S.C. State and a recipe for success

Reflecting on the just-completed four-part series on the state of S.C. State athletics, the one word that comes to mind is potential. It’s a word that carries both good and bad connotations. Often times, it’s placed on an athlete, team or, in S.C. State’s case, program that has exhibited signs of greatness for the future.

For those who turn potential into success, it’s the fulfillment of expectations. On the other hand, for those who fail to reach those predisposed goals, potential can become a burden too heavy to carry.

Having examined S.C. State athletics over the past summer, I find it evident the school has the means to become a dominating force in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. To their credit, school administrators have done more than a yeoman’s share of work toward providing the resources for all of the programs to succeed.

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Jackson State Tigers' dozing offense awakens

Through four practices, it just wasn't fair.

The Jackson State defense, returning eight starters off the 2007 Southwestern Athletic Conference champions, had been a bully for four straight days. The defensive line was dominant as Sam Washington and Marcus Benard were nearly unblockable off the ends. Dennis Coit, Neal Pogue and Temple transfer Terrence Banks were bruisers inside. The linebacking corps showed no weakness and the defensive backs stuck so close to wanna-be receivers they nearly qualified for common-law marriage.

The atmosphere on the opposite sides of the field couldn't have been more different. Linebackers Marcellus Speaks and Marcus Jamison bounced around shouting at anyone who would listen. Smiles were prevalent after each running back was pounded into the ground, even during no-tackle drills.

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Arkansas-Pine Bluff football attendance ranked in Top 25

Despite having only three home football games last season, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was ranked in the Top 25 in the nation in average attendance in the Football Championship Subdivision (formally known as Division I-AA).

The Golden Lions averaged 12,542 fans last season, which was good for 23rd in the nation and third-best in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. “All this proves is what we have known all along,” UAPB Director of Athletics Louis “Skip” Perkins said. “We have some of the greatest fans in not only the state of Arkansas, but the entire nation.”

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S.C. State Bulldogs might have found a deep threat

SCSU Bulldogs head football coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough is favored to win the MEAC title in '08.

ORANGEBURG — Buddy Pough has been searching for a consistent big-play wide receiver ever since Tavarus Morgan departed S. C. State in 2004. After three fruitless years, that hunt may finally be over this season for the S.C. State football coach. That is if Burke High product Oliver "Tre" Young can live up to the high expectations of the Bulldogs coaching staff.

"We really haven't had that deep threat at receiver, the kind of guy that can stretch a defense the way Morgan did, but I have a lot of faith in his ability," said Pough at Friday's Media Day at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. "He's got the speed and the hands, and he got some experience last season. We have a lot of talented young receivers, but I think Tre' has the best chance to emerge as the kind of guy we've lacked out there for a couple of years."

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AAMU new tight ends aim to catch on

Aside from quarterback Kelcy Luke, Alabama A&M's biggest losses on offense were tight ends three-time All-SWAC selection Charles Moody and John Smith. A&M's new tight ends offer few credentials and no numbers to speak of. Todd Leichtfuss and Jeremy Cunningham have caught one pass between them, but despite their lack of playing time and production, they're confident they can be just as effective.

"I feel that we can handle this," said Leichtfuss, a 6-foot-2, 217-pound junior who will serve as the Bulldogs' long- snapper for the third straight year in addition to his tight end duties. "As long as we do our job and not worry about anybody else, everything will take care of itself."

Cunningham was a little more adamant.

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FAMU glad to have ferocious Shipman

Latasha Shipman didn't know it then, but she made a lasting impression on LeDawn Gibson when they first met a few years ago. Shipman journeyed from North Carolina, knowing very well that she'd be competing against some Division I powers in a bid to recruit players from the Winter Haven High School basketball team coached then by Gibson.

Shipman, then an assistant coach at Shaw University, didn't get a single player to commit to playing for the Bears. She made a pretty strong case, though, from what Gibson remembers. "That says a lot about her," said Gibson, who became the women's basketball coach at FAMU earlier this year. "She is aggressive. She just wanted the girls that she thought would have made Shaw successful, and she didn't mind who she was competing against."

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With Clyde Edwards gone, Grambling on the prowl for receivers

GRAMBLING — There are some big shoes to fill in the Grambling receiving corps. Clyde Edwards, the most productive wide receiver in Grambling history, has moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Grambling also lost its second-leading receiver from 2007, Reginald Jackson, as well as tight end Tim Abney, its third-leading receiver.

