Benedict To Face Morehouse In Palmetto Classic

The ninth annual Palmetto Capital City Classic is set for Aug. 28 and it will be Tigers vs Tigers as Benedict hosts Morehouse College from Atlanta. The game will kick off at 4:00 p.m. at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. For Benedict head coach Stan Conner, the Classic is like a bowl game for his players because of all the festivities leading up to the game.

The game will also give Conner a gauge as to how his team will stack up against a proven opponent. Last year in Atlanta, Morehouse defeated Benedict 34-13. The Tigers would get hot down the stretch and finish with an 8-3 record, thanks in part to stellar play by quarterback Pat Riley. The Maroon Tigers from Atlanta ended the year 7-3. Conner says playing Morehouse to open the season, followed by games against Tuskegee and South Carolina State is like "going from the frying pan into another hot skillet".



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Palmetto Capital City Classic 2010 ...Columbia, South Carolina

FAMU looks to get athletic program out of the red

Florida A&M University president Dr. James H. Ammons.

If indeed it takes a village to raise a child, then Florida A&M President James Ammons might be on to something to help his athletic program get out of the red. While FAMU has made great strides during the past year to reduce its athletic department's deficit by almost $1 million, Ammons believes that if coaches recruit more local athletes they'd eventually help gate receipts that could put more bodies in the Lawson Center and Bragg Stadium on game days.

"I think there is some merit in looking at local athletes, especially when you have a 10,000-seat facility," Ammons said during a recent interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. "The family, the church, the community — I think everybody would come to watch local athletes play." Meanwhile, FAMU's athletic department continues efforts to cut into a budget deficit that totaled $5.3 million a year ago. Ammons said the gap is now at $4.6 million and the goal is to make the department profitable within the next three to five years.



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JCSU hires Steelers great as mentoring consultant

Johnson C. Smith University has hired four-time Super Bowl champion Donnie Shell to launch a mentoring facility on campus. JCSU's Center for Spiritual Life will facilitate spiritual and religious outreach on campus and the surrounding faith community. Shell's consulting firm will also help the university develop responsibilities for the center's director. School officials will review his findings and implement them in the fall.

“In my conversations with Mr. Shell, I have been impressed with his approach to mentoring young people spiritually,” Johnson C. Smith President Ronald L. Carter said in a statement. “I have asked him to develop a similar mentoring program on campus.”

Shell, a South Carolina State University graduate, won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers and retired with 51 interceptions. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Shell has been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was named to the Steelers' all-time team, the College Football Hall of Fame, and the NFL's silver anniversary Super Bowl team. He was director of player development for the Carolina Panthers from 1994-2009, where he mentored players in their education and post-football activities.



Donnie Shell is one of our all time favorite players...this is a funny Roast of Shell.

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Donnie Shell

MSU Homecoming for Towson Catholic grad Bastfield

Three years ago Larry Bastfield couldn’t wait to get away from home for college. Today, the former Towson Catholic standout couldn’t be happier to be back. A second-team Baltimore Sun All-Metro selection in 2008, Bastfield signed with Toledo in the fall of 2007 and completed his sophomore season with the Rockets in the spring. When Toledo coach Gene Cross left the university in March, however, Bastfield decided to head home to Baltimore and finish out his college career at Morgan State.

“It’s for the better,” said Bastfield, who is already taking classes this summer at Morgan. “It really hit me when I came home. I was really ready to come back when I was in Toledo. I was ready for a better situation and ready for the next step.” Bastfield’s college career got off to a rocky start before he had even enrolled at Toledo. Stan Joplin, the longtime Rockets coach who recruited him, was fired after the 2007-08 season. Bastfield stuck with his commitment and played two years for Cross.

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Dollars and sense: College sports tries to do more with less

Duggar Baucom has crunched the numbers and planned the itineraries. If anyone knows how to stretch a buck on the July recruiting trail, the VMI coach does. He'll drive where he can and fly only if he must, using tickets purchased far in advance to get the lowest fares. If plans fluctuate - if an event is canceled or a player he wants to see is a no-show - he'll think long and hard before paying expensive fees to change his ticket. "You just try to spend wisely," Baucom said.

He has no choice. VMI's basketball recruiting budget for fiscal 2009, the last year figures are available, was $17,954. By comparison, Virginia spent $171,045, Virginia Tech $146,607 and Old Dominion $90,191. By U.Va. standards, that was a frugal year. The Cavaliers spent an average of $228,563 chasing players over a four-year period, including $294,000 in 2006. VMI's four-year average was $28,000, Norfolk State's just $17,122.

The disparity in recruiting budgets is another example of the gap between college basketball's haves and have-nots. Big and small schools don't necessarily target the same players, but in the summer, most everyone turns up at the same events. Even schools like VMI and NSU that recruit mostly regionally must travel far from home to see the guys they're pursuing.

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Saint Augustine's men's basketball coach takes job at ODU‎

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Saint Augustine’s College men’s basketball coach Lonnie Blow Jr., has accepted an assistant coaching job at Old Dominion University and has left the Falcons’ program after two seasons. Blow, who this season guided the Falcons to its first CIAA conference tournament title since 1997, received an offer this week and decided to join head coach Blaine Taylor’s staff.

Lonnie Blow, Jr., previously coached for 11 seasons at Maury H.S., led Granby H.S. to a state title and served as an assistant coach at Norfolk State and Hampton University. Last season, he led the Saint Augustine's Falcons to a 27-5 record in his second year and was named CIAA Coach of the Year. The Falcons also compiled the highest GPA in the CIAA.

“I can confirm that,” Old Dominion senior associate athletic director Debbie White said in phone interview on Thursday. St. Aug’s athletics director George Williams said he learned earlier in the week that Blow had an offer and tried to make a counter-offer. He said he certainly tried to keep one of the best basketball coaches to lead their NCAA Division II program. “I try to bring the best people in and put the best package together for them,” he said. “But D-I, financially, we can’t handle those guys.”

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Troy reserve QB Parker transferring to Texas Southern

Dantavious Parker, 5-11/208 quarterback from Columbus High School (Miami, Florida), narrowed his choices to TSU and Florida A&M, Coach Blakeney said.

Rising junior quarterback Dantavious Parker is transferring to Texas Southern University, Troy University head coach Larry Blakeney confirmed Wednesday night. But Blakeney left the door open for Parker, a dynamic threat at quarterback, to return. “He has the opportunity to come back if he gets there and doesn’t like what he sees,” Blakeney said. “I told him that.”

Parker played as a reserve for the past two seasons behind Levi Brown, but broke his right (non-throwing) collarbone in Troy’s first scrimmage this spring on a running play. He was competing with juniors Jamie Hampton and Greg Jenkins and redshirt freshman Corey Robinson for the starting spot, but the injury knocked him out for the spring. Coaches said they have narrowed the race down to two with Hampton and Robinson as the frontrunners.

“I met with him and talked to his mama more than once or twice about this,” Blakeney said. “We talked about his education and what he means to this team as a leader and a player, but he couldn’t get past the chance of wanting to be a starting quarterback. Texas Southern and coach (Johnnie) Cole told him he had a good chance to compete to be a starter. “We couldn’t guarantee him that he had that chance, but I’ll say this. He is a special kid and I hate to lose him.”



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