MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- For Reggie Barlow, the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney is something of a homecoming. The head football coach at Alabama State, Barlow served as the Hornets' quarterback coach at the first challenge in 2005. On Sept. 2, Alabama State will represent the SWAC at the annual HBCU game for the first time since that inaugural game, facing off against the MEAC's Bethune-Cookman at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
"It's a huge game," Barlow said. "It gives our student-athletes an opportunity to have a bowl-like atmosphere and experience. I'm excited about having the chance to be part of it. I remember the first one, when we lost to South Carolina State; it was my first year coaching. That was a fun game to be a part of."
The MEAC/SWAC Challenge -- the annual HBCU matchup between the two conferences -- isn't the only big game on the Hornets' schedule. Every year Alabama State faces archrival ...
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Saturday, May 26, 2012
Jacoby Jones celebrity event to benefit XU Gold Rush again
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| XU coach Dannton Jackson, left, and Jacoby Jones |
Jones is a New Orleans native and a wide receiver with the NFL's Houston Texas the past five seasons. He signed a two-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month.
Additional NFL players expected to participate include former New Orleans Saints Robert Meachem and Tracy Porter. Also scheduled to participate will be NFL players Vonta Leach, Brice McCain, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jimmy Smith, Tyrod Taylor and Torri Williams.
The event will include a free autograph session from 5:45-6:15 p.m. and a performance by the Honeybees dance team.
"Last year's event was fun and quite entertaining," XU coach Dannton Jackson said. "I'm certain it will be just as fun and entertaining this time."
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
Friday, May 25, 2012
John Montgomery takes Alabama State's golf team to new heights
MONTGOMERY, Alabama - After John Montgomery made history as a freshman by becoming the first Alabama State golfer to participate in the NCAA tournament, coach Gary Grandison had a brief talk with him. "Western Kentucky was hosting the tournament back in 2009, and I knew they'd earned a bid to host again in 2012," Grandison said. "So I asked John to help me in making sure our entire team played that course."
Montgomery, now a senior, and the rest of the Hornets team gave Grandison exactly what he wanted: For the first time in the program's history, the men's golf team claimed the SWAC championship to earn a spot in an NCAA regional -- the one in Bowling Green on the Western Kentucky course.
Grandison, a Mobile native and graduate of Shaw High, guided the ASU women's golf team into the NCAA field a year ago.
"This proves that last year was not a ...
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Alabama A&M volleyball: After SWAC setback, Brown high on recruiting class
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Alabama A&M had its streak of four straight Southwestern Athletic Conference volleyball championships snapped last season. The Bulldogs also lost three key seniors, including four-year starter Karensa Beckford, who was the league's Most Valuable Player last season in addition to being a two-time MVP of the league tournament.While Beckford will be hard to replace, A&M coach Nedra Brown has restocked the cupboard with a recruiting class she believes will keep the Bulldogs among the league's best teams.
Headlining the group is former Lee High School star Kyanna Sales, a 5-foot-8 outside hitter.
"We're excited to have Kyanna," said Brown, who has struggled getting local kids to sign with A&M. "We're looking for her to contribute right away. She's smart, hits hard, reads defenses and she can serve and pass. She's just a good all-around player."
Robyn Hancock, who comes to A&M from ...
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Thursday, May 24, 2012
George, Seals set to run at 2012 NCAA Regional
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - Southern track sprinters Tiffany George and Erich Seal will compete in the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary Round Track Meet in Jacksonville, Fla. May 24-26.George, a Tulane transfer, posted a 11.55 in the 100 meter dash during the outdoor season. She is scheduled to run in Heat 5 during the first round of the 100 meter dash which is scheduled to begin at 6:55 p.m Thursday, May 24.
"Tiffany has changed sprinting at SU," said Southern head coach Brian Johnson. "She has become one of the nations best sprints in a short period of time. I am so proud to call her a SU Lady Jag."
Seal, a two-time winner in the 110 meter hurdles, ran a best time of 14.17 during outdoor. Seal is slated to run in Heat 2 of the men's 110 meter hurdles on Friday, May 25 at 5 p.m.
"Erich has taught me what having the will to win at all cost is," said Johnson. "He has made tremendous strides in two years of being here at Southern University."
