TSU Has Strong Showing at Baskin Weems Relays

COLUMBIA, South Carolina – The Tennessee State men’s and women’s track teams competed against 29 opponents in Saturday’s Baskin Weems Relays and secured 12 top-five finishes.

 

In the field events, Ashontae Jackson won the women’s long jump with a leap of 5.52 meters, which was nearly half a meter farther than the competition.

 

The Tigerbelles also performed well in the triple jump as Ja’Lyn Burr and Felicia Oladakun placed second and fourth, respectively, with hops of 11.4 and 11.33 meters.

 

Angel Davis was another standout performer for TSU, as the freshman had the second-longest discus toss of the day at 38.99 meters.

For the Flying Tigers, Jason Griffin cracked the top-five in the 110-meter hurdles by placing fourth with a final time of 15.18 seconds.

In the men’s high jump, Tennessee State dominated the competition as Daryl Rice won the event with a leap of two meters and Sean Jenkins took second with a jump of 1.95 meters.

The Flying Tigers were nearly just as successful in the long jump as Tyler Anderson won the event with a final of 6.71 meters. Teammate Royce Dates leapt 6.46 meters, which was good enough for fifth place.

Anderson also finished fifth in the triple jump, skipping 13.53 meters.

In the track events, Quanisha Sales placed third in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 25.52 seconds. She then paired with Jackson, Clairwin Dameus and Diera Taylor to take home second in the 4x100 meter relay.

Oteia Prince also finished second in the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase, completing the event in 10:29.35.

 

TSU will take a weekend off of competitions to prepare for the Pepsi- Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla. on April 5.

 

 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Defense dominates Southern’s spring game

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Southern closed spring football camp Saturday with a 121-play scrimmage at A.W. Mumford Stadium, and surprisingly the defense stole the show.

Ending its first preseason under first-year head coach Dawson Odums, who previously was defensive coordinator, the second-team defense kept the first-team offense out of the end zone.

The scrimmage began with the first-team offense backed up to its 3-yard-line against the second-team defense. Both units rotated starters and reserves for a couple of rounds before moving the ball to the 45 for the same drill.

The final period of the scrimmage was a red-zone drill, with the offense beginning just 20 yards from the end zone. Drives led by senior quarterback Dray Joseph and the rest of the starters never resulted in points; the only offensive scores came from the second-teamers, when quarterback Wynton Perro was at the helm.

Joseph ended the scrimmage 12-of-24 for 118 yards and an interception but was upbeat afterward.

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XU produces NAIA's best time this season at LSU Relays

DEVINN ROLLAND

BATON ROUGE, La. — Xavier University of Louisiana's Devinn Rolland, Zahri Jackson, Tramaine Shannon and Chartia Hurt ran the NAIA's fastest 1,600-meter relay time this season at the LSU Relays on Saturday.

The four runners finished in 3 minutes, 54.13 seconds — the Gold Nuggets' fastest time since Xavier revived its track and field program in 2010. Rolland, Jackson, Shannon and Hurt met the A-qualifying standard for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Marion, Ind., in May.

Xavier placed sixth out of 13 entries and finished ahead of five NCAA Division I teams.

Jackson also met the A-qualifying standard in the 800-meter run. She finished fifth out of 31 entries in a career-best 2:12.01. LSU's Laura Carleton won in 2:11.08.

Rolland met the NAIA's B-standard in the 100 for the second time this season, finishing eighth out of 50 sprinters in 12.17. Rolland also met the B-standard with a long jump of 5.55 meters (18 feet, 2½ inches) and placed 11th out of 34 entries. She met the A-standard in the long jump three previous times this season.

Chelsea James, Shannon, Hurt and Rolland finished third out of six teams in the 800-meter relay in a season-best 1:41.28. Catherine Fakler ran a season-best 2:22.01 in the 800 and placed 13th. Shannon ran a season-best 1:00.43 in the 400 and placed 28th out of 42 entries.

