MEAC Announces 2017-18 Men's Basketball Postseason Honors

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Bethune-Cookman senior Brandon Tabb was named the 2017-18 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year, the conference announced today. Howard’s RJ Cole was selected as the Rookie of the Year, while Soufiyane Diakite, from Bethune-Cookman, earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. North Carolina A&T State head coach Jay Joyner was named the MEAC Coach of the Year.

All awards are voted on by the conference’s head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors.

Tabb is one of the most prolific scorers and shooters in the MEAC as he averaged 19 points over the course of the regular season. The Hampton, Va. native ranks as one of the top free throw shooters in the nation with a 92.7 clip (114-of-123) from the line while also a major threat from beyond the arc as he ranks second in the MEAC with 94 three-pointers made. He has two 30-point performances with highs of 34 against Coppin State and Morgan State and 13 games with 20-plus point outings. Tabb also tied for the MEAC’s single-game high in three-pointers made with eight at Georgia Tech.

His 94 made three-pointers are second in Bethune-Cookman single-season history behind his 2016-17 totals of 106 makes. He is also on pace to become BCU’s career leader in free throw percentage.

Cole is on pace to set major records as he currently ranks sixth nationally and leads the MEAC with 23.7 points per game and 6.2 assists in his first season. The Union, N.J. native also leads the MEAC in three-pointers made with 105 and rarely takes a break as the league leader in minutes played. He has the second-highest single game scoring output this season with 42 versus UNC Wilmington and has scored 30-plus points on five occasions while scoring 20-plus points 24 times. Cole also has had one game with 10 assists this season and also rewrote the MEAC record books with 13 Rookie of the Week awards.

Diakite leads the MEAC with 9.6 rebounds per contest and also ranks on top with 17 contests of 10-plus rebounds along with a total of 28 blocked shots. A three-time MEAC Defensive Player of the Week, Diakite has highs of 17 rebounds versus Norfolk State with four blocks versus North Texas. He also leads the MEAC in offensive rebounds with 3.1 per game and is also first with 6.5 defensive rebounds per outing.

Joyner has orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in MEAC and North Carolina A&T State history as he led the Aggies to an 18-13 overall and 11-5 conference mark after a 4-28 campaign in 2016-17. Picked to finish last in this year’s MEAC Preseason Poll, Joyner led the Aggies to their most wins since 2012-13. His 11 conference wins only marks the third time the Aggies have surpassed 10-plus MEAC wins since 2000. The Aggies ended a 36-game losing streak on the road to non-conference opponents earlier this season when they defeated Jacksonville while also knocking off East Carolina of the American Athletic Conference. Joyner also had three players earn either All-MEAC second or third team honors with another on the All-Rookie Team.

Tabb and Cole are joined on the 2017-18 All-MEAC First Team by Hampton’s Jermaine Marrow, Morgan State’s Phillip Carr and Howard’s Charles Williams.

The 2017-18 regular-season champions, first team honorees and award winners including Player, Rookie, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year, will be recognized in pre-game presentations prior to the honorees’ first games in tournament play. Tournament play begins Monday, March 5 and runs through March 10 at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.  For more information, log on to www.MEACHOOPS.com.

2017-18 Men’s Basketball All-MEAC Teams
As voted on by the conference’s head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors.

Player of the Year: Brandon Tabb, Bethune-Cookman
Rookie of the Year: RJ Cole, Howard
Defensive Player of the Year: Soufiyane Diakite, Bethune-Cookman
Coach of the Year: Jay Joyner, North Carolina A&T State

