PVAMU 2010 Football Schedule Announced

With the kickoff less than seven months away, Prairie View A&M University has announced its 2010 football schedule. The schedule, which marks the team’s first 11-game slate since 2005, is highlighted by five games in the state of Texas, two state fair appearances and the first-ever match-up versus Football Bowl Subdivision and Conference USA member Southern Mississippi. “I’m definitely pleased we have 11 ballgames as this will be a competitive schedule with a wide variety of teams from the FBS, FCS and Division II ranks,” said head coach Henry Frazier III.

Prairie View A&M opens the 2010 campaign in Houston on Saturday, Sept. 4 versus SWAC rival Texas Southern in the 26th edition of the Labor Day Classic at a site to be determined. The Panthers have defeated their in-state foes in five of the past six meetings. Following the Labor Day Classic, Prairie View travels to the state of Mississippi in the first of three trips next season for a match-up at Southern Mississippi of Conference USA on Sept. 11 in Hattiesburg, Miss. This will mark the second consecutive season the Panthers will face a FBS member after battling New Mexico State of the Western Athletic Conference last year.

Prairie View’s home opener at Blackshear Field is set for Sept. 18 when the Panthers host Alabama State.

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Prairie View A&M University 2010 Football Schedule

9/4 Texas Southern 12:00 Noon Houston, Texas Labor Day Classic
9/11 Southern Mississippi 6:00 PM Hattiesburg, Miss.
9/18 Alabama State 12:00 Noon Prairie View
9/25 Grambling State 6:00 PM Dallas, Texas State Fair Classic

10/2Mississippi Valley 12:00 Noon Itta Bena, Miss,
10/9 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 12:00 Noon Pine Bluff, Ark.
10/16 Lincoln 12:00 Noon Prairie View Homecoming
10/23 Southern 12:00 Noon Shreveport, La.
10/30 Jackson State 12:00 Noon Jackson, Miss.

11/13 Alcorn State 12:00 Noon Prairie View
11/20 Alabama A&M 12:00 Noon Huntsville, Ala.

Unexpected boost from Boogaard lifts KU in WNIT win over Prairie View

Oh, Canada. Saskatchewan native Krysten Boogaard produced a career-high 37 points in a rare start as Kansas plunked Prairie View A&M, 82-70, in its WNIT basketball opener Wednesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. “I just knew I needed to fill some big shoes,” Boogaard said. Back in January, the 6-foot-5 junior lost her starting job to Carolyn Davis, but Davis suffered a recurrence of an earlier concussion and had to sit this one out. With Boogaard dominating the paint against the undersized Panthers, the Jayhawks didn’t miss Davis at all.

“It was a huge evening for her,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “She did a great job of getting in front of the rim, and the guards got a lot of passes to her, too.” “I don’t think we were prepared for the intensity that she brought tonight,” Prairie View coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said of Boogaard. “She maintained that level of intensity on both ends of the court all game long, and that we weren’t prepared for.”

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Lady Jayhawks win, advance

JSU Tigers' Williams to be punished, Anderson vows

The day after one of his players was ejected from Tuesday's game for punching a Mississippi State player in the groin, Jackson State basketball coach Tevester Anderson called the action "uncharacteristic" and said Phillip Williams will be punished in some fashion. "It's uncharacteristic of him, it's uncharacteristic of our team and I'm really disappointed in what took place," said Anderson, whose team lost 81-67 to MSU in a first-round game of the National Invitation Tournament at Starkville. "There will be some repercussions from me down the road. ... Nothing should happen to cause a guy to do something like that.

"I will get to the bottom of it. I don't run that kind of program. I don't condone that at all." SWAC policy mandates a one-game suspension for a player ejected from a game. Although Williams became an instant YouTube hit and was fodder for radio and TV talk show hosts around the country, Anderson said he had not seen a replay of the punch by Wednesday afternoon. He said he will make Williams' punishment public after making a decision.



