WSSU welcomes Chowan

Chowan, one of the newest football programs to join the CIAA, will make its Bowman Gray Stadium debut tonight to play unbeaten Winston-Salem State. It will be the first meeting between the teams, and Coach Connell Maynor of the Rams said that he doesn’t know much about the Hawks, who are 0-2 with road losses to Lenoir-Rhyne (59-10) and The Citadel (56-14).

“Offensively they were a passing team last year, and their quarterback was offensive player of the year in the conference,” Maynor said. “But he’s gone, and that’s not going to be easy to replace him.” That quarterback was C.J. Westler, who passed for 2,865 yards and 25 touchdowns last season before graduating. Finding a replacement has not been easy for Coach Tim Place, who is entering his third season.

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Johnson Cleared to play for NCCU

DURHAM, N.C. -- N.C. Central quarterback Michael Johnson received clearance on Wednesday from the NCAA and will be able to play in Saturday's game at home against Winston-Salem State. Johnson, a red-shirt junior, was held out of NCCU's season opener against Johnson C. Smith while the school waited to hear from the NCAA on his playing status. The Eagles prevailed without Johnson as backup Keon Williams threw four touchdown passes in NCCU's 59-0 victory over the Golden Bulls.

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NC A&T Aggies kickoff season with four ineligible players & a loss to WSSU

A&T head coach Alonzo Lee prides himself on being an eternal optimist, but even he has to be shaking his head these days when contemplating some of the setbacks that have recently besieged his football team.

Just one game into the 2010 campaign, the Aggies are already searching for answers following a disappointing 21-14 loss to rival Winston-Salem State University last weekend. Contributing to that surprise defeat was the fact A&T saw its top quarterback go down with a possible season-ending knee injury in a preseason scrimmage two weeks ago and, just hours before the Winston game on Saturday, learned that at least four players were declared academically ineligible by the university.

Not exactly the way Lee envisioned the start of his second year in Aggieland. However, don’t expect A&T’s fiery leader to throw in the towel anytime soon.

» GAME PHOTOS: Saturday-Night College Football
WSSU vs. NC A&T - Click to view...

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WSSU Rams Score With Under One Minute To Play As They Down North Carolina A&T 21-14

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The fifth-annual I-40 Showdown between the Rams of Winston-Salem State University and the Aggies of North Carolina A&T State University would come down to a drive dominated by a player with virtually no knowledge of the long-standing rivalry. Redshirt sophomore Kameron Smith, a transfer from the U.S. Naval Academy, accounted for 65 yards and the game-winning touchdown on the Rams final drive en route to propelling WSSU to a 21-14 victory over the rival Aggies on Saturday evening in Greensboro, N.C.

The contest would prove to be a matchup of two staunch defenses as both the Rams and Aggies used a physical style that generated a total of eight fumbles and two interceptions and held the two powerful offenses to a combined 464 total yards.



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WSSU ready for rivalry game against NC A&T

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — With just 33 miles separating Winston-Salem State from North Carolina A&T, the two HBCU schools have had a long-standing rivalry for 49 years. To win the fifth annual I-40 Showdown has implications reaching further than just a "W." in the record books. Fifth-year senior linebacker, Juan Corders said that it is all about the bragging rights which brings the entire community into this rivalry.

"Bragging rights... bragging rights living a whole year to the next game. That's what the whole community loves: the rivalry; that's all they remember is the rivalry," said Corders. Winston-Salem State Head Coach Connell Maynor knows all too well about the rivalry. In 1987 as the starting quarterback for the Rams, he won a CIAA championship.




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WSSU Rams will turn to Hawkins, a transfer‎

And the winner is…. Octavius Hawkins.

Coach Connell Maynor, who has been oscillating for the last two weeks about who would be his starting quarterback for Winston-Salem State's opening game on Saturday, made the decision after practice yesterday.

"We're going to go with Octavius," said Maynor, whose Rams will play at Simeon Stadium in High Point on Saturday against Virginia Union.

Hawkins, a transfer from UMass, signed as a quarterback but never played that position at UMass in a game. Maynor originally was recruiting another player at UMass who was thinking about transferring and that player told Hawkins about WSSU.

