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Showing posts with label Southern University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern University. Show all posts
Baton Rouge, LA - Jared Green spent four years at the University of Virginia, earning his bachelor’s degree in anthropology. To him, it was the only major that made perfect sense. “I just added two things together, really,” Green said.
“Anthropology is the study of people and culture, and how they interact,” he said. “My favorite thing to do is travel, and my second-favorite thing to do is write. I figured I’d put them both together.”
The writing part may come in time. Green has already proven he knows how to travel. With one year left to play college football, Green, a senior wide receiver, decided this summer to transfer from Virginia to Southern. With the Jaguars, he said he believes he can play more often, maybe draw the attention of a few NFL scouts.
“He’s got speed. He’s got size,” SU coach Stump Mitchell said. “He wasn’t the primary receiver at Virginia, but he caught some balls, and we’re a passing offense. That was the main thing he wanted to be involved with, because he has aspirations of playing at the next level.”
Baton Rouge, LA - Thursday afternoon, during the first practice of preseason camp, Southern University’s defense forced four turnovers in the first 30 minutes. If the defense is that productive during games, it could be in for a record-breaking year. On the other hand, if the offense is that sloppy, Southern could be in for another disaster.
During last year’s 2-9 season, the Jaguars had a minus-3 turnover margin, ranking eighth in the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference. Now, naturally, they’re looking for a better number. A positive number. It is, of course, a two-sided affair: The offense wants fewer mistakes, while the defense wants to force more mistakes.
“We have to get turnovers on this team and give our offense some great field position,” defensive coordinator O’Neill Gilbert said.
Baton Rouge, LA - Southern University football players report for preseason camp Wednesday intent on restoring pride to their program. In years to come, they’ll fly across the country for big games against big teams, who will presumably cut some big paychecks.
SU coach Stump Mitchell said his program has agreed in principle to play two future away games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents - New Mexico in 2012 and Georgia in 2015. Yes, that’s correct: The University of Georgia.
“This class we’re bringing in right now - a lot of them will be (fifth-year) seniors when we play there,” Mitchell said. “These guys understand we have to take care of business now. But for them, that year is when they’ll go from being a young pup to a grown man.”
Mitchell said that without a permanent athletic director, he has taken temporary responsibility of scheduling future games, though he added that Chancellor James Llorens “has to sign off on it.”
Athens, GA - Georgia’s scheduling philosophy in football under athletic director Greg McGarity includes playing one Football Championship Subdivision opponent a year.
The Bulldogs have lined up another, Southern University, on Sept. 5, 2015 in Athens.
The schools have a memorandum of understanding to play that season, according to senior associate athletic director Claude Felton. The Southwestern Athletic Conference school is located in Baton Rouge, La.
Georgia would pay Southern $650,000 as the guarantee. There is no signed contract yet.
Georgia has lined up one FCS (formerly I-AA) game each of the next six seasons: Coastal Carolina (2011), Georgia Southern (2012, 2016), Appalachian State (2013), Charleston Southern (2014).
Note: Coach Stump Mitchell may be a better "athletic director" than a football coach. In one quick swoop, Mitchell may have raised the bar for HBCUs from $500,000 to $650,000 for a "money game" with a strong BCS program. Are you reading this SCSU and FAMU, who have future games scheduled with Arizona, Miami, South Florida and Ohio State, respectively. South Carolina State played at Georgia Tech in 2010, and earned a minimum of $225,000 for their blowout. This does not include the unnamed sum earned from shared ticket sales.
FAMU will play at South Florida on September 17, 2011, and will receive a "guarantee" of $400,000, a relatively low figure in today's college football economy. SCSU will earn $500,000 playing at Indiana on September 17.
FAMU continues to avoid playing at Florida State, but the across-campus Seminoles are paying Sun Belt Conference Louisiana-Monroe $1.3 million to play in Tallahassee on September 3, 2011. If you are going to schedule a blowout, at least get paid well for the opportunity. -beepbeep
BATON ROUGE — Student-athletes from three Southern University programs will return to Baton Rouge this week as fall camp opens in preparation for the 2011 campaigns in football, women's volleyball and women's soccer.
Eager to erase the lingering effects from last season's 2-9 record, head football coach Stump Mitchell will welcome his Southern Jaguars to fall camp Wednesday at the A.W. Mumford Fieldhouse as the Jaguars prepare for the 2011 season.
"There's no question we're excited (about the start of fall camp) with a lot of guys coming back with a lot of experience and a coaching staff that I feel will take us to the next level," said Mitchell. "We're just excited to get started."