The Rush and Nuggets will not compete next week during Xavier's spring break. They'll resume competition April 5 in the Mississippi College Twilight Invitational at Clinton, Miss.
Here are all of Xavier's Saturday results from the LSU Relays:

    
Women
800: Zahri Jackson, 5th in 2:12:01; Catherine Fakler, 13th in 2:22.01.
800 Relay: Chelsea James, Tramaine Shannon, Chartia Hurt, Devinn Rolland, 3rd in 1:41.28
100: Devinn Rolland, 8th in 12.17; Chelsea James, 24th in 12.54
1,600 Relay: Devinn Rolland, Zahri Jackson, Tramaine Shannon, Chartia Hurt, 6th in 3:54.13
Long Jump: Devinn Rolland, 11th in 5.55 meters (18 feet, 2½ inches)
400: Tramaine Shannon, 28th in 1:00.43; Chartia Hurt, 33rd in 1:01.77


Men
Long Jump: Christopher Kennie, 13th in 6.23 meters (20 feet, 5¼ inches)

Results (PDF file)

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

2013 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships April 13 at Tad Gormley Stadium, New Orleans Field Events: 8:45 a.m. Track Events: 9:30 a.m. Meet Information

 

Dr. Boyce Watkins: March Madness Revenue Exceeds $1 Billion, Players Get Harmed in the Process

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina  -- In case you’re not aware, the NCAA is big, really big. This professional sports league that disguises itself as being amateur is rolling in money and profitability. Much of this excess is driven by the fact that their competitors, the NFL, NBA and Major League baseball, have one line item in their budgets that the NCAA does not have: The cost of compensating their players.

For the first time ever, ad revenue from March Madness has crossed the $1 billion dollar mark. According to Kantar Media, no other professional sports league has surpassed this number. The NFL took in in a “measly” $976 million and the NBA was even more embarrassing at $537 million. Oh, Major League Baseball was barely worth mentioning, at $354 million.

Now considering that the league with the lowest post-season revenue has players making as much as $30 million dollars per year, you can only imagine how much the mother of a college athlete might benefit if her child were able to negotiate his fair market value.

Even more interesting is the way that the NCAA has played with our heads. They market their improved graduation rates as if that’s fair compensation to a player whose siblings are still living in the projects. I’m sure that a player’s hungry relatives will be glad to hear that a $3 million dollar salary has been traded in for a nice degree in General Studies that could get the player an assistant manager’s job at Applebee’s.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins is a faculty affiliate at the College Sport Research Institute at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

FAMU Rattlers test out new scheme

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  From the tone of offensive coordinator Quinn Gray’s voice, this wasn’t an ordinary test run Saturday morning on the FAMU football practice field.

“It isn’t good enough,” Gray shouted to the players on offense after a whistle was blown on two consecutive plays. “You’ve got to do better.”

The Rattlers spent most of the hour they were on the field — wearing helmets and pads – trying to get the hang of the new offensive scheme Gray is introducing. They managed to get in 40 plays before lightning halted the morning workout.

Even with the weather interruption, head coach Earl Holmes said he saw enough to begin getting a feel for who will make his first depth chart. Every player, except starting quarterback Damien Fleming, is being given an opportunity to compete for a position, he said.

“We are looking for who is going to line up and play; alignment, assignment and execution,” Holmes said. “That’s all we are looking...

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Jenkins pleased with B-CU's opening day of spring practice

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  Bethune-Cookman football coach Brian Jenkins said he was happy to get on the field for the first day of spring practice.

And he liked what he saw Saturday.

It was good to get it going,'' Jenkins said, speaking after the afternoon practice at the Wildcats' refurbished campus practice field.

“The guys moved around pretty well. They've been training hard in the offseason,'' Jenkins said. "They've been very focused and detailed about everything that they've been doing thus far, and it's carried over into our first day of practice, which is exciting in my mind.''

