TSU Women's basketball finalizes 2012-13 season schedule

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The 2012-13 Tennessee State University women's basketball schedule has been completed.

The Lady Tigers will play a tough 28-game schedule that features opponents from conferences across the country including, the Sun Belt, Big 12, Big Sky, Western Athletic Conference, Southern Conference, Conference USA, Horizon League and Big East.

Beginning this season, the Ohio Valley conference will be split into East and West Divisions. Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, and newest member Belmont will make up the East Division. Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Murray State, Southeast Missouri, SIU Edwardsville and UT Martin will comprise the West Division.

The OVC schedule will be 16 games with two games (home and away) against each team in the Division along with one contest against each team in the opposing division.

Two of the season's highlights feature a home game against K-State and a road contest at Louisville.



On November 1, Tennessee State will host North Alabama in an exhibition game before officially kicking off the season against Cumberland at home on Nov.9.

The first road game of the season will see the Lady Tigers match up against South Alabama on Nov.12. Later in the month, TSU will welcome Kansas State into the Gentry Center for a game on Nov. 20.

After Thanksgiving, the Lady Tigers will participate in the UAB Tournament (Nov. 23-24) in Birmingham, Ala. before hosting nearby Fisk University on Nov. 26.

To close out November, TSU will travel to Montana to participate in the Montana Tournament (Nov. 30- Dec. 1). While in the area, the Lady Tigers will also take on Montana State (Dec. 3).

TSU returns home to face Cleveland State on Dec. 16 before making the short trip over to Lipscomb two days later.

The Ohio Valley Conference season will officially begin on Dec. 29 with a match-up at home against Eastern Illinois. In the final non-conference action of the season, TSU will head to Kentucky to face Louisville on Dec. 31.

Following a couple of road games at Jacksonville State (1/5) and Tennessee Tech (1/7), TSU will host Southeast Missouri on Jan. 14.

The rest of the month includes road contests at Belmont (1/19), Morehead State (1/26) and Eastern Kentucky (1/28) with a home game versus Jacksonville State (1/23).

On Feb. 4, TSU will host Tennessee Tech before a couple of road match-ups with Austin Peay (2/9) and Murray State (2/11).

Four of the last five regular season games will be in the Gentry Center as the Lady Tigers host Belmont (2/16) and UT Martin (2/28) before facing SIU Edwardsville on the road (2/2).

Home games versus Morehead State (2/28) and Eastern Kentucky (3/2) will wrap up the regular season while the OVC Tournament will begin March 6 and continue through March 9 at the Municipal Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

2012-13 TSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Coach Temple's Induction Ceremony Airs Tonight

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee State University legend Coach Ed Temple's induction to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame will be featured this evening on the NBC Sports Network at 6pm CT.

In July, Coach Temple was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame in Chicago after an illustrious career. Fans in the Nashville area can watch the induction on Comcast channel 50/167 and AT&T U-verse 640/1640. Satellite customers can view the induction on DirectTV 603 and Dish 159.

A 1950 graduate of Tennessee State University, Coach Temple served as head women's track coach at Tennessee State University from 1953 to 1994 and became one of the greatest coaches in Olympic history. He helped establish the U.S. as a women's sprinting powerhouse and served as head coach of two U.S. Olympic teams (1960 and 1964), during which time his athletes brought home 23 Olympic medals (13 gold, six silver and four bronze).

His teams also won 34 national team titles and 30 Pan-American Games medals. As the women's coach, Coach Temple laid a foundation for growth in women's athletics, a boom that continues to this day.

Temple's 44-year coaching tenure at Tennessee State University saw him coach and mentor some of the greatest athletes in Olympic history, including Wyomia Tyus, Wilma Rudolph and Willie White. Rudolph was the first American woman of any race to win three track & field gold medals at a single Olympic Games, while Tyus was the first woman to successfully defend an Olympic 100-meter gold medal.



For Temple's athletes, a gold medal was only the start. The impact Temple had on his young female athletes stretched far beyond the track. Among the 40 Olympians he coached (35 of whom represented the U.S.), 28 of them have master's degrees and 14 of them have either an M.D. or Ph.D.

In addition to his 24 national titles, Temple has numerous other accolades, and is a member of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Helms Hall of Fame, Tennessee State University Hall of Fame, Harrisburg Central Area Chapter Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame, Black Athletes Hall of Fame and Communiplex National Sports Hall of Fame.

Along with Coach Temple, the list of inductees includes Gail Devers (track & field), Jean Driscoll (Paralympic track & field), Gary Hall Jr. (swimming), Lisa Fernandez (softball), Kristine Lilly (soccer), Dan O'Brien (track & field), Jenny Thompson (swimming), the 2004 U.S. Olympic Women's Softball Team, James Connolly (veteran - track & field) and Ted Stevens (special contributor).

The Class of 2012 was determined by a voting process that includes Olympians, Paralympians, members of the Olympic Family and a public voting element. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame presented by Allstate is one of the only national sports halls of fame that includes fan voting as part of its selection process. This year more than 100,000 votes were cast at TeamUSA.org.

The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2012 was introduced and honored on July 12 during an awards ceremony at the Harris Theater in Chicago. The ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Roberts and Alex Flanagan, airs in a nationally-televised broadcast on NBC Sports Network this evening at 6 p.m. Central Time.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

NSU coach likes look of safeties with local ties

NORFOLK, Virginia - One safety was an all-conference player for Norfolk State last year. The other got a tryout with the Miami Dolphins.

Spartans head coach Pete Adrian thinks this year's starting safeties, Keenan Lambert (Maury) and Darrin Marrow (Cox), could be even better.

"We're probably stronger than we were a year ago from athletic ability," he said. "They're not as big, but they're good tacklers, have good hands and they're every bit as smart."

While the overall defense was spectacular last season, the defensive backs were simply solid, the weak link in a steel-strong unit.





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SCSU Bulldogs, Orangeburg community rally to gear up for football season

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina - Cheers reverberated across Orangeburg’s Memorial Plaza Tuesday evening from the South Carolina State University Bulldog cheerleading squad as the football players looked to answer the call for success.

“Let’s go Bulldogs,” S.C. State Interim President Cynthia Warrick told the estimated 200 gathered at the fifth annual “Rally on the Square.”

“I know we are going to take the MEAC,” she said. “We are going to go beyond that. So let’s hear it for the Bulldogs. Let’s go, let’s win, let’s fight!”

A light drizzle did not dampen the crowd or attendance at the rally, which was sponsored by the Orangeburg Touchdown Club. The rally aims to bring attention to season ticket sales and provide encouragement to the Bulldog players as they prepare for the Aug. 30 opener against Georgia State in Atlanta.

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WSSU Rams hearing early wake-up call

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - It didn't take long for Kyle Brown, a freshman wide receiver at Winston-Salem State, to realize he's not in high school anymore.

"I got up around 4 a.m., and that came pretty early," Brown said Tuesday, just after WSSU finished its first 5 a.m. practice of the season.

The session was spirited and lively, and by the end of the 2½-hour practice, some players were actually smiling.



"This is how we roll here at SU," senior center Markus Lawrence said. "This is where we start building for another championship season."

Coach Connell Maynor didn't invent anything new last season when he decided to start practice at 5 a.m. He made the move to avoid having players miss afternoon practices because they had classes. With classes starting this week, the Rams will go ...

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Grizzle makes switch to DII Shaw University Bears

ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina - Marquise Grizzle turned a tough situation into a big plus, much like when defenders close in on him on the football field.

The 2011 Daily Advance Player of the Year from Currituck was unable to qualify for Division I Murray State football, and has instead enrolled at NCAA Division II Shaw. The last-minute change of plans will allow him to still play as a freshman and not redshirt his first season.

Grizzle, who rushed for more than 3,000 yards and scored 54 touchdowns for the Knights in 2011, said he is staying positive and is excited about being at Shaw, which competes in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association alongside Elizabeth City State.



“It’s closer, and I’m a starter,” Grizzle said. “We have a couple of seniors here, but I’m still going to get a lot of playing time.”

By mid-July, it seemed certain that Grizzle had done enough to ...

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VUU Panthers come together for media day

RICHMOND, Virginia - Eleven days before the sounds of fall resonate through Hovey Field, the 105-year-old facility was quiet Tuesday morning as the Virginia Union football team held its annual media day.

Team and individual photos were taken, and an important question was answered. Virginia Union coach Michael Bailey tabbed Kenneth Graham, a redshirt freshman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as the starting quarterback. Graham will replace Cheston Hickman, who in four years with the program passed for 3,091 yards and 23 touchdowns.



"He had a great spring," Bailey said of Graham. "I've seen that he has picked up the scheme and he's quite comfortable, and that's what I look for in a quarterback.  "He has to be comfortable as far as command of the huddle, execution of the scheme, taking a leadership role and being a coach on the field."

With running back Jerell Washington as the ...

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