Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Jackson St: 2010-11 Basketball Preview

JSU Coach Tevester Anderson

Conference Rank: #1 Southwestern Athletic Conference

2009-10: 19-13, 17-1
2009-10 postseason: NIT
Coach: Tevester Anderson (114-113 at Jackson State, 217-165 overall)

Jackson State dominated the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2009-2010 with a 17-1 record. Yet the team failed to show up when it mattered the most, and fell in the first round of the conference tournament. That left the Tigers in the NIT instead of the NCAA Tournament. But all of that work was done mostly without preseason conference player of the year Grant Maxey who played in just two games before suffering a season ending ankle injury. The young team has grown up and should be able to cruise through the SWAC yet again.

Key Losses: G Garrison Johnson

Key Newcomers:
Kelsey Howard will probably end up being the star of this recruiting class. The 6-4 guard is a pure scorer and has enough size to attack the basket when he is not knocking down an outside shot. In a conference like the SWAC most pure scorers are strictly shooters, but because of Howard’s size he has the ability to be a multi-dimensional scorer and that will make him a good player sooner or later. Fellow freshman guard Scottie Sterling will not do nearly as much scoring, but he is a solid defender and ball handler. Derrell Taylor, a 6-7, 175 pound forward, needs to bulk up a bit, but he will eventually provide some depth to the frontcourt. Wing Jeniro Bush and 7-2 center Jamarious Sykes sat out last season and will look for minutes this time around.

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Jones has big shoes to fill if A&M is to contend in the SWAC

HUNTSVILLE, AL - Alabama A&M football coach Anthony Jones has had to replace key players before. This season, however, it appears Jones has to replace more than he ever has entering his ninth season with the Bulldogs.

Gone are all-time leading rusher Ulysses Banks, all-time leading receiver Thomas Harris, center Xavier Manuel, a three-year starter and All-Southwestern Athletic Conference performer, defensive end Jeremy Maddox, who finished second behind Robert Mathis in sacks and tackles for loss, and placekicker Jeremy Licea, who finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer.

That's just a handful of the people Jones and company will have to replace if the Bulldogs are going to win the East Division title and return to the SWAC championship game for the fifth time in his tenure.



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Monday, August 2, 2010

New Dynamo, Texas Southern Football Stadium to Open June 2012

Texas Southern University president Dr. John M. Rudley and athletic director Charles McClelland are the key drivers behind the shared new Houston Dynamo Soccer/TSU football stadium. The Tigers total lifetime investment -- $2.5 million. Sweet deal!!

HOUSTON, TX - Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, co-owners of Major League Soccer Houston Dynamo, told FOX 26 Sports Wednesday the team's new downtown soccer-specific stadium will open in June of 2012. This is the first time Dynamo ownership has been able to nail down when the stadium will officially open.

"We're going to move in by June of 2012," said Leiweke. "So the paperwork is being wrapped up. Every agreement is being signed. We're out (Wednesday night) starting to sell the naming rights. Our bids are in. Our design is done. We hired a construction team. We hired a project manager.

"This is a $110 million dollar project. We've have a cost-certainty on budget. Now we get on with the task of making sure that we protect the best interests of the Dynamo and Texas Southern University."



The project will be financed with an estimated $75 million from Dynamo ownership. The city of Houston and Harris County are providing $10 million each, that will be funded by taxes generated by the stadium complex. The city (Houston) is providing the land which cost around $15 million.

TSU athletic director Charles McClelland said the school has entered the project as a co-tenant and will make a one-time payment of $2.5 million for the full use of the new stadium.

“We’re gonna have our own locker rooms. We’re gonna share the sales for concessions, on ticket sales so it’s gonna be the home of the Texas Southern University Fighting Tigers,” said McClelland.

Other than the Labor Day Classic with SWAC champions Prairie View A&M University Panthers, TSU has been a transient program for over 30 years. The Tigers currently play their home football games at a high school stadium.

The Labor Day Classic is played at the NFL's Houston Texans Reliant Stadium which has a seating capacity of 71,500.

