More good APR news for Southern University

BAGON ROUGE, Louisiana - During lunch on Thursday, Southern Athletic Director William Broussard’s phone kept buzzing in his pocket. When he checked it, he saw three missed calls from assistant academic counselor Trayvean Scott.

“I started thinking, is the place on fire?” Broussard said.

In darker days — those marred by severe penalties related to the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate — a flurry of calls from someone in Scott’s position may have spelled trouble, but those days are becoming a thing of the past at Southern.

Scott was calling with good news. SU had heard from the NCAA on its grant proposal, and the results were a first for all parties involved.

Southern received $21,300 from the NCAA’s Supplemental Support Fund — believed to be a school record — to be put toward sprucing up the Jaguars’ academic support of student-athletes.

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Colts acquire JSU's cornerback D.J. Johnson from Philadelphia

D.J. JOHNSON

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana  -  The Indianapolis Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles have engineered a trade, sending cornerback D.J. Johnson to Indy in exchange for defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu.

Johnson is 6-foot-1 and 191 pounds out of Jackson State, where he was named the Defensive MVP of the 2007 SWAC Championship game. In that contest, he returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the 42-31 victory over Grambling. After leading his team in 2008 with four interceptions and leading the conference in pass breakups (13) and passes defended, Johnson was named first team All-SWAC.

He signed with the Denver Broncos in 2009 as an undrafted free agent and has since spent time with the New York Giants, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Minnesota Vikings, the Washington Redskins, and the Eagles. He has recorded a total of 10 tackles in 10 NFL games in his career--all of which were with the Giants. He spent the 2011 season on the Eagles' practice squad.

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FAMU QB Fleming has new look, attitude

NORFOLK, Virginia — At the end of last football season, Florida A&M quarterback Damien Fleming reviewed film of every game that he played and decided he needed to make some changes.

He set out to fix the mistakes and work on the aspects of his game that looked shaky. It started with his movement in the pocket.

He didn’t just stop with his techniques. Fleming said his personality needed some work too. Off went the long locks that had become his trademark since his first day of practice, dangling from under his helmet.



Fleming’s assessment of ways to improve went farther. He’s adopted a new attitude that he hopes will trickle down to every player on offense.

“I’m looking forward to making the average players great,” he said. “I’m looking to my O-line; those guys held me up last year. I just hope I can make everybody much better.”

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Inside the MEAC: Pough, Adrian not surprised by selections

NORFOLK, Virginia - Head coach Buddy Pough was not surprised South Carolina State was not selected as the preseason favorite for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title.

Even less surprised about the poll was the head coach of the team picked to repeat as conference champion Norfolk State.

“Oh yeah, great,” Norfolk State Pete Adrian was quoted by The Virginian-Pilot saying after the Spartans were introduced as the preseason favorites during Friday’s MEAC media day. “Nice little surprise. We knew we had an X on us. Now they just put a little red paint on it.”

The preseason poll, which includes votes from each school’s coach and sports information director, had the defending champion Spartans first with 11 of the 22 first-place votes. The Bulldogs received four first-place votes to finish second, followed by Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M and Hampton, which is ineligible for the post-season for low Academic Progress Report scores.

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President Obama talks FAMU hazing on campaign trail

JACKSONVILLE, Florida - President Barack Obama weighed in this week on a hazing incident at Florida A&M University which attracted national attention and resulted in the death of a band member.

Following a campaign appearance in the state on Thursday, CNN affiliate WCTV in Jacksonville caught up with the president who commented on last November's death of band member Robert Champion. Champion was badly beaten on a band bus after a football game in Orlando.

"Well, obviously the loss of that young man's life is heartbreaking. I think that we can't tolerate bullying of any sort, anywhere. And when we send our young people to college we expect them to be there to learn and to get a great experience, not to be beaten. So, you know, I'm pleased this has gotten attention," said Obama, adding that while tradition is something to be continued, "We don't need this kind of bullying to be a part of it."

Provost Larry Robinson, acting interim President at FAMU, is a former member of the Obama administration.



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Grambling petitions to remove Joe Paterno wins record

Breedlove said the letter was sent on behalf of the city of Grambling, not the university, though a favorable NCAA decision would benefit both entities.


GRAMBLING, Louisiana - The Grambling city attorney, in concert with Mayor Edward R. Jones, has sent a letter to the NCAA asking the college athletics governing body to vacate some of Penn State coach Joe Paterno's wins in order to restore the Division I football victories record to Grambling State's Eddie Robinson.

Pamela N. Breedlove of Bossier City sent a three page letter to the NCAA on Wednesday, explaining the city's position regarding Robinson, who won 408 games in his 57-year career at Grambling State.

“Even though it was done by outside counsel, the Freeh Report was the university’s report,” Breedlove said. “It said what their employees, including coach Paterno, did wrong. We’re hoping the end result of this is coach Robinson will get his record back so everyone will think a great man holds this record.”

Breedlove’s letter, written in concert with Grambling mayor Edward Jones, cites the cover-up of recently convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, a longtime Paterno assistant coach, as violating NCAA constitutional articles 2.4 and 6.4 as well as operating bylaws articles 2.4, 11.1.1 and 11.2.1.

VIEW: THE FREEH REPORT ON PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

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JCSU football picked fifth in CIAA South

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Johnson C. Smith football is predicted to finish near the bottom of the CIAA South.

The Golden Bulls were picked fifth in the six-team division in a preseason poll of league coaches at Thursday’s media conference in Petersburg, Va. JCSU, which was the preseason No. 5 pick in 2011, went 6-5 (4-3 CIAA), finished third in the South and won the Pioneer Bowl.

The Golden Bulls, who are looking to post consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1973, return 21 lettermen and 12 starters in 2012, including quarterback Keahn Wallace, the CIAA offensive rookie of the year. They also return all-CIAA defensive end Derrick Johnson (Hopewell High) and offensive tackle Rico Arellano (Butler), both of whom were named to the 2012 preseason all-conference team.

Four South teams were among the coaches’ top five squads, with 2011 division champion and Division II semifinalist Winston-Salem State the preseason No. 1.

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