Hampton U. athletics undergoes three major coaching changes, raising issues

According to U.S. Department of Education data submitted by the schools for 2007-08, the average head coach's salary for Hampton U. men's sports was $73,000 and $42,290 for women's head coaches.

HAMPTON, VA — Hampton University will enter the 2009-10 school year with new leadership in its three most visible sports, unusual flux in what is traditionally one of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's most stable and successful athletic programs. HU is the only Division I athletic program in the country to replace its football and men's and women's basketball coaches this year. All three replacements were hired within a matter of hours and promoted from the previous staffs or within the university.

"I consider myself to be a student of Vince Lombardi," HU athletic director Lonza Hardy said last week, referring to the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach. "Vince Lombardi said, 'Never apologize for trying to win.' Consequently, I don't apologize for putting what I believe are the right people in the right places at the right time." Though the changes within HU's marquee sports coincide with competitive dips, all three situations were different.

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Jaguars slam Grambling to finish 3-game sweep

Victor Franklin and Edmond Morton both hit grand slams in a nine-run Southern second inning as the Jaguars routed Grambling State, 26-10, today at Lee-Hines ield. The Jaguars (14-7 overall, 11-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) completed a three-game sweep with their seventh consecutive victory overall.

Southern pushed its SWAC winning streak to 11. Romey Bracey drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the second to give the Jaguars a 3-2 lead. Franklin followed with his bases-clearing shot as SU took a 7-2 advantage.

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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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Mississippi Valley rallies past instate rival JSU

For Jackson State, wins are hard to come by in Itta Bena. That fact was evident Saturday night before a standing-room-only crowd (Attendance: 4,719) at the Harrison HPER Complex as Mississippi Valley State erased a 16-point second half deficit to rally past JSU for a 73-67 victory. "We've been able to fight back all year, but we haven't been smart enough to finish games," Valley head coach Sean Woods said. "We finished tonight. This shows we're getting better."

Valley first year head coach Sean Woods gets big win over Tigers.

Eric Petty helped lead the comeback for Valley (6-23, 6-10 in the SWAC) with 14 of his team-high 18 points coming in the second half. Shannon Behling also played a key role in the Delta Devils' rally, going for 10 of his 15 points after the break. JSU (13-14, 12-3), which hasn't won at Valley since 2006, saw its SWAC-high eight-game win streak snapped by its instate rival. Julius Cheeks came off the bench to score 13 for Valley, and point guard Dewayne Harmason had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

JSU center Jeremy Caldwell fouled out in the second half but not before scoring a team-high 25 points.Petty's strong play inside helped draw four second-half fouls on Caldwell.

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Southwestern Athletic Conference Update 3/1/09
TEAM CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L
Alabama State 14-1 17-8
Jackson State 12-3 13-14
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10-6 11-16
Prairie View A&M 9-6 13-15
Southern University 8-8 8-20
Mississippi Valley State 6-10 6-23
Alabama A&M 5-10 7-16
Texas Southern 5-10 5-23
Grambling State 4-11 6-20
Alcorn State 4-12 6-23

Washington Named Prairie View A.D.

Retaining Cooper-Dyke Top Priority

Fred Washington takes over as the permanent athletics director at Prairie View A&M after serving for 11 months as the interim. Washington replaced Charles McClelland when he left for a similar position at Texas Southern University. "I was originally going to continue as the interim athletics director until Aug. 31, 2009," Washington said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports. "After meeting with Dr. Wright (school president George Wright) I agreed to continue as the athletics director on a full-time basis and we don't have an end date on it.

"I've been really satisfied with the the coaching staff that we have and the commitment that we have from the university and from the Texas A & M system that we are a part of." Panthers athletics has achieved unprecedented success on Washington's watch. Head Coach Henry Frazier led Prairie View's football team to a 9-1 record in 2008, the school's finest season in 50 years.

