More Battle of the Bands - FAMU, NSU, Tenn St.

Moon goes off on Alabama State and SWAC

No Shame:

I wrote last week about Alabama State offensive lineman Lionell Mapp breaking through the floor at ASU's mobile football facility. That's right, Mapp fell through the floor and one leg nearly hit the ground below. Anyway, I've been thinking about this for a while and I think now is the time to say it: ASU has no business on the Division I level.

If you're operating a program that can't manage to obtain the necessities, you need to take a serious look at where you are and what your options might be. ASU is in that position now. And I'm not saying that simply because of the incident with Mapp and the dilapidated state of the "football offices." It's also the practice field, which is so riddled with holes that the team is avoiding it, and the compliance office, which still employs just two people.

This program, like the rest of the SWAC's programs, should be in Division II. And I'm failing to see the shame in admitting it. If ASU were to drop to Division II, it wouldn't look so bad when Tuskegee handed out its annual Turkey Day whipping.

Josh Moon can be reached at jmoon@gannett.com.

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New vision for Coppin State athletics

As AD, former NFL player Derrick Ramsey wants the school to become synonymous with the city.

At first glance, it seems an odd choice - Coppin State naming Derrick Ramsey as athletic director. Ramsey, an All-America football star in college, played nine years in the NFL. But Coppin has no football team. Ramsey last worked as Kentucky's deputy secretary of commerce, where he oversaw the state's Fish and Wildlife Service. Around Coppin, the only fish are the fried lake trout in North Avenue carryouts, and wildlife consists of a few squirrels that scrounge for food on the campus quad.

But yesterday, as Ramsey, 6 feet 6 inches, surveyed his new domain, he saw nothing but opportunity - a chance for Coppin to become Baltimore's hometown favorite. "This city is up for grabs," said Ramsey, 51. "There is no one school with which everyone identifies. Baltimore screams out for an institution to take it over, and we're going to do that with integrity and character."

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Extreme makeover for Savannah State athletics

The horse is catching up to the cart at Savannah State University. When SSU jumped into NCAA Division I - college athletics' highest level - in 2002, the Tigers lacked an extensive feasibility study, adequate facilities and financial resources. These days, the historically black college is a whirlwind of activity. Progress, something SSU athletes and alumni crave, is evident in renovations to T.A. Wright Stadium (football) and Wilcox-Wiley gymnasium (volleyball). The improvements don't end there.



SSU has created the Tiger Club for boosters, an attempt to secure the necessary funds for scholarships to recruit the best student-athletes possible. SSU also has developed licensing and corporate marketing programs. Even the walls are talking inside Tiger Arena (basketball) thanks to the addition of colorful action photographs featuring biographies of former athletes. The athletics upgrades, part of the vision of school president Earl Yarbrough, vice president for administration Claud Flythe and athletics director Bart Bellairs, are long-awaited steps toward fielding teams that can be competitive in all sports.

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North Carolina A&T Brown promoted to AD

GREENSBORO -- There are some subtleties to Wheeler Brown, a friendly sort with the frame of a bear. But Monday, the former Aggie football player spoke like an offensive lineman, not a diplomat.

"My No. 1 goal would be for us to get our swagger back," said Brown, who was named athletics director at his alma mater on a full-time basis Monday. "There was a time when we were kings. If you wanted a championship, you had to come through Greensboro to get it, and you had to fight like hell to get it. We're going back to those days. That's it."

Brown, who had been AD on an interim basis since Dee Todd was reassigned in November 2007, is familiar with the full spectrum. As a player in 1975, he helped the Aggies...




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ASU to ask for leniency from NCAA

ASU Hornets interim athletic director Ron Dickerson

Excerpt:

Alabama State University officials will plead for mercy today when they go before the NCAA infractions committee.The eight-person committee will include four attorneys, two law school professors, University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee and Mid-East Athletic Conference commissioner Dennis Thomas. Josephine Potuto, a law professor from the University of Nebraska, will serve as the chairman.

The decision on whether Cole committed major rules violations is important for ASU because the school has $250,000 on the line -- the amount left on Cole's contract when ASU fired him in 2003 for allegedly committing several major violations. If he is cleared of the final three violations against him -- the school accused him of more than 14 violations -- Cole would be due the $250,000.

