Prairie View A&M mourns beloved band leader

George Edwards, 60, dies of injuries from car accident. A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Edwards earned a bachelor’s degree in music at Florida A&M University and his master’s from Michigan State University.

George Edwards, director of Prairie View A&M University’s Marching Storm band, died Thursday from injuries sustained in a car accident earlier this month. He was 60. Former students — many of whom followed Edwards’ example and became school band leaders themselves — were stunned to hear that the man they called “Prof” was gone.

“Everybody is still in shock,” said Christopher Knight, a member of the Prairie View band in the 1990s who now teaches at M.C. Williams Middle School in Houston. “You always suspected Prof would grow old in the position.” The Marching Storm, with its drum line and Black Foxes dance troupe, has performed around the world, including the inaugural parade for former President George W. Bush in 2001 and the Tournament of Roses parade in January. Houston audiences may be more familiar with the clash between the Marching Storm and Texas Southern University’s Ocean of Soul, a highlight of the Labor Day Classic football game between the two historically black universities.



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Alcorn State baseball coach retires after 40 years

LORMAN, MS — With Alcorn State’s baseball season coming to an end with a loss in the SWAC Tournament championship game last Sunday, one might think that coach Willie “Rat” McGowan could finally take it easy. After all, McGowan did announce his retirement last month and has coached his final game in the ASU dugout. But McGowan’s retirement doesn’t take effect until June 30, and the coach is still working hard until then.

“I’m recruiting and trying to find some ball players,” McGowan said on Wednesday. “We’ve got some good kids coming in. I’m going to be coaching until my last day. I want to leave the Alcorn baseball program competitive for the next coach. I think the team we’ll put together will be able to win a championship.”

Coach Willie "Rat" McGowan #25, won 720 games with the ASU Braves.

And that is something McGowan’s final Alcorn team almost did. The Braves lost the opening game of the SWAC Tournament to Texas Southern before winning four straight games to advance to the championship game. However, the Braves lost to Southern 12-10 to bring down the curtain on McGowan’s 40 years at the helm of the Alcorn baseball program.

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JSU suspends offensive coordinator

Jackson State offensive coordinator James Woody was suspended for five days without pay by the university for an "unspecified personnel issue" on Friday. The suspension was announced in a two-paragraph press release following two days of speculation fostered by a Jackson television station report that Woody had been terminated on Wednesday.

Woody declined comment when reached at his home on Thursday and did not return calls on Friday. Coach Rick Comegy and athletic director Bob Braddy did not return several calls over the past two days.

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No good comes from this game

This October, in a game that shouldn't be played because of a contract that shouldn't have been signed, little Delaware State will face Michigan in the Big House.

If you made a list of the 10 dumbest things ever done by university administrators, Delaware State's decision to play Michigan would be Nos. 1-5. It was so dumb that nobody from the school can (or will) explain the anatomy of a football deal that forces it to forfeit a conference game. DSU has to forfeit its Oct. 17 game against North Carolina A&T because school negotiators somehow forgot to rearrange the team's existing schedule.

The truly unnerving part of this story is that other schools might be tempted to copy Delaware State. Just take the money, stick it to the conference schedule, plead stupidity and cash the check.

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New coach is well-versed in TSU history

John Cooper was well-connected in the Kansas City area. He was a car dealer who had ties to the Kansas City Royals. He knew Frank White. He knew U L Washington. The Royals were his team. But his grandson, also named John Cooper, had a bond with him beyond baseball. They loved hoops, specifically NAIA hoops, and the conference has held its basketball championship in K.C. for all but eight years since 1937.

So they would go to Kemper Arena. Head to the national tournament every March and watch the best basketball few discussed on a national level. Back in the day, Tennessee State was certainly in the NAIA discussion. In 1957, TSU became the first all-black team to win an integrated college basketball national championship. The Tigers followed that up by winning in '58 and '59. Five players from those teams went on to play in the NBA.

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LSU No. 3 national seed; Tigers to face Southern Jaguars

LSU was named the No. 3 national seed in the 64-team NCAA baseball tournament field that was revealed today. The Tigers (46-16) will play Southern (30-15) at 1 p.m. Friday in the first game of the four-team regional that begins Friday at Alex Box Stadium. The second game at 6 p.m. Friday will pit Baylor (29-24) against Minnesota (38-17) on the first day of the four-team, double-elimination regional tournament.

Southern catcher Michael Thomas tags out LSU Matt Clark at home plate.

The national seed means the Tigers will host a super regional if they can survive the four-team regional that begins Friday at Alex Box Stadium. The winner of the Baton Rouge regional will play the winner of the Houston regional, hosted by Rice. Kansas State, Xavier (Ohio) and Sam Houston State are the other teams in the Houston regional. The LSU regional is the program’s 19th at home — all since 1986. Southern is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.

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At Gainesville, Fla.
No. 4 Bethune-Cookman (32-26) vs. (8) No. 1 Florida (39-20)
No. 3 Jacksonville (36-20) vs. No. 2 Miami (Fla.) (36-20)

At Baton Rouge
No. 4 Southern (30-15) vs. (3) No. 1 LSU (46-16)
No. 3 Baylor (29-24) vs. No. 2 Minnesota (38-17)

Southern U holds off Alcorn State, wins SWAC tournament

On the last day of what he later called the greatest weekend of his life, Southern shortstop Jesse Olivar woke up with puffy eyes and sore muscles. Actually, he didn’t wake up at all. He couldn’t sleep. Throughout his young life, Olivar had never won a championship — not in Little League, not in junior high, not on summer teams, not ever. Now he was close.

“I was so excited to play,” he said. “I was already tired from the night before. I took a bath and tried to stay loose. Then I got a massage, so I could come out in halfway good shape.” On Sunday afternoon at Lee-Hines Field, near the end of a wild, emotional Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament, Olivar found himself at the center of the storm.

It was ironic: At the climax of the Jaguars’ 12-10 slugfest of a win over Alcorn State — one that capped a wild ride to the SWAC title and clinched a berth in the NCAA tournament for SU, not to mention that elusive first ring for Olivar — his defense helped seal the deal.

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