FAMU pulls out dramatic win over Delaware State

Photo: FAMU Pitcher Cirilo Manego has ugly game, but goes distance for the victory as FAMU saves their ace pitcher for North Carolina A&T game scheduled on Friday.

NORFOLK, Va. – After hitting a bases-clearing double to send Florida A&M over Delaware State, shortstop Tim Schalch and his teammates sprinted toward the outfield at Marty L. Miller Field. And straight for the tarp.

The victory was dramatic. The celebration was short.

FAMU players began rolling out the tarp in anticipation of heavy overnight rains Thursday. The Rattlers’ 7-6 come-from-nowhere victory was actually interrupted by a brief rain delay in the bottom of the ninth.

After it rained, FAMU poured it on.

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Mercy, Mercy, Mercy: BCU pounds UMES Hawks into losers bracket

Archive Photo: UMES Coach William Garner had no answer for the hard hitting BCU Wildcats. (Photo by Kevin M. Robinson Photography).

B-CU pounds out 14 hits in run-rule contest
Norfolk, Va. - Hiram Burgos proved his worth on the mound and Osvaldo Torres provided the hitting power as Bethune-Cookman University breezed through the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 13-1 on Thursday morning in the first round of the annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament at Marty L. Miller Baseball Field in Norfolk, Va.

B-CU did not take any chances with the opposition on Thursday as the top-seeded Wildcats (34-20) went with the Pitcher of the Year--Hiram Burgos, as the opening starter in back-to-back years. B-CU's Francisco Rodriguez collected the award last year and started against the Hawks as well in 2007.

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MVSU to Open NCAA play against Ninth-seeded LSU Softball

BATON ROUGE -- LSU will once again have to postpone the final game in Tiger Park for one more weekend as the overall No. 9 national seeded Tigers begin NCAA Regional competition this weekend at home, facing Mississippi Valley State on Friday at 7 p.m. as part of the three-day double-elimination tournament.

Mississippi Valley State (28-26) earned the at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament from the Southwestern Athletic Conference after winning the league tournament. The Devilettes won the SWAC Eastern Division, tied with Southern University for the overall championship, before defeating the Lady Jaguars in the tournament championship game, 6-3.

Mississippi Valley Devilettes are making their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. (Photo Courtesy of Kevin M. Robinson Photography)

The Tigers (42-16) fell to No. 3 national seed Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals last weekend at Tiger Park after knocking off NCAA College Station Regional participant Auburn. The No. 9 national seed is the highest for LSU since the NCAA Tournament went to the Super Regional format in 2005.

All of LSU's NCAA Regional games will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network in Baton Rouge on The X - 104.5/104.9 FM. The broadcasts can also be heard in the GeauxZone on LSUsports.net.

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Grambling State selects Donnita Drain as Women's Basketball Head Coach

Photo: Grambling State University new Head Women's Basketball Coach, Donnita Drain. (Photo Courtesy of Langston University SID).

Grambling State University has hired a gem of a coach in Donnita Drain, from NAIA Langston University in Oklahoma. Drain will serve the GSU Tigers as head women's basketball coach.

Here is what the Langston University Sports Information director has to say about Coach Drain...

Drain served 13 years at the reigns for the Langston University Lady Lions Basketball Team, where she launched herself into LU athletics history. She has led the Lady Lions to five national championship appearances, twice been named conference Coach of the Year, coached three professional athletes, three All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, and has completed eight consecutive winning seasons at ‘Dear Langston.’ Her teams have recorded four 20 win seasons and one 30 win season.

Drain graduated from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education and an endorsement in Biology. She obtained her Masters degree in Education Administration from Texas A&M University of Commerce, Texas.

While attending NWOSU, Drain made a name for herself on the basketball court. She received honors such as the NAIA National Player of the Week, OIC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, OIC and District IX All-Conference Teams, and was the Northwestern Ranger Queen in 1988.

At the time of her graduation, she was her university’s all-time leading scorer in men’s or women’s basketball. Drain was inducted into Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in January of 1998.

Drain has more wins than any other coach in Langston University Women’s Basketball history with 244 wins.

Photo: Coach Drain workplace will be one of the finest facilities in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. (Photo Courtesy of Kevin M. Robinson Photography)

Coach Drain also served as a court coach for the 2007 USA Basketball Women’s National Teams Trials, which determined finalists for three USA Basketball squads– the U19 World Championship Team, U21 World Championship Team and Pan American Games Team.

