Alabama State RHP Angel Alicea Drafted by Toronto Blue Jays

TORONTO, Canada -- Alabama State RHP Angel Alicea was selected in the 20th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Alicea (6-1, 200; Jr., Santa Isabel, PR) played one season for the Hornets. After beginning the season as the starting shortstop, he focused on pitching full time in early March. He posted a 3-0 record with a 1.47 ERA with two saves in 17 appearances with three starts.

Alicea becomes the sixth Hornet baseball player drafted in the past three seasons and the eighth since 2014 to sign a professional contract.

Alicea, the 612th overall selection, recorded two of the biggest wins of the season in his first two career starts. He threw seven shutout innings, allowing six hits and walking one while striking out seven in a 3-0 win at Tennessee on April 25.

In the SWAC Championship game, Alicea allowed only four hits and two runs in six innings, striking out a career-high nine in a 7-5 win over Texas Southern on May 22, as the Hornets won their first ever league championship, posting their school record 38th win.

Alicea earned a no-decision in the Hornets' NCAA Tournament game against South Alabama, allowing only three runs and striking out five in seven innings.

In 2014, Alabama State baseball had four players sign professional baseball contracts, with three players selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, the most in one draft in school history. SS Emmanuel Marrero (7th round, Philadelphia) became the highest drafted baseball player ever at ASU. OF Richard Amion (19th round, San Francisco) and C Richard Gonzalez (29th round, Houston) were also selected in the draft, while P/1B Dexter Price signed a free agent contract with Arizona.

In 2015, relief pitchers Armando Ruiz (29th round, Oakland) and Jorge Pantoja (30th round, Washington) were drafted, while a third pitcher, Michael Estevez (FA, Toronto) signed a contract.

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Andrew Vernon is first ever NCCU MLB draft pick

DURHAM, North Carolina -- Former North Carolina Central University pitcher Andrew Vernon had a record-breaking senior year and career, and now he’s added another historic entry as he became the first Major League Baseball draft pick from NCCU when he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the twenty-eighth round on Saturday, June 11.

“I’m ecstatic, this is definitely a dream come true. It’s hard to put into words.” Vernon said about being drafted by the Brewers. “I can’t wait, it’s a great organization, and it’s been my dream ever since I was little. I can’t wait to see what happens, the guys I’ll meet, and the fan base. I’m really excited about everything that’s happening.”

“What a tremendous culmination to a great four year career,” NCCU baseball head coach Jim Koerner said about the reliever. “Andrew has earned everything he’s gotten, and we are very proud of him. His talent, work ethic and determination will take him far.”



A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Vernon pitched four seasons for the maroon and gray and ended his career as the modern-era leader in career saves with 15 and kept a career ERA of 3.89 which tops the list as well.

Over his four years on the mound Vernon made a career-record 83 appearances with seven starts as he had an opportunity to move from the bullpen to the mound in his senior campaign. He was a 2016 First Team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection after he nailed down four saves and led the league with 85 strikeouts, which set a new single season mark in the modern era at NCCU.

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Student-Athlete Allegedly Raped by KU Football Player Comes Forward in Emotional Video

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

CHICAGO, Illinois -- An Illinois woman who is suing the University of Kansas for how it handled her sexual assault allegations is joining a separate lawsuit that accuses the school of misleading the public about the safety of its campus housing.

In a statement released Thursday by her father, Jim McClure, in a Kansas City, Missouri, law office, Sarah McClure said she was assaulted Aug. 29 in a Jayhawker Towers apartment on campus by the same member of the KU football team who had assaulted a fellow rowing team member a year earlier.

Sarah McClure, who lives in suburban Chicago, said the university did nothing for months after she reported the assault in October. She also said she was ostracized by her coaches and feared for her safety after the assault.

“I struggled every day,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t leave my dorm room. I stayed inside with a chair under my doorknob because I felt so unsafe.”



