps."

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HORNETS' 2009 SCHEDULE (Tentative)
9/5 Concordia-Selma 7 p.m.
9/12 at Savannah St., GA 4 p.m.
9/19 Edward Waters 7 p.m.
9/26 at Miss. Valley St., MS 1 p.m.
10/10 Prairie View A&M 1 p.m.
10/17 Grambling St. 1 p.m.
10/24 Alcorn St. 1 p.m.
10/31 Ala. A&M in Birmingham 2:30 p.m.
11/7 at Jackson St., Jackson, MS 1 p.m.
11/14 vs. Southern U. in Mobile 2:30 p.m.
11/26 Tuskegee 1 p.m.

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ASU football: Players, new coaches coming together, Barlow says

Spring practices at Alabama State so far have been an odd sort of meet-and-greet. For the third straight year, sweeping coaching changes in the off-season have left the players and coaches using the early portions of spring camp as a time to get acquainted with one another. This year, new faces in the Hornets' camp include two coordinators, an offensive line coach, a running backs coach, a receivers coach and a linebackers coach. All of the new personalities and new coaching styles made the first practices a little clunky.

But head coach Reggie Barlow feels like things are moving along. "It's been different -- lot of new guys out there -- and it's taking some time for everyone to get used to one another," Barlow said. "But I think the guys are responding well to the new coaches. It's going pretty good, actually."

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Morehead States Defeats Alabama State In Play-In Game

ASU and the SWAC suffered another embarrassing loss with the 7-foot Chief ending his Hornet career scoring 0 points and 2 rebounds against Morehead State. A record crowd of 11,346 at the Dayton Arena and a national television audience watched the "not made for TV" affair.

Morehead State didn't need a Chief on the boards to get its first NCAA victory in a 25 years. Center Kenneth Faried got the better of his bigger and more syllabic counterpart Tuesday night, and the Eagles never trailed during a 58-43 victory over Alabama State that opened the NCAA Tournament and ended a quarter-century of futility for Morehead State.

Morehead State (20-15) played its way into a first-round rematch Friday with top-seeded Louisville in the Midwest Regional. Alabama State (22-10) hoped to set the tone defensively behind shot-blocker Grlenntys Chief Kickingstallionsims Jr., a 7-foot-1 center whose reach is as long as his name. He swatted away three shots, but wasn't much help where he was needed most — on the boards.

Faried, the Ohio Valley Conference's defensive player of the year, had 14 points and 21 rebounds. The Eagles dominated the boards, 50-27. Andrew Hayles scored 14 for Alabama State. Morehead State hadn't made the tournament since 1984. The Eagles beat North Carolina A&T in an opening game that featured the first TV replay used to settle a tournament dispute.

Box Score » Watch Replay » Play‑By‑Play »
Photos »

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Another confirmation that Alabama State and SWAC Basketball sucks! Should the NCAA take away the SWAC's automatic bid and move to a 64 game format? Who can debate the results--0 and whatever! Nobody remembers the last time the SWAC won a NCAA tournament game. How can you not be prepared and competitive with a 19-15 OVC team that should be a member of the SWAC?

-beepbeep

Monique Holland named Alabama State University Athletic Director

Alabama State University Hornets director of athletics, Monique Holland

New ASU AD strives to lead Hornets in positive direction

Alabama State's appoint­ment of Monique Holland as its athletic director sends a mes­sage. School officials appointed their leading expert on NCAA compliance to the program's top position to emphasize that the school is serious about playing by the rules, Holland said Fri­day. ASU President William Harris voiced his full endorse­ment of the new AD in a state­ment that announced her hir­ing. "Monique Holland is the right person at the right time to lead ASU's athletic department forward . . ." he said.

Holland, an ASU alum and former athlete, was promoted from the associate athletic di­rector for NCAA rules educa­tion and compliance, a position she's held since last June. She came from Georgia State with the mission to clean up a program that was wrecked by an NCAA infractions case that had dragged on for years. The hundreds of violations the school self-reported resulted in self-imposed sanctions that included firing coaches and limiting scholarships. Earlier this month, the school received notice that the NCAA had com­pleted its investigation and mandated five more years of probation and a ban on postsea­son championship play next year for the football team.

Photo Gallery: Monique Holland named ASU Athletic Director

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ASU offense has 'D' back on its heels

'Bama State head football coach Reggie Barlow

Alabama State's first scrimmage of the fall was summed up in just one word by head coach Reggie Barlow -- "pleasing." It was pleasing to the coaches, pleasing to the players and especially pleasing to the approximately 250 fans at Hornet Stadium. ASU's new spread offense moved the ball efficiently, the quarterback play was solid, the kicking game was sound and the defense got its shots in when it mattered.

"It's hard to judge being out here on the field just how good it was, but it felt good," Barlow said. "The offense did some good things. Some of that might have been because (defensive coordinator Tony) Pierce didn't have a couple of his horses in. But it was still a nice effort all around."

The focus was on the quarterback position, where transfers Reid Herchenbach and Anthony Speight are battling for the starting role. Both played well Saturday, as the coaches moved them through a variety of starting positions on the field.