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Southern University: Hungry Jaguars

Receivers ready to step into starting roles

Southern wide receivers coach Eric Dooley describes his group as hungry. They ought to be. “The next guy has to step up. They’re feeding off the opportunity to play,” Dooley said. The Jaguars have 12 wide receivers in preseason camp, and only two of them caught balls last season.

Del Roberts, 5-9/190, Wide Receiver/Punt Returner, Tallahassee, FL/UNC.

Those two are senior Del Roberts (42 catches, 474 yards, two touchdowns) and junior Juamorris Stewart (23 catches, 237 yards, one TD). Though neither has put together a dominant season, the roommates were on the preseason All-Southwestern Athletic Conference teams, with Roberts, a former North Carolina transfer, on the first team and Stewart, a former Southern Miss transfer, on the second team.

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SCSU Series: Changing the culture

Though coaching different sports, Glad Bugariu and Doug Robertson have plenty in common. Both arrived at South Carolina State University from successful coaching stints at NCAA Division II programs. Bugariu led the Belmont Abbey College women’s soccer team to back-to-back conference titles while Robertson posted 100 victories in five basketball seasons at Shaw University.

Each also had a moment in their careers when they looked at the respective programs at S.C. State and were attracted by an opportunity to vastly improve the product.“I really think there’s potential here,” Bugariu said. “There’s always potential here. We have scholarship money. The budget’s okay, there’s potential. In that respect, there are certain things that appealed to me.”

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Tennessee State University Athletics Unveils new Big Blue Sports Network

Courtesy: Tennessee State Sports Information.
Logo Courtesy: Tennessee State Athletics.

Affiliates in Nashville, Columbia and Jackson

Tennessee State University Athletics announced yesterday the creation of a new Big Blue Sports Network with radio affiliates in Nashville, Columbia and Jackson. The network will greatly expand the coverage area for Tiger football and men’s basketball broadcasts throughout middle and west Tennessee, while reaching into southern Kentucky and northern Mississippi.

The TSU athletic broadcast rights were recently awarded to B2C Media. The company is co-owned by Danny Clay and TSU alumnus Fred Beasley. “We are excited to partner with TSU Athletics and to know that Tiger fans all over the state of Tennessee will be able to enjoy the excitement of the Big Blue broadcasts on their radio,” said Beasley.

The Big Blue Sports Network will consist of flagship station, WVOL 1470 AM in Nashville, WMRB 910 AM in Columbia and WOJG- 94.7 FM in Bolivar/Jackson.

WVOL served as the home for Tiger broadcasts for more than 30 years and will see the Big Blue return to their airwaves for the first time since 1998. “This is a great day for WVOL,” said TSU alumnus John Heidelberg, the owner and general manager of WVOL. “Many unforgettable moments in Tiger history were broadcast on WVOL and we are thrilled to serve as the flagship station for the new network.”

For the first time ever, Tiger broadcasts will be available on the air in Columbia on WMRB 910 AM. "I am excited about having the Tennessee State University Big Blue Sports Network on the radio here in Maury County because it allows WMRB listeners to experience the excitement of Tiger pride,” said Rev. Trent Ogilvie President of WMRB 910 AM.

WOJG 94.7 FM will take TSU broadcasts into west Tennessee for the first time ever as well. The 6,000 watt FM station’s coverage area includes 10 west Tennessee counties and four counties in northern Mississippi.

“Tennessee State has a tremendous following in west Tennessee and we know that our listeners are going to be excited to know that they can hear the games right here on WOJG,” said State Representative Johnny Shaw, owner of WOJG.

The entire 12 game TSU football schedule will be broadcast on the Big Blue Sports Network beginning with the Tigers season opener on August 30 at Alabama A&M. The TSU basketball game broadcast schedule will be released at a later date.

In addition to the game broadcasts, Tiger Talk with Coach James Webster will also be carried on the network. The one hour weekly coach’s call-in show will air every Tuesday night at 6:00 PM, beginning August 26. Barry Gresham, TSU Associate Athletic Director for Broadcasting and Sales, will return for his fourth season as the play-by-play voice of Tiger football. He will also serve as host of Tiger Talk. Albert Dawson will begin his 18th season as analyst and statistician for the Tiger broadcasts.

