SCSU tennis teams hope for happier ending at Chapel Hill

The postseason plans for the South Carolina State tennis teams might as well been scripted by a wedding planner - something old, something new and something (powder) blue.

On Thursday, the men’s and women’s teams learned their reward for winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles was another trip down Tobacco Road to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For the second time in three years, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will face the University of North Carolina on its homecourt at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center next weekend.

The SCSU women (13-3), will face the 15th-seed Lady Tar Heels (17-8) on May 9 starting at 10 a.m. The following day, the SCSU men (18-3) will face 12th-seed UNC (19-5) at the same time.

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Morgan State edges Delaware State

Photo: Guard Reggie Holmes played a magnificent game scoring 18 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

RALEIGH - Reggie Holmes scored 18 points, including 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:09, to lead Morgan State to 61-55 semifinal victory over Delaware State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament on Friday.

Top-seeded Morgan State (22-9) will play the winner of the other semifinal game Friday between Norfolk State and Coppin State.

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BCU Wildcats' twins follow kin as corners

By BRENT WORONOFF, News-Journal

DAYTONA BEACH -- Antwane and Antonio Cox are like mirror images. The same smile. The same haircut. The same easy demeanor.

About the only way to tell Bethune-Cookman's identical twins apart is on the football field. Antwane is No. 4. Antonio is No. 9.

Four games into their Wildcat careers, the sophomore cornerbacks have become double trouble for B-CU opponents. Combined, they have three fumble recoveries, two interceptions, a touchdown and a blocked kick.

Not bad for a couple of guys who couldn't even get on the field when they were at the University of South Florida. B-CU hopes they can add to those stats in Saturday's homecoming game when the Wildcats host Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foe Morgan State.

Photo: Identical twins Antonio, left, and Antwane Cox are the starting cornerbacks for Bethune-Cookman University.

The redshirt sophomores transferred to B-CU this past offseason.

"We just wanted an opportunity to showcase our talent," Antwane said. "(USF has) two cornerbacks (Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams) who are up for the NFL Draft, and we probably would have had to wait at least another year to get on the field."

"We always knew," Antonio said, "that if it didn't work at the Division I level we would come to Bethune."

The brothers' goal is to join two of their cousins -- Torrie Cox of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Marcus Hudson of the San Francisco 49ers -- in the NFL. That would give the family four NFL cornerbacks. But then again, everybody in the family plays cornerback.

Cousin Kennard Cox is a senior cornerback at the University of Pittsburgh. And Hudson has three brothers who also played college football -- Nathaniel and Eric at Bethune-Cookman and Kevin at Iowa State.

"I guess cornerback is in our blood," Antonio said. "We see our cousins playing that position, so we want to play the same position."

Eric Hudson actually played safety when he was at B-CU in 1992-95, and the twins' 11-year-old brother might actually become a receiver, Antonio suspects. But as for the twins, they're used to manning opposite sides of the field on defense.

Antwane has started four straight games for the Wildcats and leads B-CU's cornerbacks in tackles with 18. Antonio has been the first corner off the bench, and he's quickly becoming known as a big-play specialist. He returned a fumble 52 yards against South Carolina State and he ran back an interception 42 yards for a touchdown against Norfolk State last week.

Antwane came close to matching his brother's heroics in the Norfolk State game. His interception in the end zone would have clinched a B-CU victory, but he was called for pass interference, and the Spartans went on to score the winning touchdown with 36 seconds left. B-CU coach Alvin Wyatt says the interception was clean, and the only contact on the play came after he stepped in front of the receiver and the receiver pulled the front of his jersey trying to knock the ball away.

"Antwane caught on when he first hit the field here," Wyatt said. "Antonio was a little bit behind. But now he's putting a lot of pressure on (starter) Brent Davis."

Off the field the twins have been just as impressive, Wyatt said.

"They're a couple of quiet guys," Wyatt said. "They just say, 'Yes sir and no sir,' They're two kids who are responsible and reliable. They're just a pleasure to be around."

Wyatt said B-CU's coaching staff knew of the twins when they were in high school, and knew that they were "D-I players all the way." But they've become the fourth and fifth players in the past three years to transfer from USF to B-CU because of a lack of playing time at the Big East school.