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Alabama State to answer NCAA charges by June 27

NCAA slaps 668 athletic violations on Alabama State University

The NCAA has issued a long list of allegations of possible rules violations to Alabama State University, bringing the nearly 5-year probe closer to a finish.

ASU has until June 27 to respond to the report, which details 23 violations that spring from the college's self-reporting of rules it felt were broken by the football staff of L.C. Cole. Some of the allegations dating from 1999 come from the NCAA's enforcement staff, which has been investigating ASU's program since the institution issued its self-report in July 2003.

Cole was fired in 2003 and replaced by Charles Coe, who resigned following the 2007 season and was replaced by Reggie Barlow.

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Questions remain for Alabama State's Hornets

Photo: Coach Reggie Barlow has no clear winner for starting quarterback.

The Alabama State football team went through its final spring practice on Thursday afternoon, and the questions that surrounded the team at the start of spring ball were still in place at the end. The coaching staff still isn't sure about the quarterback situation or if there are enough talented receivers to efficiently run the new spread offense or if the defense can replace a few key components or if a capable kicker can be tracked down.

But while the questions were clearly unanswered, head coach Reggie Barlow believes the answers are now much closer."We have a better idea now, I think, of where we are and what we need to get better," Barlow said.

"The same questions are still there, but I think we know where the answers are a little better now. We've definitely made some progress."

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Alabama State's Hayles, Morgan State's Smith honorable mention AP All-Americans

Photo: AP honorable mention All-American Andrew Hayles, ASU Hornets.

by Alabama State Sports Information

Montgomery, Ala. - The honors continue to roll in for Alabama State guard Andrew Hayles. On Monday, Hayles was named Associated Press honorable mention All-American.

"It's a real honor, but it says more about what our team accomplished that what I did individually," Hayles said. "This is really motivation to work even harder to in the offseason."

Earlier this month, Hayles, a junior from Mobile, Ala., was tabbed as the SWAC player of the year after leading the Hornets to a 20-11 season and the SWAC regular season championship.

He averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He ranked in the conference's top 10 in six categories: scoring, shooting percentage, free throw percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, and minutes played.

After his first season at ASU, Hayles was named the SWAC freshman of the year in 2005-2006. As a sophomore, he led the Hornets in scoring with 14.5 points per game.

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Jamar Smith, Morgan State University, the MEAC Player of the Year was also named an AP honorable mention All-American. Smith, a 6-2/210 senior guard played at Patrick Henry HS/San Bernadino Valley College prior to attending MSU. Smith is from Brooklyn Park, MN.

ASU Sun Devils scorch ASU Hornets in NIT

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Alabama State played an angry team Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT.

Arizona State, which, along with many NCAA basketball gurus, believed it belonged in the NCAA tournament, took out its snub frustrations with a 64-53 victory at Wells Fargo Arena.

Alabama State, playing its first NIT game since 1983, made it easy for Arizona State to set the tone and build a cozy lead by missing its first eight shots of the game and 15 of its first 16.

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ASU opens NIT with easy win over Alabama State

One down, four to go.

The ASU men's basketball team certainly looked like a No. 1 seed Tuesday night in its 64-53 win over Alabama State in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

For the first half anyway.

"The first half we came out with a chip on our shoulder," ASU freshman guard James Harden said. "Second half, I guess we got too comfortable. We had a little lead, got comfortable, then they made a run and picked up the intensity on defense.

"We just had to settle down to come out with the victory."

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Roundtree, Munnerlyn move to Alabama State Hornets

North Marion High School graduate William Roundtree and Vanguard High alumnus Tyrell Munnerlyn both signed football scholarships with four-year program Alabama State last week.

The former county standouts made the jump from the junior college ranks at Alan Hancock College in California to Montgomery, Ala., after both were honored in the Western State Conference as sophomores.

Roundtree, a linebacker, led the Bulldogs with 111 tackles and was selected a first-team all-conference performer for the second-straight year.

Munnerlyn, a wide receiver, hauled in a team-best 42 catches for 824 yards and 8 touchdowns. He averaged a hefty 19.6 yards per catch and landed on the WSC second team.

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`Sweet Lew' has ASU basketball atop SWAC

Photo: Alabama State University head baskeball coach Lewis Jackson.

They call him "Sweet Lew" because of the silky stroke he had sinking jump shots for coach James Oliver. It can only get sweeter for Alabama State University basketball fans if Lewis Jackson can lead his team to three more victories starting Wednesday night at Fair Park Arena.

Three more wins and regular-season champion ASU earns its third automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament. Three more wins and boyhood dreams of playing on college basketball's biggest stage will come true for the 19-9 Hornets.

Jackson, though, has already reached one of his lifetime goals.

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Alabama State Hornets remain hot in win over Grambling State

Photo: ASU junior guard Andrew Hayles drove his way to a 28 point night against GSU Tigers.

Long, contested threes, twisting layups, runners in the lane, turnaround jumpers -- Hayles hit them all Thursday night. The junior guard scored a season-high 28 points and time and again provided a spark for a struggling ASU offense.

The Hornets won their fourth in a row, 73-61.

"I'm just trying to do what I can within the offense," Hayles said. "This is all a team effort each night. When I was open, I tried to hit what I could."

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PVAMU vs. Alabama State Photo Gallery

Prairie View A&M University Marching Storm