XU to play 30 in regular season, 9 at Convocation Center

NEW ORLEANS — A debut in the Convocation Center and four matches against 2012 NAIA National Championship qualifiers are among the highlights of the 2013 Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball schedule.
    
First-year coach Hannah Lawing announced Thursday the schedule, which includes 30 regular-season contests. Xavier is the two-time defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion and is 28-0 the past two seasons against GCAC opponents.
    
Xavier will play nine times in the Convocation Center, which opened in November and seats nearly 4,000 for volleyball or basketball. The Gold Nuggets' home opener will start at 1 p.m. on Sept. 14 against Voorhees, which will join the GCAC in July to increase league membership to nine.
    
Xavier's other GCAC home matches will be against Fisk on Sept. 16, Tougaloo on Sept. 23, Dillard on Oct. 5, SUNO on Oct. 21 and Philander Smith on Oct. 28. Non-conference home matches will be against Loyola on Sept. 18, Mobile on Oct. 15 and Avila on Oct. 18. The Avila match will be part of a two-day tournament co-hosted by Xavier and Loyola with matches on both campuses. Avila will play Mobile at the Convocation Center at 2 p.m. on Oct. 18.
    
The Convocation Center replaces The Barn, a 1,300-seat gymnasium which opened in 1937 and was razed in May. The Gold Nuggets won in their Barn finale in 2012, a 21-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-12, 15-7 decision against SUNO which clinched for the Nuggets the GCAC regular-season championship.
    
The Nuggets' matches against 2012 NAIA National Championship qualifiers will be Spring Hill on Aug. 23 and Sept. 3, St. Thomas (Texas) on Aug. 30 and Georgetown (Ky.) on Sept. 7. All four will be part of 13 consecutive road matches to start the season, including a school-record eight matches in August.
    
Xavier will begin its sixth season on Aug. 23 in the UMobile/Spring Hill Tournament at Mobile, Ala., playing Spring Hill at 2 p.m. and Asbury at 4 p.m. The Gold Nuggets also will travel to Houston and Georgetown, Ky., for tournaments. Georgetown defeated Xavier in four sets in the opening round of the 2012 NAIA National Championship.
    
Avila, Columbia (S.C.), Lourdes, Montana Tech, Trinity Christian and Voorhees will be first-time opponents.
    
Xavier will visit SUNO on Oct. 8 and Dillard on Nov. 2 in the regular-season finale. The GCAC Tournament will be played in Little Rock, Ark., for the second consecutive year, and the winner will earn the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.
    
Another road match in New Orleans will be at Loyola on Oct. 19 in the finale of the Loyola/Xavier Tournament.
    
Match times and tournament names are subject to change.
    
Xavier was 22-8 in 2012 and returns all its major contributors from that team, including GCAC Player of the Year Taylor Reuther, first-team All-GCAC players Moira Kirk and Franziska Pirkl and second-teamers Chinedu Echebelem, Jodi Chatters and CeCe Williams. Echebelem was the GCAC Tournament MVP.

2013 XULA VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUSIANA

Prep Football: Holman takes charge at DC

MOCKSVILLE, North Carolina — The story goes that the Holman family had to sit on the 50-yard-line at South Carolina State-North Carolina Central football matchups and cheer for both teams because there was a Holman playing on each side.

 

“Those men playing were my uncles,” said Devore Holman, who was recently named as Davie’s new head coach. “I come from a long football background.”        

Holman is a name that’s been respected in Rowan County for a long time. One of Devore’s football-playing uncles was the late Baxter Holman Jr., who was team captain at North Carolina Central. After he played in the Canadian Football League, Baxter coached in the Winston-Salem high school ranks in the 1960s. During the years of segregation, he coached at all-black Anderson High, and he piloted Anderson to a 3A runner-up finish in 1966 and a state title in 1967.

When Winston schools integrated, Baxter was named head coach at Mount Tabor, and in a Remember the Titans sort of scenario, he demonstrated to an initially skeptical white community and white players that he was the best man for the job. He was coach of the year in 1970.

 

CONTINUE READING

 

Holman eager to take the reins as Davie’s football coach

 

MOCKSVILLE  --  One evening last month, Doug Illing drove to Devore Holman’s house in Mocksville and delivered the news. Illing was leaving after 15 years as Davie High School’s football coach — and Holman had been with Illing every step of the way.
 
