Elizabeth City State stumbled early, then recovered

Durham, North Carolina -- When Elizabeth City State was 0-2 in September, coach Waverly Tillar admitted, he was a little worried. "I was like, what's going on here?" Tillar said.

But his Vikings (8-2) responded with eight consecutive victories and reached the CIAA title game, where they'll play Winston-Salem State on Saturday with a chance to avenge a 22-17 loss Sept. 3. Elizabeth City's other loss was at top-ranked Delta State, 28-21 in overtime. "Here we are," Tillar said.

Several Vikings players said they were hoping for a chance to play the Rams again, and they got it by winning the CIAA's Northern Division title.

"Basically, we were disappointed in ourselves early in the season," said Daronte McNeill, a junior running back who has 1,435 yards and 20 touchdowns this season and Elizabeth City's career record of 3,332 yards. "We had to sit down and look at ourselves and just figure out what we were missing and what we needed to get over the hump."



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Jenkines signs with Hampton

Clarksville, Tennessee -- With all the attention and focus on Clarksville High and its five senior basketball players signing Division I scholarships on Wednesday afternoon, it may be easy to forget the city had another major college talent heading to a D-I program.

Kenwood held its own signing day, early Wednesday morning, honoring forward Blake Jenkines who signed with Hampton University, adding the total of Wednesday's signings to six.

"I was very excited," Jenkines said. "The entire team came up with me. We were out in front of the whole school and my pastor from my church was there too. I was really excited to have a day like this and grateful."

Jenkines has fought hard to carve out her own niche among what is arguably the greatest assembly of basketball talent the city has produced at one time. And while most of Clarksville's stars couldn't have imagined a day like Wednesday, Jenkines figured it would happen at some point.

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Talent fuels Shaw, Bowie State

Bowie, Maryland -- There are no nights off in the CIAA, one of the country's most competitive Division II conferences. And that isn't expected to change this season.

Shaw, under coach Cleo Hill Jr., is the defending champion and should contend for the title again. Bowie State, ranked eighth in one national preseason poll, will be loaded, and those teams were picked as favorites to win their divisions in the CIAA preseason coaches' poll.

"I really think we can be very good this season," coach Darrell Brooks of Bowie said. "We're deep and pretty athletic, and I really like our experience this year. If we can rebound and defend, we can be a good basketball team."

Bowie State, which reached the second round of the Division II tournament last season, is led by 7-foot center Travis Hyman and point guard Darren Clark. Hyman was the CIAA's defensive player of the year, and Clark had 114 assists and averaged 15.1 points last season.

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Howard’s Calvin Thompson holds out hope for brighter season

Washington, D.C. -- For Howard’s basketball team, this year is all about rejuvenation. Coming off a trying season in which his five starters averaged more than 30 minutes, coach Kevin Nickelberry has brought in a talented freshman class that will give his squad much-needed depth.

Theodore Boyomo — the promising 6-foot-9 Cameroonian freshman who tore his knee in a pickup game before last season — is poised to make significant contributions in the paint. Perhaps most critical of all, though, will be the re-emergence of junior guard Calvin Thompson.



After being named second-team all-MEAC in the preseason, Thompson tore his ACL in the team’s second game. The loss of Thompson, who averaged 12 points and 30.5 minutes during the 2009-10 season, was a major blow to an already thin Bison lineup, which ended last season ranked 331st or worse among 346 Division I teams in multiple offensive categories, including scoring (58.4 points per game), assists (9.3) and field goal percentage (.376).

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Stillman coach has eye on making Pioneer Bowl

Coach Teddy Keaton

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- If the Stillman College football team can win on Saturday, it will achieve the best record since the school joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

Stillman will celebrate its homecoming with a game against Concordia of Selma. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

Under the direction of first-year coach Teddy Keaton, Stillman is 7-3 overall, 5-2 in the SIAC. The Tigers were in contention for a berth in the inaugural SIAC Championship Game until they lost to Miles 9-7 on Oct. 27. Miles, the West Division champion, will play Albany State from the East in the title game, which starts at 2 p.m. at Clark Atlanta University’s Panther Stadium. Miles enters the game with a 6-4 record. Albany State and Morehouse, the East runner-up, are 8-2.

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Alabama A&M women's basketball preview: Tobar gets a little help

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - One of the best players in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Alabama A&M guard Whiquitta Tobar was a first-team All-SWAC selection last season after averaging a league-high 18.1 points per game.

 If the Bulldogs are going to be successful this season, coach Altherias Warmley said Tobar has to have a better supporting cast. The league's preseason Player of the Year got very little help from her teammates a year ago, but Warmley believes that will change after watching her team the last month.

"We have eight solid players and we signed one of the best recruiting classes since I've been here," said Warmley, who begins her 10th season Friday when A&M visits Vanderbilt. "Whiquitta was all of our offensive production last year, but we've got some other players that are ready to step up."

Senior Nefayia Watkins, juniors Shundray Davis and Danielle Oneal and sophomore Brittney Stickland will be counted on to take some pressure off of Tobar in the backcourt.

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Kentucky State wins SIAC title

ALBANY, Ga. -- Kentucky State defeated Albany State to win the 2011 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship on Wednesday. After dropping the first game 23-25, KSU fought back back to claim the next three games (31-29, 25-22, 25-15) and win the crown.

The offense for the Thorobreds was led by Emily Grieshaber, Audrey Sherles, and Erica Coleman with 15, 10 and nine kills respectively. Brittany Stewart had 56 assists while Sherles and Ashlie Jones each had three service aces. The Thorobrettes were led defensively by Markeshia Williams with 17 digs.

For her efforts, Williams was named Libero of the Tournament. Stewart's contribution also extended to the Thorobrettes defense with 13 digs.

Albany State was led in the championship match by Jillian Anderson and Sabrina Garcia. Anderson had 17 kills and Garcia finished with nine. Garcia was voted to the SIAC All-Tournament Team. Teammate Jennifer Johnson had 39 assists and 14 digs in the title game and was voted Setter of the Tournament.

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