Drain’s 2006-2007 squad was two points away from making a trip to the Final Four of the NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball National Tournament. They finished the season with a perfect 18-0 record in conference play and produced the RRAC Player of the Year in Matalya McBath-Belvin, and the RRAC Defensive Player of the Year in Teneisha McKinney.

The spectacular performances by her team also got her named the RRAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career.

On January 6, 2007, Drain hit the 200th win of her career against Huston-Tillotson University.

The Taloga, Okla. native is an active member of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the Orange and Blue Booster Club. She established Langston University’s first summer basketball camp program, as well as two other sport camps in Western Oklahoma.

Grambling State should see fewer blowouts from opponents on their home court under Coach Donnita Drain. (Photo Courtesy of Kevin M. Robinson Photography).

I'm Impressed with this Hire!

Grambling fans should send director of athletics Troy Mathieu a big check for displaying exceptional wisdom in the selection of Coach Donnita Drain, as the new women's basketball coach. This hire makes women's basketball in the SWAC a two horse race with Prairie View.

However, with five national championship appearances on her resume, Coach Drain will have the Tigers as a force on the national level after 2-3 recruiting classes. This lady can flatout coach!

We tip our cap to Mr. Mathieu for hiring a college basketball future hall of famer that's on her way to a 500 win career. When was the last time you saw a 30 win season posted by an HBCU? This should be a very smooth transition for Coach Drain moving from the NAIA Division I to the NCAA Division I level.

Congratulations Grambling State University on a great hire!

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Grambling baseball roughed up in first round of SWAC tournament

BATON ROUGE -- The opening game of the 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament provided plenty of fireworks as Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils -- the No. 3 Eastern Division seed -- pounded out a 12-2 victory over the second seed from the Western Division – the Grambling State Tigers.

The Tigers broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the third inning when Brandon Williams led off the inning with a single and scored on a triple into right field by Anthony Clifton. The run would be the only run the Tigers would manage until the bottom of the ninth when Williams scored on a Clifton ground out.

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Birds Add a QB

Photo: Former NSU Spartans QB Casey Hansen (Photo courtesy - Marks's Digital Sports Photography).

The NFL Philadelphia Eagles signed rookie free agent quarterback Casey Hansen from Norfolk State, on Wednesday.

In two years at Norfolk State, Hansen (6-6, 220) threw for 4,277 yards and 19 touchdowns. He led the MEAC in 2006 with 2,166 passing yards. Hansen spent his sophomore year at Chaffey Junior College in California after transferring from Colorado State.

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Hall of fame on resume for four FAMU football coaches

Photo: FAMU Coach Tim Edwards (Photo courtesy - Mark's Digital Sports Photography).

Tim Edwards one day may regard his term as a coach at Florida A&M in much the same way his boss Joe Taylor remembers the years he spent in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

While Taylor credits the oldest historically black conference for opportunities that led to his future success, coaching at FAMU is Edwards’ chance to be part of an era that could further enhance their legacies as coaches.

“To come here and be a part of the foundation...

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Southern faces Alabama State in SWAC opener

The Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament returns today to Southern’s Lee-Hines Field for the first time since 2003, but the Jaguars are far from the dominant favorite they were with Rickie Weeks tearing up the basepaths.

This one, with a new format concluding with a single, TV-friendly championship game, features teams with plenty to prove.

Photo: SU Jaguars Romey Bracey.

The tournament will be divided into two four-team brackets of double-elimination play. The survivors of those brackets meet at 1 p.m. Sunday for a single, winner-take-all game on ESPNU.

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DSU baseball faces Florida A&M in tourney

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Delaware State will take on the Florida A&M Rattlers on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament. The double-elimination tournament will take place on the campus of Norfolk State.

Thursday's game will be the teams' fourth meeting of the season. Florida A&M (19-20, 11-7 MEAC) won the last contest 14-13 on May 5. The first-round game will be the 16th meeting all-time in conference tournament action between the two squads (FAMU leads 12-3).

The Hornets (16-31, 11-7 MEAC) are making their 24th straight MEAC Tournament appearance. DSU has reached the championship game...

