FAMU linebacker coach, Holmes, has high standards

Photo: FAMU Inside Linebacker coach Earl Holmes.

If Florida A&M linebacker coach Earl Holmes had to pick a player to demonstrate a stunt or blitz technique, there's a good chance senior Vernon Wilder would be his choice. "The fact is, he is a leader," Holmes said. "He doesn't lead by his mouth. He leads by example.

"He is the first one to give me everything he has on every play and guys respect that. With his work habits, I think a lot of good things are going to come."

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TSU set to name Harvey as new basketball coach

Photo: Texas Southern University new head basketball coach Tony Harvey.

Texas Southern University will introduce Tony Harvey as its new men's basketball coach Friday at an 11 a.m. news conference, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Harvey coached as an assistant at Missouri from 1999-2004, helping the program to four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. According to media reports, he left the school in 2004 after being accused of multiple NCAA rules violations, including giving cash to former guard Ricky Clemons and impermissible contact with recruits. He was then cleared of any wrongdoing in early 2006.

Harvey has also had coaching stints with Southern and Eastern Michigan.

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More drama at TSU...read the entire article on what Blackwell did before he was fired. Does the Tigers know how to stay out of court or what?

The charges that were filed against Harvey while at Missouri were:

(a) In a formal notice of allegations, the NCAA accused Harvey of giving player Ricky Clemons $250 in violation of NCAA rules. Harvey denied that allegation; and (b) Harvey was accused by the NCAA of treating high school and Amateur Athletic Union coaches to meals and then seeking reimbursement from the university by misrepresenting who received the meals.

Harvey resigned from his position as the associate head basketball coach at Missouri prior to being cleared of all charges by the NCAA's Infraction Committee. The university bought out the remainder of Harvey’s contract in exchange for a promise that Harvey would not try to sue the school. Missouri paid Harvey $136,000 in exchange for his resignation and a vow to never sue.

During the summer of 2003, Ricky Clemons was arrested for assaulting Jessica Bungee and spent 42 days in jail. On his work release program he was found at Missouri's president Elson Floyd's house driving and wrecking an ATV.

After Mizzou, Harvey started a new career as a sports agent and held the position of Director of Basketball Operations for MAC Sports and Entertainment.

Let's summarize....Texas Southern's acting athletic director/head football coach Johnnie Cole is still under NCAA Infraction Committee investigation for the mess created by he and his brother, L.C. Cole at Alabama State University.

L.C Cole is presently defensive coordinator at TSU, hired by his brother Johnnie Cole in January 2008. The Alabama State University case is not expected to be completed and resolved by the NCAA until 2009. Both Cole brothers were fired from Alabama State in 2003, for alledged rules infractions.

Lane College, where Johnnie Cole left a head coaching position for TSU is now on NCAA probation for rules violations in the athletic department. Cole was not responsible for these violations.

In 1999, Johnnie Cole was banned from the coaching staff at Tennessee State University where he served as offensive coordinator. After a 17 month investigation concluded, there were several NCAA rules violations. Tennessee State was hit with self-imposed sanctions by the NCAA.

Harvey, a former sports agent is now introduced as the new TSU basketball coach.

What a recipe for possible disaster with three coaches with a shaky past with the NCAA Infractions Committee in the same athletic department.

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Fans say Grambling basketball can bounce back, despite recent struggles

GRAMBLING — Supporters insist Grambling State’s new basketball coaches will take over programs with a wealth of potential, despite last season’s slumping records.
That starts with GSU’s sparkling new Assembly Center, a long-awaited hoops facility that opened a year ago. Already, it’s been featured on a national television broadcast, as Grambling faced Southern in February.

A recruiting cornerstone for years to come, it bolsters many boosters’ resolute belief that things can get better in the wake of Grambling’s twin announcements on Tuesday that neither men’s coach Larry Wright nor women’s coach David “Rusty” Ponton would return.

