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Manning Architects' rendering of Xavier's Convocation Academic Center, which is under construction and is expected to be completed in late summer 2012. The facility will include a 4,500 seat arena suitable for athletic and other large-scale events.
New Orleans, LA - Following 35 years in the Saint Tammany Parish school system, Dennis Cousin said when he accepted the job as Xavier's athletic director in July 2004 he never expected to last this long.
"Honestly, I came here with the intention of staying maybe two or three years, and you look up and now all of a sudden, it's been seven years," Cousin recently said. In six seasons of competition under Cousin's stewardship -- the 2005-06 season was lost because of Hurricane Katrina -- Xavier's seven sports squads have combined for 27 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference or NAIA unaffiliated group championships and 20 appearances in NAIA Division I championships, an unprecedented run of success for the Mid-City school with an enrollment of 3,200.
That level of consistency is a point of pride for Cousin.
"When I took over, I wanted to elevate the status of our athletic program to that of our academics," the 65-year-old Cousin said. "When you think of Xavier, you think of the medical doctors and the pharmacists. My goal was to make athletics a part of our reputation."
While Xavier athletics were far from inadequate before Cousin's arrival, he has expanded the program's reach, leading the athletic department through Katrina's aftermath, reinstating women's volleyball in 2009, and acting as a key force in getting the new arena approved.
Elizabeth City, N.C. - It was a good day when I heard that Michael Bonner would be able to play basketball for Elizabeth City State next season. I had been championing Bonner’s cause for quite a while, but it seemed like nothing was going to change and he would have to sit out another season because of other people’s mistakes.
Bonner, a former Perquimans standout, transferred to ECSU from Winston-Salem State last summer. Normally, this would not be an issue and he could play right away, but Winston-Salem was making the transition back into the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and league rules say a player moving between CIAA schools must sit out two years. That rule was waived for that year since Winston-Salem, as well as Lincoln which was entering the league at the same time, if players enrolled in summer school. But Booner was not...
Tallahassee, FL - Whenever Angela Suggs sits in front a potential corporate supporter of Florida A&M athletics, she seldom goes by the routine marketing script. She lets her on-campus background set the precedent. John Burt didn't grow up on FAMU's campus like Suggs did, but he understands the culture of an HBCU.
FAMU clearly is banking heavily on Burt and Suggs. He is a representative of the mega collegiate marketing firm IMG. She is FAMU's associate athletic director for marketing. Together, they have the task of helping the school's athletic department raise millions of dollars, and at the same time get fans back in the kinds of numbers that will have its teams performing in front of packed or near-packed arenas regularly.
It is the first time in at least 20 years that FAMU has made such an intense effort.
So the obvious concept is this: Increase attendance to make the work of Burt and Suggs a little easier. In the meantime, the duo believes FAMU's past success, such as its victory in the first Division I-A championship game in 1978 and its past history of winning titles along with academic achievements and social involvement, make the school recognizable.
Columbus, Miss. - Leslie Frazier is accustomed to heat. After all, he was raised in Columbus and grew up beneath the glare of the Mississippi sun. If the suffocating temperatures or the stranglehold of a media gaggle perturbed him Saturday afternoon, he didn't let it show. Instead, the Columbus native turned Minnesota Vikings head coach trotted easily up the steps of City Hall, ever the picture of grace and restrained Southern charm.
If anything good can be said of the NFL lockout, it is this: At least it gives a man a chance to spend a holiday with his family and old pals, away from the fishbowl. Well. Sort of.
Frazier arrived in Columbus Friday evening with his wife, Gale, his daughter, Chantel, his son, Corey, and a notebook-wielding, tripod-laden entourage that included a television crew from Minneapolis-based ABC affiliate KPTV and writers from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Outside City Hall on Saturday, beneath a shade tree on Main Street, Frazier insisted that the lack of privacy doesn't bother him, even when it turns a holiday weekend down home with the family into a media circus. It comes with the territory, he said. You can accept the exposure or wilt beneath it, but if you remember who you are and whom you represent, somehow things work out according to God's plan.
His unshakable faith has imparted to him an almost unflappable confidence, and it guides his every step.