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Morgan State playing for ailing teammate 'Big Ant'

Morgan State University basketball jerseys bears a No. 4 for teammate Anthony Anderson, who has been fighting acute leukemia.

Wherever Morgan State's basketball team goes this season, the Bears take Anthony Anderson with them. He was in Winston-Salem, N.C., last week - in spirit, at least - when they won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship. And he'll be in Buffalo's HSBC Arena on Friday - emotionally - when they play West Virginia in an opening-round game in the NCAA East Regional. Physically, the 19-year-old from St. Charles remains at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has been waging a fight against acute myeloid leukemia since October.

If things had gone better, Anderson would have joined his teammates in Buffalo, a reward for four rounds of chemotherapy. He asked his teammates a week ago to win the MEAC so he could go to an NCAA tournament. But his blood cell count was too low, and Anderson's dream trip was denied. He had his hopes up, I had my hopes up," his mother, TaWanna Williams, said on Wednesday. "I talked to him this morning, and he said, 'Mom, it's OK, I'm not going to let it get me down any worse than what this has gotten me.' He's had his moments. His back pain was so bad this morning, he was crying."

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University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff wallops Winthrop

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Coach George Ivory now has an NCAA Tournament victory to add to his Golden Lions resume.

DAYTON, Ohio — Smiling Arkansas-Pine Bluff players plopped into the black folding chairs at courtside and checked their cell phones for congratulatory messages before heading out the arena door to get on yet another bus. Finally, the Golden Lions had found a road trip to their liking. Allen Smith scored 14 points Tuesday night, including a pair of 3-pointers during the Golden Lions' second-half surge to a 61-44 victory over Winthrop in the NCAA tournament's opening game.

The Golden Lions (18-15) will play Duke, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, on Friday in Jacksonville, Fla. — a place they somehow missed during a season-opening jaunt that nearly did them in. "It seems like we play better on the road than we do at home because we're so used to being on the road," said center Lebaron Weathers."



Pine Bluff pumped to move on in NCAA

Excerpt: Against a lot of odds — their top scorer, Terrence Calvin, was on the bench most of the second half with four fouls, their well-muscled 6-foot-7 forward Tyree Glass was there, too, with an injury — Pine Bluff still pushed aside Winthrop 61-44 Tuesday night, March 16, in front of 8,205 in the NCAA tournament’s opening-round game at UD Arena. On Friday, it plays Duke, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, in Jacksonville, Fla. It may seem a stretch to paint a David-versus-Goliath script for the opening-round game, but Winthrop has been to the NCAA tournament nine times and in 2007 knocked out Notre Dame.

This was Pine Bluff’s first trip ever to the tournament and everything was new to it. The Golden Lions played the entire first half without the NCAA tournament stickers affixed to their jerseys, which is protocol. They didn’t know. If Pine Bluff is just learning to dress for the Big Dance, it didn’t know the rigors of the road. Using a strategy the opposite of the Dayton Flyers, the Golden Lions played their entire nonconference schedule on the road against teams like Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Kansas State and Oregon.

NCAA photos

UD Arena gets new court for NCAA events

The NCAA has been sending supplies to the University of Dayton to make sure UD Arena would be amply stocked for the men’s and women’s basketball events being held there this month. “We’ve been getting NCAA (drinking) cups, basketballs, ball racks and coolers so the NCAA 'brand’ is prevalent,” said Tim O’Connell, UD Arena manager. “It’s like Christmas around here. We don’t have room for all the boxes.”

The biggest shipment of all, though, had to be transported by an 18-wheeler. The NCAA decided this year that all host venues for every round of the men’s tournament will have identical courts, and UD received a floor and methodically assembled it Sunday, March 14, after removing the arena’s portable court. The baskets at both ends were part of the delivery, too. The equipment will stay in place through the NCAA women’s regional final March 30.

