Culver Column: FAMU’s athletic problems run deep, but can be fixed

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Make no mistake. Milton Overton Jr. was hired to save Florida A&M’s athletic department.

It needs saving.

Documents from the last FAMU Board of Trustees meeting show the athletic program’s deficit at the end of June would be $8.956 million, about $1.4 million more than at the end of July last year.

The issues are legion, and many of them wer e documented in the budget overview from the June 9 meeting.

Here are some of the points: •There have been four athletic directors and three head football coaches in the past 12 months.

•For an approximately two-week overlapping period, the university had two entire football coaching staffs; this resulted in an additional $55,000.

•FAMU had to pay terminal leave for the ADs, coaches and other staff who were relieved of their duties. This totaled an additional $512,000.



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ASU picked to place 4th in SWAC East, Berry preseason honor

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Alabama State was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC East Division as it was announced today at SWAC Media Day at the Birmingham Marriott.

The order was finish is determined by votes from the conference's 10 head coaches. ASU was picked to finish first in the division the last two seasons.

Defending conference champion Alcorn State finished first in the voting to win the East Division with 95 votes that included all 10 first-place votes. Jackson State (83), Alabama A&M (66), Alabama State (50) and Mississippi Valley State (31) rounded out of the East Division predictions.

Grambling State edged Southern in the voting to win the West Division as it tallied 93 points with eight first-place votes. Southern received 91 points, followed by Prairie View (72), Texas Southern (40) and Arkansas Pine Bluff (34).

ASU junior linebacker Kourtney Berry was voted SWAC...

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Southern University football picked to finish 2nd in SWAC West

PHOTO COURTESY: SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- If the preseason SWAC football poll is any indication, the Bayou Classic will again settle who wins the SWAC West. Despite placing no players on the All-SWAC preseason first team, Grambling is the pick to win the West division of the league in a vote of league coaches and sports information directors.

Southern University, the two-time defending West champ, was selected second. The Jaguars defeated Grambling, 52-45, to claim the West title in 2014 in last year's Bayou Classic at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Southern lost to Alcorn State, 38-24, in the SWAC Championship the following week.

Alcorn State was picked to win the SWAC East division.

The Jaguars finished 2014 9-4 overall, 8-1 in the SWAC. Southern won seven straight games before falling to Alcorn State in the title contest.

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Jury Selection Starts Monday in Shooting Death of Former FAMU Football Player Jonathan Ferrell

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- It's been 2 years since an unarmed FAMU football player was killed by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, that officer charged with involuntary manslaughter, will face a judge in the coming week.

Jury selection begins Monday, July 20th for the shooting of Jonathan Ferrell and the city of Charlotte is pulling out all the stops. The city has requested more jurors and even hired an attorney to control the trial's publicity. The officer involved, Officer Randall Kerrick with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, is accused of shooting Ferrell.

The former FAMU student crashed his car in a Charlotte neighborhood and sought out help from nearby homes. According to court documents, Officer Kerrick was 1 of 3 officers that responded to the reports, but the only officer to draw his weapon. Kerrick is accused of shooting Ferrell 10 times in the chest and arms after Ferrell tried to approach the officers for help.

After a series of lawsuits and appeals, Kerrick will go on trial for voluntary manslaughter. Jury summons went out more than a month ago and more than 300 jurors are expected to show up Monday.



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Quarterback depth becoming a concern for JSU

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Jackson State has one of the brightest stars in the SWAC, LaMontiez Ivy, as its quarterback.

Ivy, who earned preseason second-team all-conference honors, is a talent, but he's the only proven one the Tigers currently have at the quarterback position.

The unit's depth took a hit last month when redshirt freshman Brent Lyles was in a car accident back in his home state of Indiana. At SWAC Media Day on Friday, JSU coach Harold Jackson officially declared Lyles done for the season after the accident resulted in hip surgery.

That leaves Ivy and UNLV transfer Jarin Morikawa as the only two healthy quarterbacks on the roster.

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Grambling is pick to win SWAC West

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Not even two years removed from a 1-10 season and a player boycott that brought national media attention, Grambling is back in the conversation as one of the top teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Grambling was picked Friday as the preseason favorite to win the SWAC West Division as voted on by the league’s 10 coaches and sports information directors at the annual SWAC Media Day in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Tigers earned eight first-place votes and 93 total points to edge out defending SWAC West champion Southern, which came in at a close second with 91 total points.

The SWAC picked Grambling to finish last in the West in 2014, but the Tigers put together their best year since 2011 as Broderick Fobbs earned a 7-5 record in his first season as coach.
 
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Hitman's Hard Hits: HBCU Sports- Many See the Problems, Now Here's My Suggestion for A Solution

HITMAN'S HARD HITS

Former NFL player and college All-American safety Tim Watson (HOWARD UNIVERSITY BISON) shares his frank insights on the gridiron and current topics.

CHECK HIM OUT AT: http://timwatson.sportsblog.com/

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- THE PROBLEM:

With football season just around the corner, I need to address the issues surrounding the sports' environment that's closest to my heart, as a proud HBCU graduate. In part this is a revisit of an earlier post regarding the unfortunate state of HBCU athletics. In particular, the sport of football, where the Big 5 Conference powerhouses have made financial windfalls for their universities, HBCU's actually appear the least competitive amongst all the athletic programs. After experiencing the college football recruiting roller coaster as a parent, some really interesting revelations came to light. I personally made a choice against the grain in 1988 to attend Howard University over more prominent football programs. Having been highly recruited by SEC mainstay UGA, Big Ten School Indiana, and other notable FBS programs, my decision was questioned by many on signing day, and throughout my years at Howard. For an up front and candid perspective on the value of my decision in lieu of athletics, the stadium and facilities at Howard were actually a step-down from my high school. To be more exact, it was even worse than we had for my middle school team. However, knowing the man I am today (and that I see most of my Howard teammates have also become) I'm fortunate to have made the decision I did.

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