Former Pirates Adams focuses on hoops for the moment

Maybe next summer at this time, Tommy Adams will decide he’s ready for a change and switch his loyalties from basketball to soccer once and for all. There are days when he thinks about it and wonders if he could step back out on the field and resume playing a sport he essentially gave up after a successful high school career at Hylton, where he earned all-state honors and scored 28 goals in leading the Bulldogs to a state and national championship.

He even considered talking with a minor-league professional soccer team near his home in Raleigh, N.C that included former Hylton teammate David Stokes on its roster and seeing where that might lead. But then a call came from his agent. The Indiana Pacers wanted Adams to attend a free-agent workout. And like that, Adams put a hold on any more soccer talk. Basketball still had the upper hand.

The NBA, a league that Adams had tried out for with at least four different teams since graduating from Hampton University in 2002, was beckoning again. “I can’t pass up on that,” Adams said.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Tuttle shines for DSU Hornets

Frayser Tuttle has just completed her freshman year at Delaware State University in Dover Delaware. She is attending this predominately black university on a full scholarship. Those two facts do not make this 2007 Powhatan High School graduate’s situation in higher education particularly unique, however the activity which pays her tuition, books, food and housing most certainly is. Tuttle is a star on the Hornets’ equestrian team.

In just its second season competing in NCAA equestrian events, this small (3,800 students) university has gone head to head and hoof to hoof with some of the largest universities in the country and more than held its own. Competing against teams from the Universities of Georgia, South Carolina, Baylor, Auburn, TCU, Oklahoma State, Texas A and M and SMU freshman Tuttle helped to propel the Delaware State riders to a top ten national ranking and an invitation to the National Championships. “She never gets frazzled,” said her first year Head Coach Jennifer Ridgely. “Frayser rides consistently and does so against the best in the country.”

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

A&M regaining indoor track teams

Two years after eliminating men's and women's indoor track, Alabama A&M athletics director Betty Austin said the school will bring back the sports. The sports were cut in an attempt to balance the budget, but Austin said a series of meetings with the student-athletes compelled her to put the sports back in place.

"I started a series of conversations with the students in April and asked them what we could do to strengthen their programs, and out of that, the track athletes requested we bring back indoor track," Austin said. "You can't do everything they ask you to do, but I thought the things that they said were legitimate."

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Brisco's drive on track leads him to chase his goals at DSU

Despite finishing in the top half of the field, recently graduated Cape Henlopen High hurdler Isaiah Brisco didn't perform as well as he would have liked in the Nike Outdoor Nationals, held June 19-21 at Greensboro, N.C. He finished 13th among 32 participants in the 400-meter hurdles, and finished last in a field of 22 in the 110 hurdles.

But Brisco will have plenty of chances to improve on his times in the next four years. Best of all, his friends and family won't have to travel far to see this year's winner of the Thomas H. Fort Award, given to the state's most valuable performer in boys high school outdoor track and field as voted on by Delaware high school head coaches.

After winning the 110- and 300-meter hurdles in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions as a senior, Brisco will attend Delaware State University this fall.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Runner Hyppolite commits to FAMU

Miami native anxious to be with Rattlers

Benedick Hyppolite doesn't intend to take too long to fit in on FAMU's men's track team. Hyppolite, who ran on the Miami Booker T. Washington High School's state champion relay teams, became the newest runner for FAMU this week. He's spent the last two years running with the same relay teammates that had the fastest time in Dade County this past season.

He is anxious to build a relationship with his new teammates that can produce similar results, Hyppolite said Thursday just after his signing was announced. "We're going to be the youngest team and I just want to help Florida A&M work its way back up," he said. "We've got all the talent so hopefully we can make it happen."

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

SU’s Johnson ready to run for spot in ’08 Olympics

The 6-foot-5 guy who ran the 40-yard dash in less than 4.4 seconds at Southern University’s pro day for NFL scouts this spring isn’t going to a pro football training camp. Had he made different choices, Brian Johnson might be playing pro football. The former Southern track star has no time for second guessing.

The 28-year-old ex-Iowa High standout is focused on breaking a different barrier. With a jump of 27 feet, 2Ø inches, Johnson is ranked No. 1 going into today’s long jump qualifying round at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Johnson has three of the top seven jumps in the world this year and hopes to earn his first Olympic team spot. The final round is Sunday.

Brian Johnson


CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Changes are coming under former Grambling State's Robert Smith

Houston, Texas - Clear Lake Christian’s football program is about to get a different look. New head coach Robert Smith is setting his sights on lifting the Eagles from 6-man to 11-man football, upgrading the playing field and the bleachers. If anyone can do it, Smith can. He knows football inside, outside and sideways – offense and defense.

Smith played professional football in the NFL and USFL under three coaching legends: Tom Landry with the Cowboys in Dallas, Bud Grant with the Minnesota Vikings and George Allen with the Arizona Wranglers. Smith was drafted in the first round by the Wranglers in 1984 when Allen, the former coach of the Washington Redskins, was at the helm. He also played for Ray Perkins at Tampa Bay. His Tampa Bay and Detroit playing days included winning divisional championships in 1992 and 1993.

In college, Smith played for another football legend. During his four years at Grambling State University (1980-83), he was a starter at defensive end for Eddie Robinson. Before you ask the big question, yes, Smith knows coaching – a lot.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.