Golden Lions win first NCAA Tournament game in program history

DAYTON, Ohio -- George Ivory remained calm and the attitude of his Arkansas-Pine Bluff players remained focused. But through the final 10-minute stretch of the second half, as each second ticked away and UAPB came closer to its first ever win in the NCAA Tournament, the realization took over each of them at different moments. Guard Terrance Calvin said he knew at halftime, guard Allen Smith said he knew with about 90 seconds left and forward Tyree Glass knew as soon as he hobbled out of the locker room to watch the final seconds roll off the clock. What he came out to see was the finishing touches put on UAPB's 61-44 win over Winthrop in the opening-round game Tuesday at University of Dayton Arena.

It was the first NCAA Tournament win for a team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 17 years and it makes UAPB the No. 16 seed in the South Regional, setting up a Friday matchup with No. 1 seed Duke in Jacksonville, Fla. "We were just flowing too good for us to lose," said Glass, who scored 10 points. Glass had gone down with 12 minutes left when he slammed his knee to the floor while driving to the basket. At that point, UAPB (18-15) was already without one starter. Calvin had picked up his fourth foul with 13:18 left and spent more than 10 minutes on the bench.

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WNIT: North Carolina A&T Aggies set to play Wake Forest

Senior guard Ta’Wuana “Tweet” Cook, first-team all-MEAC, leads the Lady Aggies into the WNIT.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team will see its season continue in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament 7 p.m., Thursday, March 18 against Wake Forest University at Reynolds Gymnasium on the campus of Wake Forest. If the Aggies are able to defeat the Demon Deacons of the ACC, they will play the winner of Thursday’s Gardner-Webb at Charlotte contest. The location of the second round game will be announced after the first round contests. The Aggies (21-10) earned the WNIT bid as an automatic qualifier after winning the MEAC regular-season championship for the third straight season. Thursday’s game will mark the third straight season the Aggies have participated in postseason play.

Wake Forest To Host NC A&T In WNIT Opening Round

Winston-Salem, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's basketball team will open the 2010 Women's National Invitation Tournament with North Carolina A&T on Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Gymnasium on Wake Forest's Reynolda Campus. The winner will advance to face either Charlotte or Gardner-Webb at a location that will be announced following the first round conclusion. The invitation marks the second consecutive WNIT appearance for the Demon Deacons.

Last season Wake Forest received a first round bye and faced Georgetown in the second round in Winston-Salem, where the Deacs fell 72-61. Wake Forest (18-13) last faced North Carolina A&T (21-10) in 2004, taking a 92-43 win in Winston-Salem.

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Johnson's 32 not enough as JSU falls to MSU in NIT

JSU Coach Tevester Anderson

STARKVILLE, MS — Even in the moments leading up to the NIT opener at Mississippi State on Tuesday, no one was talking about Jackson State. The conversations inside Humphrey Coliseum still centered on Kentucky, a perceived NCAA Tournament snub, poor officiating and even an expected tiny crowd. JSU was the least of anyone's concern. Mississippi State won 81-67, as expected, but JSU caused a little more concern than any of the announced 4,433 inside Humphrey Coliseum thought it would. And that's been the story for this Tiger team - going against conventional thought.

Jackson State trailed by just five points with 14:15 remaining, but a flagrant foul and two technicals on Phillip Williams started the downward spiral. "Our guys have really overachieved," said JSU coach Tevester Anderson. "To win the regular season (SWAC ) championship is big for our program. We have to build off of this.

Game Photo Gallery: MSU - JSU

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Competition is on at FAMU for quarterback

FAMU senior quarterback Eddie Battle is a strong and smart competitor. Don't count Battle out, yet!

After Martin Ukpai's spectacular performance in the Florida Classic last season, the consensus has been that the sophomore established himself as the front-runner in what should amount to a three-player battle for Florida A&M starting quarterback job. He gets his shot at proving that wrong or right beginning Monday when the Rattlers open spring practice. Ukpai will face off against senior Eddie Battle and Austin Trainer, who showed a strong arm last season with the practice squad.

