LeMoyne-Owen student-athlete Deyquan Nesbit overcame the odds to become 142nd graduating class valedictorian

MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- The valedictorian for LeMoyne-Owen College's 142nd graduating class is a young man who has overcome challenges on and off the court. Deyquan Nesbit is not only this year's MVP of LeMoyne-Owen College's men's basketball team, but also the top student on campus with a 3.93 grade point average. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Finance on May 12, 2012.


Deyquan Nesbit
Hometown: Harlem, New York
2012 Valedictorian (142nd Class)
LeMoyne-Owen College

Nesbitt joined the LeMoyne-Owen College Magicians in 2010 after transferring from Monroe Community College in Louisiana. Originally a shooting guard, at 5' 10”, he was a bit small for the position in LeMoyne-Owen's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). An assistant coach at the time, Antonio Burks convinced Magician's Coach William Anderson to take on Nesbitt at the point guard position. Burks took him under his wing and helped him make a smooth transition from a sharp shooter to a floor general.

This year Nesbitt finished the season with the following stats per game:
• Points: 5.6
• Assists: 5.7
• Steals: 2.8
• Rebounds: 2.4
• Minutes played: 23 minutes No injuries

Nesbit was born and raised in Harlem, New York. He developed a passion for basketball in his teens. He began his collegiate basketball career at Hostos Community College in Bronx, New York and transferred to Monroe Community College before arriving at LeMoyne-Owen College.

Nesbit not only has been the Magicians' team captain for the past two years, but also was selected as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Academic Team for 2010/2011 and 2011/2012.

LeMoyne-Owen's student athletes are required to participate in community service as an important part of their education. Nesbitt's service has included speaking to student athletes at Manassas High School and participating in the campus clean up event for the past two years. He also served as a skills development instructor for potential student athletes this past spring.

Coach William Anderson lauds Nesbitt for being so coachable. “His leadership abilities on and off the court begins with his supreme work ethic. He goes hard in every practice and works on his game in his free time. He truly leads by example. He is the epitome of coachable. Early on in this season, we realized the key to our success was going to be the point position and DeyQuan. He rose to the challenge which is why we voted him MVP.”

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A woman’s touch from Fingers

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- When Southern football players got a first look at their new strength and conditioning coach this spring, most opinions ranged from doubtful to incredulous. They’d heard Corliss Fingers might be joining the team, but now it was real.

The person in charge of getting them physically ready for another season and helping them chase the dream of a pro career would be … a she?

It is the 500-pound barbell in the room, and Fingers likes to address it early. “Yes, I’m a female. We’ll get over that in about 10 minutes, and we’ll move on,” she said.

That’s about how long it took Fingers to make it clear that there would be no sugar and spice in her weight room. She hadn’t officially begun her new job at Southern; the day was supposed to be spent shadowing coach Stump Mitchell, to watch his players work out. Just a nice, easy visit.

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Former UDC, Coppin State head coach hired at Northeastern

BRITT KING

BOSTON, Massachusetts -- Head coach Daynia La-Force and the Northeastern women's basketball team has announced the hiring of Britt King as a new assistant coach. King's duties will include recruiting, scouting and post development.

“I am very excited to be working with one of the brilliant minds in our game," La-Force said. "I welcome her back to a game she is so passionate about and a game she has exceled in both as a player and a coach. Our women's basketball team will benefit from what Coach King can bring to every aspect of the program.”

King comes to Huntington Ave after spending more than 25 years as a fixture on the women's basketball scene, both as a player and as a coach. Her most recent coaching experience came from 2006-09, when she was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Appalachian State. During her time with the Mountaineers, King helped to recruit four Southern Conference All-Freshman performers.

Prior to her stint at Appalachian State, King worked as an assistant coach at American University from 2004-06, where she also graduated with an MBA in in 1989. While working at American, King was tasked with coordinating all practices and workout schedules and also had a hand in recruiting.

King also possesses a plehtora of head coaching experience, most recently at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania from 2002-04. For four seasons from 1998-02 King guided Fresno State as the program's head coach. While with the Bulldogs, King recruited and developed five All-WAC conference performers, along with the 2001 WAC Co-Freshman of the Year, Aritta Lane. Her 2001 recruiting class was nationally ranked.

Before her time in Fresno King spent a season as the head coach at Coppin State, where she recruited future MEAC Player of the Year, Keisha Brooks. Her first head coaching gig came from 1992-97, when she guided the Division II University of District of Columbia Firebirds. King took the upstart program to national prominence, pushing UDC to a national ranking and an appearance in the NCAA tournament. King compiled a 64-57 record in her career at UDC, including a 20-6 mark in 1994-95.

King got into the coaching game after a highly successful playing career. King spent four years as a star of the Providence College Friars from 1982-86. She was inducted into the Providence Hall of Fame in 2008. King left the Friars as the program's all time leading rebounder with 1,205 boards, and averaged 13 points and ten rebounds a game during her career. During her time in Providence she earned All-Big East First Team honors (1985-86), All-Big East Second Team laurels (1984-85), Big East All-Tournament honors (1986) and was a KODAK District I All-American in 1985. King also earned Providence College Female Athlete of the Year in 1986.

