Oakland Athletics select North Carolina A&T slugger Xavier Macklin in 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft

Xavier Macklin

GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina A&T slugger Xavier Macklin is a member of the Oakland Athletics organization. On the second day of the First-Year Major League Baseball Player Draft, Macklin was selected in the 12th round as the 376th pick. Macklin is the first Aggie taken in the draft since the St. Louis Cardinals selected C.J. Beatty in the 26th round in 2009.

Macklin, a junior out of Rocky Mount, N.C., posted impressive power numbers throughout his Aggies career. He hit .357 with 49 home runs and 183 RBIs as he set school marks in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage. Macklin's reputation for power can be measured in his .705 career slugging percentage. He ends his collegiate career with three first-team All-MEAC honors.

Macklin said he was informed about being drafted at approximately 5 p.m. Apprehension and nervousness drove him away from following the draft hours before the Athletics selected him. Macklin received a phone call from a friend notifying him of the good news. A local A's scout who lives in Greensboro made the official call for the organization.

"I can't describe this feeling right now," said Macklin. "It's crazy. It's surreal. It's like I'm not even here right now."

The 2011 season solidified Macklin's status as a MLB prospect. He hit .355 with 22 home runs and 67 RBIs. Nationally, he ranks second in home runs and home runs per game. He owns the fourth-best slugging percentage in the nation and his RBIs per game ranks him 11th.

"He really deserves this," said N.C. A&T head coach Keith Shumate. "People recognize how much talent this young man has, but I don't think people know how hard he worked to get to this point. He had a legendary career at A&T."

Macklin is one of only two MEAC players who have been selected thus far. Bethune-Cookman catcher Peter O'Brien went in the third round to the Colorado Rockies. Macklin becomes the seventh player under Shumate to be taken in the MLB Draft. He is the fourth Aggie in the last five years to be selected, and earned the second highest draft position of any Aggie selected during the Shumate era. Duron LaGrande was drafted in the 10th round by the Montreal Expos in 2004.

Courtesy: NC A&T Sports Information

Alvin Brown and the Decline of the Willie Gary Football Classic

Early in the campaign, several local reporters commented on the elusive nature of his work history, lamenting that it was difficult to accurately assess Mayor-elect Alvin Brown’s performance in a seemingly endless series of over-lapping jobs held since leaving the Clinton Administration more than a decade earlier. It seems that Brown’s role as president and executive director of the once-promising Willie E. Gary Football Classic, a scholarship program featuring an annual match-up of historically black colleges, might provide the most important clue as to his leadership abilities.

Founded by flamboyant trial attorney Willie Gary in 2002, the annual football game started out as something of a smashing success. In its early years, the classic was played at Alltel Stadium and drew relatively decent crowds — averaging about 15,000 per game between 2002 and 2004. Not bad for an annual match-up between two smaller schools.

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Videographer: TheOProductions1907

Albany State University adds Valdosta to football schedule

ALBANY, GA — A rivalry has been renewed. Albany State University and Valdosta State University have inked a contract that will pit the football teams against each other on Sept. 17 at 6 p.m., ASU athletic officials announced on Monday. The one-year deal — which could eventually turn permanent — also gives Albany State an additional home game this season and finalizes the 2011 football schedule.

“We would have liked to have this 10th game scheduled a long time ago, but it worked out this way,” ASU coach Mike White said. “(Valdosta) is a very good team, and they have a very good record against us.” In fact, the VSU Blazers have won 13 of the 14 meetings in the series, which dates to 1982. The teams haven’t played since 2007, when the Blazers won, 41-3, in Valdosta.

“We’re thrilled to have Albany State back on our schedule,” said VSU head coach David Dean. “With the proximity of the two schools, it has always been a great rivalry and a big event for South Georgia. Both schools always bring large crowds to the games, and they have seen...

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Videographer: MarchingsportHD; Albany State University Marching Band (2011) - Honda Battle of the Bands

WSSU losing two assistant coaches

Bobby Collins, the men's basketball coach at Winston-Salem State, gave credit for his team's successes to the assistant coaches as often as possible. Whether it was in recruiting or in preparing for opponents, Collins said that Murray Garvin and Byron Jones were valuable assets for the Rams.