Battle played sparingly behind Kentucky transfer Curtis Pulley, but Ukpai made a strong case that he might actually be the one to beat after leading FAMU to a one-sided win over Bethune-Cookman. But FAMU coach Joe Taylor said Ukpai won't be a shoo-in to replace Pulley. Every effort, from warm-up to on-the-field drills, by the three quarterbacks will be evaluated, Taylor said. "It's going to be an open situation, but as coaches we are going to have to really evaluate it accurately; just look at who is under center and what's happening with the offense," Taylor said. "The best way is to let them separate themselves. That's why it's so good to have spring football.

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Prairie View to play football in Shreveport

2009 SWAC champions Prairie View A&M has signed a two-year agreement to play a football game in Shreveport's Independence Stadium during the 2010 and 2011 football seasons, The Times has learned. The Panthers will play Southern University this fall and Jackson State next fall on the opening weekend of the State Fair. This year's game is set for Oct. 23.

"We are very excited to bring this event to Shreveport and Bossier City," Prairie View athletic director Fred Washington said. "We currently play Grambling during the Texas State Fair and draw in excess of 40,000 people for that. We're hoping for that type success here with all of the support we've already received." The contract is a three-way partnership between the Shreveport Regional Sports Authority, Prairie View and the State Fair of Louisiana. SRSA executive director Mary Ann Tice said the contract can be renewed for two more seasons with Prairie View playing the same two schools.

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FAMU's Vann works out for scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars

All-American Rattler LeRoy Vann completed a workout with Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday, sporting a new hair cut. San Francisco, Detroit, Green Bay and Tampa Bay have expressed interest in Vann and expects to be among 20 NFL teams present for FAMU Pro Day Drills on Thursday, March 18.

Nate Koczor, an assistant special teams coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, had a single focus Monday morning inside Bragg Stadium. He watched former Florida A&;M punt/kick returner LeRoy Vann chase balls for almost 90 minutes. The unannounced workout exclusively for the Jaguars was the first with a pro team for Vann, who wasn't invited to the NFL combine but has since been on the radar of several teams.

As fast as the ball machine pumped them out, Vann snagged one ball after another. He even caught those that he had to pursue after getting up from a laying position, dropping only a couple during the rapid-fire segment of the drill. Koczar wouldn't give his assessment of the workout, but Vann thought he was impressive. "It went well," said Vann, who no longer wears the long locks that he'd worn last season when he was setting NCAA and school records for the Rattlers. "My goal was not to drop any ball but eventually I dropped two. Out of 60 balls, that's good so I feel I did a good job."

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Yipes! Southern faces top-ranked Connecticut in NCAA

They all gathered at a restaurant on Coursey Boulevard to celebrate a championship, eat some food and find out where they’ll play in the big dance. Yet as the Southern women’s basketball team watched ESPN on Monday night, waiting to learn their first-round matchup in the NCAA tournament, their banquet room erupted well before the Jaguars saw their school name on the TV screen, paired with Connecticut — the No. 1 team in the nation, winner of 72 straight games and the reigning national champion.

The first eruption, in fact, came when ESPN revealed Tennessee, the No. 1 seed in the Memphis Bracket, and its first-round opponent. It wasn’t Southern. It was Austin Peay. That left the Jaguars to wonder if they’d somehow earn a No. 15 seed, thereby avoiding the mighty Huskies. Minutes later, the second eruption came when ESPN unveiled Duke, the No. 2 seed in the Memphis Region, and its first-round opponent — Hampton, champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. That left the inevitable. That led to the third and final eruption from the room. It came when SU saw its name next to UConn, top-seeded team from the Dayton Region.

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Prairie View to play at Kansas in WNIT

PVAMU Lady Panthers Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke faces University of Kansas in first round of WNIT. Kansas enters the tournament with a 15-15 overall record and a 5-11 Big 12 mark.

