George Tech Basketball Hosts Coppin State

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Georgia Tech closes out its pre-conference schedule this week by facing Coppin State for the first time ever at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion.

Complete Game Notes  | Watch online

The Yellow Jackets (5-6) comes out of the holiday break having lost five of its last six games, including an 85-81 home loss to Wright State most recently last Friday night. Tech is in its second season under head coach Josh Pastner, the 2017 ACC Coach of the Year, after going 21-16 overall, finishing 8-10 (11th) in the ACC and reaching the championship game of the NIT last season.

Coppin State (0-13), in its first season under former Maryland star Juan Dixon, has played 11 of its games on the road from coast-to-coast, having traveled Oregon to open the season and also visiting Cincinnati, Rutgers, Georgetown, Connecticut and West Virginia along the way. The Eagles pay a visit to Penn State Saturday before opening Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference play Jan. 3 at Norfolk State.

Wednesday’s game will be not be televised, but will be streamed live on the ACC Network Extra, available through the ESPN app. Radio coverage is provided by the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network and can be heard in Atlanta on flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM). Tech’s broadcast can also be heard nationally on SiriusXM satellite radio (Sirius ch. 108, XM ch. 193).

SERIES VS. COPPIN STATE
• Georgia Tech and Coppin State are meeting for the first time on the basketball court.

• This is the Yellow Jackets’ third game against a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this season, having defeated Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 19 and Florida A&M on Dec. 17. Tech is 32-0 all-time against the MEAC.

• Tech coach Josh Pastner has never faced Coppin State as a head coach, but is 4-0 against MEAC teams.

COURTESY GEORGIA TECH MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

Penn Returns To Action Wednesday To Host Delaware State

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — The University of Pennsylvania men’s basketball team will return to the court on Wednesday night as the Quakers host Delaware State at the Palestra.

Penn hasn’t played since December 9th when the Quakers went into Dayton and surprised the Flyers, 78-70. The victory improved Penn to 8-4 on the season with eight wins in their last ten games.

“I think we’re all happy with our progress,” Penn head coach Steve Donahue tells KYW Newsradio, “in particular, after the first two games where we kind of stubbed our toe a little bit out of the gates. Since then we’ve been very good, contributions from different guys, very consistent on the defensive end throughout the games, great rebounding numbers and taking care of the basketball.”

One of the impressive things about the Quakers is their depth. The same five players have started all 12 games for Penn, but Donahue has had many different players step up off the bench at different times throughout the season. In the win over Dayton it was senior Sam Jones making his presence felt as he buried five of six three-point attempts in just 13 minutes of work.

CONTINUE READING

UAPB set to announce new football coach

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas -- The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions are ready to announce their next head football coach on Wednesday, Dec. 27.

This has been a drawn-out process, as UAPB athletic director Lonza Hardy Jr. initially said that they would like to have a coach in place by the end of the semester. Hardy and a search committee formed by the university analyzed more than 60 applications for the job, and they were able to cut it down to three finalists.

The finalists were Eric Dooley of Prairie View, Scott Maxfield of Henderson State and Cedric Thomas of Alcorn State.

Each finalist had a designated time for a meet and greet session with the community, supporters and media members. After Maxfield appeared at UAPB, he was soon granted a five-year extension by Henderson State, and he elected to stay put as their head coach. Dooley, Grambling’s wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator, was a hot commodity, and UAPB was never his only option to be a head coach.

CONTINUE READING

Rep. Mark Walker Congratulates the NC A&T Football Team in the United States House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, D. C. -- United States Representative Mark Walker (R-N.C.) congratulates the North Carolina A&T State University Aggies Football Team as the 2017 HBCU National Champions, in the United States House of Representatives on December 20, 2017.  

The Aggies, two-time Celebration Bowl winners finished their historic season with a perfect 12-0 record, defeating Grambling State University (11-2)  21-14 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

“I'm just extremely proud of our players and the job our coaching staff has done,” said N.C. A&T coach Rod Broadway. “It's an awesome feeling right now to be 12-0 and to win our second national championship in three years at A&T. I'm happy for our school. We've come a long way.”

N.C. A&T is the first-ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) school to finish the entire season undefeated. They are the first Division I FCS black college football team to finish a season unbeaten and untied and they broke the school and conference record for wins with 12.

During the season, the Aggies defeated Division I FBS University of North Carolina at Charlotte 35-31 in front of a record-crowd 18,651 at Jerry Richardson Stadium.  They defeated an FBS for the second straight season (FBS schools are awarded approximately 20 more scholarship equivalents than the FCS level, the level N.C. A&T plays on). 