Upon completion of the "unnamed" Dynamo/TSU stadium, the Tigers will become the envy of the Southwestern Athletic Conference as co-tenant of this 22,000 seat state-of-art facility with luxury suites. A rail line will literally run right next to the stadium that will have fan friendly in terms of concessions and restrooms, and parking and access.

The stadium will be located deep within downtown Houston, in the East End on prime real estate as the Dynamo and the TSU Tigers continue their quest to cement their programs in the hearts of Houston sports fans.

There is certainly a brighter day ahead for TSU with Coach Johnnie Cole's timely resurrection of the Tigers football program.

TSU resides in the 10th largest television market in the U.S., and has the 8th largest population. This is a good, fertile market for high school athletes and musicians to fuel the Tigers showcase Ocean of Soul Marching Band and athletic programs. One could accurately say--the sky is the limit on how good the Tigers can become with their new digs.



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Saint Paul's College Coach Bailey takes break

The legendary Coach Willard Bailey is show in a 2007 photo with Saint Paul's star player Craig Mangrum.






CIAA’s ‘winningest’ football mentor faces health challenges.

Coach Willard Bailey was hired to resurrect the Saint Paul’s College football program. Now, with that mission accomplished, the coach at the top of the CIAA’s all-time win list is taking a break to focus on his own health.

"I promised my family and the Lord that I would be the perfect patient," he told the Free Press, via cell phone, while undergoing tests last Thursday at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

“I have to get straight before I get back and get involved anywhere.”

The 71-year-old Suffolk native did not go into details about his medical condition, but noted “I don’t want anyone to panic - let’s just leave it there.” On Tuesday, he told the Free Press he’s still the head coach and that he expects to return to his active role as coach.



In response to a question, he said he has a contract as head coach fro the upcoming football season. Bailey’s replacement, former defensive coordinator Kevin Grisby, will carry the “interim” tag this season. The Tigers are to begin practice Aug. 4 in preparation for the Aug. 28 season opener at West Virginia Wesleyan.

Grisby, a former Bethune-Cookman standout who had a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles, has served under Bailey at Saint Paul’s and Virginia Union. “I still consider coach Bailey our coach,” Grisby said at the CIAA Kickoff Luncheon last Thursday at Virginia State. “Whenever something comes up, I’d like to think that he’s only a call away.”

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WSSU trying to tweak its Stadium lease

AD Hayes, trying to trim costs, talks of purchasing Bowman Gray

There was much to celebrate in 2006 when the city-owned Bowman Gray Stadium began to build a state-of-the art field house that included two football practice fields.

Winston-Salem State University, the main tenants of the nearly 21,000 square foot complex, signed a 30-year lease then to begin paying off $3.3 million to the city. Most of the athletics department offices are in the field house, along with a weight room and a training room for the football team. However, the lease amount doesn't include the weekly rent that WSSU pays to play its home football games.

Bill Hayes, the athletics director since January, is talking with city officials to try to reduce the expenses for using the stadium on game days.

According to Bucky Dame, the director of Joel Coliseum and Bowman Gray Stadium, the rent for each game will be $3,785, plus operating expenses.

In 2006 the rent for each game was about $400 less, but Dame said that the gradual increase is because expenses are higher.

WSSU, which will play four home games at Bowman Gray Stadium this season, also pays operating expenses for each game. Dame said that those operating expenses vary depending on the size of the expected crowd and other factors.

When WSSU decided to leave the CIAA four years ago to begin transition to NCAA Division I, it decided to start charging for parking and tailgating at Bowman Gray Stadium. Dame said that the agreement, which is still in place, is that the city and WSSU split the revenue for parking.

The city receives all the revenue from concessions, according to Dame.



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Sunday, August 1, 2010

State of Florida's Pro Football HOF status on rise

Former Florida A&M University 3-times All-American and Cincinnati Bengals 3-times AFC interception leader, Ken Riley is long overdue to be called for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.


