Paine assistant Chase Campbell named new Lions head coach

HEAD COACH CHASE CAMPBELL
Courtesy: Paine College Athletics

AUGUSTA, Georgia -- The search for a new coach at Paine College is over and they didn't have to go far to find the new man in charge as assistant Chase Campbell has confirmed he's taken over as new coach of the Lions.

Campbell had been an assistant with Jimmy Link this past year and now takes over the team after Link was hired at Clayton State.

Campbell has plenty of connections with Paine, having gone to school there and was even a student assistant a couple of years ago.

Look for him to make the smooth transition into the head coaching gig and will have plenty to work with. Remember, Paine doesn't graduate a single player and they won the SIAC regular season title.

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Bryan Henry column: Watching FAMU history unfold on television fun

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The text arrived from a good friend early Monday morning saying, "You're heading to Gainesville bro."

And, a few hours later, it was official. We, the Florida A&M Rattlers, were placed in the NCAA Gainesville Regional, where we will open against host and No. 4 national seed Florida on Friday.

We could not be more excited. For the first time in the history of FAMU baseball, we will be participating in a NCAA Regional Tournament.

I was relieved to find out where we were going, but honestly, I wanted to stay in town. For me personally, it would have been an awesome experience to coach in a regional tournament at Florida State, where I played my collegiate career and got my coaching career started.

I love FSU with a passion and just thought how awesome that would've have been. Another huge reason I wanted to stay was to be home and sleep in my own bed. We kept hearing how we wanted to travel to get the "whole experience." Our last bus trip was 16 hours long and that was the "whole experience" I could handle for the year.



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NSU Spartan Basketball Adds Craig to 2015 Recruiting Class

DEVARUS CRAIG
Courtesy: Odessa College

NORFOLK, Virginia  –  The 2015 Norfolk State men's basketball recruiting class expanded by one more on Friday, when head coach Robert Jones announced that junior college transfer Devarus Craig has signed a national letter of intent to join the Spartans for next season.

Craig is a 6-foot-8, 255-pound forward who competed last year at Odessa College in Texas. A native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., he will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2015-16.

"Devarus adds much needed size and strength to our front line," said Jones. "He is a bruiser inside who also has good range on his jump shot, which should keep defenses honest. He has a tremendous work ethic which will bode well for his future success. We look forward to seeing him in a Spartan uniform."

Craig averaged 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 29 games last year for Odessa, which finished the season 20-9 overall. He connected on 57.3 percent from the floor and 65.9 percent from the free throw line while also adding 18 blocks, 13 assists and 11 steals on the year. He scored a career-high 20 points in a game twice, including in a win over Southwest Texas Junior College when he also had a career-best 10 rebounds.

He also competed at Columbia State Community College in Clifton, Tenn., in 2012-13 as a freshman. Craig posted 8.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in just six games that season before missing the rest of the year due to injury. He shot 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) from the floor and also made 14-of-20 (70.0 percent) from the free throw line while adding five assists, four blocks and two steals.

Craig played at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

He is the sixth player to join the Spartans as part of the 2015 recruiting class. Shooting guard Jonathan Wade and small forward Preston Bungei, a pair of junior college players, signed earlier this month. JC point guard Brian Kelley and incoming freshmen center Moses Toriola and power forward Alex Long signed back in November.

Mike Bello, Asst. SID
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Basketball | RaShid Gaston leaving Norfolk State

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Norfolk State forward RaShid Gaston has requested and been granted his release and intends to transfer, a school spokesman confirmed Monday.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Gaston finished second on the team with 15.5 points per game last season as a junior. He said via Twitter that he has not made a decision on where he'll go.

If he goes to another Division I school, he'll have to sit out a year.

Spartans coach Robert Jones declined to comment on Gaston's status Monday.

Gaston earned second-team NABC All-District 15 honors after ranking second in the MEAC in rebounding (9.6) and field goal percentage (62.6). He compiled 18 double-doubles and averaged 1.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.