“He told me he would ask me to come with him,” Holman said last week after he was named to succeed Illing. “But he said he was leaving for his dream job (Socastee High in Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and that it was time for me to chase my dreams.”

 

So that’s what Holman — an assistant coach at Davie for 23 years — did.
Twenty-six coaches applied for Illing’s job. Holman, the War Eagles’ defensive coordinator for the last 14 years, got it.

“I am humbled beyond measure to be able to give back to the community — and these kids and this school — what I got as a young man from these coaches, making me do the right things and being a positive role model in their lives,” Holman said. “I can’t think of a better place to do it.”

CONTINUE READING  

Xavier SID wins 3rd straight NAIA feature-writing award

Ed Cassiere

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Ed Cassiere received first place for features for the third consecutive year in the NAIA's Dr. W. Jack Bell Writing Contest.
       
Cassiere's winning story, published Dec. 19, profiled XU women's volleyball coach Christabell Hamilton and her transition from coaching to motherhood. Hamilton resigned at Xavier after two stellar seasons (2011-12) and moved to Texas to be with her husband, who changed jobs.
     
Another feature, about women's basketball guard SiMon Franklin and her academic comeback, placed ninth. In the season preview/review category, Cassiere tied for second for his preview of the 2012 women's volleyball season.
      
Cassiere — who in July will begin his eighth year at Xavier — has received 16 NAIA writing awards the past five years, including four firsts, four seconds and three thirds.

COURTESY XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA ATHLETICS

ASU Football Adds Home Game Against Tuskegee

Albany, Georgia  --  The Albany State University Golden Rams and the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers have finalized their gridiron meeting for the 2013 football season.

ASU will host Tuskegee on September 14th at the Albany State University Stadium in Albany, Georgia. Game time is slated for 7 PM at the Coliseum.

The two teams last met in 2010 when ASU beat Tuskegee 34-6 in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Golden Rams finished 11-1 that season and won the SIAC and Black College National Championship. The Golden Tigers finished 9-2.

CONTINUE READING

Xenia's Cameron Vaughn to play at Prairie View A&M

GREENE COUNTY, Ohio — Departing Cincinnati State and former Xenia hoops player, Cameron Vaughn, will continue her collegiate basketball career after signing with Prairie View A&M this past week. She just completed her sophomore season at Cincinnati State.

Vaughn, a 5-foot-10 forward, averaged 13.8 points, 13.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while leading her team to a 25-7 overall record this past season. She finished with 10 or more rebounds in all but five games, recording a season-high 25 rebounds against Columbus State on Jan. 23. She finished the season 6th in the nation in rebounding, 1st in offensive rebounds (6.6), and set Cincinnati State’s record for most rebounds in a season with 412.



“We are so proud of Cameron for everything she has done for us and look forward to seeing her succeed as a player, student and person at Prairie View A&M,” Cincinnati State head coach Sonya Beeler said.

Vaughn earned multiple individual accolades including being named an NJCAA All-American, the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference’s “Player of the Year,” a NJCAA Region XII 1st Team selection and Cincinnati State’s “Female Athlete of the Year.” Vaughn also performed in the classroom earning a 3.0-plus GPA and named as a Cincinnati State “Scholar Student-Athlete.”

CONTINUE READING 

Florida A&M Holmes, staff share strong opinions

MIDWAY, Florida -- Earl Holmes told a packed room here Tuesday night that he has some extremely high aspirations for the Florida A&M football program.

As he has done numerous times during a fund-raising tour over the past month, Holmes also pressed for financial support to help him and his staff compete in recruiting the best athletes.



But while his appeal had a familiar tone during the event at Tri-Eagles headquarters, the first-year head coach offered some of his strongest comments yet about what kind of team he plans to produce and what type of athletes he expects to recruit.

“You can’t give me a linebacker who has one leg shorter than the other,” Holmes told a group of supporters. “I don’t want those guys. I want what Nick Saban is getting. I want what Jimbo Fisher is getting. And I want what Urban Meyer is getting. If they need those kids to win championships, so does Coach Holmes.”

CONTINUE READING

JCSU's Trevin Parks works out for the Charlotte Bobcats

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  --  Former JC Smith star and Hickory native Trevin Parks got to work out for the Charlotte Bobcats today and it truly was a dream come true.