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Winston-Salem State Men's Basketball Announces 2008 Signing Class

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Winston-Salem State University men's basketball coach Bobby Collins announced a talent-laden 2008 signing class on Monday afternoon as he confirmed that four student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball for the Rams next season.

"We're addressing some issues and adding some quality depth to our team with these signees" Winston-Salem State head men's basketball coach Bobby Collins said Monday afternoon. "We have an opportunity to strengthen our program with these four talented freshmen. They are a welcome addition to the strong tradition of Rams basketball."

The Rams will strengthen their backcourt with the signing of three guards, including a pair of North Carolina natives.

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Restoration of AAMU's Elmore Gym set to begin today

Photo: AAMU athletic director Betty Austin.

After delays, A&M facility could now be ready by June.

Alabama A&M's much-anticipated renovation of Elmore Gym is slated to begin today, five months after it was originally scheduled.

School officials had hoped to have the project - which includes installing new chair-back seats in the facility's lower level - completed last December, in time for the Bulldogs' opening of Southwestern Athletic Conference play. But athletics director Betty Austin failed to submit the project for bidding on time.

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Unstoppable Bethune-Cookman takes both men's and women's titles

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Bethune-Cookman University of Daytona, Fla. captured both the Division I men's and women's titles Sunday at the 22nd PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

In the men's division, Bethune-Cookman carded a team-total of 8-over-par 872 to defeat Jackson (Miss.) State University by 17 strokes. The University of Texas-Pan American finished in third place overall.

Carl Corbin of Bethune-Cookman won the Division I men's individual standings title after carding a final-round 3-under-par 69. Corbin finished two strokes ahead of Brett Benson of Jackson State.

In the women's division, Bethune-Cookman won for the third consecutive year after carding a team-total of 918 to defeat the University of Texas-Pan-American by 16 strokes. Becky Dowell of Bethune-Cookman claimed the women's individual medalist honors with a three-day-total of 225. She edged Mariale Camey of Texas-Pan American by one stroke.

"I am very satisfied with the overall performance of my team at this Championship," said Head Coach Dr. Gary Freeman. "I have super group of kids that I am able to coach and it was a privilege to watch them play out here this week."

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What is causing decline in black baseball players?

Kaylum Graham was like a lot of future E.E. Smith High School athletes.

As a youth, he played many sports — baseball among them. But faced with tough choices entering high school, his passion for baseball waned.

“I felt there was a better chance for me to go to college playing basketball and football, so I stuck with the other two,” he said.

Those are among the common reasons given to explain a national decline in black athletes in baseball.

It’s been documented at the major league level, but it’s also evident in the high school ranks in Cumberland County. A Fayetteville Observer study reveals that only 40 of 152 (26 percent) varsity baseball players in Cumberland County are black. As a whole, 51.4 percent of Cumberland County students are black.

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Out of the shadows: Legendary Grambling assistant built Hall of Fame resume as a head coach too

GRAMBLING — Until this week, Douglas Porter was most often referred to as a former assistant under Grambling State’s mythical Eddie Robinson.

Porter stood, without complaint, inside the dark outline of that coaching legend’s shadow — despite having assembled a terrific, if seldom decorated, career of his own.

“That couldn’t have been easy with a person of his skill,” said James “Shack” Harris, Porter’s first quarterbacking protégé at GSU. “He was able to do it without ego, and to do it well.”

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2008 valedictorian is different kind of 'Morehouse Man'

ATLANTA - From his first day at Morehouse College -- the country's only institution of higher learning dedicated to the education of black men -- Joshua Packwood has been a standout.

His popularity got him elected dorm president as a freshman. His looks and physique made him a fashion-show favorite. His intellect made him a Rhodes Scholar finalist. His work ethic landed him a job at the prestigious investment banking firm Goldman Sachs in New York City.

But it's his skin that has made all of this an anomaly. This month, Packwood is set to take the stage and address his classmates as the first white valedictorian in Morehouse's 141-year history.

The 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., will graduate on May 18 with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a degree in economics.

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Morehouse College: http://www.morehouse.edu/

U.S. Naval Academy: Facility Dedicated to Black Pioneer, retired Howard U employee

D.C. Resident Broke Institute's Color Barrier When He Graduated in 1949.

