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NEW YORK - The Cleveland Cavaliers today signed Trey Johnson of the Bakersfield Jam, making him the seventh GATORADE Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season and the 126th overall since the league began play in 2001. Johnson is the first member of the Jam to earn a call-up this season. Johnson, a 6-6 guard, has appeared in and started 25 games for the Jam this season where he averaged 20.1 points, 4.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 39.2 minutes. Johnson scored in double-digits 23 times this season, including three games where he scored 30 or more points.
For his efforts this season, Johnson earned the right to play in the 2009 NBA D-League All-Star game which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 14 on Center Court at NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by Adidas. Johnson will need to be active on an NBA D-League roster in order to participate.
A two-year contributor at Jackson State, Johnson averaged 27.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 35 games during his senior season (2006-07) when he was named All-SWAC Player of the Year, also earning a spot on the NABC All-NCAA District 8 1st team, and SWAC Tournament MVP honors.
One of the area's top uncommitted prospect made his college choice on the final weekend before Wednesday's National Signing Day. Georgetown standout Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard will play both football and basketball at South Carolina State, Georgetown coach Tyronne Davis said. Gadsden-Gilliard will sign a football scholarship with MEAC champion S.C. State, Davis said. The Bulldogs will allow Gadsden-Gilliard to also play basketball.
"They made him a good offer," Davis said. "Kinard really is a good football player. He can play both sports, but I think for his size, he'll be a good college football player." Gadsden-Gilliard, a 6-foot-5, 235 pounder, was the Toast of the Coast Basketball Player of the Year as a junior and was named a North-South All-Star in football as a senior. Gadsden-Gilliard will play tight end and likely forward at S.C. State.
THE Albury-Wodonga Bandits are poised to add what will be the marquee attractions for this year’s squad. The Border club is expected to announce by the end of this week the signing of US import Fernandez Lockett and possibly fellow American Roy Bright.
Lockett, a 194cm forward, averaged 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds for Austin Peay State University last year and was the Governors’ leading rebounder during the past two seasons. Bandits coach James Madigan said Lockett was athletic and if signed, would excite fans with his explosive ability. “No one is an absolute definite right now but Lockett is the one we would like to have,” Madigan said. “I’ll be talking to the committee over the next couple of days about two imports.
“At this stage, getting some Australian NBL players is too far off. “We need to make some decisions now as the immigration process now takes a bit longer than it did before so we need to act in the next couple of days if we’re going to bring the Americans in. “One is 6-5, the other 6-6 and they can play both forward spots. Because I’m not going to bring in a whole new team, we’re going to need players who are extremely versatile.”
The other potential signing, Bright, averaged 19.1 points and 5.3 boards as a senior at Delaware State University last year. The 197cm swingman was rated highly enough to have the Philadelphia 76ers invite him to a pre-draft workout before the 2008 NBA draft. He was also the second pick in the US CBA draft by the East Kentucky Miners and has also played in the US NBDL as well as in the Dominican Republic and Latvia.
Few people know more about NCAA rules than Alabama State head coach Reggie Barlow. And, oh, how he wishes he knew much less. During his two years as Hornets head coach, Barlow has picked up a career's worth of compliance and enforcement knowledge, as he's guided the football program through the longest NCAA investigation in history. While neither he nor any of his coaches or players were directly involved in any rules violations, Barlow was still forced to get neck deep in the process in order to quell any costly misconceptions that could damage the program.
Last spring, when the NCAA issued a notice of infractions that accused the school of hundreds of violations, Barlow actively sought out media interviews in an attempt to explain the violations had occurred under a previous staff and more thanfour years earlier. Since December, when the NCAA issued its final ruling that left the program on five years probation and facing a postseason ban, Barlow has been back on a mini-lecture tour. This time though, he's doing most of his explaining in the living rooms of coveted recruits.
"We've been forced to put out a bunch of fires," Barlow said. "You would like to think that other (coaching staffs) wouldn't use bad information, but it's obviously happening. We've got a lot of questions from kids and their parents. That's perfectly fine, we expected that. But some of the questions, you know someone has been filling their heads with (bad information)."
Jackson State was getting tired of Mississippi Valley State. The Tigers have been picked to win the SWAC the last two seasons, and did advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2007. But, in 2008, expecting to repeat, JSU stubbed its toe on Valley. As talented as JSU was last year, Valley won both of the regular-season matchups and then rallied late to win the final one that mattered most - for the SWAC Championship and NCAA berth.
Though the Delta Devils are built around new players and a first-year coach, that didn't dim the Tiger smiles after a 64-58 victory inside the Athletics and Assembly Center on Saturday. "It's just a little bit of relief," JSU guard Darrion Griffin said. "It was a little bit too close for comfort. "(That last game was) eating at us. We think about it all the time. To get the victory against them makes us feel like we can beat any team in the conference."
Jackson State stuck to its recent blueprint for success by busting out to a 12-point lead less than 10 minutes into the game. Valley would never lead for a single second of the 40 minutes, but it also refused to get blown out. The Delta Devils chipped away at the lead and trailed 31-27 at halftime. A dribble-drive layup by Julius Cheeks cut the lead to 35-34 at the 16:05 mark, but Valley never got any closer.