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Former Kentucky QB named AD at Coppin State

Former University of Kentucky quarterback great Derrick Ramsey has been named athletic director at Coppin State University, the school announced on July 25. Ramsey, a native of Hastings, Florida, served as AD at Kentucky State from 1999 to 2003. He most recently worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky as Deputy Secretary of Commerce.

Ramsey played tight end in the NFL from 1978 to 1987 for Oakland, New England and Detroit. He led the Cats to an SEC Championship in 1976 when Kentucky finished with a 10-1 record and #4 ranking in the final AP poll. Ramsey was named first team ALL-SEC and third-team All-American as QB in 1977 and had a long career in the NFL, playing in two Super Bowls.

Ramsey was inducted in the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame charter class of 1988.

Dr. Mary Wanza has been running the administrative side of Coppin's athletic department since June 2006, after Fang Mitchell resigned from the position to focus on his duties as men's basketball coach. Ramsey will be introduced at a news conference on a date to be determined.

Ramsey plans to keep his home in Kentucky and return to the Bluegrass someday.

Commissioner Thomas looks to lift MEAC profile

Dr. Dennis E. Thomas, Commissioner - Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (Mark's Digital Photography)

NORFOLK, Va. — For most of the two hours or so that the MEAC football kickoff luncheon lasted, Dennis Thomas quietly sat on the stage. He seemed to be admiring his work. That more than 200 people packed a conference room at the Sheraton Waterside was an accomplishment. Thomas later told his audience that their presence is indicative of the MEAC growth and encouraged them to come back next year when it should be even bigger.

Thomas has been thinking big since he became commissioner six years ago. He's pushing academic standards and athletics, especially football. "Part of my vision is impressing on Corporate America that the MEAC and our institutions are an investment," he said. "We have a strategic plan about going to pursue Corporate America about an investment."

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MEAC expresses academic concerns

Photo: Florida A&M University director of athletics, William "Bill" Hayes

NORFOLK, Va. — There's no middle ground when it comes to meeting the NCAA-mandated Academic Progress Report standards. That was the message FAMU athletic director Bill Hayes and other MEAC officials heard for more than 90 minutes Thursday.

Hayes came away from the all-day meeting, promising to make FAMU a flagship school for graduating student-athletes. FAMU will use money from a grant it recently received to hire a full-time monitor to gauge athletes' classroom performance, Hayes said.

"We're going to put more teeth into it," he said. "We've got to have better supervision. It can't be lax. It's got to be matter-of-fact. Once we do that you will see an improvement." FAMU's APR rating wasn't immediately available, but in a recent report it hovered close to 50 percent.

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SSU basketball player arrested on charges of theft

Photo: SSU star player Patrice "Nikki" Robinson.

Savannah State University women's basketball player Patrice "Nikki" Robinson, the Tigers' leading rebounder and shot-blocker last season, was arrested July 9 on a charge of theft by deception. Robinson, 24, a former Swainsboro High School star and the Savannah Morning News 2002 Player of the Year, is accused of stealing clothing valued at $114.02 from her employer, Goody's Family Clothing in Swainsboro.

Swainsboro Police Department Cpl. Craig Morris wrote in an incident report that Ellen Palmer, manager of the store at 664 South Main St., is the complainant. According to the police report, the "complainant stated that the offender (employee) stole merchandise by ringing items up and then voiding the transactions."

Robinson was arrested July 9 and released the same day. "I was told not to say anything about it," Robinson said Friday from her home in Swainsboro. Palmer said she, too, has been advised not to talk about the incident.

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READ COMPANION STORY ON "NIKKI ROBINSON": http://meacswacsports.blogspot.com/2008/02/heres-to-you-savannah-state-ms-robinson.html

New Joe at FAMU

Photo: FAMU Head Football Coach Joe Taylor (Mark's Digital Photography)

Joe Taylor is three victories shy of 200 as a college football coach.

The question is whether it will take his entire debut season at Florida A&M to reach the milestone. Taylor has endured only two losing seasons in a quarter-century, the past 16 at Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Hampton University. His 136-49-1 record with the Pirates helped him earn eight MEAC championships and league coach of the year honors three times in the past four years.

FAMU is relying on Taylor, who was serving Friday on an NCAA committee in Indianapolis that conflicted with the Florida Sports Writers Association media conference at the Marriott Waterside, to restore a winning tradition in Tallahassee. The Rattlers are coming off a 3-8 season and haven't won a conference title since 2001. Bethune-Cookman coach Alvin Wyatt figures it's only a matter of time.

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Grambling athletic director Mathieu bidding farewell to Tigers

GRAMBLING — Grambling State athletic director Troy Mathieu has submitted his resignation and will leave on July 31 for another job. In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Mathieu said his new job would be in athletics administration but did not want to elaborate because he did not want to pre-empt a formal announcement by his next employer.

"I'm moving on to another professional challenge," said Mathieu, who took the Grambling job in 2006 and has hired seven current coaches. "I'm appreciative of having had the opportunity to serve at Grambling over the past two years and I wish the university continued success. During my tenure at Grambling we had the opportunity to hire some outstanding coaches."

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Lewis a pioneer on, off CU court

Former Buff set for induction into school's athletic Hall

Excerpts:

Today's players and coaches have it easy on the road compared to Billy Lewis' experiences away from the friendly confines of Colorado University Balch Fieldhouse. Lewis, the first black basketball player in CU history, experienced blatant racism during his college career from 1956-60.

On Oct. 17, Lewis will be enshrined into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame with eight other legends, including Frank Clarke, the first black football player in school history, and Claude Walton, the first black letter winner at CU.

After graduating from CU in 1960, Lewis married JoKatherine Holliman, the first black woman on CU's homecoming court. He earned his Juris Doctor of Law degree from Howard University in Washington D.C. and had a very successful legal career that included becoming the first black corporate attorney at IBM in 1964 and opening a private law practice in Denver from 1966 to 1979 with partner Morris Cole.

Lewis then moved back to Washington D.C. where he served as the general counsel of the District of Columbia Board of Election and Ethics for 15 years. "When I took retirement from District government they researched my career and ...

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TSU receives NCAA probation for infractions in softball, tennis

The NCAA came down hard on Texas Southern University on Wednesday, placing the athletic program on four years' probation for major violations in softball and men's and women's tennis. The NCAA's Committee on Infractions banned TSU's softball program from postseason play in 2009, suspended the already-dropped tennis programs, and disallowed victories in softball and tennis.

Former tennis coach Alberto Rojo Jimenez, the 2006 Southwestern Athletic Conference coach of the year, and former softball coach Yolanda Sinegal also received NCAA sanctions. The two coaches can seek employment with other schools but would have to appear before the Committee on Infractions. Jimenez's sanctions are for four years, Sinegal's for three.

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FAMU launches new athletic website

Photo by Mark's Digital Photography

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida A&M University Athletics, in cooperation with the Rattler Boosters, Inc., on Thursday launched its' new athletic website, http://www.famurattlersports.com/.

The internet site will offer a general home page for the 18-sport Rattler Athletic program, with dedicated pages for each sport, featuring stories, rosters, statistics and results.

In addition, easy access to sports schedules, ticket information and other items of interest can be had via the site's home page.

Check It Out:
www.FAMURattlerSports.com

FAMUan Nate Jacobs - KEEP MARCHING - featuring FAMU Marching 100

Southern University making summer news

The lull in the Southern University sports year is on the verge of ending. Next month, football players will be on campus and Brian Johnson will be making long jumps in the Beijing Olympics. The full-on gumbo will be ladled hot and heavy later. Here’s a little summertime shrimp-and-corn soup to tide Jaguars fans over for now.

• Friday, in cool, hip and beautiful San Francisco, the Giants host the Milwaukee Brewers and leading off for both teams will be two former Southern players: Fred Lewis with the Giants and second baseman Rickie Weeks with the Brewers.

Both players arrived with little fanfare, Weeks as a freshman in 2001 and Lewis as a junior-college transfer in ’02, his only season at SU.

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Black schools winning more Fulbright awards

Parents who want to send a child to a black college know they have to look south, but if they prefer one that will also offer a good opportunity for international exposure, the right school may not be as far away as they might think.

The black college that has produced the most students who win a Fulbright fellowship, the prestige program of international exchanges, is not Howard, or Hampton University in Virginia, or Morehouse College or Spelman College in Atlanta, or any other private school.

The top producer is Morgan State University, a state school in Baltimore. Since the Fulbright program began in 1946, 120 Morgan students have won awards to conduct research or teach English in 30 different countries from Jamaica to New Zealand.

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