In women's basketball Head Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has the Lady Panthers in first place in the SWAC and in position to capture their third consecutive league championship. In 2007, in just her second year on the job, Cooper-Dyke led the Lady Panthers to their first winning season in school history, a share of the conference title, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

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Money to be top priority for next athletics director at WSSU

Chancellor Reaves says he wants to pick replacement for fired Caldwell quickly

There's no mystery about the primary duty of Winston-Salem State's next director of athletics. "Raising money is paramount," Chancellor Donald Reaves said. "We need somebody who can raise money and engage the community in trying to get support for athletics." Reaves, hoping to act quickly in replacing Chico Caldwell, spent the weekend writing a job description for the advertisement that WSSU will run as part of its national search. "I don't have a timetable, but I do want to get this done as fast as possible," Reaves said.

Caldwell, who was fired Feb. 9 after nine years, had his critics and his allies. Although Caldwell spent time traveling around the country and attending alumni meetings to talk about WSSU's program, some older alumni have said they felt as if they weren't being heard. On the other side, current athletes wonder what Caldwell did to get fired. Bryant Bayne, a senior wide receiver, said he thought that Caldwell worked very hard behind the scenes, especially with the football program.

"I know he worked very closely with our program, and I really didn't know him that well, but once I did get to know him, I thought he was a good guy," Bayne said. Reaves would not go into detail about why he fired Caldwell, saying only that he is looking for fresh ideas. Also unresolved is the status of Caldwell's contract. Caldwell had two years left at an annual salary of about $107,000, according to the university. Neither Reaves nor Caldwell would discuss the contract buyout.

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WSSU's 31% athletic fee increase rejected

WSSU pays $15,000 per game to rent Bowman Gray Stadium and $3,500 to rent the Coliseum or the Coliseum Annex. Shouldn't the alleged "revenue sports" have generated some revenue before officials committing to a move to Division I?

RALEIGH, N.C. - Winston-Salem State University was dealt another setback yesterday in its bid to join Division I athletics. The university wanted to substantially raise the athletics fee that students pay to raise money for more scholarships, more coaches and other requirements of Division I. But the fee increase was rejected by the UNC board of governors, which met to approve tuition and fees at all 16 campuses in the UNC system.

The board approved tuition and fee increases that were generally smaller than what most schools had requested. Overall, average in-state tuition and fees for undergraduates in the UNC system will go up 3.9 percent, or $162, in the school year that will begin this fall. Specific increases vary from school to school. Those rates still must be approved by the General Assembly. Erskine Bowles, the president of the UNC system, said that it is especially important to avoid dramatic tuition increases during a recession. "In these times, it's really hard to raise tuition, because we know that families are suffering, that they're hurting, and we want to keep this university accessible and affordable," Bowles said.

Bowman Gray Stadium is the home of the Winston-Salem State Rams and has been hosting stock car races every saturday night during summer since 1949 (this is the minor leagues of NASCAR) on a 1/4 mile oval track surrounding the football field.

At WSSU, in-state tuition will go up by 4 percent, to $1,769 for a full-time undergraduate. The athletics fee, however, will remain the same, at $579 for a full-time student -- and that will make it difficult for the school to close a $1.5 million deficit in its athletics budget. If the school can't raise money for athletics some other way, it will be much tougher for the school to meet the standards that the NCAA requires of Division I programs.

"That question of moving on to Division I is still up in the air," WSSU Chancellor Donald Reaves said in an interview yesterday. "It was a big percentage of the funding that's needed to close the gap, and without it, it will be difficult." WSSU is in its third year of a complicated transition that is supposed to end in 2011 with the university joining the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. It is currently classified as a Division II program.

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A victory for students was snatched from jaws of conceit

UNC President Erskine Bowles and board members demonstrated far more concern for the students than some WSSU officials whose heads were swollen by pipe dreams of big-time athletics success.

With a precious few free minutes to squeeze in some extra study time before an exam at Winston-Salem State University, Cynthia Tart was focused Friday morning on the heavy textbooks weighing down her oversize bag and not the potential lightening of her wallet being considered by the UNC board of governors 80 miles away in Chapel Hill. "I heard about it, but I haven't had a lot of time to think about it," Tart said shortly after leaving an early class. "I'm barely covering my bills as is, so it'd be another strain, that's for sure."

