Morgan State Preview & Thoughts On The Tournament

Excerpt:

Tournament Brackets

What: First Round NCAA Tournament Game
Who: Oklahoma (27-5, Big 12) vs. Morgan State (23-11, MEAC)
Where: Kansas City, Missouri
When: Thursday, March 19th at 8:40PM CT

Morgan State Starters
G Jermaine Bolden (#3) 5'9" 175 Senior
G Rogers Barnes (#21) 6'2" 190 Senior
G Reggie Holmes (#11) 6'4" 180 Junior
G/F Marquise Kately (#32) 6'5" 220 Senior
F/C Kevin Thompson (#33) 6'8" 240 Sophomore

Their starters account for about 80% of the minutes on the team, which is about 11% above the Division I average. They have 3 seniors in their starting lineup, and one junior, so their starters will be well seasoned, but their bench players aren't used to playing big minutes, especially in big games. Getting them in foul trouble could help us build a lead quickly.

Keep an eye on Reggie Holmes. He has made more 3-pointers than the rest of the team combined this year. In fact, he has attempted 55 more 3's than 2's (234 to 179) and shoots the 3 at a 37% clip. He is the best free throw shooter on the team (73.5%) and turns the ball over the least. By far, he is the best offensive weapon that they have. Marquise Kately is probably the second best shooter, but he has almost no range. Kevin Thompson shoots an incredibly low percentage for being their post player (43.5%) and can't hit a free throw to save his life (misses about 1 out of every 2). Bolden and Barnes have 3-point shooting ability but don't take as many shots as the other three. Bolden is pretty much a true PG, and seems to be a facilitator.

More good stuff after the jump...

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Alabama State gains NCAA play-in game

MONTGOMERY — Alabama State will have to earn a chance to play No. 1 overall seed Louisville in the NCAA tournament. The Hornets will face Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion Morehead State in the play-in game. The winner faces Louisville in the Midwest Regional in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday. Alabama State beat Jackson State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.

It’s their first NCAA tournament since losing to Duke in 2004 and their third overall. They are 22-9 and have won 13 of their last 14 games. Alabama State had an impressive turnaround after starting 1-6 against a tough early schedule. The Hornets will try to do something no SWAC team has done since Alcorn State in 1980: win an NCAA tournament game.

Along with Louisville, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Connecticut are the top seeds in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The Cardinals are the top seed in the entire tournament, as well the Midwest, while Pittsburgh is No. 1 in the East, Carolina in the South and Connecticut in the West.

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Racial Taunting Results in Spring Break Gunfire

Carlton K. Phipps is a 6-0 junior sprint/middle distance runner from Lynchburg, VA majoring in computer science.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- A Norfolk State University student and a track coach are behind bars after police say they responded to racial taunts with gunfire. Daytona Beach Police arrested 21-year-old Carlton Kenneth Phipps and 23-year-old Raymond Eric Brown early Sunday. Phipps is a junior at Norfolk State and a member of the MEAC champion track team. Brown, a graduate of the university, is currently a track coach. Both were on spring break vacation.

Detectives say around 3:30 a.m. officers responded to a disturbance at Sea Oats Resort in the 2500 block of South Atlantic Avenue. Witnesses told police Phipps and Brown, who are both black, were sitting in a hot tub with three black girls when a group of about 15 white spring breakers approached them using racial slurs.

Witnesses say Brown and Phipps ignored the comments for some time, then left the pool area and came back with guns. Reports say Brown told the group if they didn't leave his friends alone he would shoot one of them. Witnesses tell police the group kept saying slurs as they walked away. Brown fired 2 shots into the air and Phipps followed with 3 more. Witnesses say the group continued to yell slurs as they ran off. No one was wounded by the gun shots. Two of the girls who were with Brown and Phipps were injured as they jumped over a wall when the shots were fired.

Police say Phipps and Brown ran off and buried their guns on the beach. Investigators recovered the weapons shortly after arriving.

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Alabama State rallies to punch ticket for NCAA tourney

The Alabama State University men's basketball team answered the second-half bell like a boxer who had been stung hard in the early rounds. The top-seeded Hornets counter-punched the Jackson State Tigers with a vengeance, though, and battled their way into the NCAA Tournament as Southwestern Athletic Conference champions. ASU came from a bucket down at the half to claim the title 65-58 in front of a raucous Fair Park Arena crowd and a national television audience Saturday night.

