Ex-Norfolk State football coach Dick Price dies at 75

NSU's William "Dick" Price Stadium, Norfolk, Virginia

Dick Price, who took Norfolk State University football to new heights and is enshrined in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, died Monday at the age of 75 after a long battle with cancer. Price, born in the Norfolk neighborhood of Lamberts Point, was Norfolk State's winningest football coach. His teams compiled a 61-42-4 record between 1974 and 1983 and won three consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships in the mid- '70s. In 1997, the school named its new football stadium after him.

"During Dick Price's era, that's when Norfolk State football took off," said Bill Archie, a former football coach and athletic director at the school, who hired Price as his assistant in 1962. Price, who served as director of athletics after leaving coaching, also led the school's track team to Division II national championships in 1973 and '74. Because Norfolk State did not have a track at the time, Price's sprinters went through their paces on the sidewalks and streets adjacent to campus. Despite the unusual training situation, Price developed several All-Americans, including Olympic gold medalist Steve Riddick.

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Caldwell, former athletics director, hires attorney to get his job back with WSSU

Chico Caldwell, fired as Winston-Salem State's athletics director on Feb. 9, has hired an attorney and is hoping to get paid for the last two years of his contract. Chancellor Donald Reaves fired Caldwell, saying he wanted "fresh ideas" for the athletics department. Caldwell, who hired Robert Elliot as his attorney, had contract worth about $125,000 a year. Elliot said that Caldwell is due the rest of the money on his contract.

"We feel there was no cause for termination," Elliot said. "…Chico really wants to feel whole again and get this behind him." Elliot said that he and Caldwell have sent a letter to WSSU officials hoping to resolve the situation. Elliot also released a statement detailing Caldwell's accomplishments during his eight years of service to WSSU. The statement outlines Caldwell's arguments that his firing was unjustified. "Chancellor Reaves has announced that he wished to replace Dr. Caldwell with a new athletics director of his choosing," the statement reads.

"Given Dr. Caldwell's performance, there is no justifiable cause for Chancellor Reaves' action which constitutes a break of Dr. Caldwell's employment contract." A spokesman in Reaves' office said that Reaves would not comment about the firing or the contract status. Caldwell's statement said that he remains committed to Winston-Salem State. "While Dr. Caldwell will exercise all legal remedies available to him to correct this wrongful action, he remains committed and loyal to Winston-Salem State which he has served so well for the last eight years," the statement said.

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MEAC gives green light to expansion

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced late Monday afternoon that it is lifting a moratorium on expansion and now will consider applications for membership from N.C. Central and Savannah (Ga.) State. N.C. Central has long felt that its transition from NCAA Division II to Division I would be made easier if it could join a conference. NCCU submitted an application to the MEAC in December 2006. "Getting into a conference will definitely enhance our sports programs, particularly in the areas of recruiting, increased revenues, consistent travel schedules and fan support," NCCU's athletic director, Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree, said in a prepared statement.

If the MEAC isn't officially closing the door on applications from other schools, NCCU and Savannah State certainly are first in line. For one thing, both play football, and the MEAC wants to add two football schools to its current 10. Overall, the league plans to expand from 12 members to 14. "Obviously, you can go to divisional play [in football]," commissioner Dennis Thomas said in a phone interview. Plus, "we need a Georgia presence," Thomas added, though insisting he wasn't referring to a specific school. With expansion, he said, "now we would have three institutions in the state of North Carolina."

The conference implemented a moratorium so it could come up with an expansion plan.

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Freshman lefty carries Bethune-Cookman past Southern University

Bethune - Cookman head baseball coach Mervyl Melendez

Simpson handles first college start well

COMPTON, Calif. -- Making your first collegiate start as a freshman pitcher is never an easy task. And when you're making that start more than 2,500 miles away from your school, in a high-profile tournament at MLB's Urban Youth Academy, it doesn't get any easier. But Bethune-Cookman left-hander Ali Simpson handled the pressure well, tossing 6 2/3 quality innings to lead the Wildcats to a 10-4 win over Southern University on Sunday in the final game of the second annual Urban Invitational at the Academy.

"He was definitely good today, and he gave us the edge," Bethune-Cookman head coach Mervyl Melendez. "He did a good job of keeping them off balance, and it gives some security to our hitters, because they know they don't have to do it all themselves." Simpson was admittedly a little bit nervous before his start, and it showed early, as he allowed the first three runners to reach base before Melendez came to the mound and talked to him.