"It" was the whopping 31.3 percent increase in the student athletics fee that university officials had sought from the board of governors to support an ill-advised move to Division I. The proposal would have raised WSSU's athletics fee to $760, up from the current $579 that is built into the (roughly) $3,800 annual bill for in-state tuition and assorted fees. "It'd be a terribly big bite for me and people like me," said Tart, 53, who is a full-time student who's studying gerontology. "What about the people who don't participate or don't have the time to participate? It just doesn't excite me. I have a job to keep up with, too."

Maintaining focus

Forcing students such as Tart to support an athletics program that's running a deficit would have been a crime in this economic climate. In addition to carrying 12 classroom hours a week this semester, Tart works three 12-hour overnight shifts as a health-care worker. She couldn't care less whether WSSU's teams compete in the Division I MEAC, the Division II CIAA or any of the other athletics alphabet-soup leagues. Tart enrolled at WSSU to learn and to improve her standing in the job market by getting the bachelor's degree that she has been coveting for years. "Education has always been my No. 1 thing," she said. "Even after I dropped out of high school to go to work, I knew I had to get back to school."

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Tuition increases

Leaders of the UNC system approved yesterday an average 3.9 percent increase of in-state undergraduate tuition and fees at its 16 campuses:

■ Winston-Salem State University: 4 percent, from $3,338 to $3,471.
■ UNC School of the Arts: 4.2 percent, from $5,015 to $5,227.
■ Appalachian State University: 3.5 percent, from $4,274 to $4,424.
■ UNC Chapel Hill: 4.4 percent from $5,228 to $5,456.
■ N.C. State University: 4.9 percent, from $5,143 to $5,396.
■ UNC Greensboro: 2.5 percent, from $4,084 to $4,186.
■ N.C. A&T University: 2.5 percent, from $3,512 to $3,600.
■ Western Carolina University: 3.1 percent, from $4,085 to $4,214.
■ East Carolina University: 1.7 percent, from $4,149 to $4,220.
■ UNC Charlotte: 3.1 percent, from $4,226 to $4,356.
■ N.C. Central University: 3.5 percent, from $3,729 to $3,861.
■ UNC Pembroke: 3.6 percent, from $3,527 to $3,655.
■ UNC Asheville: 3.7 percent, from $4,174 to $4,329.
■ Elizabeth City State University: 3.8 percent, from $2,920 to $3,031.
■ Fayetteville State University: 4.4 percent, from $3,020 to $3,152.
■ UNC Wilmington: 9.7 percent, from $4,441 to $4,873.

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Southern Conference announces cost-cutting measures for 2009-10

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Southern Conference will cut all conference baseball series from three days to two for the 2009-10 year, part of a move to cut $120,000 from its budget. Other budget-cutting moves include:

l increasing the use of teleconferences instead of in-person meetings for head coaches and select administrative committees.
l reducing the number of teams qualifying for Conference tournaments in the sports of women's soccer, volleyball, men's soccer, softball, men's tennis and women's tennis to the top four teams.

l eliminating football and basketball media days.

l eliminating printed media guides next year, as well as staff travel to regular-season contests, televised games and conventions.

"We are all faced with some difficult choices right now," said UNCG Director of Athletics Nelson Bobb. "This isn't limited to small schools or big schools, athletic departments or academic departments. While different institutions are affected in different ways, no one is immune to it at this time. "Everyone is taking a hard look at expenditures and methods of operation at a tough financial time," he said. "Hopefully, the choices that we are all having to make are just for the short term."

The conference will review these measures in January 2010 to determine the financial play for the 2010-11 season.

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The SoCon is cutting costs to save $120,000 as the MEAC continues to move games away from the home campus to classic promoters who promises wealth, but all the teams are going broke. It's time for schools like FAMU to cut loose those high paid ($90,000- $140,000) athletic department marketing stiffs that are a drain on the budget. This is not the time for wasteful spending with the economic outlook bleak for the coming months.

Florida A&M athletics $4.2 million in red

William "Bill" Hayes is fast becoming an expert on deficit spending without a realistic game plan for balancing the Rattlers athletic budget.

