Hotard: Star power aplenty for SWAC football in 2013

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Because the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference first and second teams included 21 juniors and sophomores last year, the league promises to have a heavy dose of football star power this season.

Southern quarterback Dray Joseph returns for his senior year after passing for a SWAC-best 2,511 yards — with 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions — in his first season as a full-time starter.

Some other notable players to keep an eye on:

• Arkansas-Pine Bluff quarterback Ben Anderson beat out Joseph for first-team All-SWAC honors while distinguishing himself as the league’s top dual threat. The junior, who lit up Southern for 371 yards of total offense in a 50-21 rout, will look to build on a 2012 in which he used his arm (2,356 passing yards) and legs (519 rushing yards) to lead UAPB to the conference title.
• Alabama State running back Isaiah Crowell made a predictably big impact on the SWAC last year after rushing for ...

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Southern University Football Marine Day 2013 & Highlights

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TSU's Reed to Appear on 102.5 The Game Saturday at 8 a.m. CT

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY COACH ROD REED
(Courtesy: TSU Athletics) 

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  --  Tennessee State football coach Rod Reed is scheduled to be a guest on 102.5 The Game for City College Sports Saturday at 8 a.m.

The TSU football program is coming off of an 8-3 year, which is the best winning percentage for the team since 2001.

Expectations are high for the 2013 season as Reed, who enters his fourth year at the helm of the program, has improved his win total by at least two games in each of the past two campaigns.

Big Blue also returns 20 starters, including 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference’s top-ranked defense in terms of yards per game.

Fans can hear Reed talk about these subjects and more by tuning their radios to 102.5 or by listening online, here.

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Two B-CU football players get preseason All-America honors

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  Bethune-Cookman football players Terrance Hackney and LeBrandon Richardson were named to The Sports Network FCS Preseason All-America team Monday.

The three-team All-America squad is 98 players deep and includes players from 59 schools and all 13 conferences.

Hackney was a second-team selection as an offensive lineman, while Richardson earned second-team honors as a defensive end.



Hackney finished the 2012 campaign listed on three All-America squads. Selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year as a sophomore, the 6-foot-6, 310-pound tackle from Chapel Hill, N.C., had 15 pancake blocks with just a single sack yielded in 11 starts.

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Stillman's Henderson on U.S. team for World Championships

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama | Second chances do not come often, but leaving a winning mark in the sand makes all the difference when they do.

 

Stillman Tigers track and field star Jeffrey Henderson will represent the United States in the World Championships on Aug. 10-18 in Moscow, Russia. Henderson will be competing for the U.S. for the second time in three years.

 

Henderson was recently named the fastest man in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and placed second in the long jump at the 2013 U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, which helped him qualify for the national team.

 

Henderson competed in the long jump in the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, and said he is competing this time for redemption.

 

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CIAA Volleyball Championship Moves to Winston-Salem State

HAMPTON, Virginia – For the first time since 2005, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) fans will be able to witness the crowning of two Conference champions the same weekend in the same city.

The 2013 CIAA Volleyball Championship will move to Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and take place November 15 – 17 on the university’s campus.  In addition, the CIAA Football Championship game will crown its champion on Saturday, November 16 at Winston-Salem State University’s Bowman Gray Stadium.

First round volleyball action begins on Friday, November 15 as the top four teams from the Northern and Southern Division meet in a double-elimination tournament.  Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, N.C., is the 2012 defending champion.

"Winston-Salem State University will be a fantastic host for both the CIAA volleyball and football championships.  Their experience in hosting will assist the conference in ensuring the fans, sponsors and student-athletes have a spectacular weekend.  This is a great opportunity to support and showcase volleyball and football in the community, while celebrating the athletic and academic achievements of some of the best student-athletes in Division II," said Jacqie Carpenter – Commissioner, CIAA.  

Specific match times and locations will be released at a later date.

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Slain Howard University student is mourned

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Friends could count on Omar Sykes. For a smile, a hug, an attentive ear, he was always open to helping others.