"Coach calmed me down a little bit," Simpson said. "He told me it was the same game I've been playing all my life." Melendez's advice worked, as Simpson settled down and retired the next three batters. It gave him confidence, and he went on to allow just three runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings while striking out nine

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VIDEO • Highlights: San Diego 9, B-CU 6
VIDEO • Highlights: Southern 4, SDSU 2

Tournament Schedule/Results
2/20: San Diego State 6, Bethune-Cookman 3
Recap Box score Play-by-Play

2/20: San Diego 6, Southern 4
Box Score

2/21, San Diego 9, Bethune-Cookman 6
Box Score

2/21, Southern 4, San Diego State 2
Recap Box score Play-by-Play

2/22, Southern 4, Bethune-Cookman 10
Box Score B-CU 3 Game Cumulative Stats (1-2)

2/22, SDSU 3, USD (at USD) 0
Box score Play-by-Play

Dungy To Colleges: Ignore Boosters, Hire 'Best' Coach

TAMPA - Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, in a New York Times op-ed piece, is asking college athletic directors to ignore pressure from alumni and boosters and hire the best coaching candidates "regardless of race." Dungy's article, headlined "Diversity Everywhere But the Sidelines," came out Thursday, the same day the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave college athletics its lowest grade for diversity hiring practices of any sport researched.

Dungy wrote that college head coaches and athletic directors told him last spring that the biggest reason only seven of 120 major college football programs had black head coaches has to do with "other people associated with the universities." "It was not just the president and the athletic director who made the hiring decisions — alumni and boosters were involved, and the presidents often felt pressure to hire coaches the boosters would support," wrote Dungy, who led the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl title in 2006-07 and retired this year.

Dungy wrote that over the past decade he had been contacted by several universities looking for head coaches and seeking recommendations. None of his recommendations – including Mike Tomlin, who recently led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl title – were hired. "Shouldn't minority students be able to see role models of diverse leadership at the college level?" Dungy wrote. "How long should we give a pass to these institutions that should be at the forefront of diversity?"

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Southern upends San Diego State

COMPTON, Calif. — Southern University got an excellent outing from starting pitcher Jarrett Maloy and some clutch hitting late to defeat San Diego State 4-2 on Day 2 of the MLB Urban Invitational. Maloy, a preseason all-Southwestern Athletic Conference selection, tossed seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) while scattering five hits and striking out five. Daniel Garcia pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his first save.

SDSU starter Jon Berger (0-1) went 62/3 innings and gave up four runs on six hits while striking out five. SU’s Romey Bracey got the Jaguars on the board early as he tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. SDSU (1-1) tied the game with an unearned run in the top of the third. The pitching duel continued over the next three innings until the Aztecs took the lead in the top of the sixth on a walk to T.J. Thomas and an RBI double by Cory Vaughn.
























SU head coach Roger Cador.

Southern (1-1) responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single by Bracey and a two-out RBI double by Frazier Hall. The Jaguars added an insurance run in the next inning on a double by Gregory Whitfield and an RBI single by Toddrick Stevenson. Things got interesting in the final inning when SDSU put two men on with two outs, only to see Easton Gust’s fly ball to left caught on a fine play by Juan Mujica. SU concludes play in the tournament against Bethune Cookman at 2 p.m. today.

San Diego State beat defending MEAC champs Bethune Cookman 6-3 for their first win of the season on Friday.

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Morgan State beats Towson for eighth straight, 80-64

Morgan State forward Marquise Kately (right) makes a shot over Towson forward Jarrel Smith (22) in the first half.

Reggie Holmes leads way with 18 points

Add the Colonial Athletic Association to the list of conferences that have been victimized by the ever-improving Morgan State basketball team this season. After beating teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference ( Maryland) and Big East (DePaul), the Bears added Towson of the CAA to their portfolio of victories yesterday, never trailing in the first Bracketbuster appearance by a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member in an 80-64 romp at Towson Center.

Granted, Towson (9-20) is not among the premier teams in one of the toughest mid-major leagues in the country, but it was still a significant win for the Bears, their eighth in a row and 10th in the past 11 games. "We appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Bracketbuster, representing not only ourselves, but the conference," Morgan coach Todd Bozeman said. "We want to one day have all the [MEAC] teams participate."

Said Tigers coach Pat Kennedy: "This is a very solid Morgan team. We were concerned about their balance, and their flow and consistency were much sharper than ours. It seemed like every time we had an opportunity, we made tough decisions that turned into bad plays."All five Bears starters scored in double figures, with Reggie Holmes (St.Frances) leading the way with 18 and Jermaine "Itchy" Bolden (Douglass) adding 16 and nine assists. Marquise Kately also had 16 points, and freshman Kevin Thompson (Walbrook) pitched in with 12 points, five assists and nine rebounds.

Morgan had a 51-35 edge on rebounds.Morgan (18-10) has now beaten MEAC rival Coppin State and UMBC in addition to Maryland and Towson.

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