Florida A&M University athletics officials face a grueling climb from a deep hole to correct problems identified during a Thursday board of trustees meeting. Athletics has a $4.2 million deficit — almost double what it was one year ago. In addition, a department employee was fired after being accused of misdirecting funds, according to university administrators. It is unclear if the deficit was further exacerbated by the employee's alleged actions. Either way, FAMU Chief Financial Officer Teresa Hardee has been overseeing the financial side of the athletic department since January, FAMU attorney Avery McKnight said.

Albert Smith was fired in early December, McKnight said. A warrant was issued for his arrest and Smith turned himself in. Smith, who worked with ticketing, is contesting the termination, McKnight added. "An internal investigation revealed the misdirection of funds by one individual and the matter is currently before the State Attorney's Office for appropriate action," said Trustee Karl White in reading Thursday from the audit committee's report. A 26-page financial audit also shed light on problems plaguing the department. "The program concluded one of its most successful football seasons in recent years, " FAMU's Athletic Director William Hayes and Erica Wilcox, assistant director of athletics for business management, wrote in an overview letter included with the financial report.

However, the financial success of the program is still having difficulty balancing the cost of competition with its anticipated revenues. The overall decline in revenues coupled with the increased cost of operating expenses has resulted in the deficit." No red flags or findings were highlighted by the independent auditor. However, it's unclear how long the athletics department has been operating in the red. The audit covers from July 2007 to June 30, 2008. Athletics made nearly $8.1 million during that time. But department expenses exceeded $9.7 million, creating nearly a $1.7 million deficit. That deficit only added to the $2.61 million deficit detailed in the report that covered July 2006 to June 2007.

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Vinston's NCAA-best long jump of year sparks Norfolk State to lead at MEAC indoor track meet

LANDOVER, Md. - Norfolk State junior Corey Vinston, a Phoebus High graduate, broke his own meet record in the long jump, leaping a national-best 25 feet, 9 ½ inches to win his second straight title in that event at the 2009 MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championship at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex on Friday. The Spartans, who are seeking their fourth consecutive conference indoor championship, are in first place through six events, with 55 points. Morgan State is second with 33.

Vinston, who was ranked ninth in the nation coming into the day with a season-best leap of 25-1 ¼, tied the meet record last year by leaping 24-7 ¼. He easily topped that mark Friday, and also bettered LSU's Will Coppage (25-7), who had the nation's top long jump heading into this weekend. Vinston's mark automatically qualifies him for next month's NCAA Indoor Championship. Teammate Marlon Woods (Norfolk, Va.), who was ranked second in the nation in the long jump heading into the weekend, placed second behind Vinston, at 25-1 ¾.

The Spartans capped the day on the track with a first-place finish in the distance medley relay. The team of Keenan Harris (Norfolk, Va.), Darryl Brickhouse (Suffolk, Va.), Carlton Phipps (Lynchburg, Va.) and Dominic Luka (Marietta, N.Y.) finished in 10:15.37, just more than one second ahead of runner-up Hampton. NSU's other top finish Friday came via Brett Dodd (San Antonio, Texas) in the pole vault. Dodd, who won the conference indoor title last season, cleared a school-record 14-11 on Friday to take second place.

MEAC Track and Field Indoor Championships-Day Two Results

Click here for 09 MEAC Indoor Results (.pdf)
Click here for 09 Men's Hep (.pdf)

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University of Iowa conference to look at black athletes

An upcoming conference at the University of Iowa will explore the role black athletes play in athletics. "The State of the African American Athletes, Coaches and Administrators in the 21st Century" will be today at the Iowa Memorial Union. All sessions are free and open to the public. All sessions will take place in the Indiana Room at the Iowa Memorial Union except the keynote address and public forum, which will be in the IMU's Richey Ballroom. Today's events are:

• 9:30 a.m., Maureen Smith of California State University at Sacramento will present "When and Where I Enter: African American Female Athletes in College Athletics, Post Title IX."

• 10:30 a.m., Anthony Grant of Millersville University will speak on the lack of diversity in key leadership positions within college sport and how social network characteristics contribute to that phenomenon.

• 11:30 a.m., Dana Brooks of West Virginia University will discuss the educational and professional achievements of black athletes who participated in the NCAA Degree Completion Program at her university.

• 1:30 p.m., Michael Oriard of Oregon State University will provide an overview of "three decades of out-of-control commercialization and failed academic reform in Division I-A football," emphasizing the impact on black athletes.