Delaware State's second year head bowing coach and touring professional Kim Terrell-Kearney is on the verge of building the Lady Hornets into a national bowling powerhouse.DSU is ranked No. 4 nationally ahead of defending NCAA champion Maryland-Eastern Shore, which slipped to No. 5 after placing first in the preseason poll.
DOVER, DE -- When one door slammed closed on Kim Terrell-Kearney, she quickly turned her attention to finding a new challenge. Terrell-Kearney, winner of 11 pro bowling tour titles, decided to try her hand at coaching. There she could instill in youngsters a passion for the game that she loves. The two-time U.S. Women's Open winner found out that she was pretty good at getting her lessons across and two years ago landed a job as the head coach of Delaware State University's women's bowling team. Ever since she arrived, the Hornets have soared to new heights.
Last season, she led the Hornets to a school-record 74 wins and a No. 11 ranking in the final National Tenpin Coaches Association regular-season poll. DSU also finished second in the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship, the best finish in team history. This year, Delaware State is ranked fourth in the nation -- an all-time high for the program -- as the Hornets travel to Laurel, Md., for the Bowie State Tournament today and Sunday.
Terrell-Kearney admits that becoming a bowling coach in Delaware was not exactly on her radar about five years ago. "I've been coaching really since [the Ladies Professional Bowling] tour folded, which has been about six years now," Terrell-Kearney said. "It's definitely different, but I like it very much. "I wanted to coach in college and there's only five full-time coaching jobs in college right now in the country. They [DSU] used to be part-time but now they made it a full-time position and I applied and there we were."
Terrell-Kearney definitely boasts a strong résumé.
Bob Hayes had run a 9.1 100 as an 18-year-old freshman at Florida A&M; he later changed professional football forever, bringing speed into the game in a way it had never been there before. A four-time All-Pro, Hayes is the only man that has won an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl.
TAMPA, FL – Bob Hayes' wait is finally over. On Saturday, Hayes, the former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and Olympic gold medalist, earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, nearly 30 years after he was first eligible to be selected and seven years after his death from kidney failure. "It didn't matter how long it took," his oldest sister, Lucille Hester, said not long after the announcement. "He's made it. This day is here
Hayes is joined in the Class of 2009 by Minnesota guard Randall McDaniel, Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith, Pittsburgh cornerback Rod Woodson, Kansas City pass rusher Derrick Thomas and Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson. The induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio, will take place Aug. 8.
Hayes became the 11th member of the Cowboys' organization to earn induction, joining teammates Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Rayfield Wright and Mel Renfro as well as fellow Ring of Honor members Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Randy White, Tom Landry and Tex Schramm.
Had Hayes not been selected this time, it would have been highly unlikely for him to come through the Senior Committee a third time. He made it to the finals in 2004 only to miss the cut. Five years to the day of that disappointment, however, came elation. "I guess the only downside is that he's not here to enjoy this moment," Hester said. "It's such a wonderful moment for him, a wonderful moment.
Across the state in Hayes' native Jacksonville, (Florida) Charles Sutton, Hayes friend from elementary school and teammate at Matthew Gilbert High School and Florida A&M, got a phone call from their high school coach, Earl Kitching.
"He says, 'Your boy made it. Y'all played ball so you're a part of it,' and all I could think was, 'Thank you, Jesus, thank you,' " Sutton said. "I can see Bob now. He'd be hugging me and saying, 'I made it, roomie, I made it. Let me kiss you.' He would've been so happy he would've started crying and I'd say, 'Man, what are you crying for?' "
You know I am not sure I am going to be around if I get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame so you must read this for me, I am not sure, I guess I am feeling sorry for myself at this time but you must remember everything I want you to do and say. Mother said you would do what I want because you always did. So read this for me.
I would like to thank everyone who supported me to get into the NFL Hall of Fame, the Dallas Cowboys organization, all of my team mates (sic) and everyone who played for the Cowboys, (thank the San Francisco 49ers too). Thank the fans all around the country and the world, thank the committee who voted for me and also the ones who may did not vote for me, thank Mother and my family, thank Roger Staubach and tell all my teammates I love them.
Thank the Pro Football Hall of Fame, all the NFL teams and players, Florida A&M University, thank everyone who went to Matthew Gilbert High School, thank everyone in Jacksonville and Florida and everyone especially on the East Side of Jacksonville. Thank everyone in the City of Dallas and in Texas and just thank everyone in the whole world.
NEW YORK - The Cleveland Cavaliers today signed Trey Johnson of the Bakersfield Jam, making him the seventh GATORADE Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season and the 126th overall since the league began play in 2001. Johnson is the first member of the Jam to earn a call-up this season. Johnson, a 6-6 guard, has appeared in and started 25 games for the Jam this season where he averaged 20.1 points, 4.8 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 39.2 minutes. Johnson scored in double-digits 23 times this season, including three games where he scored 30 or more points.
