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Charlotte, North Carolina -- The players call him "Coach Deanou can see DeAngelo Dean on the sideline at every Johnson C. Smith football game, making sure the team gets the right personnel into the game in third-and-long situations and conferring with other coaches like former Carolina Panther Mike Minter about the Golden Bulls’ defensive strategy.
For Coach Dean, the sideline feels like home. And every time he walks onto the field feels like a victory.
Dean, 24, has cerebral palsy - a neurological disorder that appears in infancy or early childhood and permanently affects body movement and muscle coordination. But that hasn’t stopped Dean from becoming a valued member of coach Steve Aycock’s J.C. Smith staff in 2011. Aycock was the one who took a chance on Dean to begin with, and the student assistant coach has surpassed expectations as the Division II Golden Bulls have posted one of their best seasons in years.
Winston Salem, North Carolina -- Third-ranked Winston-Salem State enjoyed some much-needed down time with a bye in the first round of the Division II football playoffs.
But coach Connell Maynor said Wednesday, while having lunch with his team in the school cafeteria, that the break doesn't mean the Rams have lost momentum. WSSU will be back in action Saturday, when it plays California (Pa.) in a second-round game at 1 p.m. at Bowman Gray Stadium.
"I really don't think we've lost that momentum from winning the CIAA," Maynor said. "We've got a good, solid football team that understands our goals and what we are trying to do. They understand that the off week was about staying in shape but getting healthy and concentrating on your books."
Dr. Julian E. White Former Chairman, Music Department and Director of Florida A&M University Bands career comes to end after 39 years of service with high distinction.
(click on photo to enlarge)
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida A&M University has fired longtime band director Julian White, four days after the death of a drum major in which police say hazing was involved.
"Dr. White has been terminated from employment at the university," said FAMU President James Ammons, citing White’s "inability to stop hazing in the department of music and in the band."
"We are serious: This has to stop," Ammons said in an interview with The Orlando Sentinel. "The highest priority we have as a university is protecting the health, safety and well-being of our students."
The news comes a day after Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings announced that hazing is being investigated in the death of Robert Champion, who collapsed aboard a parked charter bus in front of the Rosen Plaza hotel Saturday night after the Florida Classic football game. The FAMU band performed during halftime.
SMYRNA, Georgia -- When Ivery Luckey heard that hazing may be to blame for Robert Champion's death, he wasn't surprised. Thirteen years ago, as a sophomore clarinet player in FAMU's Marching 100, Luckey was beaten so badly he spent 11 days in the hospital.
"I had full renal failure," he said. "My organs were beginning to shut down and toxins were building in my body and I had to go into dialysis."
Luckey joined Florida A&M University's famed band as a freshman in 1997. He later became friends with 26-year-old Robert Champion, the Southwest DeKalb High School grad and FAMU drum major who died last weekend after suspected hazing.
In an exclusive interview with 11Alive's Blayne Alexander, Luckey described his own hazing ordeal. He said it began his sophomore year, when he wanted to secure his place on the field.
Julian White fired by Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University president
James Ammons disappointed White could not stop alleged 'hazing' events
Robert Champion, 26, died after initiation ceremony on Saturday in Orlando
United Kingdom -- A world-famous university marching band has been thrown further into chaos after its long-serving director was last night fired after the death of a drum major in a suspected initiation ceremony.
Julian White, of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, was unable to stop the alleged ‘hazing’ events in the band and music department, college president James Ammons said.
Robert Champion, 26, was found unresponsive on a bus parked outside a hotel in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday night after the school's football team lost to Daytona Beach rival Bethune-Cookman.
Mr Champion was vomiting and had complained he couldn't breathe before he collapsed. Mr White meanwhile has been placed on paid administrative leave and has 10 days to respond to his firing.
The incident happened following a popular football and marching band competition between two of the state's historically black universities at the Florida Clasjavascript:void(0)ic in Orlando.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Xavier University of Louisiana has three singles players and three doubles teams in the Campbell's-Intercollegiate Tennis Association NAIA preseason rankings announced Wednesday.
Most notably:
• Loic Didavi is seventh in men's singles — Xavier's highest ranking since Miroslav Vukicevic was fifth in March 2008.
• Didavi, Steffen Giles-Osborn (career-high 13th) and Amir Rahbar (career-high 46th) give the Gold Rush three nationally ranked singles players for the first time since April 2009.
