FAMU QB robbed, threatened at gunpoint in campus dormitory

Photo: Mike Johnson, 6-1/208 quarterback, freshman transfer from Division I, University of Tulsa/Durham (NC) Hillside H.S.

Masked men wrote 'Mike + football = death' on son's mirror, says mother of football player.

The mother of a Florida A&M University football player says three masked men put a gun to her son's head and threatened that he would die if he stays on the team.

Mina Forte-Ferguson, of Durham, N.C., said it happened to her son, Mike Johnson, 19, in his campus dorm room. Johnson heard a knock at the door about 4 a.m. Tuesday. The three men rushed in and pushed him onto his bed. They wrote "Mike + football = death" on his mirror, television and refrigerator, his mother said. They also stole items from his room. She and her husband, Neil Ferguson, drove from Durham, N.C., to meet with FAMU officials Thursday.

Johnson is a freshman and enrolled at FAMU for the spring semester. He transferred from the University of Tulsa and was recruited as a quarterback.

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Johnson was a three-year letter winner and two-year starter at Hillside High School completing 65 percent of his passes for 3,142 yards and 27 touchdowns his senior season. He also rushed for 500 yards and five TDs and was a first-team all-conference, all-area and honorable mention all-state selection as a senior. Johnson had a two-star rating by Scout.com and Rivals.com coming out of high school. He threw for 1,524 yards and 12 touchdowns his junior campaign and was a second-team all-conference performer as a junior.

Florida A&M football is coached by Joe Taylor, who was hired in late December 2007.

Three Baltimore teams could be tournament-bound

Photo: Coach Todd Bozeman has built the Bears into a NCAA Tournament contender in two seasons as head of the Morgan State program.

UMBC, Morgan State and Loyola in the hunt as season winds down

In a perfect storm of opportunity, chemistry and ambitious coaching, three NCAA, Division I college basketball teams from Baltimore have raised the roof on expectations this season. As the college basketball season careens down the stretch, it's worth noting that Baltimore rarely has one team in contention for an NCAA berth. This season, it could hit the trifecta. Who would've imagined that?

On the east side of town, coach Todd Bozeman's cultural revolution has lifted Morgan State from the dregs of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to a first-place tie with Norfolk State. The chances of a historic first NCAA Division I berth are not lost on the Bears. What were the odds that Bozeman could elevate the program at Morgan State in just two years? The MEAC is among the lower ranked conferences in Division I, but the Bears are not the product of a weak conference. With Marquise Kately, Boubacar Coly and Jerrell Green, they have the look of a legitimate tournament team.

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Alabama A&M quarterback job up in air

Sophomores lead race to replace Luke at A&M

Life after Kelcy Luke begins Friday for Alabama A&M's football team as redshirt sophomores Kevin Atkins and Jared Loftin compete for the starting job during spring drills. Luke, a first-team All-SWAC selection last season, was a four-year starter for the Bulldogs and led them to the 2006 league title.

Stanley Allen, who took over for an injured Luke in the '06 title game as A&M came from behind to beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff, left the team last season after falling behind Atkins on the depth chart. "He felt he had some other obligations he had to take care of," said A&M coach Anthony Jones, who is starting over in terms of finding someone to execute the Bulldogs' offense.

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Here's to you, (Savannah State) Ms. Robinson

Photo: SSU's Patrice Robinson stays busy with school, basketball and visiting her 18-month-old daughter. The 6-1 junior forward is majoring in mass communications.

Patrice Nicole "Nikki" Robinson was only 22 when she learned she was pregnant.

A former basketball star at Swainsboro High School, Robinson thought her dream of playing for four years at the collegiate level had vanished.

During her senior season at Swainsboro, Robinson led the Tigers to the Class AAA state championship game, where they lost to Northeast Macon. She was named the Savannah Morning News Player of the Year in 2002.

Although recruited by Savannah State, Robinson signed a letter of intent to play for Mercer. But she ended up at Georgia Perimeter, a junior college in Decatur, where she played for two seasons.

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CHASING THE DREAM: North Carolina A&T grad rolling with the punches

Photo: Actress Zonya Love (Johnson) stars in the Broadway production of The Color Purple. The Durham, N.C. native earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from North Carolina A&T State University and a Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre from UNLV.

NCA&T and UNLV grad looking toward future as big break in 'Color Purple' comes to end.

It's one of those moments that can break a career -- or a heart.

There Zonya Love was, an aspiring actress fresh from completing her graduate studies in the UNLV theater department, vying for the role of a woman on a long journey of self-discovery, a path marked by bruises and scars, tough luck and tougher skin.

It was last November, and after months of auditioning for the role of "Celie" in the Broadway production of "The Color Purple," Love got one of those calls that can change a life.

"They called me into the room, and the producer said, 'So, can we officially call you Ms. Celie?'" Love says, her voice still scorched with incredulity. "My eyes got big, my mouth opened wide, and I was taken aback for a second. I remember twirling around and shaking hands, keeping my composure, and then going into the restroom and I just lost it. I was crying. I was praising God. I was dancing. It was the best feeling. Ever."

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Zonya Love made her Broadway debut as Celie in the hit musical The Color Purple, on January 9, 2008, alongside Chaka Khan as Sofia and BeBe Winans as Harpo. It also stars Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery, Alton Fitzgerald White as Mister, Darlesia Cearcy as Nettie and Krisha Marcano as Squeak.