In the case of Cox twins, B-CU was their backup plan since they were youngsters going to Wildcat games to watch their older cousins play.

"We always wanted to play for Bethune-Cookman," Antwane said. "The skill players are pretty much the same here as they are in the Big East. The only difference are the linemen."

As for the twins, there seems to be no difference in appearance, behavior or football ability.

"We're around each other 24-7, and we're always pushing each other," Antonio said. "Our strengths are pretty much the same. I was adjusting early, but it's coming along now, and both of us are making plays."

Antonio Cox

CLASS: Sophomore

HOMETOWN: Miami

HIGH SCHOOL: Killian

LAST COLLEGE: South Florida

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6 feet, 180 pounds

POSITION: Defensive back

2007 STATS: Eight tackles, one interception (42 return yards), one fumble recovery (returned for 52 yards) -- through four games

Antwane Cox

CLASS: Sophomore

HOMETOWN: Miami

HIGH SCHOOL: Killian

LAST COLLEGE: South Florida

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6-foot-1, 180 pounds

POSITION: Defensive back

2007 STATS: 18 tackles (two for a loss), two fumble recoveries (10 returnyards), one forced fumble and one blocked kick -- through four games.

WSSU may be without QB Purvis at Howard

Photo: QB Monte Purvis

By John Dell, JOURNAL REPORTER

Coach Kermit Blount of Winston-Salem State will have to adjust his offense this week because of an injury to quarterback Monte Purvis.

Purvis, a fifth-year senior, sprained his left shoulder late in Saturday’s 20-7 loss to S.C. State. His arm was put in a sling on Sunday, and Blount said yesterday that he didn’t know if Purvis could play this week.

“We are going to have to take it on a day-by-day thing with Monte,” Blount said. “I think he may be OK, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Blount said that Purvis didn’t practice Monday.

“One thing about Monte is we’ll see how he feels toward the end of the week, because he’s so competitive he would play with a broken arm if he had to,” Blount said.

The Rams (2-2) will play at Howard (0-3) on Saturday in their fourth straight road game.

After Purvis went out, transfer Jarrett Dunston saw his first action of the season and was 0 for 2 passing.

Dunston (6-3, 220) spent last season at Temple, where he played running back and some at wide receiver. He spent the season before at Hargrave Military Academy and passed for 1,400 yards and 17 touchdowns, with four interceptions.

Dunston, who is from Raleigh, transferred to WSSU in the spring, went through spring drills and has shown flashes of good play in practice, according to Blount. He is a second cousin of Shawon Dunston, a former major-league baseball player.

“I really feel good about Jarrett because he’ll get a lot of reps in practice this week,” Blount said. “We aren’t afraid to put him out there. He’s a little bigger than Monte and probably has a stronger arm. But on the flip side, he’s probably not as fast as Monte.”

The Rams also will have to keep an eye on center Michael Helton, their most experienced lineman. He went down with a sprained knee in last week’s game, but Blount said that he is getting better.

“With both Michael and Monte, we’ll let our trainer (Darrell Turner) do his job, and I’ll listen to what he says about how they are progressing,” Blount said.

Getting the offense going in the right direction has been a problem for the Rams all season. Last week, they gained just 200 yards against S.C. State.

“Offensively we have to be consistent,” Blount said. “That’s the biggest thing we have to worry about.”

SCSU football sees wisdom in taking on Carolina

By THOMAS GRANT JR., T&D Senior Sports Writer

‘Ollie would be excited’ - 91-year-old queen of SCSU football
sees wisdom in taking on Carolina

Gracia Dawson thinks of herself as a “living historical marker” for South Carolina State University -- and with good reason.

The 91-year-old widow of Bulldog coaching legend Oliver Cromwell Dawson has meticulously maintained her husband’s memoirs, trophies and plaques at the Orangeburg residence they shared for 49 years. A self-professed “campus brat” who was born where now Bethea Hall stands, Dawson is also the oldest living Miss South Carolina State winner (1937) and has spent most of her life cheering on the Bulldogs’ football team.

“We’re celebrating 100 years of football, and I’ve almost celebrated that 100 with them,” she said.