First Team
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
RJ Cole	G	6-1	Fr.	Howard	Union, N.J.
Brandon Tabb	G	6-4	Sr.	Bethune-Cookman	Hampton, Va.
Jermaine Marrow	G	6-2	So.	Hampton	Newport News, Va.
Phillip Carr	F	6-9	Sr.	Morgan State	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Charles Williams	G/F	6-6	So.	Howard	Richmond, Va.
Second Team
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Desmond Williams	F	6-6	Sr.	Florida A&M	Atmore, Ala.
Femi Olujobi	C	6-8	Jr.	North Carolina A&T	Long Island, NY
Dexter McClanahan	G	6-5	Jr.	Savannah State	Stockbridge, Ga.
Shawntrez Davis	F/C	6-9	Jr.	Bethune-Cookman	Atlanta, Ga.
Raasean Davis	C	6-9	Jr.	North Carolina Central	Chicago, Ill.
Third Team
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
Isaiah Bailey	G	6-6	Jr.	Bethune-Cookman	Compton, Calif.
Alante Fenner	G	6-5	Sr.	Savannah State	Lake Wales, Fla.
Devaris McGowens	F	6-7	Sr.	North Carolina A&T	Greenville, S.C.
Denzel Keyes	F	6-4	Sr.	North Carolina A&T	Kinston, N.C.
Lamar Morgan	G/F	6-6	Jr.	Coppin State	Willingboro, N.J.
All-Rookie Team
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Class	School	Hometown
RJ Cole	G	6-1	Fr.	Howard	Union, N.J.
Miryne Thomas	F	6-8	Fr.	Maryland Eastern Shore	Cleveland, Ohio
Kameron Langley	G	6-2	Fr.	North Carolina A&T	Greensboro, N.C.
Jordan Perkins	G	6-1	Fr.	North Carolina Central	Greensboro, N.C.
Reggie Gardner, Jr.	G	6-3	Fr.	North Carolina Central	Bowie, Md.

MEAC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

Top honors for Williams, Mart; David, Davison All-GCAC

NEW ORLEANS — Four members of the Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team received Gulf Coast Athletic Conference end-of-season awards Thursday, including major honors for Joseph Williams and Rayshawn Mart.

Williams was voted GCAC Defensive Player of the Year and, naturally, landed a spot on the All-Defensive team. Mart was named Freshman of the Year.
     
Teammates Jalen David and Virgil Davison made All-GCAC. David was on the first team, and Davison was on the second.
     
Williams, a 6-foot-6 senior forward from Memphis, Tenn., and a Lausanne Collegiate School graduate, leads the conference and ranks seventh in NAIA Division I with 1.8 blocked shots per game. His 42 blocks are the most by a Gold Rush player since Alex Williams — no relation — had 46 in 1986-87.
     
The recognition was the second this week for Williams. Tuesday he was announced as a landslide winner in online fan voting for next month's NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam presented by U.S. Bank. Williams earned the fourth and final spot in the dunk contest.
     
Mart, a 6-3 guard from Houma, La., and a graduate of H.L. Bourgeois High School, is the third Gold Rush player to receive the GCAC freshman award, joining Shaun Dumas (2004-05) and Lucas Martin-Julien (2013-14). Mart leads GCAC freshmen this season with 11.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Among all players he ranks 15th in the conference in scoring and 10th in rebounding.
     
David — a 6-4 senior guard/forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., and a former Mount Vernon High School and Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College standout — is averaging 12.1 points and five rebounds through 29 games this season. David was second-team All-GCAC a year ago.
     
Davison, a 5-8 junior guard from Memphis and a former Hillcrest High School and Dyersburg State Community College standout, leads XULA with 13.9 points per game, and his 79 made 3-pointers are No. 4 on the XULA all-time season list.
     
Davison scored a game- and season-high 26 points Wednesday in a 74-62 home victory against Talladega that gave XULA a share of the GCAC regular-season championship with Dillard. The Gold Rush are 22-7 and ranked 25th nationally.
     
XULA is seeded second in the conference tournament and will play seventh seed Edward Waters in the first round at 5 p.m. Friday at Dillard's Dent Hall.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

Bates, Wells capture GCAC end-of-season honors

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Mikayla Bates and Essence Wells received Gulf Coast Athletic Conference end-of-season awards in women's basketball Thursday.

Bates was voted to the All-Defensive team, and Wells was second-team All-GCAC.

Bates, a 5-foot-7 junior guard from Baton Rouge, La., and a University Lab School graduate, ranks seventh in NAIA Division I and second in the conference with 2.9 steals per game.

Wells, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Irving, Texas, and a MacArthur High School graduate, leads the Gold Nuggets with 10.2 points per game and 36 made 3-pointers. She is third on her team with 43 steals and 34 assists.