Sykes, a 22-year-old rising senior and business marketing major at Howard University, was shot and killed Thursday night just outside the college’s Northwest Washington campus in what police said was a random robbery attempt. A second student was struck with a handgun and is recovering.

Friends and family were shocked by the death of the community service-oriented young man, who was a leader of Howard’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a coed service fraternity. He was also a member of the Noble Black Society, an organization founded at Howard that defines itself on its Web site as a “family oriented entertainment collective focused on the purpose of Redefining Black.”

“Just to think something like this could happen is just unheard of,” said Lance Coleman, a 22-year-old Howard student and a close friend of Sykes’s. “He was probably the most well-liked guy in my life. He was always about helping people. . . . The world just lost someone pretty amazing.”

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Odums says SU will not be intimidated by Houston

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Speaking at the weekly Baton Rouge Press Club luncheon Monday afternoon, Dawson Odums said he knew most of the media in the room wouldn’t pick him to start his run as Southern University’s permanent head football coach with a win.

The Jaguars open 2013 against the University of Houston on Aug. 30 in Reliant Stadium, a game that will net Southern’s athletic department a $350,000 payout.

But Odums, who inherited the Southern job full time after going 4-5 as the interim coach last season, said the talk around the Southern football facility this summer hasn’t been about collecting a check.

He said the Jaguars will play hard against an opponent transitioning from Conference USA to the new American Athletic Conference. He said they won’t be intimidated.

“If they put their pants on one leg at a time, we’ve got a chance,” Odums said he has told his players. He then added, “If you see anybody who jumps in there (with both legs) at the same time, call timeout. We’re getting on the bus and coming on back home.”

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Albany State signs ex-Grambling State QB Rivers

ALBANY, Georgia  --  Albany State’s cloudy quarterback picture is now a little bit clearer.

 

The Rams, who have been searching for a quarterback the entire offseason, have signed Grambling State transfer Frank Rivers, ASU coach Mike White confirmed to The Herald on Thursday.

 

Rivers, a rising junior, started eight games the last two years at Division I Grambling State and said he is excited to be the newest member of the ASU program.

 

“I am really happy to be here,” said Rivers, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound native of Fairfield, Alabama.  “I have been working out with the guys, and them and the coaches all accept me. This team gets a lot of support from the surrounding areas, so I am excited to see how this goes.”

 

It’s the announcement ASU fans have been waiting for ...

 

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Toronto Blue Jays Sign Benedict's Lydell Moseby

COLUMBIA, South Carolina  --  Benedict College All-American baseball player Lydell Moseby has signed a free-agent contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, the team announced.

Moseby was assigned to Dunedin, Fla., the spring training home of the Blue Jays.

He was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America Second Team as a shortstop. The senior from Sacramento, Calif., also played catcher, third base, first base and outfield for the Tigers this season.

Moseby was named the SIAC Utility Player of the Year after batting .418 and ranking second in the nation with a .799 slugging percentage. He led the SIAC and was among the nation's leaders with 11 home runs. He also led the SIAC and ranked third nationally with 1.34 runs batted in per game. He also ranked eighth nationally with 1.24 runs scored per game.

Moseby's family has a strong connection to the Blue Jays organization. His father, Lloyd Moseby, was the second overall draft pick in the 1978 draft by the Blue Jays and spent 10 years in the Major Leagues playing for Toronto and was named to the All-Star Team in 1986. The elder Moseby also played for the Detroit Tigers for two years.

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WSSU’s Carrothers says he’s on the mend after shoulder surgery

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Anthony Carrothers, the expected starting quarterback at Winston-Salem State, has that bounce back in his step.

Carrothers, who went 2-0 in a backup role last season, underwent surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder on April 24. The surgery was performed on his non-throwing shoulder — but he still was forced to take some time away from football.                 

“It feels good to throw again,” Carrothers said earlier this week in between workouts during a break from summer school. “I just want to get in that groove again and I’ve been throwing to my guys about three or four times a week.”

Carrothers was given clearance to throw June 24 and he took to ...

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Arvie: Grambling State O-line coach crucial

GRAMBLING, Louisiana  --  Herman Arvie, a former Grambling and NFL offensive lineman, said he couldn’t believe his ears when he heard that his alma mater laid off offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson on June 27.

