Norfolk State Hoops to Compete in Sun Bowl Invitational

NORFOLK, Virginia -- The Norfolk State men's basketball program will take part in this year's WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational, the Sun Bowl Association and WestStar Bank announced on Thursday afternoon. The tournament will be played Dec. 21-22 at the Don Haskins Center on the campus of UTEP in El Paso, Texas.

NSU will join UC Irvine, Sam Houston State and the host Miners among the field of four. NSU will face UTEP at 7 p.m. on Dec. 21, while UC Irvine and Sam Houston State will play in the earlier game. The consolation and championship games will be played at 5 and 7 p.m., respectively, on Dec. 22.

This year will mark the 54th year of the tournament. The Spartans will make their second appearance after competing in the invitational during the 2009-10 season.

UC Irvine advanced to the NCAA tournament last year after winning the Big West Conference tournament. Sam Houston State won 26 games and, like NSU, played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. UTEP competed in the NIT after placing second in the regular season Conference USA standings. All four programs in this year's Sun Bowl Invitational won 20 or more games last year and have averaged at least 20 wins the last three years.

The tournament is the second of the upcoming season that NSU has announced already. The Spartans will also compete in the Paradise Jam from Nov. 20-23 in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, their third appearance at the tournament.

The full 2015-16 NSU basketball schedule is expected to be released within the next week or two.

Mike Bello, Asst. SID
COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

ECSU Athletics to host Golf Tourney July 17th at the Pines

Proceeds to Support Viking Golf Program

ELIZABETH CITY, North Carolina -- The 2015 Athletic Department Golf Tournament will take place Friday, July 17th at The Pines at Elizabeth City.

The purpose of this event is to provide our alumni and friends an opportunity to support ECSU’s golf program.

The inaugural year (2014) paid off immediately as our Viking golf team finished third overall at this year’s CIAA Championship and two of our student-athletes went on to compete at the 2015 PGA Minority Golf Championship this past May in Port St. Lucie, Florida. We would like to keep that momentum going and simultaneously offer our area and visiting golfers an exceptional day of fun on the fairway.

For more information and a registration form click here .

COURTESY ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Chicago State Tennis Hosts Fourth-Annual Green and White Classic on July 24-26

2015 CSU Green and White Tennis Classic Application

CHICAGO, Illinois -- The Chicago State University tennis program is hosting the fourth-annual Green and White Tennis Classic on July 24-26, 2015 at the CSU Tennis Courts.

The tournament is open to all players and the proceeds from the event will benefit both CSU tennis programs.

Cost for competing in the classic is $25 for singles players and $40 for doubles teams. The USTA Tournament ID number is.

"The tournament is always well supported by the tennis community. They always have a good time in socializing and competition. They understand that it is going toward a great cause in our student-athletes so all the support is awesome!!!," Barton said.

For more information on the classic, please call Coach Barton at (773) 821-4959.

COURTESY CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Dynamic duo to represent Coppin State at Pan-Am Games

(L) DEANDRA DANIELS AND (R) CHRISTINA EPPS
COURTESY: COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Coppin State University will be well-represented at the prestigious XVII Pan-Am Games competition in Toronto later this month as senior high jumper Deandra Daniel along with triple jumper Christina Epps, a 2014 graduate, will compete against the world's best.

Epps, the current reigning USATF triple jump national champion and native of Morristown (N.J.), will represent the United States when she competes on Tuesday, July 21 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. With a personal best mark of 14.09 meters, Epps is the best triple jumper in the United States.

Meanwhile, Daniel, a six-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) high jump champion, will compete for her native country of Trinidad & Tobago. Daniel takes center stage on Wednesday, July 22 at 10:05 a.m.

Epps and Daniel are using this event as a tune-up for the World Championship Games in Beijing, China next month.

"It's exciting and a blessing to have two Coppin State student-athletes participating at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto," said Coppin State head women's track and field coach Alecia Shields-Gadson. "It's a tremendous honor for these Eagles to represent their respective countries at this prestigious international competition."