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Four-way QB battle at WSSU: Season opens on Saturday but still no starter

Coach Connell Maynor of Winston-Salem State was hoping to have named a starting quarterback by now. But after going through the team's final scrimmage yesterday, none of the four players vying for the job has done enough to please Maynor.

"I'd like to name a starter on Monday," said Maynor, whose Rams will open the season on Saturday against Virginia Union at Simeon Stadium in High Point.

The four players who saw action in the scrimmage were all first-year players in the program. Three of them are transfers and one is a freshman, Vernon Brandon, who actually started the scrimmage that lasted about 90 plays. Transfers Jamie DeGeare (Appalachian State), Cameron Smith (Navy) and Octavious Hawkins (UMass) have all been battling it out with Brandon for the starting job.

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WSSU football player exemplifies 'student-athlete'

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- You hear many times of the prototypical "student-athlete." Khendra Reid, a strong safety at Winston-Salem State, exemplifies that term.

Despite nursing a pulled hamstring, Reid is a threat on the gridiron. "He goes the extra mile," said WSSU Head Football Coach, Connell Maynor. "He gets his weights in with everybody else and I see him in there some days when everybody's finished, he's there doing extra. Or he'll come in early and do some extra. He's a tough guy, he's a big hitter, so them wide receivers better be looking out."

Khendra's discipline on the field and in the weight room carries over to the classroom. The sophomore computer science major studies and designs search and rescue robots. "When I was in middle school, I had to choose between being in the band or learning more about computers because I wanted a computer," said Reid. "So my parents gave me that ultimatum of choosing one or the other and I chose computers. I took one class and I fell in love with it since then, and I try learning more and more about it everyday."

Khendra takes part in the ARTSI program, which stands for "Advancing Robotics Through Social Impact." Winston-Salem State is among eight Research I schools, like Carnegie Mellon and Brown, and 15 other historically black colleges and universities taking part in the program.

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WSSU Rams are excited about return to CIAA this season

As Winston-Salem State tries to settle into a groove in the early days of preseason football practice, Coach Connell Maynor is leaning heavily on veteran players. Linebacker Shawn Kearney and defensive back Marvin Bohannon, both redshirt seniors, are leading an 88-man roster that has plenty of new faces -- a move that Maynor calls natural because of their experience.

Kearney, a starter most of his career, said that there have been changes in attitude since Maynor, in his first season, and his new staff took over. "We have a different outlook with the new coaches, and they are talking about CIAA and winning the title, and winning the national championship in future years, and we've never heard that here before," Kearney said. "So we can't wait, and it excites us, especially the veterans on this team."

Despite last season's 1-10 record, the defense was a constant bright spot for the Rams and kept them in most games. Although the core of that defense -- a talented line -- is gone, some key parts remain. I

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WSSU Defense to have familiar style under Boulware

Winston-Salem State hasn't changed its style on defense much, said new coordinator Kienus Boulware. Mike Ketchum, now the defensive-line coach, was the coordinator the past five seasons. "What Coach Ketchum's defense was based on last year is very similar to what we have this year," Boulware said. "He had more three-man fronts, but in the package we are running now, we have some of the same stuff."

Linebacker Shawn Kearney, the top returning tackler from last season, said he's encouraged by what he has seen. "There's not too much of a difference because we have the same type of packages, but they have different names," Kearney said. "We are still going to be that fast defense you have always seen."

When new head coach Connell Maynor heard the suggestion that he might win the Rams' quarterback derby, he laughed, then said: "No, I don't have any eligibility left." Maynor -- an All-MEAC quarterback during his days at N.C. A&T -- is closely watching the competition between transfers Octavius Hawkins, Kameron Smith, Jamie DeGeare and freshman Vernon Brandon, and said he hopes to name a starter by late next week.

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WSSU Gaines Hall of Fame Class 2010 Features a Star-Studded Cast of Honorees

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Winston-Salem State University C.E. "Big House" Gaines Hall of Fame will welcome its class of 2010 inductees when eight individuals along with the 2000 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Champion Rams football team will take their place among the WSSU greats.

The individual inductees will be inducted in a ceremony on Friday, Sept. 17 at the Grand Pavilion Ballroom located at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Winston-Salem, N.C. and will be honored at halftime of the Winston-Salem State versus Chowan University football game on Saturday, Sept. 18.