• The Gold Rush have two nationally ranked doubles teams for the first time. Didavi and Zach Taylor are third — Xavier's highest NAIA ranking ever — and Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson are 21st.
Nicole DeLoach and Kourtney Howell are 22nd in women's doubles. All the aforementioned XU men and women are ranked in the South, with Didavi second in singles and second in doubles with Taylor. It's the fourth consecutive season that Giles-Osborn has been nationally ranked at least once in singles.
Updated individual rankings will be announced March 7, April 11 and May 23. The NAIA will announce its preseason top-25 team rankings Jan. 31 and first regular-season rankings Feb. 21.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — RJ Daniels, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from New Orleans and Saint Augustine High School, signed a men's basketball scholarship Tuesday with Xavier University of Louisiana.
Daniels averaged 8.9 points, six rebounds and two steals per game this past season for the Purple Knights, who were 31-6 and won the Class 5A state championship and the District 10-5A championship. Daniels scored nine points Monday in St. Aug's season-opening 63-43 victory at Brother Martin.
"We are excited to bring RJ into the Xavier family," ninth-year Gold Rush coach Dannton Jackson said. "He is a great addition to our program. He brings a winning attitude and academic excellence to our university. He knows how to win. He's a tough player. He can shoot the ball and take it to the rim."
Daniels, Xavier's first signee for 2012-13, will be a biology/pre-medical major.
RJ Daniels signed a men's basketball scholarship with Xavier University of
Louisiana at the St. Augustine High School library Tuesday. In attendance were,
from left: XU athletics director Dennis Cousin, XU head coach Dannton Jackson,
family members Marcel Daniels, Angerean Taylor, Connie Daniels,
Roland Daniels, Caleb Daniels and XU assistant coach Alfred Williams.
(click on all photos to enlarge)
The Gold Rush are 4-0 and ranked 21st in NAIA Division I. The XU men were 27-6 in 2010-11 and qualified for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship for the fifth time in seven seasons. Xavier's 26 seasons of 20 or more victories are the most in the history of Louisiana men's college basketball.
Thursday, November 24 (Thanksgiving Day)
1 p.m. — Dillard vs. Rust
3 p.m. — Holy Names vs. Texas College
5 p.m. — Mobile vs. Tuskegee
7 p.m. — Xavier vs. Langston
Friday, November 25
Noon — Rust vs. Mobile
2 p.m. — Tuskegee vs. Texas College
4 p.m. — Dillard vs. Langston
6 p.m. — Xavier vs. Holy Names
Orlando, Florida -- Orange County Sheriff Jerry L. Demings announced today that hazing was involved in the death of FAMU student Robert D.Champion in Orlando last weekend. Results of an autopsy performed Monday were inconclusive, Demings said. More medical tests will be performed.
Demings' comments came just hours after Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University announced it has suspended all band performances while the university investigates the circumstances of the drum major's death in Orlando amid allegations of hazing within the school's famed marching band.
FAMU President Dr. James Ammons announced today that FAMU is organizing an independent task force related to "unauthorized and questionable" activities within the 375-member marching band. The panel would try to "determine if there are patterns of inappropriate behavior within the culture of the band," Ammons said.
A Musical & Photographic tribute to the late Robert Champion. Mr. Champion was a Drum Major for the FAMU Marching 100 Band. (this video was originally uploaded by: Twan Born'Bleszed Miller at Facebook. Music by Florida A&M University Marching 100, "Order My Steps," with solo by Star Crawford. Authorities investigate FAMU student’s death
Orlando, Florida -- New details about the mysterious death of a Florida A&M student following this weekend's Florida Classic. University president James Ammons suspended all practices and performances for the Marching 100 band as the investigation into how a member died continues.
Ammons announced the school will form an independent task force to look into the death and determine if there were ongoing inappropriate band customs or traditions. He was a drum major for the FAMU marching band that played at the Florida Classic.
To our brothers and sisters of Florida A&M University, The Marching 100 and the Champion Family. It's pointless to try to express how we feel for you in words. We dedicate this song from the 1999 FSU Marching Chiefs, originally performed for the loss of one of our own. We turn to it again for the same purposes. May you always find comfort in music... -The Florida State University Marching Chiefs