Alabama State became the sixth regular-season champ to also take the tournament crown since 1999. The Hornets have twice before advanced to the NCAA Tournament, losing in the opening round to Michigan State in 2001 and to Duke in 2004. ASU's first-round opponent will be announced this afternoon at 5 p.m. on CBS 42. Hornets coach Lewis Jackson said the play-in game in Dayton was a possibility for his 22-9 squad. "I have no control over that," said the fourth-year head coach who went to the NCAA Tournament as an assistant to Rob Spivery in'04. "We have accomplished a lot with our record. We hope that's enough to get us straight in, but we have to do whatever they say."

ASU 7-1/265 center, Chief Kickingstallionsims will be a load for the opponent that the Hornets will face in the "play in" game in Dayton, OH on Tuesday.

After being rocked on their heels as the Tigers dominated the boards in the first half and ran to a 23-13 lead with 2:30 left, the Hornets scrambled back. ASU outscored the Tigers 7-0 in the final 1:33 of the first half that ended with JSU up 25-23 and then claimed its first lead since 13:05 of the opening period with an 11-8 run.

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Prairie View wraps up second NCAA bid in three years

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Gaati Werema had 29 points and 16 rebounds to lead Prairie View A&M to a 74-49 victory over Southern in the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship game Saturday. The Lady Panthers (23-10) will carry a 19-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament, earning an automatic berth with their second SWAC title game victory in three years.

Werema, the league player of the year and tournament MVP, scored 11 points in a 16-0 run that turned a close game into a rout. Southern (16-13) had cut a 14-point deficit down to two by halftime but managed only one field goal in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. The Jaguars scored just 14 points after the break, making 5-of-30 shots. Southern had been the last team to beat Prairie View, winning 65-59 on Jan. 5 for the Lady Panthers only conference loss. The Lady Panthers have won two of the past three tournament titles, losing in last year’s championship game.

Candice Thomas had 18 points for Prairie View on 8-of-12 shooting, while Dominique Smith added 15 points and eight assists.

This time, Morgan defeats Coppin in MEAC

Bears withstand Eagles' late charge to reach MEAC tournament final, 75-67.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - When Morgan State rebuffed one last, desperate rush from Tywain McKee and Coppin State last night, the Bears were finally able to let go of their 2008 nightmare. McKee's torrid 30-point performance almost brought Coppin back from an 18-point deficit in the second half, but Morgan escaped Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a 75-67 victory that was as much backyard brawl as it was tournament basketball.

The Real Deal! Morgan State Coach Todd Bozeman is on the cusp of leading his second Bears team to the NCAA Tournament with the Morgan Bears projected at a 15th seed, if they win the MEAC Tournament. Bozeman led the California Golden Bears to three NCAA Tournaments in '93, '94 and '96 and made the Sweet 16 at age 29, the youngest coach ever to do so.

The win sent the No.1-seeded Bears (22-11) into tonight's 7 o'clock Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference final in search of their first NCAA Division I tournament berth. They still have to beat Norfolk State, which outlasted South Carolina State, 74-71, in last night's second semifinal. A year ago, Morgan was denied that opportunity when Coppin pulled a 62-60 upset in the MEAC final. This year the Battle of Baltimore was played out in the semifinals, but with eerie similarities to last season.

"They're crosstown rivals, and we see them a lot in the summer," Morgan's Rogers Barnes said, seated at an interview table with teammates Reggie Holmes and Jermaine "Itchy" Bolden.

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What ESPN is saying about Morgan State and Coach Bozeman...

"The (NCAA) committee doesn't have to worry about two bids out of the MEAC Saturday. But if Morgan State can beat Norfolk State in Winston-Salem, N.C., it could cause a ripple on two fronts. Former banished Cal coach Todd Bozeman would be back in the NCAAs after a 12-year absence and would complete one of the remarkable career turnaround, while the Bears, who beat Maryland by the way, might be an intriguing 15-seed instead of a 16. That would be great news for a conference constantly looking for some positive pub. "

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Top-seeded Morgan State crushes FAMU in MEAC

Morgan State used three big offensive runs, a decided edge in rebounding and a solid effort from point guard Jermaine "Itchy" Bolden to race past Florida A&M 71-41 in a quarterfinal-round game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at Joel Coliseum last night. The top-seeded Bears opened the game with a 13-2 run, then posted a 15-0 stretch, which started at the end of the first half, to build a 44-22 lead with 16 minutes remaining.