A native of Durham, North Carolina, Love received a BFA in theatre from North Carolina A&T State University,(AGGIE PRIDE!!!) and a MFA in theatre from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She moved to New York in September 2007 and was teaching theater and Head Start classes when she got a callback for The Color Purple. Love's previous stage credits include Intimate Apparel, Wit, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Smokey Joe's Cafe.

Her parents are Zander Johnson Sr. and Earline Shackleford and she has five siblings.

The Color Purple was produced by Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, and others...

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Prairie View A&M Releases 2008 Football Schedule

Prairie View A&M University Sports Information

Prairie View A&M's schedule highlighted by three classics

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas - Prairie View A&M Athletics Department has released its 2008football schedule which features a total of eleven games.

The Panthers will open the season with the Annual State Farm Labor Day Classic against cross town rival Texas Southern on August 30th. Prairie View A&M will then hosts Texas College on September 6th before heading to Huntsville to take on Sam Houston State on September 13th.

“We’re extremely excited about the 2008 Prairie View A&M Panthers football schedule,” said Athletics Director Charles McClelland. The schedule features eleven games with the addition of the Sam Houston State Bearkats from the Southland conference,”

Photo: PVAMU Panthers football coach Henry Frazier III.

After facing the Bearkats, the Prairie View A&M Panthers will make their first out of state appearances as they travel to Itta Bena, Miss. on September 20th and Los Angeles, Calif. on September 27th to square off against Mississippi Valley State University and Morehouse College, respectively.

“It’s definitely an honor for our football program to have the opportunity to travel back to Los Angeles to participate in the Angel City Classic,” said McClelland. “We’re looking forward to an exciting game between the Panthers and the Morehouse Tigers”.

Prairie View A&M will take on Grambling State in the Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic on October 4th, followed by a Southwestern Athletic Conference East vs. West showdown against Alabama State for Homecoming 2008 on October 11th.

“Traditionally our Homecoming game has been scheduled for the last weekend in October or first weekend in November,” said McClelland. “Due to a change in SWAC scheduling policy several of our conference games were moved down. Our annual game against Southern which is typically played during the third week of the season, has been moved to October 25th at Reliant Stadium which left October 11th as the most viable option for Homecoming.”

The week following Homecoming, PVAMU will travel to Pine Bluff, Ark. for a game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on October 18th, before hosting the Southern Jaguars on October 25th at Reliant Stadium.

The Panthers will close out their 2008 season with a road outing versus Alabama A&M on November 8th and a home contests against Alcorn State at Blackshear Field on November 15th.

“Overall we’re highly anticipating the 2008 football season,” said McClelland. “We look forward to bringing exciting Panther football to Prairie View A&M fans and athletics supporters.”

Prairie View A&M head football coach Henry Frazier III is also pleased with the Panthers 2008 schedule.

“We were able to put together a highly competitive schedule and we’re looking forward to the upcoming season,” said Frazier. “We will face two ex Big 12 starting quarterbacks the first three weeks of the season. Our first couple of games should be a great gage for measuring what type of football team we have.”

On August 30th the Panthers defensive unit will look to contain former Oklahoma State starting quarterback Bobby Reid who recently signed to play at TSU. Two weeks later the Prairie View A&M Panthers will once again find themselves tangling with another former Big 12 starting quarterback as they travel to Huntsville to take on OU transfer Rhett Bomar and the Sam Houston State Bearkats.


DATE OPPONENT STADIUM LOCATION TIME

Aug. 30 * Texas Southern (Labor Day Classic)Reliant Houston, Texas 7:00 pm
Sept. 6 Texas College Blackshear Field Prairie View 4:00 pm
Sept. 13 Sam Houston State Bowers Stadium Huntsville, Texas 6:00 pm
Sept. 20 Miss. Valley State Rice-Totten Stadium Itta Bena, Miss. 2:00 pm
Sept. 27 Morehouse (Angel City Classic)Coliseum Los Angeles, Calif. TBA
Oct. 4 * Grambling State (State Fair Classic)Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas 6:00 pm
Oct. 11 * Alabama State (Homecoming) Blackshear Field Prairie View 2:00 pm
Oct. 18 * Arkansas- Pine Bluff Golden Lion Pine Bluff, Ark. TBA
Oct. 25 * Southern Reliant Houston, Texas 6:00 pm
Nov. 8 * Alabama A&M Lewis Crews Huntsville, Ala. TBA
Nov. 15 * Alcorn State Blackshear Field Prairie View 2:00 pm

*Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) games.

For season pass and ticket information please call 936-261-9100 or 9111 or visit the Pathers online at http://sports.pvamu.edu/.

Click on Blog Title for printable schedule.

He once shunned basketball; now embraces it at Norfolk State

Photo: NSU #11, Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys, Center, 6-11/285 sophomore, Brox, NY/North Dakota State College of Science.

NORFOLK, VA- In the crowded streets of New York City, Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys was admittedly self-conscious. Each day, he would attract stares of strangers, some of whom would pepper the unusually big teen with the usual questions:

How tall are you? Do you play basketball? What team do you play for?

Dorsett-Jeffreys, Norfolk State's 6-foot-11 sophomore center, would sigh and roll his eyes. He didn't appreciate that he was typecast at 15. Even though he had a decided advantage because of his height, he was determined that he wouldn't spend his free time running up and down 94 feet of finished hardwood. Besides, his high school coach at Park West in Manhattan told him he had no future in the sport.

"At first, I couldn't even stand basketball," Dorsett-Jeffreys said. "I can't even lie."

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