FAMU volleyball coach eyes 100th straight league win

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Five players will return to go with three recruits and Barry State transfer Samara Ferraz. That will give him nine to get through the season in which he will be looking for his 100th consecutive MEAC victory. That’s right — 100 in a row.

With the exception of Ferraz, Trifonov recruited the three other players sight-unseen. Two are from Peru and one from Serbia. Each of the players was evaluated based on their performance as witnessed on video, said Trifonov, who is going into his 11th season. In all those years, he’s made only a handful of recruiting trips.

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For Howard's Oliver, Great Leaps Forward

David Oliver has posted three of the world's top five times in the 110-meter hurdles this season, including 12.95 seconds in May.

EUGENE, Ore. -- David Oliver couldn't believe the turn his life had taken. He had graduated from Howard University with a bachelor's degree in marketing for this? He found himself bunking in an Orlando house with three other track athletes, one of whom was sleeping in the living room. They were so broke, they never turned on the air conditioning or used the dishwasher.

Oliver recalls buying five-pound bags of rice at Wal-Mart and pancake mix that required only water, and eating cereal all day long. He drove a rickety 1992 Chevy that sometimes got him to practice without stalling, but usually didn't. And then, once he arrived for his daily training under legendary, old-school coach Brooks Johnson, things got really tough. During Oliver's first practice under Johnson in 2004, the coach demanded nine 300-yard sprints, broken up into three sets.

After each set, Oliver stepped to the side of the track and vomited.



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ASU Hornets' Pierce upbeat about career, team

For the past five years, there has been one constant at Alabama State -- defensive coordinator Tony Pierce.Through the changing of head coaches, an embarrassing NCAA investigation, a SWAC championship and a never-ending carousel of assistant coaches coming and going, Pierce has endured.

Actually, he's done a bit more than endure. Over the past three years, he's put one of the top defensive units in the conference on the field. Although they slipped a bit last year, his Hornets have consistently been one of the stingiest defensive squads in the SWAC. And they've done it while propping up three terrible offensive units.

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SU's House looking to qualify in long jump

Southern University sophomore Jason House was a last-minute addition to the pool of high jumpers competing for three spots on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

House, the 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference champion in the high jump both indoors and outdoors, gets his first chance to claim a spot tonight when qualifying for the men’s high jump at the Olympic trials begins at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The high jump is slated to get under way at 9:25 p.m. CDT.

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Ex-WSSU lineman Hayes finds time to give back

William Hayes is in the very early stages of what he hopes will be a successful NFL career but he is also finding time to focus on helping others.

Hayes, a former star at High Point Andrews and Winston-Salem State, was a fourth-round pick by the Tennessee Titans in April's NFL Draft. He will speak in Jamestown next week, talking about his life on and off the football field in a speech titled "Making the Right Choices."

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Huntington's Jones headed to UAPB

Pitcher will also walk on to basketball team.

On the basketball court at Huntington High School, Kyle Jones was part of a family affair, playing for his father, Mack. When it came time to pick a college, the younger Jones decided to follow in his father's footsteps — at least geographically.

Kyle Jones signed a baseball scholarship with the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff where Mack Jones was a standout basketball player as a collegian. Kyle Jones will have the same opportunity as he will walk on to the Golden Lions' basketball team. "It had a lot to do with it," Kyle Jones said of his family's ties to UAPB. "I always wanted to go there since I was little. I went back in my closet and saw some stuff and I thought, 'I should keep it in the family tradition.'"

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ASU Braves up ante on coaches' salaries

AD Hamilton ushers in change as athletic budget goes from $3.1M to $4.5M

Alcorn State announced the hiring of its third new head coach since December on Tuesday. And for the third time, the athletic department made a significant financial commitment.

Tonya Edwards will make her Division I head coaching debut for the Alcorn State women's basketball program this fall. Athletic director Darren Hamilton signed Edwards to a four-year, $95,000-a-year deal. Alcorn football coach Ernest Jones was hired at $140,000 per year, a $55,000 increase over his predecessor, Johnny Thomas. Larry Smith received a $125,000 base salary when he was hired to replace Sam West in May.

Both Hamilton and Edwards repeated the mantra started when Jones was hired - that it's a new day at Alcorn State and the bar has been raised.

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