The Jaguars first practice is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Thursday and is open to the public. The Jaguars kickoff their 2011 season in LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans, for the John Merrit Classic against Tennessee State at 6 p.m. Sept. 3.
New York, NY - NBC Sports announced Tuesday it will continue to televise the annual Bayou Classic through 2012. The Southern-Grambling football rivalry in the Louisiana Superdome has been televised by NBC on Thanksgiving weekend since 1991. As part of the agreement, State Farm is continuing its title sponsorship.
“The Bayou Classic is a slice of Americana, and at the end of this agreement we will have broadcast this iconic event for 23 straight years,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and VERSUS in the announcement. This year’s Bayou Classic is scheduled for Nov. 26.
“The NBC Sports broadcast and the title sponsorship helps us spread our Jaguar pride into millions of households nationwide,” Southern University System President Ronald Mason Jr. said in the release. “(The) Bayou Classic is more than a football game; it’s a tradition of family fun and camaraderie that we look forward to every Thanksgiving weekend.”
Baton Rouge, LA - At the intersection of Swan Avenue and Scenic Highway, less than a mile from A.W. Mumford Stadium, a homemade sign hangs underneath the window of a sports apparel shop. Painted in sloppy blue letters, the sign reads: “Just get it done.”
That was the slogan adopted by Stump Mitchell’s first football team at Southern University.
As fans and alumni painfully remember, there was only one problem: When it came to winning games, the Jaguars didn’t get it done. After the final whistle at the Bayou Classic, players slowly walked off the field inside the Superdome and headed toward the tunnel, looking upward, toward thousands of empty seats.
The Jaguars had clinched a 2-9 record, the worst season in school history.
SU key football dates - Wednesday: Players report...Thursday: Practice begins... Aug. 14: Media day...Aug. 22: Classes begin...Sept. 3: Season opener, at Tennessee State...Sept. 10: Home opener, vs. Alabama A&M.
SU and FAMU will play at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Georgia Dome. It is the first meeting between the longtime rivals since FAMU held off the Jaguars in a 52-49 shootout at A.W. Mumford Stadium in 2008. The teams have played 58 games since 1941, according to school records. The Rattlers hold a 33-24-1 edge.
The Atlanta Football Classic is one of two Southern games to appear on national television this season.
Baton Rouge, LA - Southern fans have already penciled in the Nov. 26 football game on the Jaguars’ schedule as an automatic victory. The problem is that Grambling State fans have done the same thing.
It’s not because they view each other as a slouch. Rather, it reflects the deep level of passion and pride behind the State Farm Bayou Classic, now in its 38th year. There are certainly no shortage of story lines for this year’s game. Second-year Southern coach Stump Mitchell’s team is seeking to rebound from a 2-9 season that included a 38-17 loss to Grambling.
Grambling interim athletic director Aaron James is no stranger to the New Orleans area, having played in high school at Cohen, then collegiately with the Tigers, and in the NBA with the New Orleans Jazz.
“This is a great rivalry and a family affair,” James said. “It’s the Black College Super Bowl. The reason why we are out here this early is that, since Hurricane Katrina, the attendance has dropped, and we want to build it back up to where it use to be. We’ve got to get the 65,000-75,000 people back in the Superdome.”
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Southern football coach Stump Mitchell on Monday confirmed the loss of nine full scholarships spread among 19 players - the result, he said, of NCAA penalties brought forth because of SU’s substandard score in the Academic Progress Rate. Mitchell, however, said the team had yet to lose any players because of the predicament.
The blow was announced on the eve of this year’s Southwestern Athletic Conference media day and less than two weeks before his team starts practice, Aug. 4. Southern was susceptible to harsh penalties because its football team had a history of substandard APR scores.
The APR is a rolling four-year system that measures classroom performance of student-athletes on every Division I team. Teams scoring below 925 can face penalties, and teams scoring below 900 are subject to “severe” penalties.
PALM COAST, FL -- Lawrence Certain Jr. went from a Flagler Palm Coast graduate to a freshman student-athlete at Southern University with a stroke of a pen Thursday.
"This is a dream come true," said the 6-foot-7 power forward, who averaged 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a senior. "It looks like a good fit for me. They want to make a big turnaround with their program, get into the NCAA Tournament, and I hope I can help."
Certain's parents -- Tina and Lawrence -- younger sister Taylor, along with FPC coach Gary McDaniel and athletic director Steve DeAugustino, joined friends and assistant coaches Mark Odle and Lloyd Finley for the ceremony at the high school.