"To an athlete, being enshrined into your university's athletic hall of fame is reaching the mountaintop. There is no higher honor," WSSU Director of Athletics, William "Bill" Hayes said. "On behalf of the entire WSSU Department of Athletics, congratulations to all inductees for reaching this milestone."

The Clarence E. "Big House" Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2010 will include some of the top student-athletes in school history. The class will include two softball players (Kenisha Williams and Sheila Vanhook McDonald), one tennis player (Darrell Edmund Galloway), four football players (Masha Paul, Kelley D. Goodman, Gary Raiford and Antonio Stevenson), and one member of the Rams track & field team (George Dillard Macklin).

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WSSU 'officially' accepted back into CIAA

The NCAA has granted Winston-Salem State its re-admittance to Division II. WSSU, which spent four years in transition to Division I, decided to halt that process last September. WSSU was also granted re-admittance into the CIAA.

Jimmy Jenkins, the president of Livingstone College and the chairman of the CIAA board of directors, said: "I speak on behalf of my colleagues as I express our excitement about the fact that Winston-Salem State University has returned." The Rams spent 61 years in the CIAA before leaving following the 2004-05 academic year.

WSSU Maynor excited about camp‎

When Connell Maynor put away his golf clubs, it meant one thing -- time for football practice. Maynor, who plays to a 2 handicap, will open his first preseason camp as Winston-Salem State's coach -- and his first as a head coach -- at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. "I'm excited about the start of camp," Maynor said. "I want to get out there and see how the guys have been doing in offseason conditioning and while they might not be in full football shape yet, they should be close."

The Rams, coming off a 1-10 finish last fall, have a lot of holes to fill after losing nearly 30 players from last season. Some graduated, but others transferred or didn't have their scholarships renewed. The turnover turns WSSU into an unknown commodity in its return to the CIAA. Maynor was hoping to have veteran Akeem Ward back to lead the defensive line, but Ward, a junior who started the last two seasons, is academically ineligible.

"It's unfortunate, but no one player is bigger than the team," Maynor said. "We have to overcome that loss of Akeem. He would have helped us, but we have to move on."

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Gentlemen, you have to prioritize!!!

What I learned from Coach Kermit Blount

While playing football at Winston-Salem State University, I remember my head football coach Kermit Blount saying “Gentlemen, football is a metaphor for life. But this not pep rally, this is a pep reality." In those team meetings or so-called pep "realities", coach Blount would give us (players) a little dose of reality and a few lessons on life.

I can still hear him in his cool baritone voice like Billy Dee Williams in "Lady Sings the Blues" say: “Gentlemen, you are going to have to learn how to prioritize......and find out what's more important to you: school or girls, football or foolishness, coming to practice or playing video games." "But regardless of what you decide to do, you must prioritize...gentlemen."

Yeah, those team meetings or "pep realities" with coach Blount seemed more like church than a college football meeting. Because he rarely talked about the X's and O's, blocking schemes, or defensive assignments. He focused more on telling players to call their moms, staying out of trouble, and looking out for one another.

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WSSU Rams name interim coach

Winston-Salem State wasted little time finding a coach for its new baseball program, naming Kevin Ritsche yesterday (June 30) on an interim basis. "Wow," Ritsche, 28, said as he was introduced by Chancellor Donald Reaves at the Bowman Gray Stadium Fieldhouse. WSSU, as required by the CIAA for reentrance, must field a baseball team by the spring of 2011, and Ritsche said he's ready to start putting the pieces together. WSSU last offered baseball in 1973.

"After a 38-year hiatus, baseball is back at Winston-Salem State University," said Reaves, an avid baseball fan. "We have a short time frame to get a team on the field, but now is the best time to once again have baseball back at this university." Athletics Director Bill Hayes stayed in-house to find his coach. Ritsche has been a faculty member in WSSU's exercise-science department since 2005 and is working on his doctorate.

"After I talked to Kevin, I didn't have to talk to anybody else," Hayes said. "This guy wants to start practice now, so he's ready to hit the ground running. That's what we need." Ritsche was a catcher and team captain at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., and later a graduate assistant there. He was an honorable-mention NAIA All-America in 2004.