Following her sterling collegiate career, King played overseas for two seasons with the El Masnou Club in Barcelona, Spain. King was selected as one of the squad's two Americans.

The Northeastern women's basketball team finished 8-22 last season, winning four of five to close the regular season before a 70-60 defeat at the hands of George Mason in the first round of the Virginia 529 Collegiate Savings Plan CAA Championship. The Huskies return three of their top four scorers from last year's squad for the 2012-13 campaign.

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MSU's Kenny Ridley Named to CFPA Preseason Watch List

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Morgan State junior Kenny Ridley (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) was one of three defensive backs from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selected to the College Football Performance Awards preseason watch list. The CFPA announced the defensive backs list on Monday (June 11) as part of its weekly position announcement this summer.

Ridley led the Bears with four (MEAC ranked T-2nd) of the team's 12 interceptions (MEAC ranked No. 6th) last year while breaking up six passes. He recorded a personal-high 42 tackles playing in all 11 games and recorded three tackles for a loss.

Ridley is one of three returning starters in the secondary, and is hungry to improve upon last season's accomplishments.

The goal of the CFPA, as it states on its website, is to provide the most scientifically rigorous criteria in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.

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Jackson State names new women's basketball coach

JACKSON, Mississippi - Surina Dixon, who was fired as the Texas Southern women’s head basketball coach in 2008 before coaching a game there, returned to the SWAC today. Dixon is the new women’s coach at Jackson State, the school announced in a news conference.

Dixon, 50, was fired at Texas Southern in June 2008. Last August, she was awarded $730,000 by a jury after filing a federal lawsuit in which she claimed her firing was retaliation for complaining about gender discrimination regarding her contract.


Dixon’s hire comes nearly a year after Denise Taylor was fired by JSU last June. Taylor filed a federal lawsuit earlier this year against the university alleging wrongful termination and discrimination. A May 2013 trial date has been set for her lawsuit.

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N.C. Senate kills WSSU request to buy Bowman Gray; Childress is a potential buyer

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - Winston-Salem State University's effort to buy Bowman Gray Stadium from the city was snuffed out Thursday when state lawmakers killed the university's request for permission to borrow $7.5 million for the purchase.

The legislative move — sponsored by Sen. Don East, R-Surry, and pushed by Winston-Salem entrepreneur Harold Day — opens the door wider to another potential bidder: Richard Childress, the NASCAR icon from Winston-Salem who sold peanuts as a child at Bowman Gray and started his racing career there in the 1950s.

Bill Patterson, an executive vice president at Richard Childress Racing, met with Martha Wheelock, an assistant city manager, recently to talk about costs related to the stadium, he said.  Bowman Gray has sentimental value for Childress. It's a landmark stock-car racing stadium and more could be done with it, Patterson said, though he declined to provide further information about what else could be done.

"We do have an interest in it," he said.

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The FAMU Rattlers Are Getting Ready - Get Your Tickets!

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Padric Scott had been flying under the radar since returning from his freshman year, where he was at Stanford University. Recruited out of Lincoln High School, a virtual national powerhouse, Scott accepted a scholarship from the Cardinal to play football and pursue his degree in biology. Not long after, and for several reasons, Scott returned to Tallahassee to play at FAMU and continue his quest for a degree.  On April 28, 2012, Scott achieved the degree in biology and now his focus is squarely on football...and of course, graduate school. 

Scott is the strongest person on the Rattler football team, pressing well over 500lbs. Recently, for the commercial (below), he pressed 405 lbs. five times in a single set. Since his breakout season last year, Scott is no longer under the radar. In fact, several trade magazines have put him on their watch lists. The latest includes the Sports Network (which rated him the top lineman to watch in the MEAC) and College Football Performance Awards, who both recognized Scott by placing him on their watch lists.


Padric Scott, 6'-1"/305, B.S. Biology (2012), Florida A&M University

Last season, Scott battled an injury sustained in the opening game against Fort Valley State to return after missing a few games and salvage a decent season. Last season he had 28 total tackles. Six of those were for loss. In addition, he captured three sack, caused three hurries, grabbed one fumble and caused another fumble.

Head coach Joe Taylor is high on Scott's work ethic.  "We always say that hard work does not go unnoticed. As a student, there was never any doubt that Padric would excel. As a player, he has come into his own and this looks to be a solid senior season. He is diligent in the weight room, which translates to his performance on the field. He is a true testament to reaping the rewards of your labor. I couldn't be happier for him. When he sets his mind to something, he pursues with a laser focus and I couldn't be more proud to have him as a leader on our team," Taylor said.

Brochure: The Rattlers Are Getting Ready - Get Your Tickets!

FAMU RATTLERS 2012 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

 

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