"I rode past this place a lot of times," said Parks after the hour and a half workout.  "I never pictured me coming here working out."

Parks certainly earned his opportunity to get this pre draft workout after a stellar career at JCSU.



As a sophomore, he averaged 22 points per game and became the first ever player in Smith's history to be the CIAA Player of the Year.

He followed that up averaging 22 points per game as a junior and 25 points this past season.  Each season, he earned All American status in D-II basketball.

CONTINUE READING

Southern Football Releases 2013 Fall Camp Schedule

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Head football coach Dawson Odums will open his inaugural fall camp July 31 at Southern University when players are scheduled to report to the A.W. Mumford Fieldhouse.

The Jaguars, who travel to face Football Bowl Subdivision member Houston Cougars in the season opener on Aug. 30, will conduct its first practice of fall camp Aug. 1 at 4:30 p.m.

Southern's first practice in full pads is set for Aug. 3 at 3:30 p.m. followed by the first of six scheduled two-a-day practices Aug. 6 at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The final scrimmage of fall camp is slated for Aug 17. at 9 a.m. before the Jaguars gather to take a team photo in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Classes for the Fall semester begin Monday, Aug. 19.

SOUTHERN FOOTBALL 2013 FALL CAMP SCHEDULE 

July 31 - PLAYERS REPORT - 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

Aug. 1 - PRACTICE #1 (HELMETS) - 4:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 2 - PRACTICE #2 (HELMETS) - 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Aug. 3 - PRACTICE #3 (SHELLS) - 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 4 - PRACTICE #4 (SHELLS) - 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 5 - PRACTICE #5 (FULL PADS) - 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Aug. 6 - PRACTICE #6 (SHELLS) - 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #7 (FULL PADS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 7 - PRACTICE #8 (SHELLS) - 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 8 - PRACTICE #9 (SHELLS) - 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #10 (FULL PADS) 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 9 - PRACTICE #11 (SHELLS) - 4 p.m.-6 p.m. 

Aug. 10 - PRACTICE #12 (FULL PADS) 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #13 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 11 - PRACTICE #14 (HELMETS) 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 12 - PRACTICE #15 (FULL PADS) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. | PRACTICE #16 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 13 - PRACTICE #17 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 14 - PRACTICE #18 (SHELLS) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. | PRACTICE #19 (FULL PADS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 15 - PRACTICE #20 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 16 - PRACTICE #21 (SHELLS) 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #22 HELMETS 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 17 - SCRIMMAGE #23 9:45 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Aug. 19 - Classes Begin

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

O'Quinn to Throw Out First Pitch, Sign Autographs at Tides Game

Kyle O'Quinn
Orlando Magic

NORFOLK, Virginia – Former NSU great and current Orlando Magic forward Kyle O'Quinn will throw out the first pitch and sign autographs at the Norfolk Tides baseball game at Harbor Park on Wednesday night.

The game against the Indianapolis Indians is slated to start at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday. After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, O'Quinn will sign autographs on the concourse behind home plate and make an appearance on the Tides radio broadcast for an inning.

O'Quinn recently finished up his first season with the Magic, averaging 4.1

points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game in 57 contests. He tallied 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a game at Charlotte on March 27, one of seven on the year in which he scored in double figures.

For more information, contact the Tides main office at 757-622-2222.

COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION, Mike Bello, Asstant SID

Hampton University lands York offensive lineman Johnny Cruz

Johnny Cruz

YORKTOWN, Virginia  --  York High's Johnny Cruz, a first team All-Bay Rivers District offensive guard in 2012, will play football this fall at Hampton University. Darlene Martin, Cruz's mom, said her son received a partial scholarship and that grants will make up the balance of the cost for him to attend HU.

She said that Cruz, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound senior who graduated on Friday from York, will attend summer school at HU to get a head start on academics and begin conditioning.

Cruz will also play for the East Squad in the Virginia High School Coaches Association Football All-Star Game in July. He will be joined on the East team by York teammate Cody Hendrickson, a James Madison signee.

CONTINUE READING

The Next Affirmative Action



U.S. Supreme Court

Want to help minority college students? Make the entire higher education system more accountable.

WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Affirmative action as we know it is dying. A growing number of states have moved to prohibit public universities from considering race in admissions, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in an anti-affirmative action lawsuit that left little doubt about where the Court’s conservative majority stands. Less than a decade after the Court upheld racial admissions preferences in Grutter v. Bollinger, newer jurists like Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seem ready to render unconstitutional a policy that has helped generations of minority students grab a rung on the ladder of opportunity.

"But how many people know that Wayne State, Detroit’s main public university, has an 8 percent—yes, 8 percent—graduation rate for black students? Who’s losing sleep over them?"  "In Duncan’s hometown, 19 percent of black students who enroll full-time at Chicago State University graduate within six years. At California State University, Los Angeles, it’s 22 percent. The University of the District of Columbia matches Wayne State for futility, with an 8 percent graduation rate for black students. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee? 19 percent."

The Court’s likely decision is particularly odious given the college admissions apparatus it will leave in place. Elite colleges warp and corrupt the meritocratic admissions process in a wide variety of ways. Academically substandard athletes, for example, are allowed in so they can play for the amusement of alumni and help shore up the fund-raising base. While some men’s football and basketball players come from low-income and minority households, many athletes at the highly selective colleges where affirmative action really matters engage in sports like crew and lacrosse that are associated with white, privileged backgrounds. Colleges also give preference to the children of legacies, professors, celebrities, politicians, and people who write large checks to the general fund. All of these groups are also disproportionately wealthy and white.

In other words, the Supreme Court is poised to uphold affirmative action for everyone except minority students. We’ve come to this point in part because the Court has been packed with people like Roberts, who once struck down a plan to integrate public schools on the grounds that he saw no distinction between race-conscious policies that increased integration and the kind of brutal discrimination outlawed by Brown v. Board of Education. Apparently, John Roberts doesn’t see race, so neither should anyone else.

CONTINUE READING 

Prairie View welcomes Robinson as new athletic director

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas  --  Ashley Robinson's appointment as the Prairie View A&M athletic director on Tuesday served as a homecoming.

Most recently the athletic director at fellow Southwestern Athletic Conference school Mississippi Valley State, Robinson now has been hired by Prairie View twice in the last four years.

It's his work for Prairie View before he was hired the first time, however, that played a major role in his rise to his new job.

In 2010 Robinson worked in compliance, academics and championships for the SWAC office. Prairie View president Dr. George Wright said the school's compliance officer quit at a time when it was trying to get off of NCAA probation.

Wright called Robinson, 33, and asked for his help in the process, which included improving the school's Academic Progress Rate.

CONTINUE READING

Pigskin Preview: Fort Valley State

FORT VALLEY, Georgia -- Last year saw Fort Valley State reach the SIAC Championship game and the Division II playoffs while finishing at 8-4. The Wildcats are hoping to build on that success in 2013.

FVSU will be leaning on its defense this year, which returns seven starters, not including players like linebacker Stephon Harper who saw significant playing time as a back-up.

The offense must rebuild without the All-SIAC duo of quarterback Antonio Henton and wide receiver Chris Slaughter, who played together at Peach County.

Coach Donald Pittmann says this year's team motto is: "One team, one mission: Division II National Championship."

CONTINUE READING  

Whatever happened to ... NBA star Bob Dandridge (from NSU)?

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  In 13 years in the NBA, Bob Dandridge displayed a unique talent both for blending in and standing out.

Early in his career, he played an essential role for the championship Milwaukee Bucks, a team led by all-time greats Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson. Later in the '70s, he started alongside Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes during the Washington Bullets' title run.

"I take pride in being able to play with two superstars on two different teams," Dandridge said, "and still being an integral part of both those teams."

Integral? You could say that. As a 6-foot-6 small forward, he averaged 18.5 points per game over his career, but bumped that up to 20 in the playoffs.



"I knew how to find a shot," he said, "even though I may have been the third option in the offense."

He learned at Norfolk State, where as a senior playing for Ernie Fears in 1969, he set a CIAA tournament record by scoring 50 points in a game.

Today, Dandridge lives a few miles from his alma mater, residing in ...