• 2:30 p.m., Gary Sailes of Indiana University examined the opportunities, productivity and hiring practices of NCAA Division I head football coaches and stratified the data by race (blacks and whites).

• 3:30 p.m., George Cunningham of Texas A&M University points out that while blacks represent 25 percent of all athletes -- and a majority of athletes in revenue-generating sports -- they are underrepresented in coaching and leadership positions.

• 4:30 p.m., Todd Crosset of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, reviewed recent high-profile sexual assault cases, exploring the developmental risk young black male athletes face when they transition from black high schools to historically white institutions.

• 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., public forum on blacks in athletics moderated by Charlotte Westerhaus, vice president of diversity for the NCAA.

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"The State of the African American Athletes, Coaches and Administrators in the 21st Century" conference has not one speaker from an HBCU institution. Dam shame!!

Courtesy press-citizen.com

WSSU fires athletics director of 9 years

On Friday, the board of governors of the University of North Carolina system will vote on WSSU's request to increase student athletics fees. That vote could determine whether WSSU continues to Division I or returns to Division II and the CIAA.

Dr. Percy "Chico" Caldwell, the athletics director at Winston-Salem State since 2000, was fired yesterday by Chancellor Donald Reaves. Caldwell, who was hired by former chancellor Harold Martin, had been instrumental in steering the Rams athletics program to NCAA Division I status. The program is in its third year of transition after having left Division II and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. When reached yesterday by phone and asked why he was fired, Caldwell said: "I don't know -- that's what I'm trying to find out."

Reaves, who was hired in February 2007, did not return a phone call to discuss his decision but said in a prepared statement that it was time for "new leadership." "A stated goal in my short tenure as chancellor is to implement a talent strategy that has the right people in the right position at the right time," Reaves said in the statement. "The university, including its athletics program, is at a critical transition point where fresh ideas and approaches are needed, and in keeping with my commitment to the talent strategy, I believe that the athletics program and our student-athletes will benefit from new leadership."

Reaves named Tonia Walker, the associate director of athletics and senior women's administrator, as the interim AD. She has been at the school since August 2000, when she was hired as the volleyball coach and assistant AD after spending eight years as the director of public relations for the CIAA. Walker, a two-sport athlete in college, received a bachelor's degree from Hampton in 1993 and a master's degree from Old Dominion in 1998. At WSSU, she has twice been named the CIAA senior women's administrator of the year.

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Note: The Winston-Salem Journal reports the candidates to replace Caldwell include Tim Grant, a former basketball player and assistant coach at WSSU, and Dee Todd, a former basketball player at WSSU and former AD at N.C. A&T. Please! You're $1.5 million in the tank heading to athletic purgatory and your top candidates are "unequipped retreads" with no fundraising skills. Time for the Rams to move away from X-HBCU retreads.

Only wish one president would make the same move at FAMU--Bill Hayes.

-beepbeep

Huskers Roll Past Florida A&M

Courtesy: NU Media Relations

Lincoln, NE – The Nebraska basketball team scored inside and out on Monday evening, as the Huskers topped 80 points for the second straight game in an 81-56 victory over Florida A&M at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. With the win, Nebraska closed the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 10-3 record. The Huskers now turn their attention to the Big 12 Conference, as NU hosts Missouri to open league play this Saturday at the Devaney Center. In a change from the original schedule, the Huskers and Tigers will tip off at 1 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN2.

The Huskers’ offense was firing on all cylinders in the non-conference finale, as NU hit 10 3-pointers, while shooting 47.6 percent from outside the arc and 56.6 percent overall. Down low, Nebraska outscored Florida A&M 34-8 in the paint. Sek Henry tied his season high with 19 points to lead three Huskers in double figures. Paul Velander was two shy of his season high with 12 points, while Steve Harley added 15 to score in double figures for the 11th straight game.