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College Station Regional Preview: TAMU, Texas Southern, Cal, Coastal Carolina

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — With the Fighting Farmers of Texas A&M securing a Regional in College Station, but not a National Seed (a source of some consternation to the Aggie faithful), their run to Omaha, or at least Fort Worth, begins with SWAC champions Texas Southern Tigers, the third in the PAC12 Cal Golden Bears, and the second in the Big South Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

The college baseball world is familiar with Texas A&M’s march to the post season, a 45-11, 18-10 in SEC play campaign that saw them go undefeated until March 21, but not always the methods they exacted to get there.

Texas Southern
The other Lone Star Component, Texas Southern University, went 31-17 overall and 16-7 in the SWAC and claimed the championship. Senior Robert Garza hit a nifty .348 with 31 RBI, and freshman Gerreck Jimenez hitting .333. Seven Tigers total broke the .300 mark.

While not capable of being the big, swingaway type teams that sometimes dot the D1 landscape, the Tigers did prove impressive on the basepaths, collecting 74 stolen bases, a whooping 40 more than the Aggies.

The Tiger moundsmen pulled together for a group ERA of 4.47, with sophomore Ryan Rios going 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA to lead the team.

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Allen and McMillian signs to continue career at Prairie View A&M

Lanikki McMillian 

FULTON, Mississippi – The Itawamba Community College women's basketball program announced that Lanikki McMillian has signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her career at Prairie View A&M University.

"It feels great," said McMillian. "They (Prairie View A&M) have a good things going and I just wanted to be a part of that."

McMillian, a 6' forward, was named as an alternate to the MACJC All-Star squad after averaging 6.5 points and 4.7 rebounds in 28 games in his final season under Coach Nanci Gray.and
"She has been a great kid to have in our program," said Gray. "Every day she was a positive influence and in practice she made kids work hard in the post and she's going to be a great asset to Prairie View and I'm excited that she's getting that opportunity."

The Pontotoc native helped the Lady Indians reach the NJCAA National Tournament and capture the NJCAA Region 23 Championship. The Lady Indians finished 23-5 and won the MACJC North Division title.

"ICC has been more than I expected," said McMillian. "There were high and lows, but we came through it all and I'm proud of my team and all that we accomplished this season."

McMillian will join Lady Indian teammate Jeronia Allen (Mindan, LA) and the Lady Panther program that finished 14-18 overall and 10-8 in their conference and fought their way to the semi-finals of the SWAC conference tournament.

Jeronia Allen

ICC sophomore guard Jeronia Allen signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her basketball career at Prairie View A&M University.

"She brings positive energy to the floor every day," said Lady Indians' head coach Nanci Gray. "She can score from the outside, but can drive the lane as well and Prairie View is getting a great guard."

Allen averaged 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 assist per game last season and earned a spot on the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJC) North All-Star roster.

The 5'9" guard helped lead the Lady Indians to the MACJC North Division title, and her 16 point performance in the championship game at the regionals helped capture the NJCAA Region 23 crown to reach the NJCAA National Tournament.

"She has grown so much during her two years here," said Gray. "I expect greatness from her as she continues to pursue excellence on and off the court."

Allen will join Lady Indian teammate Lanikki McMillian (Pontotoc) in the Lady Panther program.

COURTESY ITAWAMBA COMMUNITY COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION

Former XU Gold Rush Coach Bob Hopkins Dies at age 80

NEW ORLEANS — Robert M. "Bob" Hopkins Sr., the head coach of Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball teams from 1969-74, died May 15, 2015, of heart and kidney disease. He was 80 years old.

Hopkins' XU stint was his longest in 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach — he also worked at Prairie View A&M, Alcorn State, Grambling, Southern and Maryland-Eastern Shore — and it was one of his best. He jump-started an XU program which had resumed in 1967 and produced NAIA District 30 championships and appearances in the NAIA National Championship in 1972 and 1973. His 1972-73 team — led by Donald "Slick" Watts and Bruce Seals, both eventual NBA players — upset top-ranked and unbeaten Sam Houston State 67-60 in the second round of the NAIA's national tournament. Until 2012, the 1972-73 Gold Rush were the only XU team in any sport to reach the NAIA national quarterfinals.

