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Winston-Salem State’s basketball games should be back on the radio this weekend, when the Rams play N.C. A&T. The past two WSSU games, against Howard and Hampton, weren’t broadcast because the announcers, Alan Chavous and Kim Spears, had not been paid.
“There was some confusion, and that’s all been cleared up,” said Aaron Singleton, the director of news and media relations at WSSU. “They are going to be paid and will be back on the air.”
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Shameful! Shameful! Shameful! What's to get confused over--you either prepared a pay check for the hired contractors, or you did not. This is six transistor radio stuff, which may shed some light on why most HBCU and MEAC basketball games are not broadcasted over the Internet or by satellite radio services. No pay--no services is the American way.
Photo: Hampton University Head Basketball Coach Kevin Nickelberry (Virginia Wesleyan '86) is building the Pirates program into a MEAC and Mid-Major powerhouse.
The Rating Percentage Index (RPI) has been used by the NCAA since 1981 to supplement the selection of at-large teams and the seeding of all teams for the NCAA basketball tournament.
This is the official list of rankings, as released by the NCAA for games through January 20, 2008.
The RPI is derived from three component factors: Div. I winning percentage (25)%, schedule strength (50)%; and opponent's schedule strength (25)%. Games against non-Division I opponents are not used in calculating the RPI. Beginning with the 2004-05 season, road wins are weighed at 1.4; road losses at .6; home wins at .6; and home losses at 1.4. Neutral-site games are valued at 1.0. The NCAA provides only rankings without calculations.
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Hampton University has the highest RPI ranking of all the historical black colleges and universities, with a rank of #99. The teams that are ranked above and below the HU Pirates are #98 Davidson College, SoCon and #100 Western Kentucky, Sun Belt, respectively.
Grambling State University, SWAC is currently the lowest ranked HBCU at #336; however, North Florida, NJIT, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois are the bottom five in the RPI rankings.
Independents, Savannah State University is ranked at #249 and North Carolina Central University is at #291.
Tennessee State University, OVC is holding a ranking at #251.
The complete rankings of the HBCUs to January 20, are as follows :
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference #99, Hampton #163 North Carolina A&T #168 Delaware State #199 Morgan State #226 Florida A&M #243 Coppin State #283 South Carolina State #299 Bethune-Cookman #309 Howard #314 Winston Salem* (playing MEAC schedule) #317 Norfolk State #334 Maryland Eastern Shore
HBCU Independents #249 Savannah State #291 North Carolina Central #314 Winston Salem State*
Ohio Valley Conference #251 Tennessee State University
Southwestern Athletic Conference #239 Southern University #262 Mississippi Valley State #265 Alabama State #281 Arkansas Pine Bluff #289 Jackson State #304 Texas Southern #307 Prairie View A&M #333 Alabama A&M #335 Alcorn State #336 Grambling
There are two ways to interpret this data--take it as a grain of salt or blow your own horn until you get beat by the team with a lesser RPI ranking.
With highly-touted Mojave, Nev. high school point guard Darian Norris on the way and College of Charleston transfer forward Josh Jackson sitting out this year, the Bulldogs have added another Port City transplant to the fold. Brandon Smalls, a 6-5 swingman out of North Charleston currently playing for Harcum College in Bryn Marr, Penn., announced his intentions to enroll at SCSU next season.
A graduate of North Charleston High School, Smalls is averaging 19 points, 5.33 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.93 steals per game for the 16-1 Bears, who are ranked fourth in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll.
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Photo: Norfolk State Head Football Coach Pete Adrian is making his mark in Tidewater region with topnotch recruits for 2008.
NORFOLK - A pair of defensive players from Indian River High School made verbal commitments to Norfolk State on Wednesday. First-team All-Tidewater defensive end Terrence Pugh and outside linebacker Frank Clemmons said they will play for the Spartans this fall.
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NSU has struck gold in the commitment of Central Virginia's all-time rushing leader, Takeem Hedgeman, Monticello High School (Virginia) star running back. He is a 5-10, 195-pounder with speed, durability and great vision. (See Takeem profile below and view his highlights video.
WARNING:This posted video has offensive Rap music lyrics and you should TURN OFF your computer speakers if you do not want to hear the negativeness and profanity in the audio. The audio/video highlights were prepared and distributed by the player and his advisers and is not the product of MEAC/SWAC Sports Main Street, Norfolk State University, the MEAC and The Virginian-Pilot. This audio is highly offensive to some listeners and to children. So, just turn off the music/audio!!
