Williams Named Interim Director of Athletics at ASU

Jennifer Lynne Williams 

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alabama State University President, Dr. Quinton T. Ross, Jr., has announced that Jennifer Lynne Williams will move into the role of Interim Director of Athletics with the resignation of Melvin Hines.

"Alabama State University is fortunate to have someone of Mrs. Williams's caliber to take this interim position," said Ross. "I am fully confident in her ability to lead our athletics department at this critical juncture."

Williams, in her second year at Alabama State, has more than a decade of experience in athletics administration. As the Deputy Director of Athletics, she managed the day-to-day operations of Hornet athletics and led the division's external and community relations initiatives. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD).

"I would like to thank Dr. Ross and the Alabama State University leadership for entrusting me with leading our athletic department," Williams said. "I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to serve as the Interim Director of Athletics and lead such a wonderful, accomplished group of student-athletes, coaches and staff that have carried on the long, storied history of Alabama State athletics.

"I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best administrators around the country, and I will draw from those experiences in leading Alabama State and keeping the Hornets on top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference."

Williams came to Alabama State after spending four years as the Associate Athletic Director of
Development and Executive Director of the Aggie Foundation at North Carolina A&T. Williams oversaw the giving initiatives for athletics and raised more than $4 million in donor revenue while doubling the number of donors for athletics.

"This is a great time in the University's history," Williams said. "New President, new vision, new day ... we're so excited about celebrating our sesquicentennial and the dynamic leadership that Dr. Ross will bring to ASU. We are moving 150 Forward; and I can truly say that it is a great time to be a Hornet!'"

Prior to her time at North Carolina A&T, Williams spent three years at DePaul University (2009-12) as the Assistant Director of Development. She also worked at Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly the National Association of Collegiate Women in Athletic Administration), volunteered at North Carolina Wilmington (2008-09) and worked at North Carolina Central (2005-07), where she got her start in athletics development.

Williams will assume her new duties immediately.

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ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

N.C. A&T Taylor Earns National and MEAC Weekly Honor

FCS STATS Media Poll

NCAA FCS Coaches Poll

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The latest round of player of the week accolades going to North Carolina A&T football players was released on Monday with three different Aggies earning recognition after a 21-7 win over South Carolina State last Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

Safety/linebacker Jeremy Taylor (5-11, 190, R-SR, Kinston, NC) was recognized twice on Monday. He earned defensive player of the week from the MEAC and defensive player of the week honorable mention from STATS FCS. Quarterback Lamar Raynard (6-4, 200, R-JR, High Point, NC) picked another offensive player of the week nod from the MEAC, his third of the season. Kicker Noel Ruiz (6-0, 165, FR, Wilson, NC) rounded out conference awards for N.C. A&T by being named rookie of the week.

N.C. A&T made minor improvements in the two national Football Championship Subdivision polls, moving from No. 13 to No. 12 in the NCAA FCS Coaches Poll, and they went from No. 17 to No. 16 in the STATS FCS Media Poll. The Aggies (5-0, 2-0 MEAC) are one of nine undefeated teams in FCS play.

“We’re extremely happy to be 5-0,” said N.C. A&T coach Rod Broadway. “We’re showing signs that we are developing into a good football team. With the success we have had over the last few years, our guys know how to win. The Lesson we’re teaching now is how to handle winning. A part of handling winning is putting the past behind you and focusing in on what’s ahead of you.”

Taylor has played a major part in all the winning. Taylor led the Aggies in tackles last season and holds the team lead in tackles this season. He did major damage to SCSU’s offense last Saturday. He played a part in forcing all three of the Bulldogs’ turnovers with two forced fumbles and an interception. Taylor earned co-defensive player of the week honors three weeks ago after posting 10 tackles, forcing and recovering and fumble and interception one pass. He was named national defensive player of the week by STATS FCS last season after spearheading the Aggies upset of Kent State.

Raynard continues to march toward one of the best seasons by an Aggies quarterback in school history. For the second time this season, he had a passing performance that ranked among the top-10 performances of all time in school history. Against the Bulldogs, he threw for 298 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 18-for-31 passing. It was the ninth-best passing performance in school history, one step behind his 321-yard performance against Gardner-Webb on Sept. 2 which ranks as the eighth-best. Raynard threw a career-long 71-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Griffin versus SCSU. It was his 14th touchdown pass of the season.

Nationally, Raynard is second in yards per attempt (10.4) and passing TD’s. He is sixth in points responsible for (92), ninth in passing per completion (15.22), 11th in completion percentage (.683), 12th in passing yards (1,309) and 15th in total offense (283.2).

Ruiz found his rhythm as the Aggies kicker last Saturday. After missing the first two field goals of his career, Ruiz bounced back and went 3-for-3 at SCSU. His three crucial kicks were from 36, 41 and 27 yards. His 36-yarder were the first points of the game as the Aggies took a 3-0 lead in the second quarter. He later booted a 41-yarder toward in the of the first half to give the Aggies a 12-0 halftime lead. His final field goal gave the Aggies a two-touchdown lead with only four minutes remaining in the game. The Aggies have now claimed the rookie of the week award three straight weeks after Mac McCain won the honor twice over the previous two weeks.

This week the Aggies host the Greatest Homecoming On Earth as Delaware State will come to town for a 1 p.m., kickoff at Aggie Stadium.

Follow Aggie Athletics on Facebook and Instagram (ncatathletics) and on Twitter (@ncataggies).

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

NCCU Weekly Press Conference: Week 6 at Howard

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

NCCU What NC Central’s Levelle Moton has learned about his new team so far

DURHAM, North Carolina -- Defending MEAC regular season and tournament champion N.C. Central kicked off the 2017-18 season Monday at McDougald-Mclendon Arena.