McClure has filed a Title IX lawsuit accusing the school of failing to investigate her assault, failing to protect her from intimidation and allowing her coaches to retaliate against her.

KU police said a report was forwarded to the district attorney’s office for review and the office declined to prosecute the football player. But he was expelled after the school’s Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access found him responsible for misconduct.

On Thursday, McClure, her father and Daisy Tackett, who says she was sexually assaulted by the same player in 2014 and also has filed a Title IX suit against the school, joined a lawsuit filed in March by Tackett’s parents, James and Amanda Tackett.

That lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, asks for a judge to rule that the university violated the Consumer Protection Act by falsely misrepresenting that campus housing is safe, and also order the school to cease representing its dorms as safe until they are “demonstrated” as such.

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Norfolk State Spartans Tap Cornell Brown as Co-Defensive Coordinator

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Norfolk State head football coach Latrell Scott announced a significant addition to his coaching staff on Wednesday with the hiring of former Virginia Tech All-American player and assistant coach Cornell Brown as NSU's co-defensive coordinator.

Brown, who will also coach the Spartan linebackers, will share defensive coordinator duties with Andrew Faison, who was hired in February.

"Adding someone the caliber of coach Brown to our staff is very beneficial to our program. He has strong ties around the state and was a key member of some tremendous defenses both as a player and coach at Virginia Tech," Scott said. "He has won championships at every level and will be a great fit for our defensive staff. He and coach Faison are looking forward to combining their knowledge to strengthen our defense."

Brown comes to NSU from his alma mater, Virginia Tech, where he coached five seasons and enjoyed an All-American playing career. Brown spent five seasons (2011-15) on Frank Beamer's coaching staff at Virginia Tech, working with the Hokies defensive ends and outside linebackers under long-time Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Virginia Tech went to bowl games following each of Brown's five seasons on the coaching staff, including the 2011 Sugar Bowl against Michigan.

Brown joined the coaching ranks in 2005 as an assistant working with linebackers for the Cologne Centurions in the NFL-Europe League. Brown became a full time defensive line coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy the following year and helped the team to back-to-back World Bowl appearances, winning the league title in 2006. While coaching the defensive line, he helped develop free-agent tackle Remi Ayodele, who was a member of the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl XLIV championship team following the 2009 NFL season.

NFL-Europe's schedule allowed Brown to also work as a graduate assistant coach at Virginia Tech during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He helped develop defensive units that led the nation in total defense and scoring defense in '06 and were ranked third and fourth, respectively, in those categories in '07. He had a helping hand in developing draft choices Chris Ellis, Carlton Powell and Jason Worilds.

Brown attended Virginia Tech and played defensive end from 1993 through 1996, helping the Hokies to a bowl game each season.

Brown became the first Virginia Tech football player to gain consensus All-America honors as a junior when he was named to five first teams in 1995. Brown was a first-team A-A pick by AP, UPI, the Football Writers Association, The Sporting News and Football News. He finished the year with 103 total tackles, including a BIG EAST-leading 14 sacks. He was selected National Defensive Player of the Year by Football News.

In 1996, Brown missed three games, but still earned first-team honors from Walter Camp and second-team recognition from AP. He posted eight sacks, five other tackles behind the line, 19 quarterback hurries and 58 total tackles during the '96 season.

Brown had his Tech jersey retired in 2002 and was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He was later inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in April of 2013.

A sixth-round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, the Lynchburg, Va., native played seven seasons in the NFL and was a member of the Ravens Super Bowl XXXV champions
hip team.

Matt Michalec, Asst. AD/Communications
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Livingstone Tabbs Silver As New Head Coach

HEAD COACH TIFFANY SILVER
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
LIVINGSTONE COLLEGE

SALISBURY, North Carolina -- A woman who said she scheduled games against CIAA teams because of her respect for the conference is the new Head Women's Basketball Coach at Livingstone College.