The player's video highlights are awesome.
Video Hightlights-- Running back Takeem Hedgeman, 8 minutes 30 sec.
Norfolk State pipeline is doing a great job in getting information out to the press on their football commitments. If you have noticed, only a few schools have allowed their commitments to speak with the press, alerting us who is on the radar for the respective programs. However, some in the MEAC are silent on this issue until National Signing Day, February 6.
So far, here are the commitments and transfers the have been documented for NSU Spartans:
1. Michael Alphonse LB 6-0 233 Miami, FL (Rivals 1 star)- Transfer from Akron 2. Dennis Brown QB 6-3 196 Miami, FL (Rivals 2 stars)- Transfer from UConn 3. Devon Lesesne OL 6-2 313 5.2 - Washington, D.C. 4. Marquis Cuffee DB 5-10 170 4.55 Virginia Beach, VA 5. Eric Hitch FB/LB 6-2 235 4.75 Virginia Beach, VA 6. Marcus Cooperwood 5-foot-10 175 4.6 Hampton, VA 7. Joey Christine, 6-2/300 OL/DL, Stephen City, VA 8. Blake Matthews, 6-4/295 OT, Manassas, VA 9. Terrence Pugh, 6-4/205 OLB, Chesapeake, VA 10.Frank Clemmons, 6-3/210 LB, Chesapeake, VA 11. Takeem Hedgeman, 5-10/195, Charlottesville, Virginia
Takeem Hedgeman, a.k.a. "The Dream," a.k.a. "Sonic," finished the 2007 season with 400 carries for 2,992 yards and a state-record 51 touchdowns. He holds two VHSL state football records -- 51 touchdowns in a season; and 310 points scored. Hedgeman is said to be a patient, smooth, durable running back and is Central Virginia's all-time rushing leader. He has Division I football talent and the speed to run away from tacklers as showed on the highlight video.
Norfolk State was selected over offers from Hampton University and Rhode Island.
Photo: Hampton defensive end Kendall Langford, 6-6/294 defensive end.
Senior Bowl Update, Mobile, AL:
The practice had a little extra excitement when a fight broke out between defensive lineman Kendall Langford, Hampton University, and 332-pound offensive lineman Heath Benedict of Newberry College. Action on the field stopped and their teammates watched, with no one stepping in to break it up. It didn't last long and both were wise enough not to take off their helmets.
Photo: Former Howard University Bison Geoff Pope will play in the Super Bowl for the NY Giants as a rookie cornerback, 6-0/186, from Detroit, MI.
How was it that, he, Geoff Pope, cornerback from Howard University, undrafted by every NFL team, cast away by the worst club in the league, told years ago by the football coach at Eastern Michigan that he wasn't even good enough to play there, wound up on the New York Giants? On the field? Going to the Super Bowl?
"It's certainly a rush," Pope said that evening as he sat in a Starbucks near downtown Bethesda, Maryland. He wore a gray pinstripe suit, purple tie and a Giants playoff cap. Across the table sat his business manager, Omar Sillah. And they had put together an ambitious agenda for this first Tuesday of his Super Bowl life with the stock exchange visit in the morning, then some television interviews in New York, a flight to Washington and more television appearances before resting here while a car service waited on the street outside.
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Pope has his head screwed on correctly--"Yesterday, he planned to stop by Howard University and meet with school officials to figure out how he could finish the 20 credits he needs to complete his degree in advertising."
Great motivational story and outstanding advertising for Howard University and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. We only wish that more of us would take the initiatives of Pope when someone tells us--"You will never be good enough to play or perform at this level."--just prove them 100% wrong!
DOVER -- Since June 2005, the Kent County Levy Court has had the blessing of the Delaware General Assembly to issue $20 million in bonds to help pay for construction of a $61 million civic center.
Sullivan, board chairman of the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association, said he supports the concept of a civic center that would host local events and serve as a venue for Delaware State University athletic events. He said, though, such centers should be "stand-alone, break-even" facilities that would not have an impact on people who visit Dover for other reasons.
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This facility will be the primary venue for Delaware State University basketball and other indoor sport programs. It would be great if this facility is built with shared costs of county and state funding. If it has to come to DSU campus, the project size and costs will be downsized.
Winston-Salem State’s basketball games should be back on the radio this weekend, when the Rams play N.C. A&T. The past two WSSU games, against Howard and Hampton, weren’t broadcast because the announcers, Alan Chavous and Kim Spears, had not been paid.
