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CENTRAL ISLIP, New York – The East Coast Conference media relations office recently released its 2014-15 "Year in Review" featuring summaries of all 17 sport seasons as well as all conference-wide community service initiatives. (Click HERE for 2014-15 ECC Year in Review).
The University of the District of Columbia athletic highlights in this review were one regular season ECC champion (women's basketball), one ECC runner-up (women's outdoor track & field), two NCAA Division II Tournament teams (women's basketball and men's tennis), three ECC playoff contenders (women's basketball, women's tennis and men's tennis), a rookie of the year in both men's and women's tennis (Diego Pinto and Laura Dimante), a Defensive Player of the Year in women's basketball (Denikka Brent) and an Athlete of the Year in women's outdoor track & field (Simone Grant).
UDC was also recognized in the review for its involvement in two conference-wide community service initiatives: ECC Team-Up to Clean-Up and the ECC Spirit Showcase. Additionally, a conference-high three Firebird student-athletes earned ECC Scholar-Athlete awards in their respective sports.
Read more by following this link, and follow East Coast Conference news by going to www.eccsports.org.
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION
O'Quinn has agreed on a four-year, $16 million deal with a player option for the fourth year.
NEW YORK -- Kyle O'Quinn hasn't produced much yet in the NBA. In irregular minutes as a Magicman, he showed the basic dexterity and willingness to do most things, but never quite embraced a role. Over the next 3-4 years in New York, O'Quinn will hopefully earn more stable work, and find an effective niche for himself in the process.
O'Quinn is 25. He is a large gentleman -- around 6'10 and easily 250 pounds, with broad shoulders, a 7'5 wingspan, and often sports a beard you or I could comfortably sleep inside. He smiles constantly.
I am extremely honored to have been selected as the 9th President of Grambling State University! As you ALL know, Grambling is an exceptional, innovative, creative, and outstanding university. I know our university will only get better and better!
I call upon each of you to work with me as a team and embrace and confront the challenges and expand and create new and innovative opportunities to return our beloved institution to the highest level of greatness. As my wife and I drove onto campus, a breath of fresh air welcomed us as we surveyed our new citadel of greatness–Grambling!
As I reflected on the selection and recruitment process, I knew, in every ounce of my being, that Grambling needed me as much as I needed Grambling. I have come home; but my stay will be marked by how much we ALL can do together to restore Grambling to that once great roar!
Grambling State is hallowed grounds and many iconic legends have walked across our campus and many more will in the future. You and I have a great opportunity before us to build on past successes. Although it will not always be easy, I am asking all Gramblinites to embrace a new tomorrow; a new day has come to our beloved institution–THE Grambling State University Tigers!
To achieve our ends, our duty, our goal is simple: to embrace and grow the university and establish a robust resource acquisition strategy. We will ask Grambling men and women, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni to give as they have never given before!
And rest assured that every penny will be accounted for and every resource will be for the healing of dear ole’ Grambling. My administration will be transparent and transformative as we re-brand Grambling as a phoenix Tiger rising again in the higher education arena. We will expand the university’s reach and continue to attract a broader array of talented, motivated, and achievement-oriented students.
In addition to elevating the academic standards on campus, we will rebuild our athletic prowess, and claw our way to greatness as we place competitive gamesmanship and fear into the hearts and minds of our opponents as they serve as our honored competitors. We will be both scholars and fierce competitors to all those we encounter.
The ultimate goal is to become one of the top universities in the country. Remember, we are “ONE GRAMBLING: Honoring History, Keeping Promises, and Fulfilling Dreams.”
Come join me as we begin the process of rebuilding a dynasty of excellence–in all that we do! In order for us to accomplish our shared vision, we must all push and pull in the same direction. We are family and we must work together.
Stay tuned, as you will hear more from me in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Again, thank you for welcoming me to the Grambling State University Family and allowing me to become a “G.”
With Great Enthusiasm,
Willie D. Larkin, Ph.D.
President
Grambling State University.
Biographical Sketch
As the son of sharecropper parents who never had the chance to go to college, Dr. Willie D. Larkin recognized the value of higher education from an early age and has always strived to help others achieve their dream of a college education. As the ninth president of Grambling State University, he vows to continue the university’s historic commitment to put students first and prepare them to become leaders, pioneers and innovators.
Dr. Larkin has served as Chief of Staff to leaders of Morgan State University and the University of Wisconsin Colleges, where he worked directly with the chancellor, and the president at Morgan State University, to provide oversight of nearly 3,000 employees and an operating budget of more than $300 million. At Auburn University, he was the faculty advisor to the university’s Board of Trustees and the first African American to chair the university’s 90-member University Senate.
With his extensive experience in education, Dr. Larkin began his career by working more than 20 years as a leadership and organizational development specialist at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, where he created leadership and economic development initiatives for the state of Alabama. Dr. Larkin is also a nationally recognized motivational speaker, trainer, consultant and writer who delivers high-impact speeches and seminars on personal and professional empowerment, leadership, conflict resolution and diversity in the workplace.
Dr. Larkin is a former Kellogg Fellow who earned his doctorate in Agricultural Education Extension from The Ohio State University, where he specialized in 4-H and Youth Development. He earned both a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education and a master’s degree in Extension Education from Tuskegee University.
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COURTESY GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS
CATHERINE FAKLER AND COACH JOSEPH MOSES RECEIVES ALL-LOUISIANA RECOGNITION BY THE LSWA
NEW ORLEANS — Joseph Moses and Catherine Fakler are Xavier University of Louisiana's representatives on the 2015 All-Louisiana women's track and field team sponsored by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and announced late Saturday.
Moses, who led the Gold Nuggets to a third consecutive Gulf Coast Athletic Conference outdoor team championship, was voted Coach of the Year by an LSWA panel of track sports information directors. Fakler qualified for the team in two events as the state's No. 3 performer this year in the 1,500 and 5,000-meter runs.
Moses, 47, produced qualifiers for the NAIA National Outdoor Championships in four events, and one — long-jumper Devinn Rolland — earned All-America for the third time in four years. Rolland and Fakler were Xavier's first-ever first-team CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
This is the first time for Moses to be named Louisiana Coach of the Year in track and field. He has won the LSWA award a combined nine times in men's and women's cross country. Runner-up for women's Coach of the Year was LSU's Dennis Shaver, who won or shared the honor eight of the past nine seasons.
Moses is the first from a non-NCAA university to be named Louisiana Coach of the Year in track and the second from an HBCU. Southern's Johnny Thomas won the men's award in 2003.
Fakler, from Phoenix, Ariz., and a graduate of Xavier College Preparatory High School, was All-Louisiana in two events for the second time in three years. She qualified with a time of 4 minutes, 51.07 seconds in the 1,500 and 18:54.34 in the 5,000. In April she four individual events and anchored a winning relay at the GCAC Championships, and in May she became the first XU student-athlete on record to graduate with a cumulative 4.0 GPA.
Fakler is Xavier's first student-athlete to be named All-Louisiana in cross country and track. She was an all-state harrier each of the past two autumns.
The top three performers in each event, based on times compiled by the NCAA and NAIA, earn All-Louisiana.
It's the third straight year that the Gold Nuggets were represented on the All-Louisiana team. Hannah Finnegan qualified in 2014 with the No. 1 time in the 3,000 steeplechase.
Although neither made the team, sprinter Joseph Moses III — the son of the coach — and hurdler Tylor Row were runners-up in Freshman of the Year voting.
ROCKY POINT, North Carolina -- Going into his junior year of high school, Desmond Jordan got the chance to become a pioneer in a sport he loved: football.
Now, he's charting a new path in life with a different sport: rugby.
With Trask High School about to open in his hometown of Rocky Point, Jordan transferred there from Pender High, where his parents and older brother went to school, and although he was a member of Trask’s second graduating class, he was involved in plenty of firsts on the football field.
“I was the first football carrier. I was the first 300-yard guy at Trask. I was the first 1,500-plus-yard guy at Trask,” Jordan said. “There not too many times you can look in the yearbooks and say ‘I was on the first team here.'”
After high school, Jordan played football for Guilford College in Greensboro. Before his junior season, coach Mike Ketchum left for Winston-Salem State University, and Jordan decided to follow him, playing at Winston-Salem State for two years while the school was transitioning to the MEAC conference.
Coming out of college Jordan searched for opportunities to ...
ASSISTANT COACH ANDREW BROWN WSSU RAMS MEN'S BASKETBALL
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina --
The Winston-Salem State University men's basketball program is proud to announce that Andrew Brown has joined the coaching staff for the 2015-16 season.
Andrew Brown joins the Rams coaching staff after spending three seasons as the head coach at St Andrew's University in Laurinburg, N.C. He comes to WSSU with a wealth of experience and will be a benefit for the program with his wealth of knowledge and sheer energy.
The Pontiac, Michigan native took over a program that was in transition into the NAIA in 2012 and has continued to build it up by incrementally increasing their win total every season during his time at the school. In the 14-15 season Brown lead the Knights to a 9-14 record and a 6-12 mark in the Appalachian Athletic Conference . St. Andrews's nine wins and six conference wins are the most for the program since 2011. In his first year in 2012, the Knights finished 2-25 overall and 1-15 in the AAC, and in year two they were 5-19 overall and 3-15 in conference. Two St. Andrews players who Brown assisted in the development into 2nd team All-Conference players were sophomore Guard Titus Gary from Fayetteville and senior Guard Aaron Smith from Raleigh. Brown served as an assistant coach for St Andrews in 11-12 season under former head coach and current ESPN 3 commentator Richie Schueler.