Annapolis, Md (March 25, 2006) - The first African American Commandant of the Naval Academy, Capt. Bruce Grooms stands with Retired Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Brown at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Wesley Brown Field House at the U.S. Naval Academy. (Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Wesley A. Brown, a son of the District who became the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, entered the pantheon of military heroes yesterday as the academy's newest facility was dedicated in his honor.

The Navy's highest brass celebrated Brown as a pioneer of racial justice with attendant pomp at yesterday's opening of the $52 million Wesley A. Brown Field House on the scenic bank of the Severn River in Annapolis. Brown's life story was hailed as an American tale of courage and perseverance, grace and humility.

"He fought a war his whole life for all of us to improve who we are as individuals, who we are both as a Navy and a nation," said Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "It was his noble calling and it was his call to service and citizenship that led to lasting change in our Navy and in our nation."

Capt. Peter W. McGeory, the academy's senior chaplain, paid tribute to Brown. "He is a true American treasure, and may all of us learn from his courage, his grace, his humor and his humility," McGeory said.

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(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Annapolis, Md. (March 25, 2006) - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen talks with Ret. Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Brown at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Wesley Brown Field House at the U.S. Naval Academy. The 140,000 square-foot complex will sport facilities for physical education, varsity and intramural athletics, club sports and personal fitness, at a cost of about $52 million dollars. The project is scheduled to be complete by 2008. Brown was the first African American graduate of the Academy in 1949. There had been five before him, but they were all forced out.

Brown's story was not particularly well known until the publication in 2005 of Robert J. Schneller Jr.'s book, "Breaking the Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy's First Black Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality." This book documents the experiences of the first five African Americans admitted to the Academy and the challenges Brown and the others faced.

Photo: (Courtesy of Brown Family) Wesley A. Brown U.S. Army photo.

Brown became the first in his family to attend college, at Howard University. Prior to 1945, he began his military career with a stint in the Army before applying to the Naval Academy. He originally wanted to go to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War and served in the US Navy from May 2, 1944–June 30, 1969.

He was nominated for admission and later appointed to USNA, by New York Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

The Wesley A. Brown Field House houses facilities for physical education, varsity and intramural athletics, club sports and personal fitness. The field house utilizes the most advanced technology for personal condition and combat preparedness.

Yesterday, with the dedication of this facility, Ret. Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Brown joined the likes of William F. Halsey Jr. and Chester W. Nimitz, Alfred Thayer Mahan and Hyman G. Rickover with a rare honor of having a Naval Academy building named after him.

Read: 1st Black Graduate Joins Elite Group (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/25/AR2006032500994.html)

Photo Gallery: Wesley A. Brown Field House Construction: http://navysports.cstv.com/photogallery/gallery_index.html?school=navy&sport=&

Note to Readers: We were unable to verify if Ret. Lt. Cmdr. Brown is an alumnus of Howard University. If any historians have verification of this fact and year of graduation, please provide us with a link. Thank you.

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Mother's Day for Peace

Link: http://www.mothersdayforpeace.com/

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DSU Hornets Softball sweeps MEAC Tournament; Awaits NCAAs

Courtesy: DSU Athletic Media Relations

Ormond Beach, FL - Brittney Ruark tossed a two-hit shutout and Aisha Holloman smacked a three-run homer in the fourth inning to lift Delaware State to a 3-0 win over Norfolk State, and give the Hornets their first MEAC Softball Championship this afternoon in Ormond Beach, Fla. Delaware State completed a four-game tournament sweep to capture the 2008 MEAC title and the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

“This is such a thrill for the team and the university,” said Delaware State’s Jeff Savage, who was named Most Outstanding Tournament Coach. “We had an up-and-down regular season, but things really came together during the tournament. Our pitching was great and we got timely hits all weekend. These girls worked so hard to reach this point, and I am so proud of them.”

In the title clinching contest, Ruark allowed just...

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Bethune-Cookman rallies to lead after Day 2 of Minority Golf Championship

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Bethune-Cookman College of Daytona, Fla., stormed to the top of the Division I men's leaderboard in the 22nd PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship Saturday after tallying a two-day total of 8-over-par 584.

The Wildcats rallied to overtake first-round leaders Florida A&M University of Tallahassee and Savannah (Ga.) State University with 18 holes remaining. The three-day event is being played on the Ryder and Wanamaker courses at the PGA Golf Club.

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Round 2 scores at bottom of blog link page.

'It's Over' - Clinton Strategist to Clinton