Jenkins did not make players available for comment or allow the News-Journal to take photographs.

“No pictures,'' he said when asked why a photographer was turned away from practice.

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Florida A&M University Holmes Adds NFL Experience

EARL HOLMES
HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
FAMU RATTLERS

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Five former NFL players with coaching experience on the high school level will join Earl Holmes’ staff of assistants to begin his era as head football coach at FAMU.

The Democrat also learned Wednesday night that Edwin Pata, a former assistant under Joe Taylor who Holmes replaced, will return to coach the offensive line.

Two of the new coaches, Levon Kirkland and Ernie Mills, were teammates with Holmes when they played for the Pittsburg Steelers during the 1990s.

Pata, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at FIU, will coach the offensive line. The other former NFL players expected to become position coaches are Elijah Williams, Chris Cash, and former FSU defniensive back Corey Fuller.

It wasn’t immediately clear when Mills and Fuller, who turned around the East Gadsden football program, will officially join the staff.

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2013 FAMU RATTLERS FOOTBALL STAFF

Earl Holmes, Head Coach
George Small, Associate Head Coach
Quinn Gray, Offensive Coordinator/QB
Juan Vasquez, Special Teams
Edwin Pata, Offensive Line
Levon Kirland, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Ernie Mills, Wide Receivers
Elijah Williams, Running Backs
Chris Cash, Secondary
Corey Fuller, Secondary
William Bennett, Videographer
Deidre Butler, Administrative Assistant
Greg Hankton, Equipment Manager

(Click each name for bio or related article)

Hampton University women face daunting challenge in powerful Duke

DURHAM, N.C. — At Hampton University World Basketball Headquarters, they've been a mite peeved about their seed in the NCAA women's tournament since it was announced Monday. They have an advocate in Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie.

"Hampton is the greatest No. 15 seed I've ever seen in my life," McCallie said, in advance of Sunday's first-round game against her second-seeded Blue Devils. "They are absolutely terrific. It's the best Hampton team, I think, that's ever been there in the history of the program."

McCallie mentioned how Hampton (28-5) hadn't been tested in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. That's a bit of a stretch, though only two of the Lady Pirates' final 14 wins were by single digits.

"They belong in the ACC," McCallie said. "They're an ACC team."

She added, "Hampton could have beaten a ton of our teams in the ACC. … If you put them in the ACC, they're as good as most ACC teams, and as athletic as any of them."

The Lady Pirates appreciate the compliment, but they face an XL-sized challenge in Duke (30-2), the ACC regular-season and tournament champs on their home floor.

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Apopka's mighty mite Jevric Blocker taking talent to SIAC and Benedict College Tigers

APOPKA, Florida -- The path to college football wasn't exactly an easy route for Jevric Blocker.

He's had to overcome obstacles all along the way, but the star weapon from this past season's Florida Class 8A state champion Apopka Blue Darters has finally found his home at the next level.

Blocker, the the 5-foot-4, 142-pound running back — in pads we assume — has signed to play at Benedict College, an historically black liberal arts college in Columbia, S.C. The Tigers compete at the NCAA Division II level.




"This is a big stress relief," Blocker said of finally making his college choice. "We went and visited and I did a lot of research on the head coach [James Woody] and the academics. I plan to major in business and they had all of the intangibles for me to be successful."

Blocker was the fourth-leading rusher among Central Florida running backs this past season, running for 1,704 yards. He also scored 27 touchdowns and played a vital role in the Darters run to the state crown.





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B-CU gets back to fundamentals for spring football practice

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  Brian Jenkins had to think about it. Is this his most experienced team since he became Bethune-Cookman's head football coach after the 2009 season?

“That's a good question,'' he said. “I'm not sure.''

 

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Wildcats have lost some key players, but the majority of the starters from last year's 9-3 team are back.

 

Still, spring is a time of rebirth, and that's how Jenkins views spring practice, which is scheduled to get under way Saturday at the Wildcats' refurbished practice field on campus.

