SU Mitchell putting in long days

Last week, on a grim, humid late afternoon in the dead of summer, scores of people drove to an otherwise still campus at Southern University. They packed an oversized suite in the A.W. Mumford Field House. Politely and patiently, they listened as Stump Mitchell’s assistant coaches told stories and answered questions about the status of their beloved-but-battered football program.

Then, to the sound of warm applause, Mitchell himself walked to the lectern. This was the man they’d come to see. Yet again, Mitchell vowed his staff and players will work hard, and good things will come from that. Again, he stressed Southern will win championships. Soon. “We don’t have a daggone three- or four-year plan,” he said. “We want to win it all right now.” The crowd erupted. This was the way it used to feel.

Almost six months have passed since Mitchell came to SU, replacing the once-revered Pete Richardson. Not everyone in the suite had wanted Mitchell. Most dissenters had preferred a favorite son, former SU safety and Prairie View assistant Heishma Northern. Some of them still aren’t sure. Yet there they were last week, in the suite, now willing to listen. “I know I’m not the man for all of you right now,” Mitchell said. “But I’m going to be the man before long.”

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Wooten-Collier brings title experience to VUU women's basketball

As a player, Barvenia Wooten-Collier helped lift the Virginia Union women's basketball team to the pinnacle of NCAA Division II competition. Now she will try to lift the school's once-proud women's program back to respectability as a coach.

Wooten-Collier, the linchpin of Virginia Union's 1983 NCAA championship team, was hired last month to replace Bryan Underwood as the Panthers' head coach. VUU's administration chose not to renew Underwood's contract after the Panthers stumbled badly in 2009 and 2010, winning only 16 games overall -- and only seven in the CIAA.

The new coach intends, eventually, to install an up-tempo, emphasis-on-conditioning philosophy. But she said her first goal will be to instill a sense of ownership and responsibility in athletes who won only two of 20 CIAA contests last season. "I get the feeling that the players, right now, think of basketball as just another thing they have to do," Wooten-Collier said. "I don't see excitement and enthusiasm. I want these kids to understand that the opportunity to play basketball at Virginia Union is a gift. I don't want them to be content merely to play. I want them to perform."

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SCSU's Young running route toward Panther position

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Graduating as the all-time leader in career receptions and yards at South Carolina State got Oliver "Tre" Young noticed by the Carolina Panthers. At least that's the opinion of his college head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough. "You know, that is always going to be one of the factors, the statistical information that people gather," Pough told PanthersInsider.com. "That's what they sometimes use in the evaluation process. I think they also look at his size, strength and athletic ability. I think it's a combination of things along with stats. When you look at him play, you think this is a guy who might have a shot at being good."

#3 Oliver "Tre" Young

The 6-2 undrafted free agent also understands those school-record numbers (135 receptions, 2,156 receiving yards) alone will not allow him continue his NFL career within proximity of his port city hometown. "We pretty much know that we have to prove ourselves," Young said. "For me, coming from a small school, I'm a little bit behind the 8 ball so I think that my level of play will have to be above and beyond."

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Wallace leaves FAMU over contract dispute

Strength and conditioning coach Antonio Wallace left a new contract from Florida A&M on the table instead of re-signing on the same terms that he had for the past three years without benefits. His last day on the job was June 30 as an assistant to head football coach Joe Taylor. Wallace said Monday he would have stayed if the new contract with FAMU's athletic department gave him an increase in his salary of more than the $50,000-plus that he was making, with the addition of benefits.

"It was in my best interest and in my family's best interest to move on because anytime you get into a situation like that it's very hard to continue to grow within the program," Wallace said, without saying exactly how much he would have signed for. "I was presented with a contract and I was unwilling to be subject to those terms. I didn't feel good about it."



Wallace graduated from Alabama A&M University in 2003 with a Bachelors of Science in the field of Industrial Safety Management and served previously as a graduate assistant under Dr. Johnny Thomas at Alcorn State, responsible for strength and conditioning and coaching defensive ends.

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Printers, B.C. Lions kick their way to road victory

Former FAMU Rattlers' Quarterback Casey Printers plays turnover - free football in the B.C. Lions 25-10 road win over the Edmonton Eskimos in yesterday's Canada Day season opener.

EDMONTON, AB — The distance from where the Lions began their Canadian Football League season on Sunday and where they would like it to end up is not large. It is precisely 25 steps to walk from the visiting locker-room to the palatial new digs occupied by the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium, where this year’s Grey Cup game is to be played. And in relative terms, what the Lions did when they posted a 25-10 win on the strength of a turnover-free game in which they also forced the hosts into five giveaways, not to mention six field goals by Paul McCallum, was take precisely one step in that direction.

One step, nothing more. But with so much uncertainty as a result of the massive off-season personnel airlift, there is reason to think coach Wally Buono has assembled the makings of a team. And if there were doubts about the young offensive line, they were erased when Jon Hameister-Ries sprang Robertson with a block for his scoring run. Quarterback Casey Printers was only dropped behind the line of scrimmage once.

Video:

• Week 1: Lions vs. EskimosPlay

Highlights: BC 25, EDM 10

CFL News and Highlights : Step in the Right Direction

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A Cautionary Tale for ALL Student - Athletes: 10-year NBA vet now homeless

Thomas "Ray Williams" retired in 1987 without a college degree or professional skill, although he played at the University of Minnesota and San Jacinto Junior College, and was selected 10th overall in the 1977 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.