Bragging rights over which state plays the best high school football is an argument that rages on in Ohio, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and California, among others. With 28 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame born in Texas and 27 in Pennsylvania, both can make good arguments. Ohio checks in with 23 Hall of Famers, while California has 16.

What about Florida? The Sunshine State boasts eight — but that’s a figure growing rapidly. With Rickey Jackson and Emmitt Smith entering the Hall this year, that gives Florida five Hall of Famers in the last four years. Expect that number to continue to grow in years to come as Deion Sanders, Derrick Brooks, Ray Lewis and Warren Sapp become eligible.

For a further example of Florida’s excellence, check out this 33-player All-Century team selected in 2007 by the Florida High School Athletic Association’s panel of experts. It’s an all-state team sure to stack up well against any other.

Excerpt:

Ken Riley, Union Academy (Bartow), 1965. Played offense and defense in high school and QB at Florida A&M, where he was a three-time All-American. Moved back to the secondary in the NFL, where he played 14 seasons with 65 interceptions. Was later head football coach (1986-93) and athletic director (1994-2003) at FAMU.



Willie Galimore, Excelsior High School (St. Augustine), 1952. “He was perhaps the greatest running back I ever saw or coached against,” said Earl Kitchings, former head coach of Matthew Gilbert and Raines high schools. Considered by some experts to be the best Florida high school RB prior to Emmitt Smith. Remains leading rusher in Florida A&M University history. Killed in an automobile accident in 1964. Played football for the NFL Chicago Bears.

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Six Bowie State Bulldogs Selected To Pre-Season All-CIAA Squad

Bowie State University head football coach Damon Wilson

Bowie, MD - The 2010 CIAA Predicted Order of Finish and Preseason All-CIAA Team were announced at the annual Football Kick-Off Press Conference held Thursday morning at Jones Dining Hall on the campus of Virginia State University. The Order of Finish and Preseason All-CIAA Team are voted on by the CIAA Football Coaches Association.

The Bulldogs, who finished at 6-5 overall in 2009 and in a three-way tie in the Division (5-2), were picked to finish third overall out of the 13 CIAA teams.

Six BSU student-athletes received preseason honors; Seniors Terence Peete, Jr. (Memphis, TN, Northwest) (Defensive Back), Alexander Payton (Rockville, MD, Richard Montgomery) (Defensive Line), Rodney Webb (Baltimore, MD, Milford Mill Academy) (Running Back), juniors Reginald Berry (Washington, DC, James Madison Univ.) (Offensive Line), James Proctor, Jr. (Capital Heights, MD, Suitland) (Kick Returner) and Clifton Budd (Silver Spring, MD, Sherwood) (Punt Returner).

The Bulldogs will kick off the season on August 28th on the road against Seton Hill University, in Greensburg, PA.



Bowie State Defense ranked #1 in NCAA Division II 2009 Total Defense. The "Darkside" as they are known also finished top 3 in NCAA Division II in 3 other categories and top 15 in 10 other categories.

The complete predicted order of finish is as follows:

Northern Division
Bowie State
Elizabeth City State
Virginia Union
Virginia State
Chowan
Saint Paul’s
Lincoln (Pa.)

Southern Division
Fayetteville State
Shaw
Winston-Salem State
Saint Augustine’s
Johnson C. Smith
Livingstone

The Bulldogs junior defensive back Kenneth Turner was named to Lindy's Pre-Season Division II All-America Second Team. Turner, from Oxon Hill High School, Oxon Hill, Maryland was a member of the 2009 All-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA) Defensive Second Team. Tuner topped the CIAA in Passes Defended (14), tied for third in conference interceptions (5) and ranked sixth on the team in total tackles (32).

The Bulldogs home games are:

9-25 vs. Virginia Union - 1:00PM
10-2 vs. Virginia State - 1:00PM
10-16 vs. Lincoln (PA) - 1:00PM
10-23 vs. Elizabeth City State - 1:00PM

For more information on Bowie State Athletics, visit http://www.bsubulldogs.com.