Ten players scored in the victory as the Husker offense continued its strong play. Nebraska has scored at least 77 points in each of its last three games after reaching that mark just once through its first 10 contests. The last time Nebraska scored at least 75 points in three straight games was in Head Coach Doc Sadler’s first season in 2006-07. The Huskers also owned a decisive edge on the glass for the second straight game. After winning the rebounding battle for the first time in five games the last time out against Maryland Eastern Shore, Nebraska enjoyed its best rebounding performance of the season against Florida A&M. The Huskers pulled down 37 boards while posting a season-best plus-14 advantage on the glass.

Defensively, Florida A&M became the ninth Husker opponent held to fewer than 60 points this season. The Rattlers managed only 56 points, despite hitting 12 3-pointers. Dale Hughes led the FAMU (2-10) with 20 points, as he connected on 6-of-8 3-point attempts. It was Nebraska who bombed away from long range early, as NU hit seven first-half 3-pointers while building a 39-23 halftime lead. Henry led the Huskers in the first half with 10 points, including two 3-pointers, while Velander nailed three treys to contribute nine points off the bench.

Nebraska sprinted to a 6-0 lead in the first 2:18 of the game, behind a Henry reverse layup and a three from the right wing and a free throw by Harley. Florida A&M cut the Huskers’ lead to one with five straight points, before Nebraska built a 14-5 lead by rattling off eight in a row and holding the Rattlers without a point for 4:25. Strong perimeter shooting drove the Huskers in an 11-3 run that gave them a 27-13 lead with 6:55 remaining in the half. After a Toney McCray basket from the right block, a three by Cookie Miller and two more threes from Henry gave Nebraska breathing room late in the half. The Huskers pushed the lead to 19, their largest of the half, at 38-19 with 1:31 remaining behind back-to-back baskets in the paint by Ade Dagunduro and a three by Velander.

Florida A&M cut the lead to 16 at the half, but despite hitting 9-of-13 second-half 3-point attempts, the Rattlers were never able to overcome the halftime deficit. They trailed by at least 16 points for the entire second half. Nebraska held Florida A&M scoreless for the first three minutes of the half while stretching the lead to 20. A quick 6-0 Husker run two minutes later pushed the lead to 49-26. The teams played even on the scoreboard for the next several minutes before another string of six straight points stretched the Nebraska lead to 63-38 with 9:24 remaining.

Even after drilling a trey on three consecutive possessions, the Rattlers still found themselves down 69-53 with five minutes remaining. Nebraska pushed the lead right back to 20 with consecutive baskets. Henry was able to match his season high by scoring five straight in the closing minutes to give NU a 78-56 advantage. A McCray layup with 23 seconds remaining pushed the Huskers past the 80-point plateau and proved to be the final basket in the 24-point win.

Photo Album
Final Stats

Winning resolutions for black college sports

by Herb White, Black Voices

Excerpt:
It's a new year, and many of us will resolve to do something differently. Why shouldn't black college sports? Here are a few that just beg for attention.

Develop platinum programs.
The best programs bring good athletes to campus, coach them up and put resources behind the product. That takes commitment and money for the long haul, something too many administrators and fans fail to understand. S.C. State football is an example of how to do it right. The Bulldogs win consistently, including the 2008 MEAC title with a competitive effort in the first round of the Division I playoffs. Grambling is on the same level if the Tigers could actually get into the playoffs, which the SWAC championship game prevents. Among non-revenue sports, St. Augustine's track is a national program that can hold its own on an international stage. Coach George Williams has produced a string of all-Americans and Olympians, proof that the program is top of the line.

Better support.
HBCU fans may love their team, but something's not right when half the crowd at a football team goes missing after the bands do their thing at halftime. Is the music really that much better than the game itself? If so, then perhaps the on-field product is in need of an overhaul. Basketball seems to be an afterthought on many campuses, where good seats can be found from tip-off to the final horn.

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FAMU's Coach Tony Trifonov has succeeded in leading FAMU to the top of the heap nationally in women's volleyball despite inadequate funding, incompetent athletic department support, seven less scholarship players, no recruiting budget, and attempts by ineffectual school administrators to destroy international recruiting pipelines for this valuable, inclusive program.

Herb White hits the nail squarely with this timely blog, especially in his comments regarding basketball and non-revenue sports. I can understand 1,000 fans not showing up for an NCAA Division I national championship bowling match at a local bowling alley (2008 NCAA Division I National Champions - University of Maryland Eastern Shore), but how do you explain only 100 fans or less consistently showing up at Florida A&M's Gaither Gym to support the Volleyball team? FAMU's volleyball program (until 10/18/08) had won 98 consecutive conference games over 10 seasons, eight straight MEAC conference championships and eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division I Championship Tournament.

The conference games win streak would probably be alive today, if the team had greater than EIGHT student/athletes in 2008. Division I volleyball is played with a SIX player team each -- i.e., the eight players on FAMU's roster made the Rattlers the smallest team in the NCAA Division I 64-team national championship tournament. How can the Lady Rattlers and other HBCUs truly compete at the Division I level with SEVEN less scholarship players than the other major conference opponents? How does FAMU compete successfully in the MEAC with FOUR less scholarship players than their own conference opponents? How does FAMU practice or scrimmage for an opponent with six starters and possibly two subs (if there are no injuries) for a 27 game season?

Although the deck is consistently stacked against Coach Trifonov, he has succeeded with his ability to select high quality new players from film and referral, which are typical of his teams in the past in that they’re very mature and have a lot of international experience. The Lady Rattlers come with a ton of game necessary to run with Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Michigan State, Long Beach State or Nebraska which have dominated the Rattlers out of conference schedule in guaranteed payment road games, necessary to keep the program afloat.

More importantly, the Lady Rattlers have been ranked nationally in the NCAA Top 25 Division I polls over the past few seasons, which brings increased positive notoriety to Florida A&M.

Do you think the 12,000+ FAMU student body and administration is punch drunk with the exceptional success of the underfunded and under supported Lady Rattlers volleyball team, so much so, that they believe the program can operate with neither adequate funding, less scholarships and little, if any, fan support?

No doubt, non-revenue programs need fan/student support and sufficient funding, too. It is a disservice to the student-athletes when HBCU administrations breach their commitment to the athletic program with disingenuous management of the university resources and facilities. The business community will never support athletic programs that are run into the ground with little support by the university stakeholders and fans.

FAMU sets a great example of how poorly managed athletic departments at HBCUs can totally destroy an existing championship program by cutting back funding to the point the program cannot possibly succeed on a regional or national level. Athletic administrators and fans should not expect to win NCAA Division I national championships on a budget less suitable for a intramural athletic program. After 30 years of trying, HBCUs -- especially Division I classified programs -- should know the outcome and set their sights on developing platinum programs as Mr. White describes.

Believe it or not, bloggers are tired of writing about the everyday occurrence with HBCUs that hit the road for a beat down--and a paycheck, that are routed, pounded, steamrolled, smashed, over-matched and blasted unmercifully in athletic competition by non-HBCU programs that didn't even field a sports team 25-30 years ago. And all HBCUs do in response is send their bands to shake their booty and entertain the opposition drunken fans as our sport teams, fans are embarrassed time and again by our lack of competitive capability. If money is so much in short supply--the bands should stay on campus as marching and pep band is not a collegiate sport.

A change is overdue!

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Auditors: UAPB Payment to coach broke law

State auditors said Monday that the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff had no statutory authority to pay $175,000 in severance to its former football coach by funneling the money through its alumni association. A finding by the Division of Legislative Audit stated that the attorney general has opined that using public funds for private purposes likely violates the "public purpose" doctrine that public funds should be used for public purposes and, thus the "illegal exaction" provision of Article 16, Section 13 in the Arkansas Constitution.

University officials said the Arkansas Supreme Court has already ruled that severance paid to former Little Rock Superintendent Roy Brooks didn't violate the state constitution. "How did you all pay off the superintendent of Little Rock?" asked UAPB Chancellor Lawrence Davis of reporters after the meeting. "Our attorneys said we had a precedent in that case."

Davis said paying the money to the alumni association was the only option to meet the terms of former coach Maurice Forte's contract that included language that any severance would be paid by a third party. Forte was fired in November 2007. "We don't have a strong support group right now. So we said we'll let you have it, take care of it for us, and we'll get it back eventually," Davis said. By negotiating a severance with Forte, "we saved some money," Davis said. "We had to make a change, I'm telling you, somehow."

