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George reportedly lived near where the shooting took place in Algiers. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported George’s family said he was the second fatal shooting victim in Algiers on Friday. On Saturday morning, the SWAC released a statement on George’s death.
George, also known as “Tonka,” finished his Alcorn career in 2015 after catching 22 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. In the inaugural Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, George had six catches for 63 yards two touchdowns (one receiving and one passing). He played five years for the Braves and led the team in receptions in 2013. He graduated from Alcorn in May.
Below is a press release from the New Orleans Police Department:
NEW ORLEANS — Janice Joseph-Richard will be inducted posthumously Saturday into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame for a variety of accomplishments, but none more impressive than her brilliant coaching tenure with Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball.
Six seasons (1992-98), 159 victories, 34 losses, 26.5 victories per season and a winning percentage of .824. Those are the basics, and they are outstanding. But dig deeper into the numbers, and these gems emerge:
• Her final five teams won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships.
• She won her final 38 games at The Barn and her final 28 games against GCAC opponents.
• Her final XU team (1997-98) was the first of two GCAC teams to win all 18 regular-season conference games, then three straight in the tournament. The Gold Nuggets' average winning margin in those 21 games that season was 24.5 points. There were no single-digit victories, and there were six decisions of 30 or more points. The other GCAC team to make the 18-0, 3-0 run — the XU women of 2009-10 — won by an average of 13.5 points.
• She is the only GCAC basketball coach to win in the first round four consecutive years at the NAIA Division I National Championship.
Known as Janice Joseph during her XU tenure, she departed the school in the spring of 1998 to marry for the second time. She then returned to coaching a year later at San Jose State where she jump-started a perennially losing program. After leaving the Spartans because of her health — she was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer of 2006 — she resurfaced a year later at her alma mater, Louisiana College, where she coached three more seasons, including a 24-3 record in her final season, 2009-10.
Joseph-Richard died Dec. 1, 2010, at age 46 after her lengthy cancer battle. Her 16-year record as a collegiate head coach was 307-163.
As a player at Louisiana College, Joseph-Richard was an American Women's Sports Federation two-time first-team NAIA All-American and was All-GCAC four times, the last three unanimously. She collected more than 2,300 points and 700 assists at LC and as a senior (1985-86) set the GCAC season record of 283 assists. She led the GCAC in scoring and assists each of her final two seasons. Her final season she led the Lady Wildcats to third place in the NAIA Division I National Championship.
Ten other new members will be inducted Saturday. The banquet, which is sold out, will start at 6 p.m. at the Natchitoches Events Center, 243 miles northwest of the XU campus.
This is a video that was conducted by a group of students from the SSU Media High summer camp and it is about Burkina Faso's Olympic swimmer Thierry Sawadogo
SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Savannah State Student Thierry Sawadogo is heading to the 2016 Olympics being held in Rio De Janero, Brazil later this summer.
The freshman athlete will be competing in swimming for Burkina Faso, a small country in West Africa.
“Here in America from 10 months ago I’ve improved my spots with my coach Joe Witt,” says Sawadogo.
According to SSU Assistant Athletic Director of Media Relations Opio Mashariki, Sawadogo is not the first Olympian to come from SSU.
Former student Pa Modou Gai represented Gambia in the 2000 Olympic games in track and field. Former student Amara Jones represented the Bahamas in the 2012 Olympics in track and field also.
Due to SSU not having a swim team or an Olympic pool, Sawadogo has been training with the Savannah Swim Team at the Chatham County Aquatic Center.
“It is a bit hard for my parents to help me because I am here for my studies and my sport so it costs a lot of money, I’d like to get some help like a scholarship,” he said.
Athletic Director Sterling Steward says “budgets” are the primary reason why SSU and other schools in the MEAC fail to have swim teams.
Despite the obstacles, Sawadogo remains hopeful in competing this summer and for his future.
“Its more of a big experience for me, I’m still a young swimmer my level is not like the big swimmers of the world,” says Sawadogo.
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps who will be competing in his last Olympics is one swimmer Sawadogo looks up to.
“I met him in Barcelona of 2013, I took a picture with him,” he said.
Some students although unaware that a SSU student was competing in the Olympics, are excited for what this could mean for their school.
