2009 College Hoops Preview: Jackson State University

by Doctor S

Coach: Tevester Anderson (seventh season, 77-85)
2007-08: 14-20 (10-8 SWAC)
Arena: Athletics and Assembly Center, Jackson
Radio: 1300 AM

Last season, Jackson State came within one point of going to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. The Tigers lost to Mississippi Valley State, 59-58, in the SWAC Tournament final. JSU has reloaded for another run at the NCAA. The Tigers have four starters back including preseason SWAC Player of the Year, Grant Maxey. And JSU has a bench full of talented reserves. “We do have depth, and it’s a pretty talented team,” Tigers coach Tevester Anderson told USA Today before the season began. “We’ve got some good young kids, too.”

Maxey, a 6-foot-6-inch junior forward, has averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game this season. And this has come against some big-name competition that includes defending national champion Kansas, LSU, Arizona State, Illinois, Providence and Texas A&M. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached,” Anderson told Blue Ribbon Yearbook. “I expect Grant to get a lot of recognition this year. I expect him to get stronger this season, and with the right opportunity and right timing he could make some money (playing pro ball) one day.”

Other top players for the Tigers include Darrion Griffin (13 ppg) and Murrah High alum Jeremy Caldwell (10.5 ppg).

JSU OUTLOOK
Excellent. The Tigers are 1-10, but that will mean nothing when SWAC play begins. Every SWAC team has a losing record right now. And JSU has been playing its usual band of heavyweights in November and December. Hey, the program needs the money.

“You never know who (in the SWAC) is going to have a knockout punch or hit a home run,” Anderson told USA Today. “But we always feel like we will be in the top three.”
The Tigers should cruise through SWAC play and—barring a major upset in the SWAC tourney like last year’s—go back to the NCAA Tournament.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Sanford Seminole (FL) stuns Miami Northwestern for 6A Florida Football State Title

Sanford (FL) Seminole High School spots Miami Northwestern 21 points before fighting back to shock the Bulls for the 6A Football State Championship.


PHOTOS: Seminole stuns Northwestern 28-21

Andre Debose's 40-yard touchdown catch with 33 seconds left lifts Seminole to 1st state title.

Andre Debose labeled it a leap of faith. The Seminole senior went up against Miami Northwestern defensive back Tevin McCaskill with time running out and came down clutching the ball, a touchdown and a championship Saturday night. Debose's tumbling catch on a 40-yard bomb from Aravious "Ray Ray" Armstrong with 33 seconds remaining gave Seminole (13-2) a 28-21 victory over Miami Northwestern (13-2) in a Class 6A state championship thriller seen by an announced paid crowd of 12,764 at the Citrus Bowl.

"I just concentrated and when I grabbed the ball I squeezed it with all my life," Debose said. "It was like God came down with me too." Northwestern scored on the first play of the game and on its first three possessions to go up 21-0 and threatened to roll up another rout a year after it beat Boone 41-0 in the 2007 final. But Seminole, just as it had done after trailing 10-0 at the half against Boone last week, fought back. "We was down last week, we was down this week. We know how to handle adversity," said senior Dyron Dye, who capped a night of big plays with a sack of Northwestern quarterback Teddy Bridgewater on the final play.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

READ RELATED ARTICLES:
Cocoa wins 3A state title with blocked extra point in OT
Miami Northwestern, others to drop in classification
Raiders run away with 5A state title
Lincoln falls short of state title
Tigers save best for last with a rush in overtime
Post-game video, photos and more of the Cocoa state championship game
Godby-Cocoa state game
Seminoles claims first state championship
Plant beats Tallahassee Lincoln for 4A crown, 34-14
Several UM prospects are state champs
FHSAA releases new districts
Northwestern seeks 6A-record 3 titles in a row

Amazing! My ole high school, Seminole High School (Sanford, Florida) wins the state championship over the legendary Miami Northwestern Bulls and Coach Billy Rolle, a FAMU Hall of Famer. The boys from "Goldsboro" finally put it together to win it all. Look like Seminole developed a good crop of Division I seniors that would be a nice fit at Florida A&M University, under Coach Joe Taylor and his outstanding staff.

Choose Florida A&M University--Andre Debose and Aravious "Ray Ray" Armstrong. I did!

(beepbeep)

Today: Norfolk State (1-7) vs. Middle Tennessee (5-5)

GAME NOTES: Losers of seven in a row, the Norfolk State Spartans give it another shot this evening as they contend against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders as part of the second round of the Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri.

Norfolk State won its season opener against Longwood on the road, but since then the team has failed to make it back into the win column. Saturday saw the squad bow to Missouri State in the first round of this event by a score of 75-66. As for the Blue Raiders, they managed to snap a brief two-game slide yesterday with a 65-52 win over UC Irvine, evening the team's overall record at 5-5 in the process. Meeting for the first time on the hardwood, both Middle Tennessee and Norfolk State will be back in action on Monday as they swap partners with UC Irvine and Missouri State again to close out the tournament.