Arvie, who played with the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens from 1993-96 as an offensive tackle, said he was relieved to hear the offensive line coach was reinstated Tuesday because of that position’s importance.

“As an offensive lineman, you’ve got to be in sync with the running backs, the quarterback and even the wide receivers,” Arvie said. “You’ve got to know what they’re doing, depending on whether the quarterback is taking a three-step drop or a seven-step drop.

“When I heard the news, I couldn’t believe that ...

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Citrus Bowl Renovation Could Cost More Than Thought

Florida Citrus Bowl
Event: Florida Blue Florida Classic

The Florida Citrus Bowl is home to the MEAC/SWAC Challenge and Florida Blue Florida Classic between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University

ORLANDO, Florida  --  The pricey renovation of the Florida Citrus Bowl -- already controversial because the municipal stadium doesn't have a professional sports team -- may be getting more -expensive, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

After years of delays, work on the 77-year-old stadium is expected to begin in February. But as the city prepares to put the finishing touches on the redesign, stadium boosters say the budget of about $190 million isn't enough.

They are quietly lobbying for another $18 million to $27 million.

"We're trying to make sure that we leave ourselves with maximum flexibility and get a first-rate stadium when we're finished," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

Plans call for demolishing much of the stadium, including the entire lower bowl, and then rebuilding. When the work is finished in early 2015, about 80 percent of the facility will be new.

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GETTING TOUGH, MENTALLY: SCSU quarterback Richard Cue using voluntary summer workouts to gain strength and focus

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  --  The return of strength and conditioning coach John Williams is not the only change at summer workouts for South Carolina State University’s football program this year.

Personal issues at home kept quarterback Richard Cue from participating in summer workouts last year. While the Florence native did manage to keep the starting job he claimed after Derrick Wiley’s mid-season knee injury in 2012, he struggled with consistency and accuracy as part of an offense which ranked among the lowest in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

This summer, Cue is front and center at the Bulldogs’ daily voluntary workouts. Each morning during the week, the fifth-year senior is ...

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Alabama A&M Head Coach Semeka Randall Announces Coaching Staff

Head Coach Semeka Randall
(Courtesy AAMU Athletics) 

(L) Coach Powell, (R) Coach Palmer
(Courtesy AAMU Athletics)
 

NORMAL, Alabama --  It's been a busy first 30 days on the job for Head Women's Basketball Coach, Semeka Randall. Coach Randall has talked to all of the players, monitored their progress in summer school, gotten them acclimated to her expectations and intensity during workouts and individuals, and met with coaches and Bulldog supporters in the Huntsville and Birmingham areas. She recently completed her coaching staff with the hiring of Elaine Powell and Terry Palmer.

Elaine Powell is no stranger to the SWAC. Coach Powell was an assistant coach at Grambling State University from 2008-2012. She joined Coach Randall's staff at Ohio University as an assistant in 2012-2013. Prior to her coaching career, Powell spent almost a decade playing professionally with the ABL, WNBA, and the European League. She is a 3-time WNBA Champion with the Detroit Shock (2003, 2006, and 2008) and was drafted by the Orlando Miracle in 1999, the first player in the history of LSU Women's Basketball to be drafted by a WNBA team.

"Coach Powell brings a weaalth of experience to Bulldog Basketball," said Head Coach Semeka Randall. "Not only is she familiar with the SWAC; she has played and won at the highest level of basketball; she is a great recruiter and developer of talent; and she's a player's coach."

Powell is a 2002 graduate of LSU and was a 2-time All-SEC player while a member of the Lady Tigers Basketball from 1995-1997.

Terry Palmer has made his mark coaching women's basketball at several SIAC schools. Coach Palmer is also quite familiar with Alabama A&M University because of the friendly battles he had when the Bulldogs were in the SIAC.