Those three players combined for 150 receptions, 1,814 receiving yards, and 19 touchdowns last season. This is the SWAC, where airing it out is the norm, so finding a new batch of receivers is vital. Head coach Rod Broadway said Grambling -- who leads his team to its first intrasquad scrimmage tonight -- has plenty of talented players ready to step into the lineup and produce.

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DSU football holds first practice

Hornets senior QB Vashon Winton

DOVER — This is the time of year that sometimes seems to take forever to arrive for Delaware State University football coach Al Lavan and his Hornets. Once the football season begins, everything is a blur. It is just getting to this point that seems to take so painfully long.

But at long last, just before 7:30 on Friday night, Delaware State’s players – about 80 strong – clad in bright red shorts and jerseys, made their way onto the artificial turf surface of Alumni Stadium and got their first preseason practice under way.

It is another season of big expectations for the Hornets, who made their first appearance in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs last season after they won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship, their first since 1991.

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Southern lineman Chinyoung excited about playing again after tough 2007

Ramon Chinyoung gazed at his shiny, new No. 61 jersey and unfurled the purest smile of satisfaction Saturday. In his hands was all he had missed. In his hands was all he worked to regain. In his hands was his place and pride restored and the promise of a season to come. Gold numbers on a field of navy blue. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had this on,” Chinyoung said.

Chinyoung’s sophomore season ended during last season’s preseason camp. The Southern center was ruled academically ineligible after attending a summer school class he didn’t need. He never got to wear the game jersey. He’ll be back in the jersey this season. “My No. 1 thing with being back is I’m going to be play with a vengeance,” Chinyoung said at the team’s picture/media day.

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S. C. State Bulldogs get first scrimmage action in

Flashes of lightning dominated the evening skies hovering above Oliver C. Dawson Stadium Thursday night. Friday night, a different kind of “aerial show” much closer to the ground drew curious and fascinated eyes in attendance for South Carolina State’s first preseason scrimmage.

Providing the theatrics was new starting quarterback Malcolm Long and the first-team offense. For most of the first half of the scrimmage, the former South Carolina “Mr. Football” had his way with the second-team defense in leading the offense to scores on three of its first four drives.

“Malcolm’s got a good grasp with what’s going on and where to go with the ball,” S.C. State quarterbacks coach Kevin Magouirk said. “He’s a smart player which is something that we’re lucky to have.” Long was accurate much of the evening and looked as throwing long downfield as he did completing passes on short routes. Even the dropped passes were on target.

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Prairie View A&M football: Q&A with RB Donald Babers

Babers enters this season atop the depth chart at running back after rushing for a team-leading 482 yards with five touchdowns in 2007. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Babers was mostly sidelined with a ankle injury down the the stretch last season.

Here's a transcript of the interview:

RT: Donald, you were a part of the group that brought Prairie View its first winning season since 1976, but heading into this year, expectations are much different. You're expected to be good. How does it feel now knowing that you have those kinds of expectations placed on you?

DB: Well, you know a lot of people thought it was a fluke that we had a winning season. We know that we have a good team now because we believe in ourselves. We believe that nobody but Prairie View can beat us. I believe that we can actually compete against anybody in the country, even a Division I-A school.

Former Rattler Gray feeling more comfortable with Colts offense

Former Jaguars starter has several strengths

Finally, the incomprehensible is beginning to make sense.

Finally, the Xs and Os of the Indianapolis Colts offense, along with all the complex variables, are coming into focus for veteran quarterback Quinn Gray. "It's always a learning process," Gray said as he prepared for tonight's preseason game at Carolina. "It's working out now where I'm a little more comfortable being in (meetings) as opposed to when I first got here and my mind was racing a thousand miles an hour.

Former Florida A&M's quarterback Quinn Gray got size (6-3, 254), a strong arm, mobility and experience.

"It was like looking down at Chinese arithmetic. Now, I can look at a script and know where every body's going to be. Now, it's coming along real well."

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Former ASU QB throws well for Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS -- There were questions surrounding former Alabama State quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, the third-year pro who is entering his second season as Minnesota's starter after an erratic debut. He showed fine command of the offense in his three series of the preseason opener against Seattle, completing 8 of 11 passes for 118 yards and a score.

With Adrian Peterson being used only as a decoy, the Vikings called passes on the first 11 plays Jackson was under center. He threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to new fullback Thomas Tapeh and hooked up with new receiver Bernard Berrian twice for 43 yards.