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In CIAA, the South's stout

No offense to the CIAA North Division, but the best preseason buzz is in the South. There’s Fayetteville State, the 2009 champion looking to break the league’s sorry postseason record of playoff futility. Shaw, the resident bully, is always in the title hunt. Winston-Salem State is back after a failed engagement with Division I, with its sights set on establishing dominance with a first-year head coach.

Fayetteville went 8-4 in 2009, including 8-1 against league competition, but struggled outside the CIAA. The Broncos lost close decisions to South Atlantic power Catawba and independent UNC Pembroke early in the season, and took a 42-13 beatdown by California (Pa.) in the first round of the Division II playoffs. Can FSU improve on last year’s magic, especially after losing offensive coordinator Connell Maynor to Winston-Salem?

Shaw (8-2) had championship aspirations before a 29-28 at Fayetteville left the Bears in second place – a spot they weren’t accustomed to in recent seasons. The Bears have the offense (42.1 points per game last season) to move up a step, however, with preseason honorable mention all-CIAA running back Raymond Williams and a line anchored by Lindy’s all-America Markus McElveen.

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Winston-Salem State to play home game in High Point

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Winston-Salem State University is bringing college football back to High Point for the first time in 60 years. The 2010 Furniture City Gridiron Classic will feature the WSSU Rams against the Virginia Union Panthers Saturday, Aug. 28, at Simeon Stadium, the largest stadium in High Point. High Point College played its last football game in 1950, but the Panthers played at Albion Millis Stadium.

Simeon Stadium is usually host to high school football and soccer games. But 15 years ago, WSSU Athletic Director William "Bill" Hayes, then head football coach of North Carolina A&T State University, worked with High Point community leaders Ed Price and Ray McAllister to bring an Aggie game to High Point. "I worked with Price and McAllister to build the strongest Scout Reach program in America right here," Hayes said. "We tried to get a game here because young people were always interested in sports, but we never could make it happen."



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Winston-Salem State Rams to bring back baseball‎

Winston-Salem State University is bringing back baseball, a sport it last offered in the early 1970s. The team will start play in the spring of 2011, a condition of the school's readmission to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).

Leon Kerry, the CIAA commissioner, said: "We have a rule that was voted in by the CIAA Board of Directors that any school that comes into the conference had to have a baseball program. This was part of the deal with Winston coming back." Chancellor Donald Reaves of WSSU confirmed yesterday that plans to add baseball are in the works but said all details have yet to be worked out. Kerry said that WSSU is on the CIAA schedule for next season.

"I'm really excited about baseball coming to Winston-Salem State," Reaves said. "I think this will help raise the profile of athletics, and it's also great for the profile of the university.

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South's D'Andre Harris signs with Winston-Salem State

LANDIS, N.C. — Winston-Salem State's football program returns to its CIAA roots this fall, and South Rowan running back D'Andre Harris will be part of the excitement. Once Winston-Salem State found out D'Andre hadn't signed anywhere, he was an apple they were quick to grab," South coach Jason Rollins said. Harris had a tough recruiting experience. Rollins explained that North Carolina A&T offered a full ride pretty early. Harris — a productive back, solid citizen and strong student — wanted to wait to see what other options developed. Basically, that scholarship got pulled off the table and went elsewhere. It happens.

But what put Harris in a really difficult spot was that he appeared signed, sealed and delivered for A&T. Lots of schools had crossed him off their lists, and that helps explain why he was sort of a free agent longer than a player with his talent and transcript should've been. Fortunately, coaches still make the recruiting rounds in the spring. Sometimes they find a gem who finally made a decent SAT or ACT score after everyone had backed off. Sometimes they run across a player who got hurt and slipped through the cracks. Sometimes they discover a late-blooming lineman who's put on 30 pounds since football season ended.

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WSSU Rams' Davis thinking NBA Draft

Paul Davis, a 6-9 junior center at Winston-Salem State, has decided to put his name into the NBA Draft but has not hired an agent. Davis, who was named to the All-Independent second team last season, led the Rams in scoring at 10.9 points and rebounding at 7.8 a game. Davis, who was one of the Coach Bobby Collins' top recruits, was a three-year starter who shot a team-leading 58 percent from the field last season. Of his 129 made field goals, 42 of them were dunks. He also had 50 blocks last season and is the all-time leader in school history. Davis, from Clio, S.C., is hoping to get a chance to work out for NBA scouts in the next three weeks.

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