Alcorn students, faculty, and HBCU family remember longtime band director Samuel S. Griffin

LORMAN, Mississippi — The Alcorn State University family gathered in Vicksburg Saturday to say their final goodbyes to long-time band director Samuel Griffin.

To many people at Alcorn, Griffin wasn’t just a band director — he was a father figure. Annette Jones-Baskin is one of Griffin’s former students, “He’s been like a mentor, father figure, role model. He was a whole lot to me so he gave me the opportunity to go to college because I was from a family that couldn’t afford to send me to a university.”

Throughout his nearly 50 year career at Alcorn, Griffin provided dozens of students with scholarships and promising futures.

“He put quite a few people through school,” says former student Keith Thompson. “And if it wouldn’t have been for my band scholarship I don’t know if I would have even gone to school.”

Jeffrey Knight agrees, “The scholarships that he gave over the years, from all walks of life, venture out and get different careers and he was always behind them as long as you did a positive thing about it. He was always there for you.”

Griffin is best known for giving the marching band it’s nickname, Dyn-O-Mite.

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Griffin began his career at Alcorn in 1966. Following a brief period as assistant band director, Griffin assumed the position as director of bands in 1969. He created the marching band nickname, Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite and was well known for his auxiliary innovations, including the Golden Girls and the Purple Flashers Flag Corp. He led the marching band to halftime shows in high profile venues including the Miami Orange Bowl, Los Angeles Coliseum, Houston Astrodome, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and the Superdome in New Orleans the year of its opening in 1975.

Griffin displayed his love for Alcorn by being one of the University’s top recruiters. Under his leadership, a number of students made Alcorn their school of choice. Many graduated to successful professional careers and lives, crediting Griffin as an integral contributor to their achievement.

While Griffin distinguished himself as a musician and band extraordinaire, he also supported the mission of the University through outstanding community service. In addition to the hundreds of parades for municipalities, school districts, and civic organizations, he served as a clinician and adjudicator for many festivals and competitions. Griffin retired from Alcorn in 2012.

In November 2016, the Band Hall at Alcorn was named in Griffin’s honor. In January 2017, he received the Honda Battle of the Bands’ Honoree Award for his outstanding contributions to historically black college and university marching bands.



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Nimmons trying to live up to family legacy at WSSU

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina --Jack Nimmons chuckles when asked the obvious question about his hall of fame father.

Nimmons, a junior defensive end for Winston-Salem State, says whenever his father, Jonathan “Sly” Nimmons, starts waxing poetic about his playing days with the Rams in the 1980s, the sentences start the same way: “Back when I played ... ”

But that’s OK with Jack Nimmons because he can’t think of a better role model to follow than his father, who is in the Big House Gaines Hall of Fame after being a four-year letterman and an All-CIAA, All-NAIA and All-America player.

“Of course he starts those sentences like that,” Nimmons said.

Nimmons, who is from Reidsville, has worked hard to become a starter for the Rams after beginning his college career at St. Augustine’s. After graduating from Reidsville High School he went to St. Aug’s, where he redshirted but never let his dream of going to WSSU die.

“I always wanted to come to Winston-Salem State,” Nimmons said. “So after the year at St. Aug’s, I took a chance and came here as a walk-on.”

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Zanders takes step forward, defense stands tall in NCCU Eagles’ scrimmage

DURHAM, North Carolina -- The North Carolina Central football team held a two-hour scrimmage at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium Saturday morning. It was the first time coach Jerry Mack and his staff got a chance to evaluate the team under game conditions with officials and plenty of fans watching.

The Eagles, who start the season on Sept. 2 at Duke, have some holes to fill on both sides of the ball, especially on offense, where they have to replace seven starters. Two of the main concerns will be replacing quarterback Malcolm Bell and four offensive linemen.

Here are some observations from the scrimmage:

Transfer quarterback Micah Zanders took the majority of the first-team reps. A sophomore out of Hinds (Miss.) Community College, Zanders threw a touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Xavier McKoy on the second drive of the day. He also threw a long pass to David Miller to set up a short touchdown run by Dorrel McClain. Zanders, who arrived in Durham over the summer, said he is getting much more comfortable in the offense and with the coaching staff. Mack, however, won’t hand the reins over to Zanders just yet.

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Only way to go is up: DSU Hornet players feeling positive during scrimmage

DOVER, Delaware — There’s a familiar refrain around Delaware State University’s preseason football camp.

All the Hornets can do is improve on last season after a 0-11 record.

“There’s only one way to go from last year,” said junior running back Brycen Alleyne. “The only way we can go is up. We’re on the up right now. Last year was last year, we’re definitely a different team than last year.”