"Once I met the vice president (Anthony Rachal) and president (Dr. Norman C. Francis), I was elated," Hopkins said in November 2013 of his interview with Xavier. "They did everything in their power to enhance the program. They were very supportive. I didn't even have to negotiate with them.

"We had some great teams at Xavier. We won the City Series. We beat Tulane, a major D-I at the time. You didn't need an airplane and a million dollars a year to make a good program."

Hopkins was 82-45 in five seasons as Xavier. The Gold Rush were 22-5 in 1971-72 and 21-6 in 1972-73. Three of the Gold Rush's four NAIA national tourney victories occurred during Hopkins' tenure. His 16-year record as a collegiate men's head coach was 252-183. He also coached Grambling's women to a 10-18 record in 1983-84.

Hopkins left XU to join his cousin, legendary center Bill Russell, on the staff of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics. He was a Sonics assistant for three years and head coach for the first 22 games of 1977-78. Hopkins fell in love with Seattle, bought a house in suburban Mercer Island, Wash., and settled there.

"Good, bad or whatever, he made me who I am," Watts told the Seattle Times newspaper. "And I know a whole lot of people owe an awful lot to Bob Hopkins."

Hopkins was born Nov. 3, 1934, in Jonesboro, La., and was a standout basketball player at Grambling during the 1950s. There he became the first collegian (in December 1955) to score 3,000 career points. He set an NCAA career record of 3,759 points and has been No. 2 on that list for the past 43 seasons. He is No. 4 in NAIA career points — during Hopkins' playing days, Grambling held dual membership in the NCAA and NAIA — and he still holds the NAIA and NCAA Division II career record of 3,309 field-goal attempts. Hopkins played four NBA seasons with the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers) and averaged 8.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 273 games from 1956-60. He scored 44 points in a game against the Boston Celtics.

Hopkins is a member of at least six halls of fame. He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1963, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1978 and, in 2009, the Grambling Legends Hall of Fame and the Jackson Parish Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown. In 2013, Hopkins was inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hopkins was married to his wife, Beverly, for more than 55 years. They met at Grambling, where Beverly was a roommate of Hopkins' sister. Other survivors include four children, four grandchildren and one great grandchild. A memorial service was held May 22, 2015, at St. Monica Catholic Church in Mercer Island. In lieu of flowers, the Hopkins family requests that donations be made to the Bob Hopkins Scholarship Fund, c/o Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, 516 22nd Ave. East, Seattle, WA 98112.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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Ritsche says WSSU baseball program is in good shape

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- Historic seasons don’t come around that often.

Winston-Salem State’s baseball team, while it fell short of its goal of reaching the Division II College World Series, completed its best season in school history.

The Rams, who will likely be a preseason top 25 team next season, went 42-15 for the most wins in school history.

Coach Kevin Ritsche, who just completed his fifth season, is 182-93 overall and the Rams have won the last five CIAA titles.

Before heading into summer break Ritsche sat down at the Bowman Gray Stadium field house to talk about this past season and to look ahead.

Q: Coming off the school’s best season in history what is the mindset as you look ahead to next spring?

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FAMU hazing death attorney facing complaint from Florida Bar

ORANGE COUNTY, Florida — 9 Investigates has learned the attorney representing the family of Florida A&M University hazing victim Robert Champion is facing a serious complaint by the Florida Bar Association.

Attorney Christopher Chestnut is accused of lying to the court, having runners solicit grieving victims at funerals and charging excessive fees.

Channel 9's Lori Brown learned that the complaint could have serious ramifications.

Chestnut's website boasts that his is a multimillion-dollar law firm that represents clients around the United States. The site says he has been acknowledged by President Barack Obama as a national emerging leader.

One of Chestnut's high-profile cases involved representing the family of Champion in a civil case against FAMU.

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DI Baseball Committee releases field of 64 teams for 2015 tournament

NDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- The field of 64 teams competing for the 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship was announced Monday by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.

The national top eight seeds are UCLA (42-14), LSU (48-10), Louisville (43-16), Florida (44-16), Miami (Florida) (44-14), Illinois (47-8-1), TCU (43-11) and Missouri State (45-10). The top eight seed for Missouri State marks a first for a Missouri Valley Conference institution.