CONTINUE READING

BSU's Bryan Wilson and The LU's Brittney Waters Receives Victory Scholarship Award

Brittney Waters
(Courtesy: The Lincoln University Athletics)



Bryan Wilson
(Courtesy: Bowie State University Athletics)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania  -- Typically being a student-athlete ends after your senior season in college, but this isn't the case for Bowie State University's Bryan Wilson and The Lincoln University's Brittney Waters.

Wilson started 14 games for the CIAA Champion Bulldogs of Bowie State, The Upper Marlboro, MD native averaged 7.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and was the third leading 3-point shooter on the team making 32.3 % of his attempts behind the arc.

Waters and Wilson have been selected to receive the Victory Scholarship Award by Sport Changes Life (SCL). SCL awards student-athlete recipients the opportunity to study for their master's degree while continuing their career in sports. Victory Scholars provide its recipients with full tuition fees for graduate school, accommodation expenses, subsistence expenses, and an opportunity to continue their athletic career.

"I am delighted and feel blessed to be one of the Victory Scholarship recipients," said Waters. "This is an opportunity of a lifetime and certainly a dream come true for me."

A native of Capitol Heights, MD, Waters averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Lady Lions. Her experience at the University was enriched and filled with the joy of meeting new people and playing basketball.

Majoring in Accounting and a minor in Entrepreneurship has opened up plenty of doors for Waters.

“Professor Robert Allen gave me the idea of studying abroad in Ireland,” Waters said. Professor Allen was Waters major advisor and mentor during her four years at Lincoln.

Finding the balance between academics and athletics is not easy for most students; however, this was not an issue for Waters.  She was on the Dean's List and graduated with academic honors. Her transition from undergrad to graduate school shouldn't be overwhelming for Waters.

“While at Lincoln, I've always been a student first and an athlete second,” Waters proclaims. “I can truly say that Lincoln has prepared me for my future, athletically and academically.”

Lincoln Director of Athletics Dianthia Ford-Kee echoed those sentiments.

“We are very proud of Brittney,” Ford-Kee said. “I have been a part of Brittney's entire career at Lincoln and she has always been a model student-athlete. She is the first Lincoln student-athlete to receive this award with Sport Changes Life. We know she will represent our University at the highest level and will be a change agent for the students she touches in Ireland.”

Waters and Wilson are scheduled to attend the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. Waters will play for the Belfast Rockets, a professional team in the Irish Women's Superleague. In addition both players will coach and work with at-risk youths as part of the Sport Changes Life program.

COURTESY THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION and BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION 

UAH To Meet Alabama A&M In Men’s Basketball

Huntsville, Alabama - The University of Alabama in Huntsville and Alabama A&M University held a joint press conference on Monday afternoon at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville to announce that the two institutions will meet on the basketball floor inside Propst Arena on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

The contest will mark the first meeting between the cross-town foes since Nov. 18, 1998, and it will mark the 24th all-time showdown between the Chargers and the Bulldogs. Holding the upper hand in the series is A&M who has won 18 of the previous 23 games including the last seven. UAH last defeated the Bulldogs when it won 98-88 in the 1991-92 season.

Head Coach Lennie Acuff was on the Charger sideline the last two times the teams met, while A&M’s Willie Hayes was an assistant for the Bulldogs for the last four meetings.

CONTINUE READING

Academics: Alabama State failure symbolic of HBCU struggles

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  --  The NCAA’s Academic Performance Program revamped the Academic Progress Rate (APR) data in 2011, wary of the struggles historic black colleges and universities were facing in their compilation and submission of data each year.

New rules that went into place with the 2012-13 academic year don’t seem to have helped the situation, however.

Of the 36 programs facing APR penalties from the NCAA, 28 are located at HBCU programs within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).


APR is only a temporary set-back; no failures here on ASU campus... and diamond, track and fields. Go Hornets!

Of the 17 colleges and universities whose athletic programs face penalties, 11 are MEAC and SWAC programs.

“The Southwestern Athletic Conference remains committed to assisting our member institutions in meeting academic progress and the metric for a successful Academic Progress Rate,” said SWAC commissioner Duer Sharp. “The SWAC will continue to work closely with the NCAA, president Mark Emmert, Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) chair Walter Harrison and the Limited Resource Institutions advisory group. We are also proud of our student-athletes who have achieved academic success by graduating and performing at the highest level during competition.”