LAWRENCE, KS -- The University of Kansas women's basketball team, under sixth-year head coach Bonnie Henrickson, has been selected to play in the postseason Women's NIT for the third-consecutive season. The Jayhawks will host Prairie View A&M on Wednesday, March 17 in Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. The postseason appearance is Kansas' fourth under Henrickson and the 20th in school history. The Jayhawks, who went 4-1 in last season's WNIT, collected wins over Creighton, Arkansas, New Mexico and Illinois State before falling in the title game to South Florida.

Prairie View A&M, enters Wednesday's game with a 15-13 overall mark and a 12-6 mark in Southwestern Athletic Conference play. The Lady Panthers finished second in the SWAC, but fell in the first round of the conference tournament to Alabama State. Prairie View A&M is coached by the legendary Cynthia Cooper-Dyke and is led by Candice Thomas with 14.8 points per game, while Dominique Smith pours 13.6 points a game.

Printable 2010 WNIT Bracket: Women's NIT Schedule and Bracket ...

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Jackson State Takes On Mississippi State In NIT 1st Round

Jackson, MS -- It's not the tournament either team had planned to play in, but Jackson State University and Mississippi State University will face off Tuesday night in Starkville in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament. Both the Tigers and Bulldogs had hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament this year. JSU went 17-1 in the SWAC regular season, and MSU lived on the bubble for two weeks leading up to selection Sunday.

State had a chance to beat Kentucky in the SEC Tournament Championship Sunday, but the Wildcats forced overtime when Demarcus Cousins scored as time ran out. Kentucky eventually won the game 75-74 in overtime. JSU won the SWAC regular season title, but lost to Grambling in the first round of the conference tournament. The two Mississippi teams will tip-off Tuesday at 9 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN-U.

MSU to host JSU in NIT on Tuesday

Mississippi State and Jackson State will face each other in a first-round game of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday night at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville. A few hours after State lost 75-74 to No. 2-ranked Kentucky in the SEC Tournament final in Nashville, the Bulldogs received one of the four No. 1 seeds in the 32-team NIT. The MSU-JSU game will start at 9 p.m. (CDT) and be televised on ESPNU. The MSU-JSU winner will face either William & Mary or North Carolina, the reigning NCAA champion, in a second-round game.

By virtue of getting a No. 1 seed, Mississippi State (23-11) can host games up until the NIT semifinals, which are played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. State advanced to the NIT semifinals in 2007, where it lost to West Virginia. Jackson State (19-12) received its spot in the NIT by result of it winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title. JSU blew through the SWAC with a 17-1 record, winning its first regular-season championship since sharing the title with Mississippi Valley State in 1996. It was the Tigers’ first outright championship since 1993. JSU went into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed, but was knocked out in the first round with a 65-57 loss to No. 8 Grambling State.

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MEAC women's champ Hampton draws 15 seed; opens against Duke

Hampton University gives coach David Six a three-year contract extension.

HAMPTON, VA - One by one, David Six introduced the people responsible for the Hampton University women's basketball team's first NCAA tournament appearance in six seasons --the managers, the assistant coaches, the players. He paused when he saw 4-year-old Sallie Dawson standing in the doorway. "This is our inspiration," Six said. Sallie, who's had four surgeries because of heart and kidney abnormalities, sat with the players as the NCAA women's selection show aired, holding a stuffed Pirate and wearing her Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship cap backward. An avid Lady Pirates fan, Sallie watched with a crowd of people at an Armstrong Stadium football meeting room as HU learned it will play Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Pirates (20-11), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament champions and a 15th seed, will take on second-seeded Duke (27-5) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Durham, N.C., in the Memphis regional. "To be honest, it still hasn't hit me yet," said junior forward Quanneisha Perry, the MEAC defensive player of the year who, like several of her teammates, had a piece of the net HU players cut down in Winston-Salem, N.C., tied to her cap. "It's like just another game. When the horn sounded, it was like, 'I'm a MEAC champion,' but it still hasn't got to me yet."