Interactive Bracket    Printable

The ACC and SEC lead all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with seven. The Pac-12 has six institutions, while the Big 10 had a league-record five selected.

Making the tournament for the first time includes Radford of the Big South Conference, Florida A&M of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Houston Baptist of the Southland Conference and Cal State Bakersfield of the Western Athletic Conference. Overall, 27 of the 64 teams were in the field last year.

Miami (Florida) is in the field for the 43rd consecutive year, extending its own record. Florida State is making its 38th consecutive appearance, second all-time. Other long consecutive streaks: Cal State Fullerton (24), Rice (21) and Arkansas (13).

Each of the 16 regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 29, to Monday, June 1 (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced at approximately 11 p.m. ET June 1.

The 69th Men’s College World Series begins play Saturday, June 13, at the TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

2015 AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS
CONFERENCE	TEAM	RECORD	YRS*	W	L	PREV. APP.
American East	Stony Brook	34-14-1	5	7	10	2012
American Athletic	East Carolina	40-20	27	31	53	2012
Atlantic Coast	Florida State	41-19	53	178	117	2014
Atlantic Sun	Lipscomb	39-18	2	1	2	2008
Atlantic 10	VCU	37-22	11	11	20	2010
Big East	St. John's (N.Y.)	39-14	35	63	62	2012
Big South	Radford	43-14	1	0	0	First
Big Ten	Michigan	37-23	22	59	43	2008
Big 12	Texas	30-25	57	233	114	2014
Big West	Cal St. Fullerton	34-22	37	146	78	2014
Colonial	UNCW	39-16	7	9	12	2013
Conference USA	FIU	29-29	11	8	21	2011
Horizon	Wright St.	41-15	5	1	8	2011
Ivy	Columbia	31-15	5	1	8	2014
Metro Atlantic	Canisius	34-28	2	0	2	2013
Mid-American	Ohio	36-19	11	14	20	1997
Mid-Eastern	Florida A&M	23-23	1	0	0	First
Missouri Valley	Missouri St.	45-10	9	14	17	2012
Mountain West	San Diego St.	40-21	12	10	22	2014
Northeast	Sacred Heart	23-30-1	4	0	6	2012
Ohio Valley	Morehead St.	38-20	3	2	4	1983
Pacific-12	UCLA	42-14	20	60	30	2013
Patriot	Lehigh	25-29	2	0	2	2006
Southeastern	Florida	44-16	31	85	64	2014
Southern	Mercer	35-21	3	1	4	2013
Southland	Houston Baptist	28-25	1	0	0	First
Southwestern	Texas Southern	31-17	3	1	4	2008
Summit	Oral Roberts	41-14	25	34	48	2012
Sun Belt	La.-Lafayette	39-21	15	27	30	2014
West Coast	Pepperdine	30-27	28	58	54	2014
Western Athletic	Cal St. Bakersfield	36-22-1	1	0	0	First
*Includes 2015

COURTESY NCAA.COM

FAMU Rattlers pumped for Round 2 against Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M's baseball team knew for more than a week it was going to play in the NCAA tournament.

The only questions were where the team would play and which three teams would the Rattlers would battle against in Florida A&M's first-ever appearance in an NCAA Regional.

Monday, Jamey Shouppe's team got its answers.

 
The Rattlers (23-23) will travel the Gainesville Regional for the double-elimination round of the NCAA tournament. The MEAC champions will be joined by Florida Atlantic (40-17), South Florida (33-24-1) and Florida (44-16), which was named the No. 4 national seed and will open against FAMU.

"We're just excited to be playing baseball this time of year," Shouppe said.

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Florida A&M Faces Florida to Open Gainesville Regional

Courtesy: Florida A&M University Sports Information

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  -- Florida A&M (23-23, 15-9 MEAC) makes its’ first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance as it travels to Gainesville to face Florida (44-16, 19-11 SEC) at McKethan Stadium on Friday, May 29. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET and will be televised live on the SEC Network. FAMU will be the No. 4 seed in the Gainesville Regional, while UF is the No. 1 seed after earning the No. 4 overall national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Rattlers have won six straight and are 9-1 in their last 10 games heading into the NCAA Tournament. FAMU also won 14-of-18 against the MEAC down the stretch on the way to its’ first MEAC Championship since 1994.

