Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) To Receive MEAC/SWAC Sports Main Street Global Exposure

GCAC president Kiki Baker Barnes

The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) and its member institutions of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I level, need our support for their athletic programs.

The GCAC was established in 1981 and recently (2010) went through a major transformation with the six (6) non-HBCU institutions leaving for the Southern States Athletic Conference and the Red River Athletic Conference. This move left six (6) small, mostly private HBCUs institutions under the GCAC banner.

The president of the GCAC is Dillard University's Athletic Director and head women's basketball coach Kiki Baker Barnes. Barnes was unanimously voted in by her peers as the 17th president of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference at the 2009 fall meetings, making her the first African-American woman to hold the position.

She is one of only two African-Americans named to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' (NAIA) newly formed National Administrative Council and a member of the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) professional organization. Upon her installation as conference president, Barnes stated, "now is a critical time in the history of the conference as it attempts to draw new members and build new rivalries, and I look forward to the challenge."

Talladega College will be leaving the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and will be rejoining the GCAC in 2011-12 academic year, along with Philander Smith College  (Little Rock, AR). Voorhees College decided in July 2010 not to accept an invitation to join the conference. Further expansion of the GCAC remains one of the conference's most important goals, in addition to raising its profile and sports branding by member institutions.

The conference fields 13 sports programs--Men's Basketball, Golf, Soccer, Cross Country, Track and Field, Tennis and Baseball; and Women's Softball, Volleyball, Basketball, Cross Country, Track and Field, and Tennis. Not all institutions are able to field teams in each sport, and may have as few as three programs, like Fisk University. Playoff bids for sports like tennis, soccer, baseball and golf will have to come by way of play-in tournament games with the NAIA's Association of Independent Institutions.

Current GCAC member institutions are: (click each name for auto link to each college athletic website)

1. Dillard University Bleu Devils, New Orleans, LA
2. Edward Waters College Tigers, Jacksonville, FL
3. Fisk University Bulldogs, Nashville, TN
4. Southern University at New Orleans Knights, New Orleans, LA
5. Tougaloo College Bulldogs, Tougaloo, MS
6. Xavier University of Louisiana Gold Rush/Gold Nuggets, New Orleans, LA
7. Talladega College Tornadoes, Talladega, AL
8. Philander Smith College Panthers, Little Rock, AR

Edward Waters College is the only football playing member of the conference and plays as an NAIA Independent for football. The EWC Tigers recently selected Bethune-Cookman University's assistant Brad Bernard as its new head football coach. Bernard tapped B-CU assistant coach Greg Ross as the Tigers new offensive coordinator and Millsaps College (Miss.) assistant Lane Powell as his defensive coordinator.

The basketball powerhouses this season are Tougaloo Bulldogs (27-4) and Xavier Gold Rush (men) (27-5) that are bracketed in the NAIA Division I National Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri on March 16-22.  The Xavier Gold Nuggets women's team (26-6) are also participants in the national championship tournament in Kansas City.

Many thanks to Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director at Xavier University of Louisiana who has been sending us stories on the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets nationally ranked Tennis Teams. This pushed us to take a closer look at what was going on with the GCAC and examine the historic academic powerhouses that are charter member institutions, i.e., Dillard University, Tougaloo College and Xavier University of Louisiana.

Check back often for links to articles on our student-athletes from the fifth HBCU conference -- the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

Thank you to our growing 380,706 readers world-wide that continue to confirm that Historically Black Colleges and Universities are as relevant today, as they will be when Jesus comes.  Please continue to provide your financial support to our HBCU Institutions, especially to the sports and music programs which are a cornerstone to American society and culture. Thank you also for the nearly one million page views from the readers from 176 countries/territories, above all, our active members of the American military services.

This amazing Blog continues to prove each day that "one person can make a difference in the world."

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VISIT: the naiasports and GCAConf.com

Videographer: ewc1777; Edward Waters College Triple Threat Marching Band vs. North Carolina Central University Marching Sound Machine ( Nov. 2010)

Giles-Osborn clinches Gold Rush victory vs. Crusaders

MONTGOMERY, Ala .(March 13, 2011) -- Steffen Giles-Osborn rallied Sunday for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 No. 3 singles decision against Dominik Kardell to clinch Xavier University of Louisiana's 5-4 men's tennis victory over William Carey in the AUM Invitational.

Georgetown (Ky.) defeated Xavier's women 6-3.

The Gold Rush (10-5), ranked eighth in the NAIA, never trailed, but William Carey tied the dual at 4 when Younes Hidass defeated Sean Richardson 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. Then Giles-Osborn, ranked 24th in NAIA singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, overcame a first-set loss to score his second victory in his last six singles matches.

Giles-Osborn and Hassan Abbas won in doubles and singles for XU's men, who won two of three duals in this event. Fourteenth-ranked Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson beat Toni Gauta and Hidass 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Abbas and Zach Taylor defeated Jody Claassen and Thomas Rizk 9-8 (8-6) at No. 1. Abbas gave Xavier a 3-1 lead when he beat Rizk 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
Abbas is 4-0 in singles and 4-0 in doubles in two seasons against William Carey.

Freshman Amir Rahbar scored Xavier's fourth point with a 6-3, 6-0 decision against 50th-ranked Gauta at No. 4.

"The match was a grinder until the end," XU Coach Alan Green said. "William Carey has a very good team, and the match could have gone either way. They are very underrated and easily a top-15 team.
"The atmosphere was loud and raucous at a neutral site. We will have to deal with a team with a loud crowd and a bad taste in their mouth when we play at Carey in a few weeks. It will make for a good match, and we can't wait to play them again."