 

“We're just going to work on fundamentals,” Jenkins said. “This team is untested. It hasn't done anything yet.''

 

The Wildcats are scheduled to have 12 practices before ending with a spring scrimmage April 20 at either New Smyrna Beach Stadium or Municipal Stadium. B-CU athletic spokesman Bryan Harvey said the Wildcats have not set a time or venue for the scrimmage, which will be open to the public. The Wildcats' practices are not open to the public.

 

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2013 B-CU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

 

 Date                       Opponent                             

Sun, Sep 01	Tennessee State	Nashville, Tenn.	TBA
Sat, Sep 07	Virginia Union	Daytona Beach, Fla.	4:00 p.m.
Sat, Sep 14	Florida International	Miami, Fla.	TBA
Sat, Sep 21	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	TBA
Sat, Oct 05	Delaware State *	Dover, Del.	TBA
Sat, Oct 12	Howard *	Washington, D.C.	1:00 p.m.
Sat, Oct 19	Savannah State *	Daytona Beach, Fla.	4:00 p.m.
Homecoming
Sat, Oct 26	South Carolina State *	Daytona Beach, Fla.	4:00 p.m.
Sat, Nov 02	North Carolina Central *	Durham, N.C.	2:00 p.m.
Sat, Nov 09	Norfolk State *	Daytona Beach, Fla.	4:00 p.m.
Sat, Nov 16	Hampton *	Daytona Beach, Fla.	4:00 p.m.
Sat, Nov 23	Florida A&M *	Orlando, Fla.	TBA

XU Nuggets' sprint medley quartet places third at LSU Relays

Coach Joseph Moses — on the left side of the back row — and some of his
 Xavier track and field athletes posed for a team photo February 14 outside
the  new Convocation Center. Front row, from left: Chelsea James,
Chartia Hurt, Tayler Louis, Devinn Rolland, Tramaine Shannon, Zahri
Jackson  and Hannah Flanagan. Back row, from left: Moses, Kwame Jackson, 
Briana Simms, Chris Kenner, Catherine Fakler and David Holobowicz.
(Click photo to enlarge)

BATON ROUGE, La. — Xavier University of Louisiana's Chelsea James, Devinn Rolland, Chartia Hurt and Zahri Jackson placed third Friday out of 12 teams in the women's 1,600-meter sprint medley relay at the LSU Relays.

The Gold Nuggets, the only non-NCAA Division I team in the relay, finished in 4 minutes, 3.36 seconds — less than 4½ seconds behind LSU, which won in 3:59.11. Louisiana-Monroe was second in 4:01.12, and Jackson State was fourth in 4:08.44. Tulane, Arkansas State and Nicholls State were among the other relay squads that Xavier beat.

The Nuggets' Catherine Fakler ran 1,500 meters in a career-best 4:50.52 to place seventh out of 31 runners. She finished ahead of 17 NCAA D-I runners. Freshman David Holobowicz, competing for the first time as a collegian at 5,000 meters, placed 15th in 16:44.82, the fastest by a Gold Rush runner this season.

There is no team scoring in the two-day meet, which will conclude Saturday. Field events will start at 10 a.m., track events at 1 p.m.

Results (PDF file)

Here are all of Xavier's Friday results from the LSU Relays:

Women
1,600 Sprint Medley Relay: Chelsea James, Devinn Rolland, Chartia Hurt, Zahri Jackson, 3rd in 4:03:36
1,500: Catherine Fakler, 5th in 4:50.52
5,000: Hannah Finnegan, did not finish

Men
5,000: David Holobowicz, 15th in 16:44.82

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 

TSU Football Holds Pro Day

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee State football conducted its' annual pro day on Friday at the TSU Indoor Practice Facility.
 

Over 20 scouts from the National Football League (NFL) were in attendance as well as a crowd of about 250.

The Tigers had scouts from numerous NFL teams including the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots.