Student Malaysia Bacon says, “ We already have enough different students receiving various accolades, and helping build the name of the university, so for one of our students to be going to the Olympics, that’s great.”
She goes on to say, “ They are just building more exposure for our school so one day we’ll be up there with Duke or something.”
Sawadogo will be leaving in late July for the Olympics and will not return until October just in time to pick up mini semesters for the fall semester. ByAsha Gilbert THE TIGERS ROAR.COM
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- One of the biggest black-college band competitions in the Southeast is coming back to Charlotte.
The fourth annual black college band showcase will take the field August 27 at Memorial Stadium. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on Saturday. Advance tickets can be bought atwww.crowntickets.comor by calling 1-888-547-6478.
On football Saturdays, HBCU football games give way to the halftime pageantry of bands, which show off intricate marching styles, musicianship and choreography. At Battle of the Bands, the entire program is devoted to elaborate shows, which encourage crowd participation.
North Carolina schools committed to participate are N.C. A&T State, Winston-Salem State and N.C. Central universities. Tennessee State and Bethune-Cookman universities have been confirmed, as has Talladega College, a perennial crowd favorite.
HBCU bands in North Carolina can be traced to A&T, which formed its first ensemble in 1918 with 50 musicians. They are known for their integration of intricate marching formations and cadences that set them apart from the military corps-style processions typically executed at historically white schools.
BERLIN, Maryland -- It always seemed certain that Dayona Godwin would play college basketball.
The question was, where would she play?
The dynamic guard decided earlier this week to accept an academic scholarship to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Stephen Decatur High’s all-time leading girls scorer will play Division I college basketball and she’ll stay on the Lower Shore to do it.
Godwin, who had a 3.75 GPA at Decatur, said she will study criminal justice at UMES.
“It felt like a great fit from the start,” Godwin said. “I would go to some of the open gyms and I could just connect with girls like we have been playing together for years. Another reason is when I went on campus the first time, I liked the atmosphere and instantly felt like I was a part of the family.”
And, with UMES being just a 35-mile ride away from Decatur, Godwin’s family, friends and fans will be able to see her play in maroon and gray fairly often.
AUBURN, Alabama - It has the opportunity to be a match made in hoops heaven.
A basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, in need of a big man to block shots and rebound.
A student-athlete, LaRon Smith, in need of an opportunity to display his talents to a larger audience.
"When I came here, Coach Pearl said he needed a shot blocker," Smith says. "A person who could rebound, run the floor. Those are my specialties. So, he's going to put me where I'm comfortable at this level, so now I can showcase what I was doing at the past levels, on the highest level."
But not everyone believed Auburn would be the best fit for Smith, a 6-foot-9 graduate transfer from Bethune-Cookman.
"When I said I was considering Auburn, a lot of people said, `Oh, you're going to play backup to the other bigs. You're not ready for that level. It's a whole different type of competition. I don't know if you want to go there and fail. It's your last year.'
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Eddie Payton, Jackson State University's head golf coach, has retired from the position after leading the Tigers and Lady Tigers programs for 30 years.
During his tenure the trailblazing men's golf team won 25 conference championships and eight National Minority titles. In 1995 the Tigers made history by becoming the first HBCU to compete in the NCAA Men's National Golf Championships.
"Following my professional football career, it was an honor and privilege to return to my alma mater as head golf coach," said Payton. "It was an opportunity for me to give back to the University that had given me so much."
Payton helped start the women's golf program in 1994 and the Lady Tigers went on to win 16 SWAC titles. The Lady Tigers program also holds a special place in history by becoming the first women's team from an HBCU to compete in the NCAA National Golf Championship in 1999.
"My goal when I returned to coach golf at JSU, was to win a National Title. Unfortunately we came up short. But it was not from a lack of trying."
90 percent of Payton's golfers graduated and program has received the NCAA's Public Recognition Award three times (men's golf in 2013-14 and women's golf in 2009-10 and 2010-11).
Tim O'Neal, AJ Montecinos, Shasta Averyhardt and Clay Myers are some of the standouts who went on to have professional golf careers during Payton's tenure.
Payton's retirement begins July 1. Jackson State will hold an official retirement party for Payton at a later date.
COURTESY JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