"We feel very comfortable with our running game, but we wanted to get our pass game a fresh start," Jackson said. "I feel good. I feel real comfortable."

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Day 1 of football practice good for Rattlers

Coach Joe Taylor was all about the basics, down to the Rattlers' activity on the sidelines Friday. "We just need to be a little bit more focused," Taylor said following walk-through practice. "You've got to get better every day. We've got to practice our focus; I just heard too much chatter."
























Sophomore running back Philip Sylvester (#30) re-defined his physique during the summer as he added nine pounds of sculpted muscle to his 5-foot-10 frame, putting him at 192, with 4.39 speed in the 40 yard dash (archive photo).

But Taylor gave all three units of his team high marks overall, saying that his first-line players were ahead of schedule. It was the second day of activity without pads for the Rattlers since they began preparation for the season-opener on Aug. 30 against Alabama State at Bragg Stadium. The humid afternoon was mostly about fundamental and knocking off the rust of being away from the field since spring practice.

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Ex-FSU coach gives FAMU early pep talk

Darrell Mudra barely took a breath between stories that he told Thursday night during a 30-minute talk intended to help Florida A&M football players zone in on the upcoming season. When he didn't quote from the Bible or great philosophers, Mudra spoke of his own experiences that included his brief tenure as head football coach at Florida State. He took the players through the highs and lows of his career that spanned more than three decades.

"I don't know how much it will help, but those were all of the things that helped us to win a lot of football games," said Mudra following the talk inside the Rattlers' locker room. "I just hope that I helped Joe a little bit because he means a lot to me. "We are going to be following them and I expect great things. I think this will be a new era in Florida A&M football."

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A&M's Jones sees good, bad

Bulldogs coach wishes team was further ahead

Anthony Jones stood and applauded Alabama A&M's offense early on during Thursday's practice. A few minutes later, Jones voiced his displeasure as the unit failed to execute. He does the same thing when he watches film. One minute, Jones is happy. The next, he's somewhat perplexed.

Such is life for the Bulldogs' head football coach. "We've still got a lot of work to do," Jones said Thursday after his team's first week of practice. "We've got a lot of new faces that we're trying to get ready to play college football for the first time. A lot of them are guys that have been in our program, but they haven't been in the fire yet. We're making progress toward our goal, but it's slower than I would like for it to be."

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Southern looking for toughness from LBs

Southern defensive coordinator Terrence Graves has returned to the unit he’s coached most year after year — linebackers — and he didn’t bring any softness to his return. “I’m doing a lot of hard coaching with the older guys,” Graves said. “They’ve been around too long not to do the little things. We’re harping on the little things (as a coaching staff).”

In order for Southern to contend for its first Southwestern Athletic Conference title since 2003, Graves has to get the most from his guys.He has to have junior drop (outside) linebacker Gary Chatman get even better after a monster first season: 57 tackles, including four sacks, and 11 quarterback hurries.

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For South Carolina State, erosion of fan base and support is a serious issue

It was just like old times for John Alford. The former South Carolina State defensive tackle, popularly known as “Scrap Iron,” was back in familiar surroundings at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. Lined up on the field with some of his former teammates. Alford was among the former Bulldog greats being honored during the Morgan State game last November as part of the school’s Centennial Celebration.

From the pre-game ceremony to the dramatic ending on Terrence Smith’s one-handed end zone catch in an overtime victory, the day brought back memories of great Bulldog days in the past for Alford. As he looked around the stadium and noticed the mostly empty seats, however, Alford was snapped back into reality.

“Where are the fans?” he remembered. “Where’s the community support?”

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Unweathered: UAPB can't stop the rain; rain doesn't stop practice

Even Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach Monte Coleman couldn’t stop mother nature. The man who made a living stopping NFL running backs couldn’t stop the rain. With his team fully entrenched in a practice Wednesday afternoon, the skies opened up. Rain and lightning poured out and the Golden Lions were forced inside. UAPB doesn’t have an indoor practice facilty, so the Golden Lions were forced to halt practice until the inclement weather subsided.

But Coleman, UAPB’s first-year head coach and fifth-year defensive coordinator, refused to blame it on the rain.

“The weather is part of it,” the former Washington Redskin said. “If we had a game, we would have to be out in it. (The weather) is not going to hinder us. We got 100 percent when we stepped on that practice field.”

