Under Brooks Johnson’s tutelage former Howard star David Oliver clears every hurdle

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The old man in the straw hat sat in the temporary stands next to the track oval, a few rows up, eyeing a half-dozen world-class hurdlers and runners, including the star of the group, Olympic bronze medalist David Oliver. As the athletes went through the morning’s paces, they peered into the stands after every drill, looking for approval.

By the end of practice, Oliver looked sick with exhaustion. After a final sprint of 300 meters, he staggered toward the hurdles he had used during the workout, intending to remove them from the track. Instead, he dropped to his knees, sucking in air, his back heaving. He stole a quick glance at the old man.

“You got a cramp?” Brooks Johnson, 77, bellowed. “Gee-zus Christ. One 300, and we got everybody crippled.”

Oliver has lived through the daily pain, profane commentary and incisive corrections since he came out of Howard University and landed in Johnson’s camp of professional track athletes seven years ago, kicking off a meteoric rise from small-school afterthought to early favorite for the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2012 Summer Games in London.


David Oliver's 12.89 seconds 110m hurdles at the Stade de France AREVA meet, on 16 July 2010, clocking the third fastest time ever.

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Winston Salem State holds its first prospects camp

Winston Salem, N.C. - Coach Connell Maynor of Winston-Salem State receives emails, YouTube clips and phone calls about possible football recruits on a regular basis.

 Sorting it all out can be daunting, so Maynor and his staff held WSSU's first "prospects camp" on Thursday at Bowman Gray Stadium. Division I programs have long held the camps during the summer, but they're rare for Division II programs. "I'm not aware of any of the CIAA schools that do this," Maynor said.

About 30 high school players attended the one-day camp, paying $25 each to be evaluated by WSSU coaches and to receive advice on parts of their games on which they might need to work.

Under NCAA rules, Maynor and his coaches can't comment...

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Seven Members of the Howard Tennis Team Achieve National ITA Scholar-Athlete Award Status

Alyssa Works

Washington, D.C. - Five women and two men qualified for Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s 2011 National ITA Scholar-Athlete’s Award. The award is given annually tennis student-athletes who are varsity letter winners, have a grade point average of 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale) for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters.

"I'm just tremendously proud of their success as both students and atheltes," commented head coach Lawrence Strickland. "It is indicative of the way these young men and women perform all of their tasks."

Anne Akhimien

The women are lead by senior Health Science major, Alyssa Works with a 4.0. Other women’s team award winners include Anne Akhimien a junior Human Nutrition major with a 3.87, Michelle Brown a junior Biology major with a 3.85, Brooke Hawthorne a freshman Marketing major with a 3.65 and Amber Cuff a senior Fashion Merchandising major with a 3.59. The two men receiving the award are Christopher Brown a senior Radio-TV and Film major with a 3.61 and freshman Timothy Staton-Davis a Systems and Computer Science major with a 3.76.

Michelle Brown

The eight member woman’s team achieved the 2011 ITA All-Academic Team award given to a team that records (1) a grade point average of 3.2 or above on a 4.0 scale (2)all NCAA eligible student –athletes who are letter winners GPA’s for the current year must be averaged. The team had GPA average of 3.48. This is first time in ten years the women have received the award. The seven men and women bring the total to sixty-two National ITA Scholar-Athlete awards since 1998.




by Jamilah Corbett, Assistant Director of Sports Information
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In the FCS Huddle: Ten games that will shape the FCS season

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - So much changes during the course of the FCS season that it's dangerous for people to look too far down any team's schedule and say, "Win here, loss here...," and believe they have everything figured out.

For instance, did anybody have Bethune-Cookman winning 10 straight games to start last season? Did anybody foresee Georgia Southern reaching the FCS semifinals? Did anybody leave Montana out of the playoffs?

Of course, there are staples on the schedule that everybody can feel comfortable in saying will shape the regular season. Following are 10 such games for the 2011 FCS season:

South Carolina State at Bethune-Cookman (Sept. 10) - Last season, these two teams provided the MEAC with two FCS playoff participants for the first time since 2003. Neither one can afford to give the other the upper hand in its first conference game of the season, but the loser will.



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FAMU announces women's basketball signing class

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida A&M University coach LeDawn Gibson released her list of 2011 signees today. The class of 10 recruits represents a rebuild of the team that went 15-15 last season. In an effort to get a combination of players ready to play immediately and talent that the coaching staff will develop in building the program, the Lady Rattlers welcome four junior college transfers and six high school recruits.

Shannon Washington

Leading the class of signees is the Illinois Valley Community College standout Shannon Washington. Washington is a two-time junior college All-American and two-time 1st team all-conference player. The 5'11" guard from Sarasota, averaged 19 points, nine rebounds, five steals and five assists per game. The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn., honored her for her play last season.