“The only way we can go is up,” agreed sophomore quarterback Keenan Black. “We’re not focused on last year. The intensity has changed from last year and it’s like night and day. We’re moving up and trying to get better every day.”

“All we can do is go up,” Black added. “That’s what we got. That’s it.”

That’s the type of cautious optimism highlighting the camp so far. The Hornets know last year was the worst case scenario and they think they have the pieces in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

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S.C. STATE FOOTBALL: Linebacker corps features 2 of the best

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- Prior to the start of preseason football drills on Aug. 2, the consensus among the S.C. State defensive staff was that the front line would be the strength of the Bulldog defense in 2017. Nearly two weeks later, and after about 10 practices, that opinion has not changed.

But another group receiving a lot of praise is the S.C. State linebackers who, throughout camp, have demonstrated they are not very far behind the defensive line in talent and expectations. Two players in last year’s starting rotation – Tyler Smith and Shaquan Brock – have graduated and will be missed. But the staff is not expecting any drop-off in performance or execution.

“Between the linebackers and the defensive front,” they make up the strength of our football team this year,” Bulldogs head coach Buddy Pough said. “If our linebackers play up to their potential, we should be pretty good overall on defense and give our opponents a little something to think about.

“The depth of the group is still being developed, but we expect this position to play at a very high level.”

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Texas Southern Tigers open second week of practice in full pads

HOUSTON, Texas -- Texas Southern Tigers football kicked off the second full week of Fall camp with a spirited full pads practice session on Monday.

TSU Defensive Coordinator Tom Anthony has liked what he has seen out of the Tigers defense up to this point of camp and is pleased with the overall level of depth the Tigers boast defensively.

"I think we did a good job or recruiting a lot of depth on our football team at multiple positions on the field," said Anthony. "We have three guys that started nine of our eleven games last season in Sean Jones, Archie Rice, and Dondre Dobbins. With that being said pretty much every other spot on our defense is open."

Texas Southern has several key positions open on both sides of the ball and that has clearly become evident with the high level of completion exhibited throughout the Tigers practices.

"We have a lot of new faces having lost so many starters from last season," said Anthony. "The first week of camp was really good as far as position battles and guys competing for a job. Just seeing guys out there competing at a high level has been one of the positives from the first week of camp."

TSU will open the 2017 campaign on the road versus the Florida A&M Rattlers in Tallahassee. Despite not knowing too much about the varying personnel packages they will have to line up against Anthony seems confident in his teams' ability to adapt and adjust.

"We're focusing on the basics right now," said Anthony. "We'll go into that game with a lot of solid favorite calls out of our packages and our kids know that the first game of the season is always going to be about adjustments seeing as how team can change a lot schematically from year to year so we'll have to adjust to anything new that we might see."

Tickets for the 2017 Labor Day Classic which will be held this season at the TSU Tigers home BBVA Compass Stadium are currently on sale at the TSU and PVAMU bookstores as well as Wolf's Department store and the BBVA Box Office. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.axs.com.

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Alabama State wraps up second scrimmage of Fall Camp

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Alabama State University football team completed its second scrimmage of the Fall Camp on Saturday morning at the ASU Football Stadium.

"We have improved in every phase and that's what we set out to do," Alabama State head coach Brian Jenkins said. "I think the day was prosperous for us. We saw some better things than we did in the last scrimmage. It was good to see some of the young guys get in there and perform and do some things."

The Hornets worked on all facets of the game as the offense improved from its first scrimmage.

"The offense is rhythm and timing," Jenkins said. "You've got to catch your rhythm and timing and that does take some time. But today the timing was a lot better and the rhythm was a lot better, which was good to see."

Alabama State's defense picked up where it left off in Wednesday's scrimmage and continues to show improvement from the defensive scheme that first-year defensive coordinator Osita Alaribe has installed.

"The defense is doing a good job and that's only going to make us better offensively," Jenkins said. "I'm glad to see the guys swarming the ball and glad to see the guys tackling the way that they are. Today they picked up where they left off on Wednesday."

The special teams have shown improvement during the fall and have made big strides with the addition of freshman kicker Hunter Hanson.

"I am very excited to have him in camp," Jenkins said. "I've been telling people that I thought this kid was special. I thought we really got lucky when we signed him. He has great work ethic and fits right in. He has a great championship leg and he will help us tremendously."

The Hornets have three more practices before school begins on Wednesday.

Alabama State will play six games at the ASU Football Stadium, including the opener – The Labor Day Classic: A Marion Nine Invitational – against Tuskegee. Tickets are still available and fans are encouraged to purchase tickets by calling the Alabama State University box office at (334) 229-4551 or (334) 229-8479. Fans may are able to purchase tickets online by clicking here or clicking here.

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