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ASU to ask for leniency from NCAA

ASU Hornets interim athletic director Ron Dickerson

Excerpt:

Alabama State University officials will plead for mercy today when they go before the NCAA infractions committee.The eight-person committee will include four attorneys, two law school professors, University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee and Mid-East Athletic Conference commissioner Dennis Thomas. Josephine Potuto, a law professor from the University of Nebraska, will serve as the chairman.

The decision on whether Cole committed major rules violations is important for ASU because the school has $250,000 on the line -- the amount left on Cole's contract when ASU fired him in 2003 for allegedly committing several major violations. If he is cleared of the final three violations against him -- the school accused him of more than 14 violations -- Cole would be due the $250,000.

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Jericho to broadcast FAMU football

Florida A&M University announced today it has signed a contract with the Black College Sports Network, a division of Jericho Broadcast Networks, Inc. This makes Jericho the official broadcaster of Rattler sports for radio, television and the Internet.

In all likelihood it also means that Keith Miles, the voice of the Rattlers for more than two decades, is out. Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but Jericho will provide radio and Internet video coverage of all FAMU football games, as well as most basketball games and other sports events.

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Mitchell talks Coppin's 2008 recruiting class

Guard Tywain McKee (Mark's Digital Photography)

Last season Fang Mitchell led the Coppin State men’s basketball team to one of the more improbable seasons in NCAA history. The Eagles suffered through a 20-loss season before catching fire down the stretch, winning 12 of their last 13 games, including an upset of Morgan State in the MEAC championship, which earned the team an NCAA tournament berth. It was the first time a 20-loss team made the tournament.

This season, Mitchell returns the team’s leading scorer Tywain McKee, to the roster. But Mitchell must replace the other four starters, all of whom graduated.

Mitchell will look to his 2008 recruiting class to help make up for that lost production. The Eagles are bringing in four freshmen this season: Loch Raven shooting guard Jordan Lee, Mount St. Joseph point guard Justin McCoy, Milwaukee Custer guard Michael Harper and Philadelphia North Catholic guard Lenny Young.

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ShootAround: Coppin State proves it's not the start, but the finish that counts

Tywain McKee will return to CSU for a second senior season (Prop. 48) to lead the Eagles (Mark's Digital Photography).

Going into the 2008 MEAC tournament, Coppin State was the longest of long shots. With a 12-20 overall record and a No. 7 seed, the Eagles were figured by few to have any chance of lasting more than a game or two. One Web site's formula put Coppin's chances of making the NCAA tournament at just 3 percent.

But speculative statistical algorithms are no match for March math. The Eagles won four games in five days, all in the final seconds, against the best teams in the league. All top-three seeds went down to defeat to the MEAC's mighty underdogs, as Coppin went from lost cause to the Big Dance, earning a spot in the NCAA play-in game.

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Putting on pads brings out beast in JSU defense

Jackson State took the football field in shoulder pads for the first time of preseason camp Wednesday. And the defense was more than appreciative.

The unit looked like it couldn't wait to hit someone despite orders not to tackle to the ground - to just wrap up. Those instructions never really set in as running backs and wide receivers were popped repeatedly throughout the day. Defensive end Sam Washington and outside linebacker Ryan Rich had the hits of the day during an inside running drill.

"Defensively, if you're not striking somebody, practice is not the same," JSU coach Rick Comegy said. "Defense always has that extra flow about them when they think they're going to hit somebody and do their craft."

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Former Delaware State coach dies of cancer

Photo: Coach Jeff Battle, husband to Joyce Battle.

Joyce Battle, the wife of Associate Head Coach Jeff Battle of the Wake Forest University men's basketball program, died yesterday of breast cancer at age 44.

The cancer was first diagnosed more than eight years ago, before Jeff Battle left his job as assistant coach at Xavier to accompany Coach Skip Prosser to Wake Forest in April 2001. After Prosser died July 26, 2007, Battle remained at Wake Forest as an assistant to Coach Dino Gaudio.

Joyce Battle was a standout point guard at Fayetteville State University and later an assistant coach at Delaware State University, where she met Jeff Battle. She coached the couple's son, Jordan, 14, in youth basketball. Most recently, she taught and coached basketball at a middle school in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Jeff Battle, known nationally as one of college basketball's top assistant coaches, begins his eighth season at Wake Forest as associate head coach and his 24th season overall in the coaching profession. He served as an assistant coach at Delaware State University for three seasons (1991-93) before advancing to Loyola, Xavier and Wake Forest.