Head coach LeVelle Moton put his new team through the paces. The Eagles start the season Nov. 10 at University of Illinois-Chicago.

Last season N.C. Central went 25-9 overall and 13-3 in the MEAC, advancing to the NCAA tournament for the second time under Moton. It’s too soon to tell if this team can duplicate that success, but here are some early observations from Day One.

NEW FACES

Personnel turnover is nothing new for Moton, who builds his roster year-to-year with transfers, rarely signing more than one or two true freshmen. Moton lost seven seniors from last season’s team, including all five starters. Senior forward Pablo Rivas is the only returning player who averaged double-digit minutes (18.4) last season.

Moton’s style has been an eye opener for his new players.

CONTINUE READING

MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas: Kudos to FAMU AD Overton

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Nationally-televised MEAC games are a chance for Commissioner Dennis Thomas to measure – and appreciate – the growth of his conference.

The MEAC has seen a resurgence of late, with players like Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T) and Javon Hargrave (South Carolina State) makings waves in the NFL after careers at HBCU programs. Part of that resurgence, according to Thomas, has been the conference’s deal with ESPN, which has been in place since 2005.

Thomas was on the sidelines for FAMU’s 21-14 loss to North Carolina Central, which was televised on ESPNU.

“We’re able to have two outstanding institutions and football programs will add to the branding, marking and promotions for the conference and for the institutions that are playing,” Thomas said.

“It also helps with student recruiting. You get more people from all over the country seeing the product, your intuitions. They’re more prone to go the websites to find out more about the institutions.”

Thomas, who is in his 16th year as the commissioner of the MEAC, said he’s closely watched Florida A&M’s rise under Athletic Director Milton Overton Jr. The Rattlers have set season ticket sales records every year Overton has been at the helm.

“I must commend Milton,” Thomas said.



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XULA Le Guillou joins Black, Dalla Vecchia as GCAC honorees

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana has swept the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference volleyball awards for the fourth time in six weeks.
     
Eva Le Guillou won her first GCAC Setter of the Week honor, joining four-time Defender of the Week Anna Dalla Vecchia and two-time Attacker of the Week Kayla Black. The three freshmen were honored for Sept. 25-Oct. 1.
     
Le Guillou, from Velizy-Villacoublay, France, produced 36 assists and 16 digs in two matches. At Mobile she had her double-double of the season, 15 assists and 10 digs. She started for the first time against Dillard at home and had a match-high 21 assists.
     
Dalla Vecchia, from Vicenza, Italy, led the Gold Nuggets with 14 digs against Mobile and 19 against Dillard. She handled 50-of-51 serve receptions without an error. Her current streak of matches with double-figure digs is nine.
     
Black, from the Houston suburb of Magnolia, Texas, and a graduate of St. Pius X High School, hit a team-best .268 and led XULA in kills in both matches. Her 18 kills were the most by a XULA player against Mobile since 2013. Her week included 28 kills, 14 digs and four aces.
     
Black leads the GCAC this season with a .253 hitting percentage and 3.21 kills per set.
     
Le Guillou, Dalla Vecchia and Black were part of a defensive effort that limited Dillard to a minus-.009 hitting percentage.
     
A school-record six Gold Nuggets have won GCAC weekly awards this season. The previous high was five in 2015.
     
XULA (11-2) will play William Carey (11-8) at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Convocation Center.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Three graduate assistants join XULA #TeamGold

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana Athletics has hired three graduate assistants, including two XULA alumni, for the 2017-18 academic year.
     
Joining the department are Nour Abbes for men's and women's tennis, Gary Smith for men's basketball and Josh Smith (no relation) for men's and women's cross country and track and field.
     
Abbes, from Tunis, Tunisia, is the only XULA athlete to win an outstanding-player award at an NAIA national tournament. She did it twice, receiving the Marvin P. Richmond Outstanding Player Award after leading the Gold Nuggets to the national semifinals in 2014 and 2015.
     
Abbes was first-team NAIA All-America twice — leading XULA to a No. 1 coaches poll team ranking twice in 2014 and earning the ITA NAIA No. 1 singles ranking three times in 2014-15 — before transferring to the University of Washington for her final two years. Last season she helped the Huskies win 17 dual matches and qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years.
     
Abbes received her bachelor's degree from Washington in human evolutionary biology. At XULA she is pursuing a master's in counseling.
    
Gary Smith, from the Houston suburb of Sugar Land, Texas, and a graduate of The Village School, begins his sixth consecutive season with the Gold Rush. He was a guard for XULA from 2012-16, set the XULA career record for games played with 131 and helped the Gold Rush qualify for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship every year. He is tied for 15th in program history with 260 career assists.
    
Gary Smith was a student assistant with the Gold Rush in 2016-17 before graduating in May with his bachelor's degree — a major in psychology and a minor in public health. He is pursuing a master's in clinician mental health counseling.
     
Josh Smith — a southern California native but a graduate of Flower Mound High School in Texas — competed for the University of Texas at San Antonio from 2010-14 and was a volunteer coach at Incarnate Word for two seasons (2015, 2016) and North Texas this past season. He specialized in long sprints and hurdles at UTSA, earning second-team All-America in 2013 after advancing to the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
     
Josh Smith was a member of five UTSA teams that won conference track and field team championships: Southland indoors in 2011 and 2012, Southland outdoors in 2012, Western Athletic indoors in 2013 and Conference USA outdoors in 2014. He received his bachelor's degree from UTSA in kinesiology exercise science. At XULA he is pursuing a master's in post-secondary and clinical counseling.


Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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