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Photo: Interior of GSU new Assembly Center (GSU vs. JSU 2008).

Grambling should be an expert on how not to recruit a new coach after the FAMU bru-ha-ha with Rod Broadway a few months ago. Before sending up trial balloons in the press, the Grambling power brokers need to pick up the telephone and call Patricia Bibbs, Willis Reed and others, and see if they are first "interested" in the Grambling openings.

Secondly, forget the high school coaches for any head coaching position(s) in the SWAC. That in itself says, Grambling ain't serious about basketball, especially with 8-10 "money games" on the schedule each season.

Reed was a great Grambling and New York Knicks player, but 99.9% of the youth today are clueless and he just as well be Mr. Irrelevant. Few know that Reed coached in the NBA as a head coach with the Knicks and at Creighton University.

If the brand on the building does not read--LSU, Louisiana Tech, UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, Tulane, New Orleans, McNeese, Northwestern State or other such mid-major program, Grambling could hire Knicks coach Isaiah Thomas and the results would be nearly the same.

Doug Williams, with all the name recognition, could not change the trend of blue chips going the other direction away from HBCUs, like Grambling. Former coach Larry Wright of NBA Washington Bullets fame, couldn't change that nor compete outside of the SWAC for talent.

It will take more than name recognition and a new facility to build a success basketball program. It's a great START, but you need a great recruiter and teacher at the head of these programs. HBCUs need to find another revenue stream other than "money games" which destroys most programs, the conference RPI, and many head coaching careers in both SWAC and MEAC.

My two cents says, go to the Division II level and select a coach that's proven and committed to building these programs. It's not an overnight project nor should GSU waste time being the training grounds for rookie coaches that should not be at the Division I level. Go for the proven coach that has built NCAA championship level programs with little financial support at the D-II level.

Finally, leave those high school coaches alone. They do a fine job at that level and its necessary to produce good/great college players, but Division I is not high school.

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Norfolk State's football recruit/Sherando’s Brisco is fastest in 100 meters

Photo: Running back Markeith Brisco, #29 (5-11/195) eluding Millbrook's Butch Kaczmarzewski (44), rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns in helping the Warriors clinch their second straight district title. Brisco has signed a NLI to play football for Norfolk State University Spartans.

STEPHENS CITY, VA — When Sherando High School track and field coach Tom Grim was asked last week about who the Warriors’ top newcomers were this season, he didn’t want Markeith Brisco’s name to be mentioned publicly because of his concern over a hamstring injury that Brisco suffered in practice.

The Sherando senior, competing in the same stadium in which he thrilled fans on a routine basis on Friday nights for the football team, recorded a time of 10.9 seconds to win the 100 meters, faster than any area athlete ran during the entire 2007 season. Though his time might have been aided by a breeze, even a strong wind in the face of the muscular Brisco likely would have been just a mere annoyance, much like his opponents were during football season.

#29 ALL-STATE RB Markeith Brisco, Sherando High School Warriors; 2007 Virginia State Championship Runner Up (13-1 season).


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Markeith Briscoe (5-11/195) was ranked #7 statistically by the Washington Post of the Top 20 Rushers in the Metro Washington, D.C. Region with 221 rushes, 1726 yards, 26 TDs (averaging 123 yards per game/7.8 yards per carry) in 2007/08 season.

His team finished 13-1, as Virginia Class AA State runner-up. Virginia's top division is AAA.

Sherando lineman Joey Christine (6-2/300) also signed with Norfolk State.

NSU coach Pete Adrian was quoted on NV daily.com of saying, "Markeith, I think, is going to be an outstanding college running back,"Adrian said. "He just finishes a run with such, what I call, a nasty attitude, a 'You're not going to tackle me."

"We saw the stadium, and I didn't know what to say," Briscoe said. "I tried to imagine what it would be like with all the fans in there. We're very excited, and we're ready to go down there and play some ball. "I'm just happy to see Juicy's (Christine) ugly mug for four more years," he was quoted as saying--laughing.