Brown gained valuable coaching experience at the D-I level while he was a Graduate Assistant Coach at Mercer University for two seasons (08-09 and 09-10) under Bob Hoffman. He was heavily involved with a variety of administrative duties within the program. He helped with community functions, severed as camp director for Mercer basketball camps, coordinated and participated in educational programs in the Bibb County School District. In addition he assisted with day-to-day office operations under the guidance of the director of basketball operations. In 2009-10 the Mercer Bears team advanced all the way to the title game of the Atlantic Sun Conference championships losing to eventual champion East Tennessee State. The team finished 16-17 overall and was 10-10 in the A-Sun. After the season Brown trained aspiring professional basketball players included three former Mercer Bears, Daniel Emerson (All-Atlantic Sun conference member), James Florence (Mercer's all-time leading scorer and current professional basketball player) and retired professional basketball player EJ Kusnyer (ranked second in the NCAA in 3pt Field Goals made in 2009-10).
In addition Brown was an assistant coach under John Meeks at Wallace Hanceville CC during the 10-11 season. Prior to coaching at Mercer, Brown aided the Bears of Mercer University (Macon, GA) on the court for three seasons by leading his team in scoring at 15.5ppg during his senior campaign. Brown played one season at Owens Community College (Toledo, OH); where he played an instrumental role in his team finishing with a overall record of 28-6 and ranked #4 in the Final poll of National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II.
Andrew Brown had a brief professional career when he played in Germany in the 2nd league division and when he toured overseas to the Czech Republic and Bulgaria with Athletes In Action in 2008.
Brown holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education degree from Mercer University.
COURTESY WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
COACH LESLIE NOBLES BRONCOS FOOTBALL FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY
FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina --Fayetteville State University head football coach Lawrence Kershaw has appointed Leslie Nobles to serve as the running backs coach for the upcoming 2015 season. This will be Nobles second season on the Broncos’ football coaching staff. He joined the staff in 2014 as the volunteer assistant wide receivers coach.
Nobles immediately made his impact felt on the coaching staff last season. In his first season, Nobles’ efforts contributed to Fayetteville State reaching their second consecutive 5-2 record in the CIAA. The Broncos won five of their last six games and competed for the CIAA Southern Division title in the season finale.
Three Broncos’ receiver all reached season-highs for their career under Nobles’ tutelage in 2014. Rising senior Chris Hubert (Apex, NC) amassed 46 catches for 574 receiving yards and five touchdowns. In his senior season, Kasunn Williams (Rocky Mount, NC) recorded 483 receiving yards off a career-high 34 receptions and three TDs. Ricardo White (Monroe, NC) closed out his senior campaign with career-highs in receptions (37), receiving yards (473), and receiving touchdowns (5).
“This opportunity is a dream come true for me,” said Nobles. “Football has been a part of my life since the age of five. I knew when I left the army that coaching is my passion. Opportunities like these don’t come often and I appreciate Coach Kershaw giving me a chance to prove my worth.”
Nobles has aligned with the Broncos football program after spending over 14 years as a United States Army Officer. He brings experience as a leader, proven coach, instructor, and mentor of diverse and intellectually gifted student-athletes.
“I expect our running backs to be leaders for the team; on the field, in the classroom, and in the community,” continued Nobles. Nobles is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. He spent four seasons playing wide receiver at Alabama A&M for Coach Kenneth Pettiford. A native of Prichard, AL, Nobles attended Mattie T. Blount High; where he won a 5A State Championship as a captain for Hall of Fame Coach Ben Harris. Nobles obtained a master’s degree in Sports Management from American Military University. He is an active member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Fellowship of Christians Athletes and St. Luke AME Church (Fayetteville, NC). Nobles’ is also a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. He resides in Fayetteville with his wife, the former Joy Belle. The couple has two children, one daughter (Lauryn) and a son (Leslie Jacob).
“I expect our running backs to be leaders for the team; on the field, in the classroom, and in the community,” continued Nobles.
Nobles is a graduate of Alabama A&M University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. He spent four seasons playing wide receiver at Alabama A&M for Coach Kenneth Pettiford. A native of Prichard, AL, Nobles attended Mattie T. Blount High; where he won a 5A State Championship as a captain for Hall of Fame Coach Ben Harris.
Nobles obtained a master’s degree in Sports Management from American Military University. He is an active member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Fellowship of Christians Athletes and St. Luke AME Church (Fayetteville, NC). Nobles’ is also a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated.
He resides in Fayetteville with his wife, the former Joy Belle. The couple has two children, one daughter (Lauryn) and a son (Leslie Jacob).
COURTESY FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
CENTRAL ISLIP, New York – The East Coast Conference media relations office recently released its 2014-15 "Year in Review" featuring summaries of all 17 sport seasons as well as all conference-wide community service initiatives. (Click HERE for 2014-15 ECC Year in Review).