The Bears held a 52-32 rebounding edge and outscored the Rattlers 26-14 in the paint.
Bolden, a 5-9 senior, finished with 12 points, six assists, six rebounds and two steals for Morgan State (21-11). The Rattlers pulled to 46-31 with a 6-0 run, but Morgan State came right back with a 13-0 burst that delivered the knockout blow in the rout. "Basketball is a game of runs, so it's who makes the most, the longest or the last (run)," Coach Todd Bozeman of Morgan State said. "We wanted to continue to keep playing and I kept telling the guys in timeouts, ‘Do not play the score.' We don't play that way; you want to keep playing the game."

The Bears will face the Coppin State-N.C. A&T winner in a semifinal-round game on Friday at 6 p.m. Reggie Holmes, a 6-4 junior and the Bears' leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, had a game-high 18 points and added nine rebounds, while teammate Marquise Kately chipped in with 10 points. Florida A&M, the tournament's No. 8 seed, finished the season 10-21, and had no players in double-figures scoring. The Rattlers shot a dismal 24.5 percent from the field and made only 12 field goals.

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Photo Gallery: Bears/Rattler Shots
Boxscore

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SWAC tournament full of intriguing matchups

Of the many beautiful things about college basketball in March, one is that teams seem to channel their inner Forrest Gump at the right time. Sure, each conference has its share of dominant teams and standout players, and usually, those favorites prevail in their postseason tournaments. Still, from league to league and game to game, there’s that element of surprise a budding star or an upset no one saw coming. As Gump himself would put it, you never know what you’re gonna get.

Its only fitting, then, that the champion of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournaments must win three games in Gump’s home state. Both tournaments begin Wednesday at Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, Ala. Here’s a quick look at people, games and teams to watch for when the madness gets under way.

Women

Most intriguing first-round matchup: It’s a little bit of an upset to call a No. 2-No. 7 matchup the best. It might not be the best. But it could be the most intriguing. Second-seeded Southern and seventh-seeded Texas Southern have plenty in common. They split their regular-season series, with each team winning at home. And they both believe in playing defense first.

Most dangerous player: The kneejerk reaction is to go with the highest-ranking scorer left in the tournament which, in this case, is Alabama A&M’s Katrich Williams, who averages 13.8 points per game, but it’s worth noting that Gaati Werema, the 6-foot junior forward from Prairie View, ranks seventh in the SWAC in scoring (11.7 points per game), first in rebounds (7.5 per game) and second in field-goal percentage (47.7).

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2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament Preview

The 38th Annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament will begin Tuesday March 10th and will come to a conclusion Saturday March 14th. The Morgan State Bears showed their dominance in league play, earning the top spot in the tournament with a 13-3 mark. It is the second consecutive regular- season title for the Bears, who finished with an impressive overall ledger of 20-11. However, Morgan State has not enjoyed much success in this event, winning the title just once, way back in 1977.

Looking to keep the Bears from capturing that long overdue title will be the South Carolina State Bulldogs, who finished the regular-season with a 10-6 mark and the second seed. After Morgan State and SC State there was a log jam in the conference standings, as four teams finished with a 9-7 record. Norfolk State rose above the other 9-7 teams thanks to a three-game win streak down the stretch, including a season-finale victory over North Carolina A&T. The Spartans, who have never won this event, are now the third seed and will also elude opening round action.

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Rams to be host to MEAC party they can't enjoy

Imagine having a party in your own backyard and being unable to get closer than a look through the sliding-glass door. That's the situation Winston-Salem State is in as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournaments roll into Joel Coliseum this week. WSSU is still in transition to Division I, and if it decides to stay on that path, it would be eligible for the tournament in 2011. Nobody said that the transition would be easy, but men's coach Bobby Collins said that having the tournament here makes it tougher on his Rams.

"That's what has made it worse is everybody is coming here for the tournament, and we can't be there to compete in it," Collins said. "We are hosting and are the home team, and it's now hitting home that we aren't invited." At least the WSSU men's team will get to play -- it will meet N.C. Central in a bonus game on Saturday between the women's and men's championship games. But that's just an exhibition to try to draw more fans to Joel Coliseum for the title games.

"It's a party we can't come to, but we are going to crash the party anyway," Collins said, referring to the game against N.C. Central. Adding to the disappointment for the Rams is that WSSU has spring break this week, so friends of players are taking vacations far from campus. The Rams will practice most of the week, and some will venture to Joel Coliseum to watch, said guard Brian Fisher. "We'll sit in the stands and maybe heckle some of the players," Fisher said jokingly. "Nobody wants to just watch, but that's what we'll do until the game with N.C. Central on Saturday."