Southern's new head coach, Roman Banks, sent the paperwork, which gives Certain a full scholarship -- tuition, room, board, books -- for four years. "I've known Coach Banks a while," McDaniel said. "He's a dynamic first-year coach, and I'm certain he will do a great job.
Baton Rouge, LA - A decade ago, when Southern University was looking for a new men’s basketball coach, Roman Banks hoped to prove he was the right man for the job. An assistant to Tommy Green for five seasons, Banks served as interim head coach while SU looked for Green’s replacement. But he didn’t get the full-time gig. That, instead, went to Ben Jobe for the second time.
Banks — whose father (Cleophus Banks), brother (Carlos Sample) and godfather (Bob Love) all played at SU — later conceded he was stung by the snub. “We would tell him: In spite of politics, in spite of all the personal agendas, your time will come at Southern,” Cleophus Banks said. “Just wait and be patient.”
A decade later, Banks finally has the job. But here’s the thing: The Southern job is a whole lot tougher than it was in 2001. The Jaguars are short on firepower. In losing three seniors, they lost 50 percent of last year’s scoring and 36 percent of last year’s rebounds.
Baton Rouge, LA - Chadwick Germany said when he took over as head coach at Capitol High Academy, he hoped it would lead to a college job. He got what he wanted.
Germany said Friday he has left Capitol to become quarterbacks coach at Southern University, where he’ll try to improve the Jaguars’ passing attack and strengthen their recruiting efforts in Baton Rouge, where they failed to sign a single recruit this season.
“(Friday) is my first day at Southern. Thursday was my last day at Capitol,” Germany said.
“When I got the job at Capitol, my plan was to stay five years, and I wound up staying six. The goal was to have a chance to coach on the college level, and I’m getting that Southern. I’m excited about it. I’ll also be recruiting the Baton Rouge area, and hopefully I can find a niche there.” That’s what Stump Mitchell has in mind.
The late GSU Coach 'Prez' Jones (Courtesy Grambling State Athletics)
GRAMBLING, LA -- Grambling State’s former president Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones along with six others will be inducted as members of the 2011 College Baseball Hall of Fame class and will be honored during the induction ceremony on July 3 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the College Baseball Foundation’s annual celebration of the greatest players in the past and present of college baseball.
President Jones coached at Grambling State from 1926-77. During his tenure, he won six titles in the now-defunct Midwest Athletic League from 1952 to 1958 and five titles in the Southwestern Athletic Conference from 1961 to 1967. He was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 1967. Jones coached 11 NAIA All-Americans including Tommie Agee and Ralph Garr, while compiling a career record of 816-218.
Jones, who served as the university’s president from 1936-77 was inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame in 1992 and in May of this year, had the distinction of having GSU’s baseball stadium named in his honor.
Grambling Fight Song Fight for dear old grambling Fight we're gonna win Light the torch of victory We will win this game...RAH RAH RAH Fight for dear old grambling Fight we're gonna win There's no doubt that we are The pride of the USA
The two HBCU inductees will be former Southern University standoutDanny Goodwin (1972-75), who had a .394 career batting average with 20 home runs and 166 RBIs and was the 1975 Sporting News Player of the Year while Southern transitioned from NAIA to NCAA status.
He is joined by former Grambling State head coach Ralph Waldo Emerson “Prez” Jones, who coached the Tigers from 1926 to 1977 and was the school’s president from 1936 to 1977. Jones led Grambling to six Midwest Athletic League and five Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.
“This really means a lot because I didn’t come from a well-known baseball school, at least nationally,” Goodwin said.
“This gives schools like Southern an opportunity to let the nation know there are some quality young men playing baseball. I don’t know if many people understand the real history of baseball or how revered baseball is in the black community at large.”
Danny Goodwin, a catcher at Southern University from 1972 to 1975, still has the distinction of being the only player to twice be the overall No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft. He was a three-time All-American — twice at the NAIA level and once at the NCAA level — and was The Sporting News’ 1975 College Player of the Year. He had a .394 career batting average and compiled 20 home runs and 166 RBIs.
Danny Glover (Courtesy SU Athletics)
Danny Goodwin is hardly a household name, but he remains the only ballplayer to be taken with the first overall pick on two different occasions. In spite of being the most heavily desired amateur player in two separate and distinct drafts, Goodwin never became the star that most talent evaluators had anticipated. Such is the crapshoot that comes with any player who is drafted, no matter how high he is taken and no matter the accompanying level of hype.