Tiffany Silver, former head coach at Wilmington University in Delaware, was announced Friday by Livingstone Athletic Director Andre Springs during a press conference in the J.W. Hood Building on campus. She becomes the ninth head women's basketball coach for the Blue Bears.

In her brief remarks, Silver thanked Livingstone College President Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins, Sr., Springs and Dr. State W. Alexander, III, executive assistant to the president and vice president for communications & public relations, for the support their support.

"I appreciate you for entrusting me with the responsibility of fostering this program of young women, as athletes and more important as young women," Silver said. "A great
foundation has been laid here by my predecessors, and my mission is to take their success to the next level."

Jenkins said after the press conference he's glad Silver accepted the institution's offer to join the Livingstone family.

"I am excited about Coach Silver," Jenkins said. "I was very impressed with her during the interview, and I'm confident she'll come in and do a great job and the women's basketball program, which has enjoyed success in recent years, won't skip a beat."

Silver replaces Anita Howard, who left Livingstone after two seasons for another coaching position.

Silver comes to Livingstone after four seasons at Wilmington University, which competes in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. Her overall record at Wilmington was 32-76; however, to her credit the team had won only three games in the season before she became the head coach. And last season, her Wildcats finished 14-14 overall, including a 9-10 conference mark.

Before assuming the head job at Wilmington, Silver worked as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Johns Hopkins University, where she helped the Blue Jays to a stellar 24-5 record and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Jays won the Centennial Conference and were undefeated against Top 25 DIII opponents. At Hopkins, Silver focused on developing the guards and post players.

From 2005 to 2011, Silver was the head coach at Western High School in her native Baltimore, where she helped lead the Doves to 20 or more wins in all six of her seasons, compiling a 126-30 overall record. During that time, the Doves went 60-0 against Baltimore City competition and enjoyed three three-straight undefeated seasons. Silver led them to five Baltimore City championships, five regional championships and three state title-games.

In 2009, Silver was selected as the head coach for the premiere game of the McDonald's Roundball Classic All-Star Game, which featured the top talent from Maryland, Virginia, D.C., Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Particularly important to Jenkins, Silver boasted perfect graduation and college-acceptance rates during her time at Western. She also coached at other Maryland high schools, including Towson Catholic High School.

Silver is a graduate of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where she earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and also played on the women's basketball squad.

Silver has a 4-year-old daughter, Doriyan.

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SWAC changing up conference hoops tourney to include host sites

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference is switching up its men's and women's basketball conference tournament.

The league announced Thursday it is moving from a five-day, 10-team tournament held at the Toyota Center in Houston, home of the Rockets, to a three-day, eight-team event that will feature host sites for the quarterfinal round.

Instead of making a week-long event out of it, SWAC officials will save money by holding the semifinals and finals in Houston for two days while the top four seeds host the quarterfinals.

League officials, presidents and athletic directors, among others, for the 10 members schools met Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama, to approve the changes. The league also announced a three-year extension for the SWAC football championship and SWAC basketball championship to remain in Houston.

The changes will go into effect for 2017 when the tournament starts Tuesday, March 7, 2016, with four quarterfinal games. The No. 1 seed will host the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed will host the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed will host the No. 5 seed.

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ASU Marching Band to appear in new movie, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, starring Vin Diesel, Steve Martin and Chris Tucker

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --  The Alabama State University Mighty Marching Hornets Band will be seen in a new movie, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, starring Vin Diesel, Joe Alwyn, Steve Martin and Chris Tucker.

The film, based on the book by the same name, is about 19-year-old Billy Lynn, who is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks, the film shows what really happened to his squad, contrasting the realities of war with America's perceptions.

“This exposure is giving ASU and the Marching Hornets the national recruiting opportunity to reach out to other states and countries,” said James Oliver, ASU band director.

The band performs two songs in the film by Destiny's Child, Soldier and Lose My Breath.

The movie is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on Nov. 11, 2016.

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