Amid the ceaseless acquisitive frenzy that is NBA free agency, the Boston Globe dropped a harrowing profile of Ray Williams, a former captain of the New York Knicks and a reserve guard on the Boston Celtics' 1985 NBA Finals team who played for six teams during a 10-year NBA career from the late '70s through the mid-'80s. Williams' name might not ring out with today's fans, but he averaged 20 points per game in two different seasons (1979-80 and 1981-82), hung 52 on the Detroit Pistons as a member of the New Jersey Nets on April 17, 1982, and once drew (admittedly aspirational) comparisons to the great Walt Frazier.

Now, writes the Globe's Bob Hohler, he's homeless.

Desperate times ‎

POMPANO BEACH, FL — Every night at bedtime, former Celtic Ray Williams locks the doors of his home: a broken-down 1992 Buick, rusting on a back street where he ran out of everything. The 10-year NBA veteran formerly known as “Sugar Ray’’ leans back in the driver’s seat, drapes his legs over the center console, and rests his head on a pillow of tattered towels. He tunes his boom box to gospel music, closes his eyes, and wonders.

Williams, a generation removed from staying in first-class hotels with Larry Bird and Co. in their drive to the 1985 NBA Finals, mostly wonders how much more he can bear. He is not new to poverty, illness, homelessness. Or quiet desperation. In recent weeks, he has lived on bread and water. “They say God won’t give you more than you can handle,’’ Williams said in his roadside sedan. “But this is wearing me out.’’

A former top-10 NBA draft pick who once scored 52 points in a game, Williams is a face of big-time basketball’s underclass. As the NBA employs players whose average annual salaries top $5 million, Williams is among scores of retired players for whom the good life vanished not long after the final whistle. Dozens of NBA retirees, including Williams and his brother, Gus, a two-time All-Star, have sought bankruptcy protection.

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The most sobering thing about Hohler's piece? Williams' decline into unemployment, poverty and homelessness appears to have just kind of ... happened. Williams, a former University of Minnesota standout who averaged 15.5 points and nearly six assists per game during his time in the league, adamantly tells Hohler that he's "never fallen prey to drugs, alcohol, or gambling," and he's never been arrested, so it's not like he's some shiftless sociopath whom we can easily vilify.

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Shaw Announces 2010 Football Schedule; Season Tickets On Sale

Raleigh, NC – Shaw University will host four home football games this season and take on one NCAA Division I FCS opponent. The Bears’ ten-game schedule includes home dates with Virginia Union, Fayetteville State, Chowan and Winston-Salem State.

The Bears open the season with the Shaw Pride game against Virginia Union on September 4, then hit the road for five straight weeks. On September 11, Shaw takes on Elon University. The Phoenix finished 9-3 in the Southern Conference last season with a strong Division I FCS schedule. The following week, the Bears will take on Catawba College.

The CIAA season begins on September 25 when the Bears travel to Elizabeth City State, followed by road games to Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith.

On October 16, the Bears return home to face division rival Fayetteville State, with the homecoming game against Chowan one week later. Shaw closes out the home season on October 30 as they host Winston-Salem State in a game that will be nationally televised. That game is also Senior Day and Shaw Open House.

Shaw finishes the season on the road at cross-town rival Saint Augustine’s.

Shaw defensive backs coach Robert Massey.

Shaw will play its first three home games (VUU, FSU and Chowan) at Southeast Raleigh High School at 2600 Rock Quarry Road. Game times are 6:00 p.m. for Virginia Union and Fayetteville State and 4:00 p.m. for Chowan. The final home game, against WSSU, will be played at Durham County Memorial Stadium at 1:00 p.m.

Season ticket packages, which include reserved seating, parking, and three t-shirts and a polo shirt cost $150 and can be purchased by calling (919) 546-8281.

Individual tickets went on sale July 1. Prices to all but the homecoming game (Chowan) are $15 for adults, and $10 for children and students with IDs. Homecoming tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children and students with IDs. Shaw students attend all home games for free with their student ID. Individual tickets may be purchased through the Shaw athletics website – www.shawbears.com.

Shaw will hold its annual scrimmage on August 28 at Chavis Park. Time is to be announced at a later date.

Last season, the Bears finished with an 8-2 record, 5-2 in the CIAA and one game out of first in the Western Division.

Football Coaching Staff
Darrell Asberry Head Coach (5th Season: 27-16)
David Geralds Associate Head Coach

Kienus Boulware Assistant Football Coach (Defensive Coordinator)
Robert Massey Assistant Football Coach (Defensive Backs)
Vyron Brown Assistant Football Coach (Offensive Coordinator
Richard McGeorge Assistant Football Coach (Offensive Line)
Jermonty KimbroughAssistant Football Coach (Running Backs)









2010 BEARS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Saturday, September 4 VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY 6:00 p.m.
SHAW PRIDE DAY
Saturday, September 11 Elon University 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 18 Catawba College 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 25 Elizabeth City State University* 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 2 Livingstone College* 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 9 Johnson C. Smith University* 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 16 FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY* 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 23 CHOWAN UNIVERSITY* 4:00 p.m. HOMECOMING
Saturday, October 30 WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY* 1:00 p.m.
SENIOR DAY / SHAW OPEN HOUSE (DURHAM COUNTY STADIUM)
Saturday, November 6 Saint Augustine’s College* 1:30 p.m.

Home Games Listed in BOLDFACE CAPS
Home Games, Except for WSSU, Played at Southeast Raleigh High School
(2600 Rock Quarry Road)
WSSU Game Played at Durham County Memorial Stadium
* CIAA Conference Game