CONTINUE READING

ECSU's Angelo Sharpless in pre-draft workout with N.Y. Knicks

NEW YORK --  Louisville center Gorgui Dieng headlines a group of NBA hopefuls who will participate in the Knicks' pre-draft workout on Tuesday. But while the defensive foundation of Rick Pitino's national championship team will be the biggest name, he might not have the best chance of being chosen by general manager Glen Grunwald with the 24^th overall selection.

EXCERPT:

• Angelo Sharpless, G, 6-4, 190, Elizabeth City, Senior—A star at Elizabeth and on YouTube, Sharpless might be the best dunker in the country. The CIAA Player of the Year will likely have opportunities overseasons, and if can play well there, there's always a chance he comes to the NBA.



CONTINUE READING

Xavier is 56th in Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana was 56th, the second highest finish in XU history, in the final NAIA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings of 2012-13.
    
It's the fourth time in five years that Xavier placed among the top 100. Xavier ranked 50th a year ago.
    
The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today newspaper. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 12 sports — six women's and six men's. This is the 18th year of the NAIA all-sports standings.
    
Xavier scored 252 points, one more than a year ago, after a tie for third place nationally in women's tennis, a tie for fifth in men's tennis, ties for 17th in men's basketball and women's basketball, 25th in women's volleyball and 31st in women's cross country and men's cross country.
    
Xavier was the only HBCU (historically black college or university) with a top-60 finish this season. Highest ranked HBCUs in the other divisions were Maryland Eastern Shore (148th) in NCAA I and Johnson C. Smith (66th) in NCAA II.
    
"It was another outstanding effort by our coaches and our student-athletes this year," XU athletics director Dennis Cousin said. "They are to be commended and thanked for the many championships and national tournament appearances they produced for Xavier. Everyone at Xavier can be proud of the continued success of our athletics program."
    
The top three NAIA schools were Oklahoma Baptist with 964 points, Lindsey Wilson with 797 and Concordia (Calif.) with 781.

Xavier in NAIA all-sports standings2012-13     56th
2011-12     50th
2010-11     102nd
2009-10     83rd
2008-09     tie-92nd
2007-08     141st
2006-07     156th
2005-06     no teams (Hurricane Katrina)
2004-05     not in top 100
2003-04     86th
2002-03     tie-163rd
2001-02     tie-238th
2000-01     tie-199th
1999-2000   not in top 234
1998-99     tie-210th
1997-98     tie-194th
1996-97     164th
1995-96     146th

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

Commentary: Let's Give the Rich and Powerful Their Own NCAA Division

WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  With sports playing an increasingly vital role in the finances of some major-conference universities, and with the courts questioning long-held beliefs about what amateur athletes deserve, the collegiate landscape is shifting in an unavoidable reality—change is coming.

It's time to revise the framework of college athletics to accommodate the evolving commercial environment of an exclusive group of institutions. Responding to growing criticism, the NCAA's president, Mark Emmert, last month acknowledged the inadequacies of the existing system by suggesting that the creation of another NCAA division would be welcome.

While there are 1,066 active NCAA member institutions across three levels (Divisions I, II, and III), it is abundantly evident that concerns within college athletics—conference realignment, the power of coaches, multibillion-dollar contracts for broadcast rights, and issues of student-athletes' welfare—involve only a small number of them. There is no compelling reason to change the operations of college athletics at the 726 colleges in Divisions II and III. They are successful in offering sports for transformative educational lessons in ways difficult to recreate in the classroom.

CONTINUE READING

Proposed Montgomery football bowl game: The Legends Bowl at Alabama State's stadium

Alabama State University Hornets Stadium
(Courtesy: ASU Athletics)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  --  Is the state of Alabama going to get a third bowl game? A proposed college football bowl in Montgomery would be called the Legends Bowl and get played at Alabama State's new stadium starting in December 2014.

Brian Woods, a New York sports consultant heading the Legends Bowl Group, said today the organization is in active talks with NBC and smaller conferences such as the Sun Belt, Mountain West, MAC and Conference USA. Montgomery is one of several possible destinations for a new bowl, along with Miami, Orlando, Little Rock, Ark., Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Fla., Ireland, Dubai, Toronto and Nassau, Bahamas.