Coach Palmer has spent time at Tuskegee University, Lane College in Jackson, TN, and Paine College in Augusta, GA. Palmer spent nine successful seasons (2002-2010) as an assistant basketball coach, Head Softball Coach, and Interim Head Women's Basketball Coach at Paine. The Paine Lions captured back-to-back SIAC Women's Basketball Conference Championships in 2005 and 2006 and competed in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament during Coach Palmer's tenure.

"Coach Palmer is a seasoned coach and balances the dynamics of my coaching staff," said Randall. "He is very familiar with the Tennessee Valley area in terms of recruiting and we'll rely heavily on his contacts and ability to navigate the processes here at A&M."

Coach Palmer graduated from Paine College in 1994 and received his master's from Tuskegee in 1999. He joins the Bulldogs from Benedict College in Columbia, SC, where he was an academic counselor and assistant women's basketball coach.

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Albany State Rams snag ex-Westover star Greene, top RB prospect from Detroit

ALBANY, Georgia — Albany State is still looking for its quarterback for next season, but in the meantime Rams coach Mike White might have found his running backs of the future.

On Saturday, White confirmed to The Herald that two top running backs — Westover’s Dalviness Greene and Detroit native Ryan Knuckles — will compete for spots in the backfield next season.

 

Greene, a Herald Dynamite Dozen selection last year, has signed with the Rams, while Knuckles, who — out of high school — received offers from the University of Miami, the University of Michigan and Michigan State, will walk on at Albany State after being ruled academically ineligible at the Division I level.

 

Both will help solidify a backfield that lost star runner Nathan Hoyte to graduation and doesn’t return a running back that gained more than 61 yards last season.

 

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TSU women’s basketball adds transfer Stephanie Myers

NASHVILLE, Tennessee  --  The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team has announced the addition of Middle Tennessee transfer Stephanie Myers to the Lady Tiger program.

Myers will sit out the upcoming 2013-14 season due to NCAA transfer guidelines and will be eligible to play for the 2014-15 campaign as a graduate student with one year of eligibility.

“We’re very excited about Stephanie coming to our program,” commented head coach Larry Inman. “She brings some experience, which we need, and she might be one of the tallest players to ever play here at Tennessee State University. She’s going to give us a great inside presence. She’s a great young lady and a great asset to our program based on a lot of things but mostly her integrity as an individual and her work ethic.”

Myers played two years with Middle Tennessee after redshirting her freshman season. When she joined the program, the 6-5 native of Chicago was listed as the tallest player to ever sign with the Blue Raiders.

Prior to attending Middle Tennessee, Myers played four years at LaVerne High School. She was ranked as the No. 25 post player by ESPN while also ranking among the Top 100 players nationally by Dan Olsen’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.

The Chicago, Illinois native was selected to the All-District 7 3A Team at the conclusion of her senior year. She was also named the Daily News Journal’s Female Athlete of the Week (Feb. 2, 2010).

Follow TSU Athletics on Facebook.com/TSUTigers http://www.facebook.com/tsutigers  and Twitter @TSU_Tigers  http://www.twitter.com/tsu_tigers
 
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Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions Well Represented in Collegiate Summer Leagues

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas  --  The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff baseball team is well represented in summer collegiate baseball leagues as 19 past, current, and future members are suited-up for various summer teams across the country.

Two current Golden Lions started their summer off with the Falmouth Commodores in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League: Isias Alcantar, the 2013 SWAC Player of the Year, and Jim Ploeger. Both have since moved on to the Far West League and Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, respectively. Three players are competing in the Alaskan Baseball League as Andrew Buehler and Mikey Ramirez represent the Alaska Goldpanners and Mike Wieland is playing for the Peninsula Oilers.

See below as it relates to additional Golden Lions and their whereabouts this summer.