Earlier this year, Epps won the triple jump at the Penn Relays and the Morgan State Legacy Meet.

Epps was named the 2014 MEAC Woman of the Year and one of the 30 finalists for the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. During her star-studded career, Epps earned NCAA Indoor All-America honors, was a 12-time All-MEAC student-athlete and a six-time triple jump champion in the conference. She is the current Coppin State triple jump record holder. Her school standard is 13.40 meters (43 feet, 11.75 inches).

Epps was selected as the Coppin State Female Presidents' Eagle Award Winner, Female Athlete of the Year and MVP in track and field for the 2013-14 season.

Daniel earned All-American honors during the indoor track and field season after placing third in the NCAA Championship meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Daniel tied her personal best and school record mark of 1.87 meters (6 feet, 1.5 inches) to claim a bronze medal in the high jump at the NCAA Championships. Daniel was named the 2015 Coppin State Female Athlete of the Year and 2015 Coppin State Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Daniel won the MEAC indoor and outdoor high jump championships. During the indoor MEAC championship meet, Daniel rewrote the record book by clearing 1.85 meters (6 feet, 0.75 inches) to erase a mark that had stood for 10 years. She ended the outdoor season by earning All-ECAC East honors and qualifying for the NCAA Division I East Region Preliminary Championships in Jacksonville (Fl.).

"Christina and Deandra have worked hard and it's great to see them be rewarded for their sacrifices and dedication to their craft," Shields-Gadson said. "I couldn't think of two better young ladies to compete on this international stage. They are great ambassadors of Coppin State and terrific role models for our youth. I have no doubt that they'll make Coppin proud in Toronto."

About the Pan American Games
Held every four years in the year before the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games are the third largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The history of the Pan American Games dates back to 1951 when the Games were first hosted by Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 2015 Pan American Games mark the 17th celebration of the Pan American Sports Organization event. The U.S. has hosted the event twice, in Indianapolis in 1987 and Chicago in 1959.

COURTESY COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Does NCAA unfairly punish sports programs at historically black colleges?

Of the 21 athletic teams that will face a postseason ban next season for failing to meet the NCAA’s academic standard during the 2013-14 season, 15 are at historically black colleges and universities.

Washington, D.C. -- When the NCAA announced scores in late May for its annual measurement of whether college athletes are adhering to minimum academic benchmarks, virtually all high-profile schools were spared. Across all institutions, Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores have improved since the measurement was first released in 2004. But another trend has persisted: the disproportionate penalization of historically black colleges and universities for failing to meet the standard.

Of the 21 athletic teams that will face a postseason ban next season for failing to meet the NCAA’s academic standard during the 2013-14 season, upon which the most recent scores are based, 15 are at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Twenty-five percent of HBCU teams had a single-year APR score below the minimum of 930 during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, compared with 6 percent of teams from non-HBCU institutions in 2012-13 and 4 percent in 2013-14, according to the NCAA’s most recent national and sport-group APR averages and trends.

Some critics of the APR see the gap more as a reflection of the disparity of resources between NCAA member schools than a measure of academic achievement. Many HBCUs face the challenge of serving their core mission of educating poor and academically underserved communities with less funding than more powerful programs to provide academic oversight geared at keeping athletes eligible.

“It really has nothing to do with the quality of education the student is getting,” said Gerald Gurney, president of the Drake Group, an NCAA watchdog, and a former associate athletics director at the University of Oklahoma. “It’s all about how well they play the game, so HBCUs and limited-resource institutions cannot manipulate the APR as big schools.”

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XU Rush sign 5 student-athletes, 2 from metro New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana announced Wednesday the addition of five student-athletes to its men's cross country and/or track and field programs for the 2015-16 academic year. Signed to scholarships were:

• Sprinter/jumper Keairez Coleman of Harrisville, Miss., an53d Mendenhall High School.
• Sprinter Ethan Gipson of Memphis, Tenn., and Houston High School.
• Sprinter Kameron Joyner of Fort Wayne, Ind., and South Side High School.
• Distance runner Felipe Perrier of Slidell, La., and Slidell High School.
• Distance runner Darrick Williams of New Orleans and John Curtis Christian School.