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UAPB To Face Winthrop In NCAA Tournament

Selection Sunday came with the announcement that the UAPB Golden Lions will take on Winthrop in the "Play In" game on Tuesday. The Golden Lions won their first ever SWAC Title game to get to the big dance. Head coach George Ivory is in his second year as head coach and since taking over he's led them to their best conference record in school's history. They've also captured their first SWAC title and first trip to the NCAA Tournament under Ivory. The game will be Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio. Gametime set for 6:30 p.m. (CST)

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What A Long, Rewarding Trip It's Been For University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff

We call them "Champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the UAPB Golden Lions."

Arkansas-Pine Bluff is certainly battled-tested entering the NCAA Tournament. UAPB, which clinched a berth with a 50-38 victory against Texas Southern in the SWAC Tournament, hit the road in search of competition and money early in the season. Playing at eventual NCAA tournament teams like UTEP and Missouri and Georgia Tech and Kansas State was a good way to make money for the athletic department as those programs paid to have the Lions come essentially with the understanding that it would be a loss. What was good for the pocketbook (a similar schedule last year raised $700,000) wasn't good for the record. UAPB started 0-11.

Here's more from an early season New York Times piece:

Arkansas-Pine Bluff's entire basketball season has been a road trip.The Golden Lions began their season with a game at Colorado. They lost. Two days later they played at Denver. They lost again. Three days after that, they had a game at Texas-El Paso. And they had another loss. By the time they had finished their first week on the road, the Golden Lions had traveled nearly 2,800 miles. And they were just getting started. A peek at the Golden Lions' schedule revealed that their first 11 games all had the dreaded @ next to their opponent.

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Morgan State glad to be back in NCAA tournament

Buffalo? No sweat. Fifteen seed? Could've been worse.

For the second straight year, Morgan State got slapped with a 15 seed and a first-round NCAA tournament game against a team that perhaps should have had a No. 1 seed in West Virginia. Todd Bozeman, though, wasn't sweating the details. "We aren't a 16 seed, we aren't in the play-in game," the Bears coach said after a Selection Sunday celebration at the school's new student center.

Morgan vs. West Virginia: Preparation, perspective of last season will guide Coach Todd Bozeman and the Bears

The Bears have the same seed they had a year ago when, as a 15 seed, they were sent to Kansas City to play Oklahoma, which carried top-seed credentials. The result was a 28-point loss and - a year later - the loss of 6-foot-4 Ameer Ali, who faces a one-game tournament suspension for flipping Blake Griffin to the court in that defeat. This year, they're headed to Buffalo's HSBC Arena on Friday in an East bracket matchup against the Mountaineers (27-6), whose championship in the Big East tournament could have earned them a top seed.

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NFL Jacksonville Jags will conduct private workout today with FAMU's LeRoy Vann

Folks know about all the big dogs entering this year’s NFL Draft. But a name Jags fans should file into their mental Rolodex as April approaches is LeRoy Vann, a former standout at Florida A&M, who will conduct a private workout today in Tallahassee for the Jaguars, according to an NFL source. Originally scheduled to work out for Tampa Bay later this week (with Jacksonville set to help guide the session), Vann had also planned to perform for the Jaguars shortly after the session with the Buccaneers. But the plans quickly changed thanks, in part, to a buzz beginning to build concerning Vann, who holds the NCAA record for career returns for touchdowns (eight punts – including five last season – and three kickoffs for TDs).




Instead of waiting until later this week to conduct the session they’d originally planned for Vann, the Jaguars contacted his representatives and asked for the workout to be moved up to today. Vann plans to conduct his pro day at FAMU next month. According to the league source, the Jags also plan to attend that session, despite conducting the private workout today with Vann.