Christine was a steamroller for the Sherando offense, helping Markeith Briscoe rush for over 1,700 yards and QB Ross Metheny (signed with University of Virginia) pass for over 2,200 yards.

As a DT, Christine played dominant football with 70 tackles and 4.5 sack his senior season.

Coach Pete Adrian said both Briscoe and Christine will compete for playing time as freshmen. The Spartans also have freshman standout Takeem Hedgeman, who rushed for nearly 2,900 yards as a senior at Monticello (VA) High School coming with this star quality 2008/09 class.

With the incoming players to build upon their 8-3 record of 2007, Norfolk State appears to be major competitive trouble for the rest of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in the fight for the 2008/09 championship and FCS playoff bid.

Just maybe, 2007 was not a fluke season after all for Pete Adrian's team.

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Quaker Valley's Rogers chooses Morgan State Bears

Photo: Christa Rogers is an Pennsylvania All-State volleyball player, an all-section basketball player, and track star. Rogers plans to major in electrical or mechanical engineering at MSU and selected the Bears over scholarships offers from Delaware State and UMES.

LEETSDALE, PA – As she looked toward college, Christa Rogers chose to create rather than wait. An NCAA Division I prospect in three sports, she could have waited for the telephone to bring college opportunities. She could have waited for the postman to deliver possibility, or for talent-starved recruiters to contact her high school coaches.

Instead, she sat down with her mother and, like a true setter, assisted possibility.

“I sat down with my mother and made a list of colleges that had what I’m looking for, and we sent them tapes.” Morgan State University quickly responded with a scholarship offer to play NCAA Division I volleyball, and Rogers, this week, accepted.

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OTHER ARTICLES ON CHRISTA ROGERS:

(1) http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08094/870145-116.stm
(2)http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2008/03/30/sports/high_school/doc47ef1b1e542dd351296100.txt

Alabama State's Hayles, Morgan State's Smith honorable mention AP All-Americans

Photo: AP honorable mention All-American Andrew Hayles, ASU Hornets.

by Alabama State Sports Information

Montgomery, Ala. - The honors continue to roll in for Alabama State guard Andrew Hayles. On Monday, Hayles was named Associated Press honorable mention All-American.

"It's a real honor, but it says more about what our team accomplished that what I did individually," Hayles said. "This is really motivation to work even harder to in the offseason."

Earlier this month, Hayles, a junior from Mobile, Ala., was tabbed as the SWAC player of the year after leading the Hornets to a 20-11 season and the SWAC regular season championship.

He averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He ranked in the conference's top 10 in six categories: scoring, shooting percentage, free throw percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, and minutes played.

After his first season at ASU, Hayles was named the SWAC freshman of the year in 2005-2006. As a sophomore, he led the Hornets in scoring with 14.5 points per game.

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Jamar Smith, Morgan State University, the MEAC Player of the Year was also named an AP honorable mention All-American. Smith, a 6-2/210 senior guard played at Patrick Henry HS/San Bernadino Valley College prior to attending MSU. Smith is from Brooklyn Park, MN.

ASU Hornets team back at work

Photo: Hornets RS junior QB Alex Engram (#3) may be ASU's #1 quarterback. Here, he passes over junior defensive back Roderick West #28, in spring practice.

After a 13-day layoff, the Alabama State football team got back to spring practice Wednesday night, as the Hornets hit the field for an unscheduled practice. The two-hour session went about like head coach Reggie Barlow figured it might -- lots of energy, but several signs of rust.

"Lots of dropped passes, the quarterbacks are a little off," Barlow said. "You can tell that we've had a long layoff. But I do like the energy. That's really encouraging to see the guys fly around and get after it."

Wednesday's practice was a last-minute addition, added because of inclement weather on Tuesday that rained out a scheduled practice.

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