In the late 1960s, Goodwin began developing a legendary reputation as a high school ballplayer in Peoria, Illinois. An athletic but powerfully built, left-handed hitting catcher who carried 195 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame, Goodwin flashed the kind of strength that left fans—and teammates—in awe.
Playing in a game for Central High School in late April of 1971, Goodwin delivered the signature moment of his amateur career. Leading off the game, he blasted a gargantuan home run to right-center field, the ball clearing a hill and a driveway before it hit the second deck of a swimming pool that lay well beyond the ballpark’s boundaries. To observers of the blast, the home run not only had stunning length, but remarkable height and hang time. By the time the ball touched down against the pool structure, it had traveled over 400 feet, an unfathomable distance for a high school player swinging a wood bat.
No one happened to film or videotape the Goodwin monstrosity, but the epic home run was not missed by major league eyes. About 20 big league scouts had gathered in Peoria to watch Goodwin that day. The home run, one of nine that he would hit in his senior season, confirmed what most scouts had already suspected: Goodwin, who would hit .488 in 25 games as a senior, would be taken with the first pick of the upcoming June draft.
Southern University Fight Song Southern University defenders of the Gold and Blue We will always loyal be and sing a cheer for you All for one and one for all we've got the will to win for thee So we'll fight, fight, fight, fight, til we win the victory." Go Jags!!!!!
The Chicago White Sox owned that pick. They already had a decent left-handed hitting catcher of their own in 24-year-old Ed Herrmann, but he was no star. The White Sox had not enjoyed a standout season from a catcher since their pennant-winning campaign of 1959, when Sherm Lollar hit 24 home runs for the famed “Go Go” Sox. More importantly, the Sox considered Goodwin the best available player in the draft, someone they simply could not bypass. Even in off-the-field areas, the likeable Goodwin graded out highly; he did well in school and owned a good attitude. On all counts, the draft direction pointed toward Goodwin.
After drafting him at No. 1, the White Sox offered Goodwin a contract paying him an estimated $60,000. He turned down the less-than-impressive offer, which he believed to be worth less than a college scholarship from Southern University in Louisiana. Goodwin opted to continue his education. A highly intelligent young man who possessed interests in science and math, he enrolled at Southern, eventually becoming a zoology major. As part of his four-year tenure at Southern, Goodwin earned collegiate baseball player of the year honors.
Baton Rouge, LA - When the calendar turns to June and the temperature climbs close to 100 degrees, it’s usually high time for college basketball coaches to hit a beach. Or a golf course. Maybe both.
Roman Banks, for his part, hasn’t seen either. Behind a heavy door in the lower hallway of the F.G. Clark Activity Center, the new Southern men’s basketball coach is knee-deep in meetings.
In the past week alone, he’s had impromptu chats with players, meeting after meeting with his newly assembled staff and encounters with an untold number of other people associated with the Southern University athletic department. In other words, the new boss is a little busy. Then again, he has to be. His program has a lot of catching up to do.
“You have to get everybody acclimated to a new way of life,” Banks said. “You’re concerned about the game of basketball. But right now, we have to be concerned about getting everybody’s eligibility back so we can play the game of basketball.”
Videographer: NorthLouisianaRon; 2011 SWAC Baseball Tournament - Championship Game Slideshow
Rodarrick Jones (6-0/195), Southern University, Pittsburg Pirates
June 7, 2011: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 37th round, 1112th overall pick. Baseball America chose Jones as the #3 prospect in the New York Collegiate League in the summer of 2009, following his strong season at the University of New Orleans. He’s also a football standout and is athletic with good speed. His hitting fell off in 2010, though, and he transferred to Southern University. He was on the team’s roster but didn’t play, possibly due to ineligibility. He’s obviously very toolsy, but also obviously has some significant holes in his swing. Given the circumstances, there’s probably a good chance of him signing. If he does, he’ll be a project.
Chretien Martz, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, Detroit Tigers University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions baseball player Chretien Matz was selected in the 44th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers. Last season Matz was a standout on the Golden Lions baseball team leading the squad in batting average (.352) while ranking 5th in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. For his outstanding play on the diamond the Illinois native was chosen as a member of the SWAC's 2011 All-Conference First Team as an outfielder. Julio Morales, Bethune-Cookman University, Kansas City Royals
Adding to the count of Bethune-Cookman baseball players selected in the draft, the Wildcats add one more for 2011, with the selection of senior RHP Julio Morales in the 45th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft by the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
“Julio is a pitcher that has great resources,” said Head Coach Mervyl Melendez. “He throws a fastball in the high 80s, low 90s, and his breaking ball and change-up are really good pitches. I think he is definitely going to excel at that level, and look for him to have a good pro career.”