"We feel we're in the top two or three of possible new bowls going forward," Woods said. "We feel we might be in direct competition right now with Little Rock. We feel we're ahead of the Orlando group to some capacity and ahead of the Los Angeles group. We'd love to have NBC at least give us a preliminary agreement and get us leverage. That's a big sticking point with Little Rock's efforts."

The efforts for a bowl in Montgomery represent the new world of college football's postseason.

Smaller conferences are seeking more tie-ins, different television networks are trying to crack ESPN's near monopoly of the postseason, and sports marketers are attempting to pair the conferences and TV network together.

CONTINUE READING

Montgomery, Little Rock look to host new bowl games

ASU HORNET STADIUM
(Courtesy: ASU Athletics)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  -- Much of the follow-up coverage on ESPN's midweek report on new possible bowl locations focused on its most exotic, far-flung possibilities: Dubai, the Bahamas, Ireland. But the organizers who seem best prepared to argue for NCAA approval of new games are much closer to home.

al.com reported Saturday that a group is looking to host the new "Legends Bowl" in Montgomery, Ala., starting in 2014. The game would be played in the new stadium (2011 new) on the campus of FCS Alabama State University and would feature teams from the Sun Belt, Conference USA, Mountain West or MAC.

But the Legends Bowl isn't the only potential new postseason game in SEC country. Officials from the MAC and Sun Belt -- including the commissioners of both leagues -- met with the War Memorial Stadium Commission in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The two conferences would play in the "Rice Bowl," a nod to the state's (surprisingly large-scale) rice-farming industry.

CONTINUE READING

Prairie View A&M selects new athletic director

Ashley Robinson

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas  --  Prairie View A&M will name Ashley Robinson as the new athletic director at a press conference at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, an athletic department source said.

Robinson returns to Prairie View after serving as the AD at Mississippi Valley State for the past 10 months. Prior to his stint there, he was the Assistant Vice President of Athletic Compliance  at Prairie View A&M.

Robinson replaces Fred Washington, who served as the athletic director since ...

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Uphill Battle for HBCU Athletes

HAMPTON, Virginia  --  It was striking, yet not particularly surprising, that sports teams from historically black colleges and universities made up the vast majority of those the National Collegiate Athletic Association banned from postseason play next year because of poor academic performance. The National Collegiate Athletic Association itself recognizes that the institutions face extra challenges: When the NCAA voted to raise academic standards in October 2011, it gave HBCU’s and other “low-resource institutions” an extra year to come into compliance (they have until 2016-17). The association has also dedicated about $6 million over the next several years to help those institutions meet the new standards.

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William Harvey, president of Hampton University and a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, wrote the proposal that led to the NCAA giving HBCUs more time and money to meet the new standard. While he’s pleased with the support and believes HBCUs will adjust accordingly, he had advocated for an extra three years to transition, not the one year that the NCAA allowed.

However, Harvey praised the NCAA’s financial support, which awards $300,000 to six different HBCUs for academics each year for three years. Through the pilot project, created in 2012 and called the Accelerating Academic Success Program, institutions can apply for funding via a detailed submission, requiring presidential involvement, that includes “concrete measurements for success.” Where the money goes depends on the individual needs of the applicant – for example, one might need to hire more academic advisers, while another might want to buy iPads to keep athletes in touch with professors when they’re on the road.

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Heritage High graduate sparks Winston-Salem State to CIAA tennis tournament championship

Creighton Jones
(Courtesy: WSSU Rams Athletics)

NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia  --  Creighton Jones of Newport News played an instrumental role this spring in perhaps the finest tennis season in Winston-Salem State University history.

As a junior, Jones played No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles throughout the season, and the Rams captured the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament championship. They went 13-9 overall, gaining a berth in the NCAA Division II tournament by virtue of their CIAA crown.

In singles, Jones was 6-6 in dual matches, including 5-2 in the CIAA. Except for one loss at No. 3, all of those matches were on line 2. In doubles, Jones was 10-8, all on line 1, and 7-1 in the CIAA. In all but one doubles match, he played alongside Jonathan Aubrey. WSSU responded well to a six-match losing streak, which included a pair of 6-3 losses to conference rival Shaw. Immediately following the second 6-3 defeat, the Rams won eight consecutive matches.

The most memorable of those were the last two. In a CIAA semifinal, Winston-Salem State posted a 5-2 victory over Shaw, which had won the previous nine conference tournaments.

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