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FAMU's Ammons believes in Hayes

Entrance to FAMU new on-campus teaching gym will be opened in time to host Spring Graduation with a seating capacity over 9,000 seats.

Through the negotiations that resulted in Bill Hayes being hired as athletic director, Florida A&M President James Ammons knew his choice would be second-guessed. More than anything else, Ammons expected Hayes' years of competing against the Rattlers as a football coach from North Carolina A&T would be an issue. But Ammons could empathize.

When Hayes was athletic director at his alma mater, North Carolina Central, Ammons served as chancellor. Back then, Ammons got an earful about his ties to FAMU, where he had a previous tenure as provost and professor.

Now it's Hayes' turn and he's getting some resistance as FAMU faces tough economic times with a $4.2 million deficit. Ammons said Hayes is the right man to fix financial woes and recently gave him a vote of confidence during an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. Hayes took over a situation at FAMU that is similar to what he met at NCCU before turning the Eagles into a championship program. He was named Athletic Director of the Year by the the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) the last two years before he came to FAMU.

Florida A & M University President James Ammons, left, presents Eugene Harris a FAMU cap after naming Harris as the new men's head basketball coach on September 20, 2007, in Tallahassee, Florida. Hayes, Harris and Ammons have the gargantuan task of filling 9,000 seats in the new multi-purpose teaching gym due to open next season for Rattler basketball.

Hayes was hired 15 months ago with a three-year contract that pays him an annual salary of $175,000. He spent four years as athletic director at NCCU before coming to FAMU. During his 27 years as football coach at Winston-Salem State and North Carolina A&T, he coached the football teams to multiple championships.

FAMU athletic director William "Bill" Hayes

"Nobody is going to work as hard for Florida A&M athletics as Coach Hayes," Ammons said. "I have the utmost confidence in his ability to get this job done. I would hope that there is nobody out there among the alumni that's questioning my commitment to Florida A&M because he wouldn't be here if I didn't think he could do the best job that I want done."

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Prairie View tops Southern University Lady Jaguars

PRAIRIE VIEW, TEXAS — Prairie View avenged its only Southwestern Athletic Conference loss of the season by holding off the Southern women’s basketball team 59-51 Saturday night at the William J. Nicks Building. Dominique Smith scored 17 points and Candice Thomas added 15 points, seven rebounds and five steals to lead PV (20-10, 17-1), which has won its third straight SWAC regular-season title, all under former WNBA superstar Cynthia Cooper-Dyke.

The Lady Panthers have won 16 straight games, all since losing 63-58 on Jan. 5 in Baton Rouge. Gaati Werema added 10 points and 10 rebounds and Shondria Combs 11 points. Deidra Jackson scored 17 points and had seven rebounds and three steals to lead SU (14-12, 11-7). Ashley Augerson added 14 points and eight rebounds, while Jamie Floyd had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Lady Panthers Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is poised for a breakout post-season in the SWAC and NCAA Tournaments.

“I was really pleased with the kids’ effort,” SU coach Sandy Pugh said. “I thought they played really hard.” PV scored the game’s first 11 points, holding Southern scoreless for nearly four minutes to start the game. SU recovered and eventually led 35-33 after Jackson made a pair of free throws with 14:35 remaining in the game. “I think they were in a tentative mode, and then Deidra took over,” Pugh said. “They made some stops, and their confidence got up.”

“We couldn’t get the stop at the other end,” Pugh said. “We were tired. … We gave it all we had. “Prairie View is solid, playing at the top of its game. We have nothing to be ashamed of.”

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On a Mission: Aggie women want in NCAA Tournament

The rising tide that is the N.C. A&T women's program has continued under the patient guidance of Coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. The Aggies, seeded No. 1 for this week's MEAC Tournament, are favorites because everything seems to be pointing in their direction. They have talent galore, senior leaders in Amber Bland and Brittanie Taylor-James, a veteran coach who has been to the NCAA Tournament six times and a pseudo homecourt advantage.

"It's been a tough one," Cage-Bibbs said about the steady rise of her program. "We have just been truly blessed getting these players here who were highly-recruited. People don't really realize it's not automatic because you don't know from Day 1 if one kid might go out or whatever."

Patricia Cage-Bibbs’ Aggies are the No. 1 seed in this week’s MEAC Tournament.

Cage-Bibbs, who is in her fourth season at A&T after stops at Grambling and Hampton, shook up the program pretty well when she was first hired. She got rid of most of the returning players and hit the recruiting trail hard. This season has been one of her best. Earlier this season, she collected her 400th career win. Her six NCAA appearances came at Grambling and Hampton, and in 23 seasons of coaching, Cage-Bibbs has had just four teams finish with losing records.

The Aggies fell short of the NCAA Tournament last season, losing in the MEAC final to Coppin State. Bland, who is the second-leading scorer in school history with more than 1,500 points, says that getting to the NCAA Tournament is something the players have talked about all season. "Seeing how we had a letdown last year losing in the tournament championship game, we all came back with one mission and that's to go forward," Bland said. "Now we want to go to the NCAA Tournament and to do that we have to win the MEAC Tournament, so we want to get that respect from our league."

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ASU Hornets win SWAC outright

Alabama State University Hornets head coach Louis Jackson wins SWAC Regular Season Championship and number one seed with 19-9, 16-2 record.

GRAMBLING, La. -- The Hornets finished the season with the Southwestern Athletic Conference's best record. Brandon Brooks and Roland Fitch each scored 15 points to help Alabama State beat Gram­bling State 65-58 on Saturday night.

Wesley Jones added 14 points and Andrew Hayles chipped in with 10 for the Hornets (19-9, 16-2 Southwestern Athletic Confer­ence), who won 10 of their final 11 games. Ariece Perkins scored 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting to lead the Tigers (6-23, 4-14). Don­ald Qualls chipped in with 12. Grambling State ended their regular season on a nine-game losing streak. Alabama State shot 50 percent from the field (24-for-48) and outrebounded the Tigers 32-26. The Hornets head into the SWAC tournament, which begins on Wednesday, as the top seed.

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North Carolina A&T Aggie women end regular season with win

NORFOLK, Va. — N.C. A&T played without two starters and two reserves on Thursday, but finished the regular-season with a 97-65 win over Norfolk State at Echols Hall. Brittanie Taylor-James led the Aggies with 30 points. Her performance marked the third time this season she has scored 30 or more points. It also marked the first time an Aggies player has scored 30 points in back-to-back games since Malveata Johnson did during the 2000 season. Taylor-James closes out the regular season as the MEAC's leading scorer.
























Brittanie Taylor-James led the Aggies in scoring with a season average of 19.5 ppg.

Junior Ta'Wuana Cook added a season-high 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting, while junior Reisha Bullock finished with 12 and freshman center Nakia DeBlanc had 10 points and seven rebounds. The Aggies closed out their regular season 23-6 and 15-1 in the MEAC, despite missing All-MEAC performer Amber Bland and starting power forward Jaleesa Sams. Reserves Brittane Neely and Shantar Waddell also missed the game. "We have so many people that are hurt, but we also have so many people that are willing to step up," said A&T head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs.

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Morgan State spoils finale at Coppin Center

Coppin State guard Tywain McKee is going out just as he came in, still hungry, still driven, still looking to refine his game.

Morgan State got a tournament-type atmosphere in its regular-season finale tonight. The Bears responded to their neighborhood rivalry with Coppin State with a frenetic 68-62 victory that brought down the curtain on Coppin Center. The Bears got a game-high 23 points from Reggie Holmes to notch their second straight 20-win season and head into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament with momentum -- they've won 12 of their past 14 -- and the No. 1 seed.

Morgan (20-11, 13-3) trailed only in the opening minutes and led by 12 points in the second half but couldn't put away the Eagles (12-18, 9-7). "We still haven't hit on all cylinders," Bears coach Todd Bozeman said. "We still have a level we want to get to. You just don't want to finish the season without reaching that level. We aren't where we were, but we also aren't quite where we want to be." On an emotional night that saw Tywain McKee played his final regular-season game for the Eagles and the last men's game on this floor, Coppin got within three points with 23 seconds to play.

Attendance: 1,720.

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Second-half surge puts Tennessee State in semis

Jasmine Smith, who has been the Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week six times since January, lived up to her reputation Tuesday for Tennessee State. The transfer from Louisville poured in 16 points and helped the Lady Tigers keep their season alive by providing a second-half boost on the way to a 77-66 win over Southeast Missouri. The victory came in the first round of the OVC Tournament at Gentry Center. It moved No. 3 seed TSU (18-12) into Friday's semifinals at Sommet Center against Eastern Illinois, which defeated Tennessee Tech 71-65.

TSU guard Kendra Appling (5) drives past SEMO forward Rachel Blunt (32) during their game at Gentry Center. (GEORGE WALKER IV)

"I told Jasmine at halftime, if we win this game, it's going to depend on her getting involved offensively and defensively,'' TSU Coach Tracee Wells said. Sixth seeded SEMO (15-15) kept Smith contained for the first half. She came into the game averaging 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds but was held to just two points and three rebounds by halftime. From the start of the second half, however, Smith was nearly unstoppable. She scored seven of TSU's first 11 points and finished with 14 second-half points and five rebounds.

Photo Gallery: Southeast Missouri State vs. TSU

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MEAC expansion could bring 2 divisions, football title game

NORFOLK, VA - Fourteen schools. Two divisions. One conference. That's the direction the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has set for itself in announcing last week that the league has lifted a moratorium on expansion. The MEAC, which includes Norfolk State and Hampton, could soon be adding North Carolina Central and Savannah State. Both institutions have submitted applications to join the league, currently comprised of 11 schools, nine of which play football. Winston-Salem State, which also plays football, is working toward inclusion in the MEAC in 2011.

The larger league would likely break down into two divisions. "That would allow us to at least have the flexibility for divisional play," conference commissioner Dennis Thomas said. "Divisional play will give us the flexibility to save on travel costs and missed class time for our athletes. Those are among the reasons to do this." The creation of two divisions also would seemingly invite the possibility of a championship football game - an event that could come at a price: the I-AA playoffs.

That portion of the expansion idea isn't popular with Norfolk State football coach Pete Adrian. He said the overwhelming majority of recruits are looking for the chance to play in a national playoff. "The I-AA playoffs have a lot more exposure," he said. "I don't think going to a championship game will pay off." Hampton athletic director Lonza Hardy, meanwhile, welcomes expansion and is open to exploring both postseason options.

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Rejuvenated Maxey helps Jackson State roll away with big road victory

Tigers bounce back from stunning loss to stay in contention for share of SWAC regular season championship

PINE BLUFF, Ark. -
Jackson State junior forward Grant Maxey was doubtful for Monday night's game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff after being hit in the head last week and then going scoreless for the first time since his freshman year. But the second-leading scorer during SWAC play started and took all of one possession to eclipse that number - hitting a midrange jumper and looking like his normal self.

Maxey's presence plus a heavy dose of Darrion Griffin and Garrison Johnson kept Jackson State in the run for a possible share of the SWAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the tournament with a 75-66 victory at H.O. Clemmons Arena. "We still wanted to let Alabama State know we're a team to be reckoned with," Griffin said. "This was a message to the rest of the conference." JSU hosts the Hornets on Thursday.

The Golden Lions (11-17, 10-7) played the first half like there was blue blood in the water. JSU was coming off its first loss since Jan. 19 with Mississippi Valley State rallying from a 16-point deficit on Saturday. UAPB still could have stolen the No. 2 seed in the SWAC Tournament.

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Shannon Sharpe ready to embrace Savannah State again

MACON, GA - Shannon Sharpe recalls the day the late Bill Davis walked onto his family's yard in rural Tattnall County and delivered his simple recruiting pitch. "Son," Davis said, "I want to build Savannah State's football program around you." Now, 25 years later, Sharpe is hearing a similar spiel from his alma mater. He is out of eligibility as a player, but the football program is desperate for his public support, be it moral, financial or all of the above.

And just as Sharpe embraced the Tigers then, he's ready to do so again now. Finally.
Sharpe pledged Saturday to sit down with Savannah State's administration "soon" to discuss taking part in a ceremony to retire his jersey number. The retirement would be the first step toward ending a decade-long divorce between the school and the greatest athlete ever to wear its colors.



"We can move forward in that direction now," Sharpe said Saturday prior to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "For someone to think that the No. 2 jersey is so well-respected that they don't want anybody else to put it on is a huge honor, and I don't take it lightly." Savannah State officials won't take Sharpe's willingness to reconnect to the school lightly either. The school's athletic director, Bart Bellairs, breathed an audible sigh of relief when told of Sharpe's comments.

View dozens more images of Shannon Sharpe
View Shannon Sharpe's tribute case at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame



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