The basketball honors are not the first in Wells's family. Her mother, Cassandra Lumpkins Johnson, was named to the Sun Belt Conference all-time team in 2005. Her uncle, Tony Harris, was American South Conference Player of the Year in 1989-90 and played parts of three seasons in the NBA. Johnson and Harris achieved their honors at the University of New Orleans.

The XULA women are 14-11 and seeded third in the GCAC Tournament, which will begin Friday. The Gold Nuggets will play sixth seed Tougaloo at 2 p.m. at SUNO's The Castle.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

MEAC Announces Women's Basketball All-Conference Honors

NORFOLK, Virginia — Bethune-Cookman junior Angel Golden was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Player of the Year, the conference office announced today. Maryland Eastern Shore’s Bairesha Gill-Miles was named Rookie of the Year, while Bethune-Cookman junior Ashanti Hunt earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Bethune-Cookman head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis was named Coach of the Year.
 
All awards were voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
 
Golden ranked fourth in the MEAC in scoring this season, averaging 15.5 points per game, and her 40.1 percent clip from behind the arc (77-for-192) ranked second in the conference. She averaged 2.8 made threes per contest (37th in the nation), and Golden eclipsed the 20-point mark 10 times – including seven of her last 12 games. A four-time MEAC Player of the Week this season, Golden was the offensive leader on a Bethune-Cookman squad that went 15-1 in league play this season to earn a share of the MEAC regular-season title. In MEAC play, Golden averaged 17.1 points per game.
 
Gill-Miles ranked eighth in the MEAC with 7.9 rebounds per contest, while also averaging 10.6 points per game. She was named MEAC Rookie of the Week six times, and Gill-Miles recorded six double-doubles this season – including a stretch of four in a row from Jan. 22 through Feb. 5. She scored a season-high 20 points against North Carolina Central, and the 15 rebounds she grabbed against Coppin State and Florida A&M were also a season best.
 
Hunt ranked 10th in the MEAC with 7.3 rebounds per game, and she was fifth in the league in defensive rebounding, grabbing just over five boards per contest on that end of the floor. She blocked a season-high four shots twice: against Jacksonville and against Coppin State. Hunt also pulled down double-digit rebounds four times this season, including a season- and career-high 17 in a non-conference win over Texas State. Often tasked with defending other teams’ best scorers, Hunt held all but two of them below their season averages this season.
 
Blair-Lewis led Bethune-Cookman to a 15-1 mark in league play, sharing the regular-season title with North Carolina A&T State – marking the third straight season in which the Wildcats either held or shared the MEAC’s top spot at the end of the regular season. Bethune-Cookman won 23 games in the regular season – the first time the program recorded a 20-win regular season since the 1984-85 season.
 
Joining Golden and Hunt on the 2018 All-MEAC First Team are Coppin State’s Genesis Lucas, Delaware State’s NaJai Pollard and Norfolk State’s Kayla Roberts.
 
The 2017-18 regular-season champion, All-MEAC First Team members and honorees – such as Player, Rookie, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year – will be recognized in pre-game presentations prior to their first games of the 2018 MEAC Basketball Tournament (March 5-10 in Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.).

2017-18 Women’s Basketball All-MEAC Honors

As voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors

Player of the Year: Angel Golden, Bethune-Cookman

Rookie of the Year: Bairesha Gill-Miles, Maryland Eastern Shore

Defensive Player of the Year: Ashanti Hunt, Bethune-Cookman

Coach of the Year: Vanessa Blair-Lewis, Bethune-Cookman

FIRST TEAM

Name	Ht.	Class	Pos.	School	Hometown
NaJai Pollard	5-11	Jr.	F	Delaware State	Richmond, Va.
Kayla Roberts	6-1	Sr.	G/F	Norfolk State	Miami, Fla.
Angel Golden	5-8	Jr.	G	Bethune-Cookman	Tampa, Fla.
Genesis Lucas	5-7	r-Sr.	G	Coppin State	Brandywine, Md.
Ashanti Hunt	5-11	Jr.	G	Bethune-Cookman	Washington, D.C.