2013-2014 Golden Lions in Summer Collegiate Baseball Leagues

Alaska Baseball League
Alaska Goldpanners: Andrew Buehler and Mikey Ramirez
Peninsula Oilers: Mike Wieland

Far West League
San Francisco Seals: Isias Alcantar, Tyler Oertle, and Humberto Zavala
Top Speed: Cody De Mera

Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League
Westhampton Aviators: Jim Ploeger and Kyle Schwartz

Midwest Collegiate Baseball League
Northwest Indiana Oilmen: Rashawn Tillman

M.I.N.K. Collegiate Baseball League
St. Joseph Mustangs: Redmond Floyd, Stanten Jones, and Dixon Marble

New York Collegiate League
Geneva Twins: Kirby Campbell, Josh Cassidy, and Tommy Haas

Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League
Dubois County Bombers: Andre Davis

Westhchester Baseball Association:
New Rochell Robins: Fabian Chirino and Vladimir Gomez

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Julian Stafford, MVSU Delta Devils have matured

 ITTA BENA, Mississippi -- Julian Stafford has Sept. 1 circled on his calendar.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound redshirt sophomore expects to be lined up at wide receiver for Mississippi Valley State when the Delta Devils open the football season by taking on Florida A&M University in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney. The Memphis, Tenn., native is coming off a stellar season where he caught 52 passes for 800 yards and four touchdowns -- an impressive feat when you consider he had 57 yards as a freshman.

"Once he gets going, a player of his caliber is hard to slow down," says Coach Karl Morgan, who recalled the game against Grambling State last October, when Stafford amassed 262 all-purpose yards and two kick return touchdowns.



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Return of Florida A&M Marching 100 help football ticket sales

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TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  FAMU football has gotten its 12th man back with the announcement last week that the Marching 100 band has been reinstated.

But while head football coach Earl Holmes said he is glad to have the return of the band because it should serves as a motivator for his players, FAMU athletic department could stand to benefit even more financially. Athletic administrators have said repeatedly that the band is the brand that sells.

“The plus for everybody is the band is a talent. A part of the university program that everybody enjoys,” said interim athletic director Michael Smith.

“It’s another marketing tool, another recruiting tool for the university. We welcome the band’s return and all the opportunities that it brings because it’s a part of the university’s fabric and its culture and it’s success, not just in athletics.

Just how vital the band is to FAMU athletic has been evident at ...

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FLORIDA A&M 2013 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE (.html)

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DATE OPPONENT LOCATION MEAC EVENT TIME

9/01 @Mississippi Vally State, Orlando, FL, (MEAC/SWAC Challenge) 11:45AM

9/07 Tennessee State, Tallahassee, FL, (Hall of Fame Weekend), 2:00 PM
9/14  Samford U., Tallahassee, FL (Youth Day)&, 2:00 PM

9/21 @Ohio State, Columbus, Ohio, Ohio Stadium, TBA
9/28  OPEN
10/05 @*Morgan State, Baltimore, MD, Hughes Stadium, 1:00 PM
10/12 @*Savannah State, Savannah, GA, Ted Wright Stadium, 6:00 PM
10/19    *Howard U., Tallahassee, FL, (FAMU Homecoming 2013), 2:00 PM 
10/26     *North Carolina A&T, Tallahassee, FL, (Parent's Weekend), 2:00 PM

11/02  @*Norfolk State, Norfolk, VA, Dick Price Stadium, (NSU homecoming) 2:00 PM
11/09  @*South Carolina State, Orangeburg, SC, Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, 1:30 PM
11/16      *Delaware State, Tallahassee, FL, 2:00 PM
11/23   @*Bethune-Cookman, Orlando, FL (Florida Classic), TBA

& The Samford game will be part of a two-game series between the two programs. Florida A&M will travel to Seibert Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama for a game on Sept. 12, 2015.

*MEAC Game
BOLD: Home Game
GREEN: In-State Florida Classics 

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MEAC/SWAC Challenge Weekend
SEPT. 1, 2013, ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Florida A&M Rattlers vs. Mississippi Valley Delta Devils

Rattler fans! Be sure to partake in the ancillary activities surrounding the 2013 MEAC/ SWAC Challenge Presented by Disney.  Accompany your FAMU Football season opener purchase with tickets to the Pep Ralley hosted at Downtown Disney, Band Showcase at Disney's Epcot or any other Official MEAC/SWAC Challenge weekend list of events.  The 2013 MEAC/ SWAC Challenge game tickets are currently on sale.  Visit www.MEACSWACCHALLENGE.com for more details. 

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