To watch George and Seals run their respective heats live, click here.
COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
James "Shirt" Williams, '70s Gold Rush standout, dies
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| JAMES "SHIRT" WILLIAMS Feb. 6, 1953 - May 22, 2012 |
A 6-foot-4 forward, a native of New Orleans and a graduate of Xavier (1975) and Booker T. Washington High School (1971), Williams played four seasons for the Gold Rush and averaged 13.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in 90 games. The Gold Rush were 71-30 during his tenure and won NAIA District 30 championships each of his first two seasons. Both those teams qualified for the NAIA National Championship, and the 1972-73 Gold Rush upset unbeaten and top-ranked Sam Houston State 67-60 to reach the quarterfinals.
Williams ranks 18th at Xavier with 1,179 career points. He grabbed 600 rebounds in his XU career and shot 51.9 percent from the floor and 69.1 percent from the line.
"Shirt was a warrior," said XU teammate Sammy Young. "He went full blast from the time he hit the court to the end of the game."
Williams averaged 11.1 points as a sophomore on a team which featured two future NBA players, Don "Slick" Watts and Bruce Seals. Williams caught a full-court pass from Watts and scored a layup with 40 seconds remaining to give Xavier its final points in a 79-77 victory at Tulane on Feb. 1, 1973, in the first meeting between the schools.
"That game meant a lot to us," Watts said. "We were small beans trying to get with the big boys."
Though Watts and Seals played professionally the following season, Xavier defeated Tulane again. Williams scored 14 points against the Green Wave at The Barn, and his basket started a 13-4 run during the final 4:15 to rally the Rush to a 61-53 victory on Jan. 30, 1974.
Williams is one of just two Gold Rush players of the past 39 seasons to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage in the same season. Williams did it as a junior in 1973-74 when he averaged 17.9 points and 6.4 rebounds and shot 52.8 percent from the floor and 74.8 percent from the line. As a senior Williams averaged 14.5 points and 9.9 rebounds, both team highs.
At Booker T. Washington, Williams was a starter on basketball teams which were 53-2 his final two seasons. The Lions won a state championship in the Louisiana Interscholastic and Literary Organization when Williams was a junior in 1970, then lost in the semifinals of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAAA playoffs to Woodlawn of Shreveport (and future hall-of-famer Robert Parish) in 1971 after a 24-0 regular season.
Although BTW did not win a state championship in '71, The Times-Picayune newspaper in 2003 ranked the team among the 10 best in New Orleans history. Williams' BTW teammates included Seals, Greg Berniard and Ames Growe, all of whom signed with Xavier for the 1971-72 season.
"Shirt was every bit the All-American I was," Seals said. "Without him and everyone else on that team, I may not have become the player I was. Those teams were all for one and one for all, period.
"He was a funny guy. He was tough as nails. Indestructible. His passing makes us realize how fragile life is."
Watts called Williams invincible and, like Seals, expressed surprise at his death. "Shirt was like Wilt Chamberlain," Watts said. "I never thought either of them would go away so soon."
Watts also called Williams one of his best teammates. "Shirt was always happy, always having fun. He always found a way to make you smile and make things all right. I never got tired of talking with him.
"He was a tough man. He was Superman. If you got in a fight, you wanted him in your corner."
Williams was a longtime employee of Camelot College in Baton Rouge, where he worked in student services.
"Shirt never wanted anyone to hold a grudge," said Ronnie Owens, a BTW and Xavier classmate and longtime friend. "He always believed in moving on, moving forward. His final words in any conversation were, 'God bless you.'"
Williams was known as Shirt the majority of his life. "He wore a white shirt to school every day," Owens said.
"He was known as 'white shirt' until he got to high school," Seals said. "When he got to Booker T., the white got dropped."
Survivors include his wife, Gloria Levy Williams; a daughter, Enjolee; a son, Jarrett; one sister and three brothers. Four brothers preceded Williams in death. His funeral will start at 11 a.m. Tuesday (May 29) at Second Baptist Church, 914 North Acadian Thruway West in Baton Rouge (zip code 70802, phone 225-344-8743).
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information DirectorVISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
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