SECOND TEAM

Name	Ht.	Class	Pos.	School	Hometown
Monnazjea Finney-Smith	6-1	Sr.	G/F	Hampton	Portsmouth, Va.
Chance Graham	5-11	So.	F	Coppin State	Upper Marlboro, Md.
Kaylee Allen	5-11	Jr.	G	Savannah State	Cincinnati, Ohio
C'Coriea Foy	6-0	So.	G	N.C. A&T State	Fayetteville, N.C.
Bryeasha Blair	5-5	Gr.	G	S.C. State	Chicago, Ill.

THIRD TEAM

Name	Ht.	Class	Pos.	School	Hometown
Florence Ouattara	6-0	Sr.	G/F	Florida A&M	Tiassale, Ivory Coast
Lexus Spears	6-2	Sr.	F	Morgan State	Jacksonville, Fla.
Alexus Lessears	6-3	So.	C	N.C. A&T State	Cleveland, Ohio
Rodneysha Martin	5-5	Jr.	G	N.C. Central	Olive Branch, Miss.
Jephany Brown	6-0	Sr.	F/G	Hampton	Washington, D.C.

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Name	Ht.	Class	Pos.	School	Hometown
Kieche White	5-4	Fr.	G	N.C. Central	Washington, D.C.
Bairesha Gill-Miles	6-0	Fr.	F	Maryland E. Shore	Lexington, Ky.
Brianna Battle	5-3	Fr.	G	Bethune-Cookman	Pompano Beach, Fla.
Armani Franklin	5-5	Fr.	G	Norfolk State	Hampton, Va.
Ryan Jones	5-5	Fr.	G	Delaware State	Columbia, Md.

MEAC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

MEAC tournament bracket and predictions: Top-seed Hampton makes for an interesting storyline

HAMPTON, Virginia -- Returning the conference’s leading scorer and Defensive Player of the Year from a season ago, many picked Morgan State as the favorite to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. On Thursday, the Bears ended their regular season with a loss to the struggling four-win Delaware State Hornets and have now lost three of their last four games.

When the dust settled on the MEAC’s regular season Thursday night, there was a three-way tie at the top of the conference, with three teams sporting 12-4 league records. By way of a tiebreaker, Hampton grabbed the top seed for the MEAC’s post-season tournament, a first-round bye and the MEAC’s NIT berth by having the best head-to-head record and a better winning percentage than Savannah State and Bethune Cookman.

For the first time since 2013, all 13 MEAC teams will play in its post-season tournament.

Hampton enters the tournament as the conference’s hottest team, having won seven straight games. The Pirates are led by Jermaine Marrow, who is averaging 19.8 points per-game. The 6-foot sophomore is also averaging about five assists and five rebounds per-game. In 15 games this season, he’s scored at least 20 points.

According to KenPom, Hampton is the highest ranked MEAC team at No. 240.

CONTINUE READING

Grambling State adds new corners coach

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Grambling State head football coach Broderick Fobbs strengthened his program’s ties to the biggest recruiting bed in Louisiana with the newest addition to his staff.

Del Lee-Collins, most recently a head high school football coach in New Orleans, has joined GSU’s assistant coaching staff as cornerbacks coach, Fobbs confirmed to The News-Star Thursday. This is the first coaching hire Fobbs has made this offseason.



Lee-Collins spent the last two years coaching at John Ehret High School, last season as interim head coach, and has coached a combined 10 years in the greater New Orleans area at St. Augustine, Sophie B. Walker and Landry-Walker. John Ehret went 9-4 and advanced to the LHSAA Class 5A playoffs in 2017 under Lee-Collins’ guidance, where it lost, 38-0, in the second round to eventual state champion Zachary.

At St. Augustine from 2007 to 2009, he coached current Arizona Cardinal Tyrann Mathieu.

A 1998 McNeese State graduate, Lee-Collins played cornerback for four years for the Cowboys before going on to play professionally for five total years with the New York Jets and the Arena League’s Toronto Phantoms. He jumpstarted his coaching career at his alma mater in 2004.

CONTINUE READING

Texas Southern bounces Southern out of title contention; two players ejected for fight

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern's shot at a regular-season championship has ended.