The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame recognizes the country's top players on all levels, from pro to high school. In making the team, Washington's jersey will hang in the ring of honor at the museum in Tennessee, where she is among other greats such as Candace Parker (Univ. of Tennessee), Sue Byrd (Univ. of Connecticut) and Britney Griner (Baylor).

Keturah Martin

 Keturah Martin will also join the Lady Rattlers this fall. Martin is a junior college transfer from Southwest Tennessee Community College. Last season she averaged 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals per game. She is a 5'11" guard from Memphis, Tenn.

Ra'Shawn Sparkman is a versatile 5'8" guard from Columbia, Tenn. She signs with FAMU, via Volunteer State Community College. She was a junior college All-American, averaging 14 points, five assists and four rebounds per game last year. She will have three years of eligibility remaining at FAMU.

Ra'Shawn Sparkman



Patrice Collie is a 5'10" guard out of Palm Beach. As a freshman at Indian River State College, she averaged 10 points and eight rebounds per game. She was a second team all-conference selection. She will have three years of eligibility remaining at FAMU.



Carrington Caise comes to the Lady Rattlers from Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Ky. Caise stands 5'7" and plays point guard. Her senior year, she earned 1st team all-conference, all-district team, all-region team, all-region tournament and best defender awards. She averaged 10 points, six assists, five steals and three rebounds per game last season.

 

Cashala Thompson

Cashala Thompson is a 5'8" guard from Tucson, Arizona., where she attended Sahuaro High School. Thompson averaged 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals per game. She is the all-time leading scorer in Sahuaro High School history. She attained All-Southern Arizona and first team All-State honors. She was also the Kino Region 4A Co-player of the year.

 

Jaleesa Blue is a 6'0" combo player form Leesburg, Florida. She averaged 11.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocked shots per game as a senior at Leesburg High School. She was honored as the Lakes County Player of the Year. She also made 1st team All-State. She was ranked the No.1 power forward in the state of Florida. She holds the record for most rebounds and blocked shots in Leesburg High School history.



Jamie Foreman

Kaylin (6'1") and Jamie Foreman (5'11") are a twin-sister tandem from Silver Bluff High School in Aiken, S.C.

 

Kaylin averaged 10.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, two assists, 1.3 blocks and two steals per game her senior year. She lettered three years in volleyball and four years in basketball. She made the all-region team in both volleyball and basketball.

 

Jamie averaged 19 points, 12.3 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals per game. She was the Augusta Chronicle Basketball Player of the Year. She averaged a double-double her junior and senior years in high school. She scored 1,362 points in high school. She was selected as an all-region player and the most valuable player.



Kabrina Merriweather

 Kabrina Merriweather is a 5'11" forward/center from Indianapolis. She played at Tindley Accelerated School, where she averaged 20.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, four assists and two steals per game. She was selected 1st team all-city her junior and senior seasons and team MVP her senior year. She finished her career with 1,494 points and 1017 rebounds.

by Florida A&M Sports Information

Banks trying to spur Southern rebound

Baton Rouge, LA - When the calendar turns to June and the temperature climbs close to 100 degrees, it’s usually high time for college basketball coaches to hit a beach. Or a golf course. Maybe both.

Roman Banks, for his part, hasn’t seen either. Behind a heavy door in the lower hallway of the F.G. Clark Activity Center, the new Southern men’s basketball coach is knee-deep in meetings.

In the past week alone, he’s had impromptu chats with players, meeting after meeting with his newly assembled staff and encounters with an untold number of other people associated with the Southern University athletic department. In other words, the new boss is a little busy. Then again, he has to be. His program has a lot of catching up to do.

“You have to get everybody acclimated to a new way of life,” Banks said. “You’re concerned about the game of basketball. But right now, we have to be concerned about getting everybody’s eligibility back so we can play the game of basketball.”

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TSU star works out for NBA Sacramento Kings

Sacramento, CA - Tuesday morning wasn't the first time Kevin Galloway wore a jersey with Sacramento on it. Before Galloway helped Texas Southern win the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season championship last year, he starred at Sacramento High School, earning The Bee's Player of the Year honor in 2005.

Galloway was at the Kings' practice facility as part of the team's final workout before Thursday's NBA draft. Galloway's college career began at USC in 2006, then continued at the College of Southern Idaho and Kentucky. He appeared to have found a home in Kentucky until the coach who recruited him, Billy Gillispie, was fired and replaced by John Calipari after the 2008-09 season.



Galloway ended up having a good senior season at Texas Southern, where he was the SWAC Newcomer of the Year after averaging 10.9 points, a conference-leading 6.3 assists (eighth in the NCAA) and 1.8 steals. His 6.9 rebounding average was second in the SWAC.

The 6-foot-7 guard enjoyed finishing his career at Texas Southern.

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