Morales appeared in 23 games during his two-year stint with the Wildcats. He finished with a career record of 3-4, collecting 49 strikeouts, in 43 innings pitched.Originally from San Juan Puerto Rico, Morales transferred to B-CU from Wabash Valley Junior College before the 2010 season. Morales joins B-CU catcher Peter O’Brien as the second Wildcats drafted in the 2011 MLB Draft. O’Brien was selected 17th in the third round on June 7.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has banned a record eight teams from postseason play because of their athletes’ poor academic performance -- the most since the academic penalty system was first used two years ago. But, in a sign of the widening gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in college sport, four of those punished teams are from historically black colleges and universities, and a fifth is from an institution designated by the federal government as predominantly black.
Tuesday, the NCAA released its annual set of Academic Progress Rates -- scores for each Division I sports team based on the academic eligibility and retention of each scholarship athlete. Teams scoring below certain APR thresholds can face penalties ranging from scholarship losses and practice time reductions to postseason bans and, ultimately, suspension of their institution’s NCAA membership. The longer a team scores below a certain threshold, the more severe its penalty. Each teams is judged on the four-year average of its APR. The latest scores are from the 2006-7, 2007-8, 2008-9 and 2009-10 academic years. (A searchable database is available showing complete APR scores and penalties per institution and team.) This year, of the 6,400 teams in Division I, 103 teams from 67 institutions were punished. Sixty teams lost scholarships, 16 received public warnings, 19 lost practice time and 8 have postseason bans.
Championship Game TV Replay: Monday, 8 PM EST on ESPNU
SHREVEPORT, La. — Southern and Alcorn State advanced to Sunday’s SWAC championship game with impressive wins Friday. The Braves continued their roll through the tournament with a 13-0 victory over Texas Southern, while Southern came from five runs down to defeat Jackson State 14-9. The teams will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday in the championship final.
There will be no repeat championship for the Grambling baseball team. The Tigers fell to Texas Southern 6-4 and were knocked out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament on the third day of play at Fair Grounds Field. Grambling led 3-0 after four innings but was outscored 6-1 in the final five innings, including a four-run seventh.
Ugly doesn't begin to cover it, but the Southern Jaguars are not complaining. Southern overcame seven errors, wearing out a ragged Jackson State pitching staff to post a 14-9 victory Friday night at Fair Grounds Field to advance to Sunday's 1 p.m. tournament championship game.
There the Jaguars (29-20) will face former SU assistant Barret Rey and the Alcorn State Braves.
"The one thing that matters is the bottom line," Southern coach Roger Cador said.
Texas Southern bowed out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament with a whimper, suffering a 13-0 seven-inning, run-rule beating at the hands of Alcorn State on Friday afternoon at Fair Grounds Field. Alcorn State, seeded No. 1 in the Eastern Division, moves on to Sunday’s championship game, where it’ll face Southern University. TSU, the Western Division’s No. 4 seed, ended its season at 25-29.
Baton Rouge, LA - During his customary postgame huddle with his Southern baseball team, longtime coach Roger Cador was animated Saturday afternoon — more animated than usual, which, for him, is quite a lot.
His voice boomed and echoed off the walls at Lee-Hines Field, where the Jaguars had just split a doubleheader with Texas Southern in their final regular-season Southwestern Athletic Conference series. Cador clenched and pumped his fists as he spoke. He was, if nothing else, passionate about the message he delivered, whatever it was.
But as he walked off the field, Cador said, Saturday wasn’t so bad.
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — After losing the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Southern baseball team turned to junior right-hander Brian Foster with a chance to win the series. Foster, who won his first start of the season at Jackson State eight days earlier, responded.
Foster got Southern through seven innings in Saturday’s second game, then made way for closer Cody Hall in a 9-2 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff to take the three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference series. The win, combined with a pair of Grambling losses at Prairie View, gave Southern the Western Division championship.
Foster, who improved to 2-0 since moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation, helped the Jaguars get back on track after a 10-6 loss to the Golden Lions in Saturday’s first game.
Baton Rouge, LA - Jared Green spent four years at the University of Virginia, earning his bachelor’s degree in anthropology. To him, it was the only major that made perfect sense. “I just added two things together, really,” Green said. 