But next season, he'll be without them — both have left WSSU and moved on to other jobs. Garvin, WSSU's associate head coach for the past three seasons, has taken an assistant coach's job at S.C. State. Jones, who played a part in the Rams' 19-8 record and CIAA Southern Division title last season, has taken a job at Fresno State.

"It's good that my coaches are being noticed," Collins said. "I think that proves that my system works pretty well when you get the right players and the right mix." Collins said he hopes to hire new assistants by July 1 and said he already has received nearly 50 résumés.


Videographer: QCQT09

Former West Valley pitcher to throw for Arkansas-Pine Bluff

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Andrew Wixon is going to take the mound next season at the NCAA Division I level next season. The former West Valley High School standout and right-handed sophomore pitcher for Herkimer County Community College in New York recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

At the time of his signing, the 6-foot-5, 190-pounder had a 3-2 record with a 0.96 earned-run average. Wixon’s junior college career ended last weekend, when Herkimer lost a best-of-three NJCAA Region III Sub-Regional series to Erie Community College (N.Y.) in Little Falls, N.Y. Wixon started the first game, an 8-4 win for Herkimer on Saturday, and threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing an earned run.

Hermiker finished the season 19-17 overall, including 18-12 in Region III and 13-8 in the Mountain Valley Conference.

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Videographer: Krank04; M4 Fight Song and Bottoms Up

DSU Hornets To Compete at NCAA Track & Field Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa – For the third straight year, the Delaware State University men's outdoor 4x400 relay team will compete for a national title at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held this Wednesday through Saturday at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University.

The Hornet squad of sophomores Tyquan Brown (Neptune, N.J.), Ryan Carter (Wilmington, Del.) and Tariq Devore (Queens, N.Y.) in addition to junior Leslie Murray (Hyattsville, Md.) qualified for competition after posting a fourth-place time of 3:05.64 at the East Regional, held in Bloomington, Ind.

Prior to the regionals, the quartet was ranked seventh nationally with a time of 3:04.49 that was set at the IC4A Championships. Earlier this season, DSU won the MEAC and IC4A titles in the relay.

The relay will compete at 8:20 p.m. Thursday in the 4x400 semifinals. The finals will be held on Saturday at 1:50 p.m.

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16 Shaw High School (Ohio) members of marching band sign letters of intent to attend college

East Cleveland school band members college-bound

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio - Although 16 graduating members of the Shaw High School marching band in East Cleveland did not have their musical instruments in their hands, there was music in where they all sat facing their parents and other supporters.

The students all signed "letters of intent" to attend colleges or universities. The East Cleveland School System makes a special program of the letter signings for its members of the high school marching band.

"Thirty percent of what we do is music," said Donshon Wilson, the band director. "However, the other 70 percent is academics."

The students sat shoulder-to-shoulder at long tables as their parents and other supporters beamed smiles across a room, where marching band trophies glittered under the daylight streaming through the windows. Some parents cried with happiness for the graduating seniors.

"Mr. Wilson made him realize that you start being serious," said Sheila Scruggs, describing how music helped her son find a stronger place in life. "Mr. Wilson taught him to be a leader, not a follower."


Videographer: WEWSTV; Shaw High School Mighty Cardinal Band, East Cleveland, Ohio, May 31, 2011.

Videographer: rodneyreynoldsrr; SHAW HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND, Jan. 23, 2011.

Videographer:jaboes; The Shaw Band marched in the 2008 International Marching Band Salute to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was an event of the Beijing City Festival "Perform in Harmony-With Olympic Spirit" and it was an honor for the Shaw Band students of inner-city East Cleveland, Ohio to be selected as one of the premier bands to represent the USA. Shaw was one of only five U.S. high schools playing in the International Salute to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China. Band director Donshon Wilson said the community donated about $500,000 to help send 52 students and 16 adults to China, purchase new uniforms and instruments, and funds to start a middle school band feeder program in East Cleveland.

The institutions the students agreed to attend were Central State (Ohio), Alabama State, Kent State, Bowling Green and Youngstown State Universities. Also on the list were Florida A&M, Wilberforce, Howard University, Cuyahoga Community College, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and the University of Toledo.

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