Baton Rouge, LA - Chadwick Germany said when he took over as head coach at Capitol High Academy, he hoped it would lead to a college job. He got what he wanted.
Germany said Friday he has left Capitol to become quarterbacks coach at Southern University, where he’ll try to improve the Jaguars’ passing attack and strengthen their recruiting efforts in Baton Rouge, where they failed to sign a single recruit this season.
“(Friday) is my first day at Southern. Thursday was my last day at Capitol,” Germany said.
“When I got the job at Capitol, my plan was to stay five years, and I wound up staying six. The goal was to have a chance to coach on the college level, and I’m getting that Southern. I’m excited about it. I’ll also be recruiting the Baton Rouge area, and hopefully I can find a niche there.” That’s what Stump Mitchell has in mind.
Fairfield, AL - Former Talladega County Central standout, Reginald Virges is excited about what the upcoming season holds for the Golden Bears of Miles College. After two solid seasons, Virges believes the changes they have made in the off-season will help them to reach their goal of making it to the postseason.
“My first two years up there were good,” Virges said. “I came in as a freshman and I didn’t know that I was going to get the starting spot like that. When I came in I got the starting spot and started playing. I feel like this year is going to be a better because we have better coaches that can help us go somewhere this year.”
Last season, Virges recorded 81 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss of 87 yards and six sacks for a loss of 46 yards. “I was the leader of the defense last season,” Virges said. “I am trying to make this team into a better team, we are trying to get to the playoff this year. We haven’t made the playoffs the last couple years and our goal is to make it to the playoffs and to turn this program around.”
New Orleans, La. - The Southern University at New Orleans Lady Knights will open their 2011-2012 seasonon November 5th in Dallas, Texas against Paul Quinn with the home opener on November 12th against Concordia-Selma. SUNO's women will also play two exhibition games, one at Southern on November 11th and the other at Nicholls State on November 30th. SUNO will also participate in the University of St. Thomas Tournament in Houston, Texas on December 19th and 20th.
SUNO's women finished the 2010-2011 season 18-5 and 3-4 in conference. A team made up mostly of underclassmen, Coach Elston King is licking his chops at the prospect of taking his young team's performance to the next level after a record-breaking season.
Forward Christine Conner, who will be a senior, was named an NAIA Honorable Mentiona All-American. She and former standout guard/forward LaTiondra Smith both made the All-GCAC team while guard Lydia Ross grabbed GCAC Co-Freshman of the Year honors.
Coming off the most impressive one-season turnaround in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, the SUNO Lady Knights are preparing for what promises to be an intense season. After finishing their inaugural 2009 season with one win, SUNO achieved the improbable by reaching the finals of the GCAC Tournament in 2010. The season features matches against NCAA opponents the University of New Orleans and Alcorn State University.
The Lady Knights will also renew acquaintances against former conference rivals. The season opens in The Castle against Loyola on August 27th with Spring Hill College also on the docket. SUNO's conference schedule will consist of three in-season tournaments at Philander Smith, Talladega, and Dillard.
For Coach Naomi Washington the name of the game will be hustle and communication on the court. Washington feels that freshman signee, Christal Hollins, will add an athletic spark to the team. Plus she brings championship experience from the high school level. The Lady Knights also promise to be a more diverse team, which Washington feels will add an air of professionalism on the court. German setter Stephanie Bruhl will add to the mix in addition to players from two other countries.
The Knights' 2011-2012 schedule features the season opener at home against Florida Memorial University on November 4th. Other non-conference match-ups include former GCAC rivals Loyola, Spring Hill, and William Carey. SUNO will also get a visit from Johnson & Wales (North Miami) on September 11th in The Castle.
Having finished 11-14 and 4-3 in conference, SUNO will move forward inspired by individual contributions. Former point guard Brent Leduff was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American and a Louisiana Sports Writers Association Honorable Mention All-Louisiana team member. He, former center Andre Davis, and former shooting guard Ricardo Porter were all named to the GCAC All-Conference team.
Although all three players have played their final games in Knights uniforms, Coach Dale Valdery, will be looking to refine the current talent on the roster in addition to bringing energy to the team with new blood.