Most of the 2012 TSU seniors participated including Rogers Gaines, Travis James, Sherman Carter and junior Trabis Ward.
 

Follow TSU Athletics on Facebook.com/TSUTigers, Twitter @TSU_Tigers and YouTube
 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Claflin University Decides to go in Different Directions with their Men's and Women's Basketball Programs

Orangeburg, SC -  Claflin University has decided to move in a different direction in terms of leadership for both its men's and women's basketball programs.

"I personally want to thank Coach Ron Woodard and Coach Tiffany Tucker for their contributions to the University as the men's and women's head coach, respectively. I wish them well in their future endeavors, commented Dr. Jerome Fitch, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, at Claflin University.

The University has named Terrence Jenkins and Dont'e McChester as interim head coaches for the men's and women's basketball programs respectively.

The University will begin a national search for the men's and women's programs. " Our goal is to find coaches with the right fit for Claflin University and we will take deliberate speed to identify them," said Dr. Jerome Fitch.

COURTESY CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Booker T. hires former NSU aide as head coach

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  Jim Flowers led Lafayette-Winona Middle School to the city football championship this past fall.

Booker T. Washington hopes he has similar success in high school.

Flowers, a former Norfolk State player and assistant coach, was hired to coach the Bookers on Thursday - his first head-coaching position in high school.

Flowers also was an assistant coach at Hampton University and Maury High.

"I'm old and I've been around a long time," joked Flowers, who didn't want to disclose his age but said he coached under Darnell Moore and the late Dick Price at Norfolk State. "But I appreciate this opportunity and I look forward to the challenge to continue the success that's already been established here."

Flowers replaces Che Jacobs, who was 21-20 in four seasons. He led the Bookers to the playoffs in 2011, the school's first postseason appearance since 2004 and first winning season since 2003.

Flowers had applied for the Booker T. Washington job before.

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Southwest Guilford basketball star commits to WSSU

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Terrell Leach, a standout point guard at Southwest Guilford, has committed to play basketball at Winston-Salem State, coach Guy Shavers of Southwest said Thursday.

Leach (6-foot, 175) is the second guard to commit for play for coach Bobby Collins next season, joining combination guard Jamison Jeffers of Burlington.

The commitments should help offset the losses of three starters from this season’s 21-7 team, including point guard Marcus Wells, a four-year starter, and leading scorer Justin Glover.

Leach helped the Cowboys to a 27-1 record this past season, with the only loss to Reagan in the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs. He averaged 30 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

 

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WSSU Notes: QB position under scrutiny

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  One of the most watched positions this spring at WSSU is quarterback.

Expected starter Anthony Carrothers , who was 2-0 as a starter in the 2012 playoffs, has been sharing time with DeShean Townsend and E.J. Abrams-Ward . The Rams lost Kam Smith , who was 32-4 in three seasons as the starter.

Carrothers hasn’t been 100 percent and will need surgery on his left, non-throwing shoulder after spring practice. Townsend is in his third season with the Rams but hasn’t played much, and Abrams-Ward, 22, hasn’t played quarterback since he was at Thomasville High School.

“You have to let them three guys compete,” Coach Connell Maynor said. “So we’ll let them battle, and you have to throw them into the fire to get reps.”

Abrams-Ward (6-5, 230) signed with Tennessee but redshirted there in 2008 and will have four seasons of eligibility at WSSU.

“He just has to get in and work with us a lot more, but he’ll have the summer and the offseason to watch film and study and to shake that rust off,” Maynor said. “He may be a year away, but we’ll see.”

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Ram Ramblings: WSSU spring practice "Rome wasn't built in a day"

I certainly didn’t feel out of place at WSSU spring football practice on Wednesday with my bulky sling I was wearing after shoulder surgery last week.

At least six probable starters for the Rams will miss spring practice while recovering from surgeries or other injuries.