All will be freshmen and will compete in track. Perrier and Williams also will compete in cross country.

Coleman triple-jumped 43 feet, 5 1/2 inches to finish fifth in Mississippi's Class 4A state championships in 2014. His best time in the 400-meter dash is 54.49 seconds. Coleman also played basketball, football, baseball and tennis at Mendenhall and was an all-district, 1,000-yard passer his junior season.

As a junior, Gipson was a member of Houston's Class AAA state-champion 400-meter relay team, and he helped the Mustangs win the Class AAA team championship. He won five times his senior season and posted career-best times of 10.89 in the 100 and 22.00 in the 200 at the sectional meet.

Joyner was all-state in Indiana as a senior after placing ninth in the 100 at state meet. His best times are 10.91 in the 100 and 22.49 in the 200. He was a two-way starter in football as a junior and senior.
Perrier competed in track and powerlifting for three years apiece at Slidell and was a three-time powerlifting regional champion in the 162-pound weight class. He has honed his distance-running skills since joining the Army ROTC nearly seven months ago.

Williams was a member of John Curtis teams which swept state titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track each of the past two seasons and won indoor and outdoor track titles in 2013. His best 3-mile time in cross country is 16:52.25.

Coleman was salutatorian of his graduating class and will major in biology at Xavier. Gipson (XU major pre-pharmacy), Joyner (psychology) and Perrier (chemistry/pre-pharmacy) made the honor roll multiple times in high school, and Williams (business finance) graduated with a 3.25 GPA.

Xavier's men won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference cross country team championships each of the past nine seasons. The Gold Rush qualified for NAIA National Championship meets in cross country (team) and outdoor track (three events) this past season. The 2015 cross country season will begin in late August.

2015-16 Xavier men's cross country and/or track and field signees

Name Events Ht. Wt. Yr.* Hometown High School (College)
Keairez Coleman Sprints, Jumps 5-10 180 Fr. Harrisville, Miss. Mendenhall
Ethan Gipson Sprints 5-10 146 Fr. Memphis, Tenn. Houston
Kameron Joyner Sprints 5-7 160 Fr. Fort Wayne, Ind. South Side
Felipe Perrier Distance 5-11 162 Fr. Slidell, La. Slidell
Darrick Williams Distance 5-7 135 Fr. New Orleans, La. John Curtis Christian
* athletic classification at Xavier in 2015-16


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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Marquette Men's Basketball 2015-16 Non-Conference Games #6 & #7: Jackson State & Grambling State

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin -- When you're assembling a non-conference schedule, you have to take a few things into consideration. Are there rivalry games we play every year? What multi-team event are we participating in? Do we have a home-and-home contract to honor? Do we have an inexperienced team that needs a chance to grow together? Do we have an experienced team that needs to be challenged?

All of those questions have to get answered, and the schedule you assemble has to relate to those answers. That, kids, is how you end up scheduling Jackson State and Grambling State.

I don't have a lot of rules when it comes to non-conference games, although most of that has to do with the fact that Deputy Athletic Director Mike Broeker doesn't let me pick the games. But if I was allowed to pick the games, one of my rules would be "Don't schedule teams from the SWAC." Rule #2 would definitely be "Don't schedule two teams from the SWAC." That's what we have here, though. Grambling State hasn't finished in the top 300 of the KenPom rankings since 2005, and that year they were #299 out of 330. Jackson State isn't much better, finishing below 300 on KenPom each of the past four seasons and carrying a peak KenPom era final ranking of 249 back in 2007 when they won the SWAC's auto-bid. They were slotted as a 16 seed in the tournament and got blasted by 43 points by defending champion Florida.

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