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SWAC teams feel lost on the road

Photo: UAPB First Year Men's Basketball Coach George Ivory (right) with Athletic Director Louis B. 'Skip' Perkins (left), the architect behind the Golden Lions ELEVEN guaranteed games -- through four time zones -- out of conference schedule.

The San Diego Union-Tribune referred to the UAPB Golden Lions as "mercenaries bouncing from gym to gym picking up a paycheck." The same is true of the entire SWAC with a current record of 15-101, with three teams --Southern, Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley currently at 0-38.

Duer Sharp has a problem: His basketball teams can't stop losing.

Sharp celebrated his first full year as commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Friday, but there wasn't much to celebrate. When you're presiding over arguably the worst of the 31 Division I basketball conferences, self-congratulation seems rather inappropriate. Sharp will be the first to say the SWAC, made up of 10 small, Southern, historically black colleges, has a problem with basketball. When those teams begin conference play tonight, the men's teams will be doing so with a combined record of 15-101. Three of those men's teams - Southern, Texas Southern and Mississippi Valley State - currently sit at 0-38. The women's teams have fared slightly better, going 20-75 since the start of the season.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff's men's team, which opens SWAC play at 7 p.m. tonight against Mississippi Valley State in Pine Bluff, could be the poster child for the problem. The Golden Lions are 1-10 after an 11-game road trip that included losses at Texas A&M (76-47), Missouri (95-41) and San Diego State (93-61). UAPB received between $75,000 and $80,000 for each game, and pocketed a total of $715,000 for the 11-game ordeal. Skip Perkins, the university's athletic director, said such "guarantee" games are necessary for keeping UAPB's cash-strapped athletic department in the black.

The SWAC's other nine schools face similar problems, and each loads its schedule with guarantee games as a solution. But some, including Sharp, worry that irreparable damage is being done in the process. "We cannot continue to have this situation," said Sharp, who plans to bring the issue to the conference's 10 school presidents at its annual meeting in May.

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Savannah State athletics on the rise

It's homecoming week at Savannah State. For years... The athletic programs have floundered in mediocrity. But with new leadership from President Dr. Earl Yarbrough and athletic director Bart Bellairs... There is hope for the future. "There have been some amazing things happen," said Bellairs. "The transformation of this campus is just beautiful."

The Savannah State athletic department is trying to pull itself out of the hole that was created by years of neglect. If nothing else, Bellairs can feel the excitement of growth. "Our football staff works tremendously hard at getting good. The players are feeling it, the campus is feeling it."

Basketball is just around the corner and Coach Horace Broadnax had helped the team gain respectability. "We're very excited. We just signed a deal with Georgetown that we'll go to Georgetown in men's basketball and they will come back in here the following year," said Bellairs. "Our women's team is already playing a huge schedule, they've got Georgia Tech coming in. We're hoping that everyone will get behind Savannah State athletics as we try to improve our competition and we have our quest to win championships."

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Hayes enjoying the AD job at FAMU

(L) William "Bill" Hayes and (R) FAMU president, Dr. James Ammons shares a laugh as part of the three headed monster--Ammons, Hayes and (Joe) Taylor that is giving the rest of the MEAC conference nightmares.

Prediction he would not like administrative work turned out to be wrong

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Many people who move to Florida late in life are often ready to retire. Not Bill Hayes. He's still hard at work. "It's about trying to build another program," Hayes, a former Winston-Salem State football coach and now the athletics director at Florida A&M, said last week as he watched FAMU defeat WSSU 23-0. Hayes, 65, has a soft spot for WSSU, where he coached from 1976 through the end of the 1987 season, and always calls it home when talking about his favorite stop. He made the Rams one of the most powerful programs the CIAA has ever seen, leading them to unbeaten regular seasons in 1977 and 1978 and becoming the school's leader in career coaching victories with 89.

Hayes still holds the record, but one of his former players, Kermit Blount, is two wins away from taking it. Hayes left WSSU in 1987 to take over at N.C. A&T, and eventually became that school's career victories leader, too. He compiled a 195-105-2 record in 27 seasons. Hayes was forced out at A&T after the 2002 season. Instead of pouting or holding a grudge, he made a seamless transition from coaching to administration.

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