The first injured player I ran into was Nate Hartung, who was riding a stationary bike while watching fellow offensive lineman go through drills. Hartung, who is 380 pounds on a good day, had ankle surgery and is taking the spring off so he’ll be ready for practice in the fall.

The injuries aren’t limited to just the players. Assistant coach Daren Hart was on crutches and wearing a bulky knee brace but he continued to coach the defensive backs from the sidelines.

There is certainly a different feel at spring practice this year, mainly because the Rams lost 22 seniors from last season’s 14-1 team. Several of the leaders are no longer there so it’s up to the younger guys to increase their roles.

There will be plenty of reconstruction this spring as Coach Connell Maynor and his staff shuffles around personal trying to find the right players for the right positions.

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Search Begins for New PVAMU Athletic Director

FRED WASHINGTON
PVAMU

 PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas  --  PVAMU President George C. Wright announced Wednesday that Fred Washington, who serves as vice president auxiliary services as well as athletic director, will step down from the director post to focus on auxiliary operations. He will remain a member of the University’s executive staff.

“It has been my distinct privilege and honor to have served as athletic director for an institution filled with athletes who perform well on and off the field. I cannot express fully how much I have appreciated the opportunity to be a part of this great sports tradition and how much I have learned from the coaches, staff and students,” Washington stated.

According to Wright, the search for the University’s next athletic director will begin immediately. The search will accept qualified candidates from across the country that are experienced and able to lead the program while adhering to National Collegiate Athletic Association, Southwestern Athletic Conference and University regulations.

 “I commend Fred Washington for his leadership and vision in directing our athletic program.
Indeed we have celebrated many accomplishments during his tenure,” said Wright. “We are cultivating our legacy as a school that embodies the spirit of champions. This is due in no small part to Mr. Washington’s leadership and tenacity. We greatly appreciate his efforts.”

Washington became athletic director in 2009 after serving in the role as interim for 11 months. During his tenure the department garnered 11 championships including a football championship in 2009, the first in 45 years. The overall success continued and in 2012 Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships by the baseball, women's basketball and bowling teams led to Prairie View sweeping the season ending awards for 2011-12. The Panthers captured the Sadie Magee/Barbara Jacket Award, the C.D. Henry Award and the James Frank Award which were presented at the spring meetings en route to claiming the overall Commissioner's Cup.

The women’s basketball team defeated Mississippi Valley 100-87 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship to earn their third-consecutive SWAC Conference Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They will play number one seed Baylor on Sunday.

COURTESY PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Lincoln Releases 2013 Football Schedule

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pennsylvania  — Lincoln University officially released the 2013 football schedule on Thursday, March 21, as the Lions will play four home games at the Lincoln University Football Stadium.

The home dates include contests against Livingstone, Virginia Union, Virginia State and Chowan.

The Lions take to the road against rival Cheyney, West Virginia Wesleyan, Saint Francis (PA), Johnson C. Smith, Elizabeth City State and Bowie State.

The 2013 campaign opens with a short trip to meet rival Cheyney University in the annual Battle of the First game in Cheyney, Pa., on Sept. 7. Lincoln continues its season on the road for the next two games as he Lions battle West Virginia Wesleyan College on Sept. 14 in Buckhannon, W.Va., and conclude their season-opening three-game road trip at NCAA Division I Saint Francis University (PA) on Sept. 21 in Loretto, Pa.

Lincoln finally makes its home debut on Sept. 28 as the Lions open CIAA play against Livingstone College during the Hall of Fame and Military Appreciation Day.

The following week, Lincoln takes to the road on Oct. 5, and travels to Charlotte, N.C., to take on Johnson C. Smith. Last season, the Lions outlasted the Golden Bulls at home, 55-53.

Virginia Union visits Lincoln to begin CIAA Northern Division action in Week 6 during Health and Wellness Day on Oct. 12. The Lions return to the road on Oct. 19 as Lincoln battles with Elizabeth City State.

The Lions close out the month of October with their 2013 Homecoming game as Lincoln plays host to Virginia State on Oct. 26. The final road game comes a week later on Nov. 2 as the Lions make the short trip to Bowie, Md., to face Bowie State.

Lincoln concludes the 2013 season on Nov. 9 with Senior Day & Family and Friends Day as the Lions take on Chowan University.

All Lincoln home game are played at the Lincoln University Football Stadium. For schedule updates and ticket information, continue to visit www.lulions.com.

2013 Lincoln University Football Schedule

DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME

SEPTEMBER

7 at Cheyney (Battle of the First) Cheyney, Pa. 2 p.m.

14 at West Virginia Wesleyan Buckhannon, W.Va. Noon

21 at Saint Francis (PA) Loretto, Pa. 2 p.m.

28 LIVINGSTONE^* LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. 2 p.m.

OCTOBER

5 at Johnson C. Smith^ Charlotte, N.C. 1:30 p.m.

12 VIRGINIA UNION^$ LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. 2 p.m.

19 at Elizabeth City State^ Elizabeth City, N.C. 1:30 p.m.

26 VIRGINIA STATE^# (HC) LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. 2 p.m.

NOVEMBER

2 at Bowie State^ Bowie, Md. 1 p.m.

9 CHOWAN^% LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. 1:30 p.m.

^- CIAA Game

*- Hall of Fame & Military Appreciation Day

$- Health and Wellness Day

#- Homecoming

%- Senior Day & Family and Friends Day

All Home games are played at the Lincoln University Football Stadium

All times Eastern and Subject to ChangeALL HOME GAMES BOLD & IN ALL CAPS

By Brian Howard, Sports Information and Media Specialist

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY (Pa.)

LULions.com 

Tuskegee University athletic director Patric Simon resigns

PATRIC SIMON
(Courtesy: Tuskegee University Athletics)

 TUSKEGEE, Alabama  --  Tuskegee University announced today that Patric Simon has stepped down as athletics director, effective immediately. Mr. Simon has cited the decision was made due to personal matters.

Ayers and Associates, Inc. a national search firm, has been selected to assist the university with a public search for his successor.

“During his tenure as athletics director, our students have experienced a tremendous amount of success in every aspect of their careers at Tuskegee, on the field of play and in the classroom with improved academic performance, said Gilbert Rochon, president of Tuskegee University.” “And we thank him for his service to our program."

Simon’s contributions to TU Athletics include ten consecutive victories for the Golden Tigers' football team to win TU's 26th outright SIAC Championship, and 29th overall; an 8-0 record versus SIAC opponents, including SIAC Championship, SIAC Coach of the Year for Coach Willie Slater and SIAC Player of the Year, for running back Derrick Washington.

With TU Basketball, the Tigerettes finished the 2012-2013 regular season in the SIAC undefeated; 16-0 to finish 1st in regular season; and Tigers player, Calvin “CJ” Thomas made All-Tournament Team, Preseason and Postseason All-SIAC Teams for 2012-2013.

Simon's successor as athletics director will be named as quickly as possible.

Pending the conduct and successful outcome of the search process, Leon Douglas, Head Coach, Men's Basketball and former NBA player, will serve as the interim AD. He will work closely with the Executive Vice President and Provost, who serves as the NCAA-mandated Faculty Athletic Representative.

COURTESY TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION

Bethune-Cookman Football Hosts Pro Timing Day

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  More than a dozen Bethune-Cookman University athletes will participate Friday at B-CU’s annual Pro Timing Day. Graduating seniors and those declaring for the NFL Draft will work out in front of NFL, AFL and CFL scouts at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach beginning at 10 a.m.

Among the athletes participating Friday are 13 seniors from Bethune-Cookman’s 2012 squad: WR Akeem Dunham, WR David Blackwell, WR KJ Stroud, LB Dawud Lane, P/PK Kory Kowalski, WR/KR Courtney Keith, RB Rodney Scott, RB Andronicus Lovette, DB Rashad Payne, OL Eugene Solomon, OL Lavon McCoy and DL Jerome Culp.