In a 90-88 loss to Texas Southern on Thursday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center, Southern (14-16, 10-7) failed to stay in contention for the Southwestern Athletic Conference title with a seventh loss.

Southern, Texas Southern and Prairie View, which the Jaguars will host to end the regular season on Saturday, sat in a three-way tie for third place at 10-6 before Thursday. Southern's loss is expected to drop Southern to fourth or fifth in the conference.



First-place Grambling State (16-14, 12-5), which defeated Alabama A&M on Thursday, must win Saturday at Alabama State to clinch the regular-season championship. Because of an NCAA Academic Progress Report sanction, Grambling is ineligible to compete in the postseason, which includes next week's SWAC tournament.

The Jaguars (14-16, 10-7 SWAC) fell in four of their first five conference games before winning eight of the next 10 games through the heart of their conference schedule, good enough to move into second place before Saturday's loss at Alcorn State.

CONTINUE READING

Christian Mekowulu Earns OVC Defensive Player of the Year, Second Team All-OVC

BRENTWOOD, Tennessee --- Tennessee State men’s basketball forward Christian Mekowulu (Lagos, Nigeria) earned Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a place on the All-OVC Second Team, it was announced by the conference office today.

The redshirt junior ranks in the top 25 in the OVC in eight different statistical categories including 19th in scoring (12.6 ppg), sixth in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and second in blocked shots (1.6 bpg). This marks the third-consecutive season a TSU player has won OVC Defensive Player of the Year after Tahjere McCall took home the award each of the last two seasons.

Mekowulu has scored in double figures 18 times this season including a career-high 27 points in TSU’s 50-47 victory over Eastern Illinois on Jan. 27.

His six double-doubles this season, including two in OVC play, are the most on the team and are good for a tie for the sixth most in the conference.

Mekowulu’s 45 blocks are the most for a TSU player since the 2011-12 season when current Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington finished with 45 blocks for TSU. Mekowulu has 13 games with two or more blocks this year.

The 6’9 forward has been TSU’s most-consistent rebounder this season, leading the team on the glass in 22 games - posting seven games with double-figure rebounds.

Mekowulu is a key defensive mainstay for the Tigers, who force turnovers on 23.5 percent of their opponents’ possessions – the fourth-highest rate in the nation this season.

Throughout the season, Mekowulu earned adidas OVC Player of the Week on Dec. 4 and Jan. 29.

For Mekowulu, it is his first time making the All-OVC team and his first major award from the league office.

Mekowulu’s selection to the All-OVC team marks the 33rd all-conference selection for TSU since joining the OVC prior to the 1987-88 season.

Under fourth-year Head Coach Dana Ford, TSU has now had three First Team All-OVC selections and two Second Team All-OVC selections.

2017-18 ALL-OVC AWARDS
OVC Player of the Year: Jonathan Stark, Murray State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Christian Mekowulu, Tennessee State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Terry Taylor, Austin Peay
OVC Coach of the Year: Matt Figger, Austin Peay

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Jonathan Stark, Murray State G - Sr.
Dylan Windler, Belmont - G/F - Jr.
Averyl Ugba, Austin Peay – F - Sr.
Denzel Mahoney, Southeast Missouri - G - So.
Terry Taylor, Austin Peay - F - Fr.
Amanze Egekeze, Belmont - F - Sr.
Nick Mayo, Eastern Kentucky - F - Jr.
Terrell Miller, Murray State - F - Sr.
Austin Luke, Belmont - G - Sr.
Ja Morant, Murray State - G - Fr.

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Christian Mekowulu, Tennessee State - F – R-Jr.
Curtis Phillips, Jr., Tennessee Tech - F - Sr.
Jalen Henry, SIUE - F - Sr.
Malcolm Drumwright, Jacksonville State - G - Sr.
Montell Goodwin, Eastern Illinois - G - Sr.

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Averyl Ugba, Austin Peay - F - Sr.
Terry Taylor, Austin Peay - F - Fr.
Ja Morant, Murray State - G - Fr.
Ledarrius Brewer, Southeast Missouri - G -Fr.
Jason Burnell, Jacksonville State - F - Jr.
Mack Smith, Eastern Illinois - G - Fr.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS