SWAC takes big hit in latest APR report

Southern's head football coach Lyvonia “Stump” Mitchell
 was not with the Jaguars during the APR reporting period
-- 2006/07 through 2009/10. Former coach Pete Richardson
compiled a career record at SU of 134-62, including 5
SWAC Championships and 4 Black College National Titles.
Richardson was fired on Dec. 7, 2009 after 17 seasons
at Southern University.

INDIANAPOLIS -- NCAA President Mark Emmert expects athletes at historically black colleges and universities to make the grade -- and he's willing to help after seeing the results of the latest Academic Progress Rates.

The NCAA banned Jackson State and Southern of the Southwestern Athletic Conference from postseason play in football next season and did the same thing for Southern and Grambling in men's basketball, citing poor classroom performance by all three schools and a host of others in the SWAC and Mid-Eastern Athletic conferences.

The SWAC does not get an automatic bid to the NCAA's FCS playoffs, but its own conference title game could be affected. The NCAA released the penalties Tuesday. Southern became the first school to be banned from the postseason in two sports in the same year -- football and men's basketball -- because of academic performance.

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Southern coaches, players ready for fall camp

BATON ROUGE, LA - After a 17 year run, a new day is literally dawning on the bluff. New head football coach, Lyvonia "Stump" Mitchell, is set to welcome his first class to campus for fall preparation. The Jags open the 2010 season on Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 12:00pm in the Citrus Bowl versus Delaware State in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge.

Stump Mitchell and staff are set to welcome 90 players to the north Baton Rouge campus. "For us, as coaches, it's the most important time of the year -- other than when you're trying to recruit the players here," Mitchell said. "Spring (practice) was important, too, as far as us getting to know what we had. ... But this is where you really get to practice."

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