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Make the Bracket Big Enough for Everyone to Have a Shot

Morgan State University athletic director Floyd Kerr

(New York Times) - Floyd Kerr was halfway back from his trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., on Sunday, on schedule to reach Baltimore just in time for the Selection Sunday broadcast. Kerr is the athletic director at Morgan State University. On Saturday he watched the Bears earn an automatic berth to the N.C.A.A. tournament by defeating South Carolina State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship game. For those of us who attended Morgan, the revitalization of the basketball program has been astounding.

Last season the Bears, coached by Todd Bozeman, earned their first men’s Division I N.C.A.A. bid. Morgan, seeded 15th, was pitted against Oklahoma. The Bears lost, 82-54. On Sunday, Kerr learned that Morgan (27-9) would be seeded 15th again and matched against West Virginia (27-6). “We knew we were going to play a powerhouse team, that’s real,” Kerr said in a telephone interview. “But our approach is that we want to maximize the benefits to Morgan State out of this process. We want to go up against the giants, yes. But we don’t want to focus on that.”

Programs like Morgan’s, with limited budgets, make the strongest argument for why the N.C.A.A. field should be expanded to 96 teams from 65.

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Profile of Morgan's athletic director Floyd Kerr

Morgan's athletic director Floyd Kerr impact goes beyond the greater Baltimore/Washington region. With one ingenious hire (Todd Bozeman), Kerr has advanced the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference further in the past three years, than anything it had accomplished in the past decade in college basketball. Not only are star quality local players making their way to the Morgan campus, but Coach Bozeman is proving he is capability of building the Bears into a Mid-Major powerhouse, whereas others in the MEAC just make excuses.

Coach Bozeman range for recruiting star players goes from the West coast to the East coast. He is quickly proving it is not the name of the school, but great coaching that makes a competitive program. Morgan State will be making its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after beating South Carolina State 68-61 for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship Saturday. The Bears finished 26-9 and enter the NCAA tournament having won their last seven games dating back to Feb. 22. They have a formidable foe in Big East Champion West Virginia, but the Bears will be prepared to be competitive.

It is very refreshing to watch the transformation of Morgan State's athletic programs and the great works of Mr. Kerr and Coach Bozeman. The Bears are truly now "a Beast in the East."

Who is Floyd Kerr?

Oxford, Mississippi born Floyd Kerr, is a native of South Bend, Indiana. He attended Colorado State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education. He held the position of Assistant Basketball Coach and Assistant Athletic Director at Youngstown State University from 1992 to 2000 and Director of Athletics at Southern University from 2000 to 2005. He was appointed Director of Athletics at Morgan State University on July 17, 2005.

He has coached high school basketball teams to state championships in New Jersey and Ohio. He spent 22 years coaching basketball before moving into athletic administration at Youngstown State, under football coach Jim Tressel, currently the head football coach at the Ohio State University. Kerr is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Youngstown State University. He has also completed a certification as a Sports Marketing Professional (SMP) at the University of Kentucky Gatton School of Business.

Kerr has received many honors. Among them are: one of the Most Influential Minorities in Sports by Sports Illustrated Magazine (May 2004), a Fellow in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Fellows Leadership Program, and recipient of the General Robert R. Neyland Outstanding Athletic Director's Award by the All-American Football Foundation (2004). He has served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee and is currently serving on the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subcommittee and the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) Board of Directors.

Kerr has been recognized as an All-American Collegiate Basketball player at Colorado State University, was drafted by three professional sports teams, including the Phoenix Suns (NBA), the Utah Stars (ABA), and the Dallas Cowboys (NFL). Ranked 75th on Sports Illustrated's 101 Most Important Minorities in Sports in June 2004, Kerr has served as a member of two of the NCAA's most prestigious committees, the Division I men's basketball tournament selection committee and the issues committee.

Mr, Kerr has a vision to take the Morgan State Bears program to the next level, create a better image for the university through sports, and build a business model for the athletic department to generate new revenue streams. This all starts with recapturing the competitive edge in sports that Morgan historically enjoyed. No doubt, he has achieved this vision and beyond with the men's and women's basketball program.