Head Coach Rod Broadway has led the Aggies to their second national HBCU football title in three years.  In athletics director Earl M. Hilton's III seven years as North Carolina A&T's AD, the Aggies have won three national titles and nine MEAC championships. 

AGGIE PRIDE!!!



NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

FAMU Marching 100 prepares for 2019 Rose Bowl

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- They're one of the oldest, most successful marching bands in the world.

FAMU''s Marching 100 has performed at Super Bowls, the Grammys, presidential inaugurations and, in 2019, will be gracing the stage at the 2019 Rose Bowl Parade.

WTXL ABC 27's Jarell Baker has more as they prepare to head out west.

Seventy-one years and counting, FAMU's Marching 100 has been "representing" and entertaining audiences across the globe.

Now a new opportunity to add to the band's history books comes on New Years Day, ‪January 1, 2019,‬ when the pride of FAMU and Tallahassee, the Marching 100, takes the show on the road playing in the Rose Bowl Parade.

Shelby Chipman, the Marching 100 band director, expressed excitement about the opportunity.

CONTINUE READING

Alcorn Braves Add Two More To 2018 Early Signing Day Class

LORMAN, Mississippi -- The Alcorn State University football program continued to bulk up its roster with the additions of Creo Argue Jr. and Chris Blair, head coach Fred McNair announced.

Both signed National Letters of Intent.

"We're proud to say that Creo and Chris are apart of the Alcorn Braves family. They are both transfers who can come in and make an immediate impact for us next season," McNair said. "We'll be looking for both Creo and Chris to play big rolls in the upcoming years for this program."

Argue is a 6-2, 220-pound defensive end from Crete, Illinois. He was ranked the No. 51 defensive end in the state of Illinois by maxpreps.com.  He anchored a defense at Crete-Monee HS that finished with an 8-4 overall record and 5-0 in conference his senior year.

According to rivals.com, Argue also had interest out of high school from Eastern Michigan, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois.

This past season, Argue played at Independence CC in Kansas where he tallied 13 tackles, three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in 10 games. Argue will have three years of eligibility remaining at Alcorn.



"Creo is a great player and will certainly help us a lot on the defensive line. He's filling a position of need since we're losing some guys there. I'm really excited to have him with us because he's an outstanding player," McNair said.

Blair is a 6-3, 200-pound wide receiver from Louisville, Mississippi. He's spent the last two seasons at Hinds CC and will have two years of eligibility left with the Braves.

This past season, Blair caught nine passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns in six games. The big-play threat averaged 19.1 yards per catch.

"Chris had an offer from Mississippi State, but after the coaching change there he decided to go a different way," McNair said. "I'd been trying to get Chris to come to Alcorn for a while, and I just kept in contact with him and we're very happy to have him."

Argue and Blair join an early 2018 signing day class that includes Delshun Bradwell, Daylon Burks, Wanya Morris and Jyron Russell.

2018 Early Signee Roster (Position, Height, Weight, Previous School, Hometown)
Creo Argue Jr. (DE, 6-2, 220, Independence CC, Crete, Illinois)
Chris Blair (WR, 6-3, 200, Hinds CC, Louisville, Miss.)
Delshun Bradwell (OL, 6-4, 290, Godby HS, Quincy, Fla.)
Daylon Burks (CB, 5-11, 200, Pearl River JC, Lumberton, Miss.)
Wanya Morris (OL, 6-2, 290, Southwest Mississippi JC, Brookhaven, Miss.)
Jyron Russell (QB, 6-3, 195, Timberview HS, Grand Prairie, Texas)

ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Buddy Pough's reach is beyond S.C. State

COACH BUDDY POUGH

CLEMSON, South Carolina — South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough has impacted hundreds, if not thousands, of lives during his 16-year head-coaching tenure.

However, year 17 will be the last for the legendary head coach as Pough will exit as the head coach of his alma mater following the 2018 season. But Pough’s reach and impact are not lost on one coach in particular — Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.

"Man, he gave me my start. He took a chance on me,” Elliott said. “Here I was a guy that was kind of at a crossroads in life -- figuring out what I wanted to do with my future. I was working at Michelin as an engineer, had a bright future ahead of me, but I wanted to fulfill a purpose and I felt like coaching was the best opportunity to fulfill that purpose. He took a chance on me. He gave me a job, no experience.”

Following a two-year absence from football, Elliott decided that he wanted to get back into the game that he loved.

In 2006, former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden had an open spot on his coaching staff for a graduate assistant and Elliott jumped at the opportunity to return to his alma mater and begin his coaching career, but that spot was filled by another candidate.

Elliott did not give up on his dream — using his contacts, and former coaches, at Clemson to give him a chance at a small school in Orangeburg.

CONTINUE READING