Yet even Dawson could not envision this particular day coming when her alma mater would head to Williams-Brice Stadium to play 17th-ranked University of South Carolina. At 7:05 tonight, Dawson will be in attendance to witness the latest keepsake chapter in SCSU football history.

“Oh, he would be quite excited as I am,” Dawson said. “I’m very excited. We’re making history. As I say, I am a historical marker so ... I plan to be right there. And I’m hoping that we might win it and if we don’t, I hope that we play very well and do their best. That’s all we can demand of them.”

Such a game taking place was very much unthinkable during the early part of Dawson’s 41-year tenure in which he coached five sports, served as athletics director and initiated the school’s Health and Physical Education program. With segregation the law of the land in South Carolina, Dawson said even the thought of scheduling USC could have made her husband’s stay in Orangeburg a short one.

“In those days, no, that was unheard of,” she said. “No, No. You’re talking about the ‘30s now, 1935. That was a no, no. That wouldn’t have come about in that era. This is a new day.

“But in 1935, playing the University of South Carolina, I was afraid somebody might have run him out of Orangeburg for even thinking that, let alone try to do that.”

Through what she called the “lean years,” her late husband more than managed to make a thriving athletics environment at SCSU. Not only did Dawson coach football, basketball, track, tennis and golf, he helped bring several high-profile tournaments in those sports to Orangeburg for the town’s black youth.

“We were living on Goff Avenue at the time ... and we lived across the railroad tracks from Claflin,” Dawson said. “He would come home from the football field, grab a bite and go to the gym to start basketball practice.”

The Thomaston, Ga., native, who was also a boxing champion in Cleveland, Ohio, even taught Sunday school, which may have caught by surprise those student-athletes who sometimes were on the receiving end of his verbal admonishments.

“Somebody use to always say ‘Lord, we’ve never seen a person that cusses so much during the week and prays so good on Sunday,” she said. “But Ollie could get up and give an exemplary speech.”

Dawson’s efforts to help young people receive an education lasted right up until the night before his death on the morning of Feb 9, 1989, when he convinced then-head coach Willie Jeffries to give his nephew, Dyrek Dawson, a football scholarship.

“It was ironic that the last act he did before he died was to get a scholarship, something he had done for other people’s children over all those years, and he was getting help for one of his relatives,” Dawson said. “He never spoke another word after that, but he got that scholarship.”

Dawson did have one lasting message to impart to his nephew over the telephone following his final meeting with Jeffries.

“He told them ‘I had paved the way for you’,” he said. “‘But the truth is, I’m going to tell you. If you’re not interested in an education, don’t come down here because I don’t want no Dawson tramp athlete!’ People thought he was rough, but once you knew him, he had a heart of gold.”

Dawson’s legacy lives on in the form of the stadium that bears his name, through his widow who continues to financially support the university and the coaches who have followed in his footsteps and shown the same commitment to helping young people.

Gracia Dawson sees those similar traits in the Bulldogs’ current head coach who, ironically, shares the same first name as her late husband and was a former neighbor.

“I think he’d be proud of (Oliver) “Buddy” Pough,” Dawson said. “I think ‘Buddy’ Pough has done real well and is such a fine representative.”

Dawson is especially happy to see Pough schedule games against the Football Bowl Subdivision teams, as she believes they will help the Bulldogs in the long run.

“I’ve heard a lot of people complain, ‘Oh why in the world did they put schools like Air Force Academy and USC (on the schedule)?,’” she said. “But to me, that’s the only way you’re going to grow. I tell you one thing, I feel that playing Air Force helped us win our first conference game (last week against Bethune-Cookman). I mean that’s my thinking. And they’ll do better when you have better competition.

“But a lot of people are saying ‘Why in the world are they putting those schools on the schedule? They know they’re out of our league.’ What’s wrong with trying to reach up into another league or whatever. I’m glad to see them play them.”

While still very spry, Dawson now attends few road games, content to follow the action on the radio at home decked out in her SCSU paraphernalia. For this special occasion, however, Dawson plans to make the trip to Columbia with her late husband in spirit.

“I just hope that they play some ball,” she said.