Corey Lyons scored a career-high 32 points, shooting 11-of-23 from the field and 7-of-14 behind the three-point line on Saturday night, but even his efforts were not enough to earn the Spartans a victory. Also having a strong scoring game was Michael Deloach with 24 points, but he needed 9-of-24 shooting from the floor in order to pull it off. Brandon Monroe accounted for a team-best nine rebounds, but he failed to score a single point for a team that turned the ball over 21 times. Even with the offensive burst, Lyons is still averaging just 13.8 ppg while shooting 34.3 percent from the floor. Deloach has become one of the top scorers in the MEAC this year with his 20.8 ppg, and he is pulling down almost five and a half rebounds per game while ranking second in the assists department with 18 over eight games.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

WKU to Host Alabama A&M on Sunday Afternoon

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Following a successful three-game, 19-day road swing, Western Kentucky University returns to the friendly confines of E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday afternoon for a non-conference match-up with Alabama A&M University at 4:00 PM. It is the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Television coverage will be provided by HSSN and carried locally on WKYU-PBS and regionally/nationally on Fox College Sports and DirecTV Channel 617.

GAME #10:
WKU vs. Alabama A&M
Sunday, December 21, 2008 • 4:00 PM CST
E.A. Diddle Arena (7,326) • Bowling Green, Ky.

►SERIES HISTORY: WKU (6-3) and Alabama A&M (2-4) have never met previously.

►COVERAGE: Television coverage will be provided by Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network in conjunction with Fox College Sports and DirecTV Channel 617. Radio coverage will be provided by the Big Red Radio Network. The broadcast team for both will be Randy Lee and Hal Schmitt providing the call. Live stats and live audio and video via the internet is available at www.WKUsports.com .

►SIZING UP THE BULLDOGS: Alabama A&M returns 10 of 12 letterwinners including all five starters from last year's squad that went 10-20 overall and finished 10th in the Southwest Athletic Conference with a 4-14 mark. Trant Simpson leads the team in scoring (17.0 ppg) and assists (4.5), one of three players averaging in double figures.

►TAKING ON THE SWAC: WKU is 8-0 (1.000) all-time against the 10 current members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Toppers last met a SWAC school 11 years ago when WKU downed Mississippi Valley State 75-66 at Diddle Arena on Dec. 18, 1997.

WKU vs. Alabama A&M Game Notes -- 12/21/08

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

DSU can't keep up with Notre Dame's Harangody

Photo Gallery: Delaware State 58, Notre Dame 88

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Luke Harangody had 20 points and eight rebounds and Ryan Ayers added 18 points, leading No. 12 Notre Dame to an 88-50 victory over Delaware State on Saturday night. Notre Dame dominated inside, outscoring the Hornets in the paint 32-10 with a 41-24 rebounding advantage. Delaware State tried to slow Notre Dame's high-scoring offense with its slow, deliberate offense, but had minimal success because the Hornets couldn't slow Harangody.

Harangody was 7-of-8 from the floor for 16 points in the first half to lead the Irish to a 39-21 halftime lead. The Irish used a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 29, then continued to pull away for most of the rest of the game. Kyle McAlarney added 14 points for the Irish (8-2). Kris Douse and Marcus Neal led Delaware State (2-13) with 11 points each.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.

Monique Holland named Alabama State University Athletic Director

Alabama State University Hornets director of athletics, Monique Holland

New ASU AD strives to lead Hornets in positive direction

Alabama State's appoint­ment of Monique Holland as its athletic director sends a mes­sage. School officials appointed their leading expert on NCAA compliance to the program's top position to emphasize that the school is serious about playing by the rules, Holland said Fri­day. ASU President William Harris voiced his full endorse­ment of the new AD in a state­ment that announced her hir­ing. "Monique Holland is the right person at the right time to lead ASU's athletic department forward . . ." he said.

Holland, an ASU alum and former athlete, was promoted from the associate athletic di­rector for NCAA rules educa­tion and compliance, a position she's held since last June. She came from Georgia State with the mission to clean up a program that was wrecked by an NCAA infractions case that had dragged on for years. The hundreds of violations the school self-reported resulted in self-imposed sanctions that included firing coaches and limiting scholarships. Earlier this month, the school received notice that the NCAA had com­pleted its investigation and mandated five more years of probation and a ban on postsea­son championship play next year for the football team.

Photo Gallery: Monique Holland named ASU Athletic Director

CONTINUE READING,CLICK BLOG TITLE.

READ RELATED ARTICLES:
Holland named new AD at Alabama State
ASU names new athletic director
Alabama St. names Holland athletic director
New ASU AD strives to lead Hornets in positive direction

Delaware State Preview vs. #12 Ranked Notre Dame

Final exams are over and the Notre Dame student body has gone home for the holidays, but the Irish basketball team still has a couple of tests before it can head home for Christmas. Notre Dame (7-2) entertains Delaware State (2-12) at 7 p.m. tonight at the Joyce Center. Tonight’s game against the Hornets will be followed by a home date on Monday evening with Savannah State before the Irish players leave campus for break.

Notre Dame is currently ranked 12th in the Associated Press Poll and 14th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, but have a great chance to move up in both with a strong showing on Saturday. Delaware State, of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, has played an extremely difficult non-conference schedule and has suffered losses at Ohio State, Kentucky and Maryland along with Big East defeats to West Virginia, Connecticut and Rutgers. Notre Dame head coach Brey said that he respects what Delaware State is doing with its non-conference schedule and believes that it will help them down the road.

“I understand what they’re trying to do here in the non-conference,” said Brey. “That’s a grueling thing to do, they’ve done a pretty good job of that and the one thing they’ve got is really tough kids. I know that from talking to people in their league, they’ve got tough kids and probably going through this toughens them up.” The Hornets opened the season with a victory over Division II Wilmington and won its MEAC opener against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 4, but have lost every other game. Delaware State is 0-9 on the road this season.

CONTINUE READING, CLICK BLOG TITLE.