Colonie's Newsome Picks Mississippi Valley State

MVSU new head basketball coach Sean Woods has first blue chip commitment from 6-2 guard, Tashan Newsome from Colonie Central H.S., Albany, New York.

Another former Section II basketball standout is will be playing Division I college ball next season, with Colonie's Tashan Newsome giving his verbal commitment to Mississippi Valley State University. The Delta Devils won the SWAC last season, advancing to the NCAA's where they lost to UCLA.

"They were very interested in me. They didn't want me to do anything else. They wanted me bad and when you show that kind of loyalty and interest in me, I'm going to show it back," Newsome said. Newsome, and his AAU coach Antwan Morrison said the list of schools interested in the 6-2 senior guard was extensive.

North Carolina Central, Villanova, Sacred Heart, VCU, Norfolk State, St. John's, Virginia Tech, George Mason were schools on that list.

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Quinn Gray working on intricacies of Peyton Manning's offense

Former MEAC star quarterback Quinn Gray (FAMU) is grasping the Colts complex offense.

TERRE HAUTE — Peyton Manning might not be on the field at Colts training camp in person, but his influence over the franchise has as much to do with mind and spirit as it does body. Just ask quarterback Quinn Gray.

After Manning had surgery to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee, Gray was one of two quarterbacks the Colts signed (Jared Lorenzen was the other) last week to bolster depth at the position. Gray was with Jacksonville from 2002-07, with a brief stay in Houston this spring before he was released in June by the Texans. Since the Jaguars ran a run-oriented, ball control offense, it was a given that Gray would have an adjustment period when he came to the pass-oriented Colts. He wasn’t shy about just how challenging that adjustment has been.

“The offense has been a real [expletive], but it’s coming, I’m getting it, I’m staying with my book constantly because everything’s in and it’s a full go,” Gray said.

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Laurel coach appears headed to Hampton University

Hampton University head basketball coach Kevin Nickelberry (Mark's Digital Photography)

Coutreyer led Spartans to Final Four

Laurel High (Maryland) boys basketball coach Keith Coutreyer plans to sign a contract Aug. 4 to become an assistant basketball coach at Division I Hampton University in Virginia, he said July 29. Coutreyer said he interviewed in person with Hampton head coach Kevin Nickelberry in mid-July.

"I have been offered the job," Coutreyer said. "It looks like it is going to be a positive move for me. The final piece to the puzzle will be Monday." Coutreyer said he plans to meet with school president William R. Harvey and other personnel at Hampton. He said he is "98 percent" sure he will leave Laurel High, where he also teaches special education students, to take the job in southeast Virginia.

Coutreyer said he informed current Laurel High players that he plans to accept the job at Hampton. Division I schools are allowed three full-time assistants in men's basketball.

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Alabama A&M Bulldogs lose huge blocker

Poor grades cost All-SWAC tackle his senior season

Alabama A&M lineman Darius Turner's college career is over after the left tackle was ruled academically ineligible for the upcoming season. Turner, a 6-foot-5, 293-pound fifth-year senior named to the preseason All-SWAC squad, didn't make the necessary grades in summer school to gain his eligibility.

"He gave me the impression all summer that he was getting it done," A&M coach Anthony Jones said. "He knew the path he had to travel and from all indications he was on the right path. Unfortunately, when the grades came out, I started hearing a different story." Slated to start for the third straight year, Turner was expected to bolster a unit considered one of the strengths on the team.

While the Bulldogs still return All-SWAC center Xavier Manuel and guards Charles Meade and Russell Jackson, the unit will take on a different look with Turner out.

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AAMU Bulldogs' title hopes tied to young players

If Alabama A&M is to contend for a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, coach Anthony Jones says some of his young players will have to play key roles. Offensively, the Bulldogs must fill holes at quarterback, tight end and fullback. Defensively, help is needed at tackle and inside linebacker.

"We've got some talented players at those positions, but they're not as experienced as we'd like them to be," Jones said Monday, two days before the Bulldogs report for training camp. "Our job is to try to get those guys ready to play and that's what we're going to try to do."

The biggest concern as A&M enters preseason practice is at quarterback where redshirt sophomore Kevin Atkins takes over for All-SWAC performer Kelcy Luke. Atkins appeared in five games last season, but attempted only two passes. "I've been waiting on this opportunity for three years," Atkins said. "I haven't played a full game since high school. I'm ready."

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FAMU coach Gibson puts together staff, plan

(Mark's Digital Photography)

Excerpt:

LeDawn Gibson hasn't been able to find a quiet moment yet since beginning her job two months as the new women's head basketball coach at FAMU.

So far she has found two experienced coaches in Stephen Joyner Jr. and LaTasha Shipman. Joyner comes from Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, N.C.), where he was a women's assistant coach. Shipman played at Shaw University (Raleigh, N.C.) and is joining Gibson's staff after four seasons as an assistant with the women's team at Shaw.

Gibson also has signed two players — Tameka McKelton and Antonia Bennett — who both come to FAMU ranked by Floridahoops.com as top-40 players in the state.


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Sports information directors worth their weight in info

Bryan Harvey has a new gig. Now most of you are probably going "Bryan who?" Harvey is the soon-to-be departed sports information director at Bethune-Cookman, a historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. N.C. Central fans may remember Harvey as an assistant to current SID Kyle Serba a few years ago. (He had a good teacher.) You only had to meet Bryan one time to know he was destined for good things.

Harvey left NCCU, which was Division II at the time, for an assistant SID job at Hampton. He left there to head his own ship at B-CU, where’s he’s been for the last three years. On Aug. 1, he will become an assistant SID at Miami. There he will cover the Hurricanes volleyball, swimming & diving, women’s rowing and women’s tennis programs. He will also assist at home football games and be the secondary contact for men’s basketball.

You know that old saying, "You don't miss the water till the well runs dry?" Well, the Wildcats are going to be dying of thirst when Harvey leaves.

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