The Gold Nuggets (2-9) lost their seventh in a row and, for the fourth straight time, forfeited the No. 3 doubles match and the No. 5 and 6 singles matches because of a depleted roster. But the XU women -- specifically, sisters Melissa and Nicole DeLoach -- still won three matches, as many as they won in their previous six duals combined.

The DeLoaches won 8-0 against Emily Krick and Rhyan Martin 8-0 at No. 2 doubles. Then Nicole beat Shelby Eden 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles, and Melissa followed with a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Natalie Hill at No. 3 to cut Georgetown's lead to 4-3. But 47th-ranked Adrienne Bartlett clinched for the Tigers (2-5) at No. 1 when she defeated Carmen Nelson 6-4, 6-2.

Georgetown was ranked 25th in the NAIA preseason poll and 15 points from the top 25 in last week's rankings.

The Nuggets' next match will start at 3 p.m. Wednesday against Rutgers at City Park Tennis Center, and it will be their fifth of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent. The XU men, who have played seven duals in the last 10 days, will return to competition in a 3:30 p.m. makeup March 25 against city rival Loyola at the University of New Orleans.

Xavier drops pair of duals at AUM Invitational

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (March 12, 2011) — Both Xavier University of Louisiana tennis teams lost Saturday in the AUM Invitational. The Gold Rush, ranked eighth in the NAIA, lost 9-0 to unbeaten and fifth-ranked Oklahoma Christian. The Gold Nuggets, ranked 24th, lost 5-1 to Campbellsville.

Xavier scored its lone point at No. 2 women's doubles when sisters Melissa and Nicole DeLoach defeated Stacey Drew and Kristen Hamrick 8-3.

Xavier won only three other sets. Zach Taylor of the Gold Rush won a second-set tiebreaker in a 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 1-0 (10-7) loss to Thomas Van Cauter at No. 1 singles, and the DeLoach sisters were both up a set when their dual was halted.

The Gold Rush (9-5) lost for the third time in four duals, including two losses to top-10 opponents. The XU men lost for the second time in as many seasons to Oklahoma Christian (11-0) since the Gold Rush's 5-4 victory over the Eagles in the opening round of the 2009 NAIA National Championship.

"The score of the men's match does not indicate how it was played," XU Coach Alan Green said. "This was a competitive fight and the guys played real hard. It took four hours to knock us off. I'm really proud of the fight we put up against a potential national champion. Oklahoma Christian has that good of a team."

Xavier's women extended their losing streak to six duals, their longest in Green's eight seasons. Campbellsville is 2-2.

Both XU teams will play their final duals of this event at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. The Gold Nuggets will play Georgetown (Ky.), and the Gold Rush will play William Carey. Both opponents received votes in last week's coaches polls.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
Xavier University of Louisiana
Visit: XULA Athletics

D-I Radford Rumbles Past Xavier Gold Rush, 8-1

NEW ORLEANS -- Radford, winner of the last five Big South Conference regular-season men's championships in NCAA Division I, defeated NAIA No. 8 Xavier University of Louisiana 8-1 Thursday at the University of New Orleans Tennis Center.

Xavier (8-4) scored its point in the final completed match when freshman Jonathan Aubrey defeated Alex Metzner 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) at No. 6 singles.

Radford (7-3) ended a couple of Xavier streaks. Ivan Salec and Thomas Dehaen won 8-3 at No. 1 doubles to end the five-match win streak of Zach Taylor and Hassan Abbas. Dehaen won 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 at No. 2 singles to end Abbas' four-match streak.

Salec, ranked 67th in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, played doubles only. Freshmen Stijn Meulemans and Paul Boslet won in singles and doubles for the Highlanders, with Meulemans beating Taylor 6-0, 6-2 at the top flight. Radford freshmen Joe Mills and Randall Carter also won in singles.

Radford has won three straight duals and six of its last seven. Xavier has dropped two straight. Three of the Gold Rush's four losses this season are to D-I teams.

It was Xavier's first home match since Feb. 8. The dual, scored by NAIA rules, was postponed Wednesday because of morning thunderstorms and moved from City Park.

Both Xavier teams will play NAIA opponents Friday in the AUM Invitational at Montgomery, Ala. XU's women, ranked 24th, will play No. 13 Lindsey Wilson at 9:30 a.m., and the XU men will play Georgetown (Ky.) at 10 a.m.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
Xavier University of Louisiana
Visit: XULA Athletics

Xavier (N.O.) knocks off Southern U. 72-58

BATON ROUGE, La. – Michael Harvey scored a season-high 20 points and Xavier (N.O.), a NAIA program, never trailed in a 72-58 victory over Southern University on Monday night. Anthony Simmons added 14 points for the Gold Rush (12-0), who are No. 9 in NAIA Division I.

Xavier shot 50 percent from the field (23 of 46), 85.7 percent from the free-throw line (18 of 21) and outrebounded the Jaguars 41-29. Jamann Kenner hit a 3-pointer to give the Gold Rush a 12-2 lead with 15:46 left in the first half. Xavier extended the margin to 28-13 on Harvey's dunk with 6:25 left before halftime.

Southern (1-9) cut the lead to 47-43 on Blake Sanford's jumper with 11:17 to play, but the Gold Rush pushed the lead to...

Xavier-N.O. keeps Southern reeling

Unable to hit an outside jumper or grab a key rebound, Southern forward Quinton Doggett wore warmups and watched Monday’s game from the bench in the northeast corner of the F.G. Clark Activity Center. He had barely settled into his seat when Xavier players started burning up the nets.

Running down loose basketballs, racing down the floor in transition and sinking a flurry of outside shots, the Gold Rush opened a big lead in the first half and finished strong down the stretch in a 72-58 victory, handing the Jaguars their seventh consecutive loss.

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