The first game of the Gainesville Regional will see Florida Atlantic (40-17) and South Florida (33-24-1) square-off beginning at 1:00 PM ET and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

In 2015, Florida A&M faced three schools that earned berths in the 2015 NCAA Tournament field of 64. The Rattlers played two No. 3 seeds – Auburn (35-24) and South Florida (33-24-1) and split two games with No. 4 seed – Mercer (35-21).

The Rattlers secured an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament by defeating Bethune-Cookman 8-2 in the Championship Game of the MEAC Tournament on May 16. FAMU and B-CU entered the tournament as the top two teams from the MEAC Southern Division. The MEAC Championship was the first for FAMU since 1994 and seventh in program history. Florida A&M went 3-0 in the tournament with wins over Savannah State (7-4), Delaware State (11-2) and Bethune-Cookman.

Florida A&M led the MEAC with a .964 fielding percentage, walks (202), second with a 4.38 team ERA and third in home runs (20). The Rattler pitching staff was also tied for the MEAC lead with 10 saves this season.

McKethan Stadium is hosting an NCAA Regional for the 13th time and for the fifth time in the last six years. Florida will be is making its’ 31st overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning the SEC Tournament Championship over Vanderbilt by a score of 7-3 on Sunday night. The Gators earned a top eight national for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.

FAMU trails Florida 1-18 in the all-time, but that first win came in the last meeting with the Gators by a score of 4-3 over then-No. 6 ranked Florida in Gainesville. Catcher Jeremy Barlow led the Rattler offense going 3-for-4 including the go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning, while reliever Brandon Fleming picked up the win after allowing just one run over three innings of work with two strikeouts. Kendal Weeks earned his first save of the season with a strong relief performance as he allowed just one run over the final 2 1/3 innings with two strikeouts.

The Gainesville Regional is paired up with the Tallahassee Regional as the winners of each regional site will meet for a Super Regional in a best-of-three series beginning on either Friday, June 5 or Saturday, June 6. The four schools competing in the Tallahassee Regional are Florida State (41-19), College of Charleston (43-13), Auburn (35-24) and Mercer (35-21).

Gainesville Regional Ticket Information

Tickets for the 2015 NCAA Baseball Gainesville Regional will go on sale to the public at 8:30 AM ET on Wednesday, May 27 at www.gatorzone/tickets.com. Phone orders will also be available by calling one of the Ticket Office Specialists at 352-375-4683 (option 2) or toll free 800-344-2867 (option 2) Wednesday through Friday, 8:30 AM ET to 5:00 PM ET. You can also visit the Gator Ticket Office, which is located at Gate 1 of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Wednesday through Friday from 8:30 AM ET to 5:00 PM ET.

Single game tickets will be sold beginning on Thursday, May 28, at 8:30 AM ET. Regional tournament passes begin at $55 for Reserved Box seats, $50 for Reserved Chairback and $30 for Reserved Bleacher. Individual game tickets are $10 for Reserved Box, $9 for Reserved Chairback, $8 Reserved Bleacher and $6 for General Admission.

The complete schedule for the Gainesville Regional is listed below:

Friday, May 29, 2015

Game 1: South Florida vs. Florida Atlantic – 1:00 PM (ESPN3)

Game 2: Florida A&M vs. Florida – 7:00 PM (SEC Network)

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 1:00 PM (SEC Network/ESPN3)

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 7:00 PM (SEC Network/ESPN3)

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 – 12:00 PM (SEC Network/ESPN3)

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 – 4:00 PM (SEC Network/ESPN3)

Monday, June 1, 2015

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary) – 7:00 PM (SEC Network/ESPN3)

As always, fans can follow FAMU Baseball via Live Stats on FAMUAthletics.com and on Twitter at @FAMUAthletics.

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