Bethune-Cookman’s Pro Day is closed to fans and is an invitational-only event for participants, their guests and select B-CU staff members. Members of the working media and scouts will be allowed to watch Pro Day.

For performance updates throughout Pro Day, follow @BCUathletics on Twitter. BCUathletics.com will have a complete recap following Pro Day.

COURTESY BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Jaguars hope new faces provide help in defensive backfield

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Late in the fourth quarter of last season’s Bayou Classic, the Southern University football team had two chances to ice the game and secure the win.

Grambling was threatening in the red zone with just more than two minutes remaining. Having already racked up more than 300 yards through the air, the Tigers opted to pass the ball on both first and second down.

Southern had a chance to snag both balls out of the air and all but end the contest. Instead, the Jaguars committed pass interference and gave up a touchdown, allowing to the Tigers to pull within five and eventually face a game-winning drive.

Luckily for Southern, the Jaguars held on to secure the 38-33 win the Bayou Classic, but the incident was just one example of a season full of headaches in the secondary for Jaguars coach Dawson Odums.

“If you watch the Grambling game from last year, we had a chance to end the game — we dropped two picks, and they end up scoring seven,” Odums said. “So we were looking for playmakers. We’re looking for guys that will hit people back there, and we’re looking for attitude. We think we got that.”

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Gerald Ensley: FSU-FAMU is a rivalry whose time has come

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Our city’s two college football programs recently released their fall schedules.

There was a rumor Florida State University asked Florida A&M University to be a last-minute replacement for Wofford University, which pulled out of a Sept. 21 game in Tallahassee. Supposedly, FAMU declined because it had already agreed to play at Ohio State on that date.

Fueling the rumor was the fact that FSU filled the date with Bethune-Cookman University, which like FAMU is a historically black university and member of the second-tier NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.

In truth, FSU never contacted FAMU, nor was FAMU miffed it didn’t. Ohio State is paying FAMU $900,000; FSU is paying BCC $450,000.

Still, it seems a good time to suggest — as some of us have suggested before — that FSU and FAMU start playing each other in football. We believe such a game would be good for both schools and good for Tallahassee.

Though that’s not an attitude shared by all — and perhaps flies against previous examples.

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North Carolina A&T Aggies Fall In WNIT to James Madison

HARRISONBURG, Virginia — The end of any season is always bittersweet, especially when everything you have to give just isn’t enough. The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team left Convocation Center on Thursday evening with that feeling.

The Aggies were nine and a half minutes away from ousting James Madison, who played in the 2012 WNIT Championship game. But the Dukes (23-10) made a strong second-half push and broke a late tie, to hand the Aggies a 77-64 loss in the opening round of the 2013 WNIT.

“I felt like me and my teammates came ready to play," said A&T redshirt freshman Amber Calvin, who led the team with 25 points, and set a new career-high with seven 3-pointers. "We just gave it our all."

Calvin led the MEAC this season in 3-point field goal shooting. “We felt like we had the same talent that they did. We just wanted to prove it," she added. 
 
Calvin’s 25 points are the most scored by any Aggies in a WNIT game, besting her previous record of 24 points against Charlotte on March 21, 2010. But her offensive outburst wasn’t enough, as the Aggies were outscored 46-26 in the second half.

“I knew that it was going to be a tough game,” said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson, adding that JMU’s track record speaks for itself. The 2012-13 season marked the eighth straight season JMU has competed in a national postseason tournament. “The bottom line—they have character and they have swagger. They’re not going to be rattled just by being down in the first half. We talked about us being up, but understanding what a caliber team this is and that they were going to make a run. We didn’t give a good response to that run that they made.”

The Aggies led by as many as 56-47 with 12:29 left in the game, as Calvin’s fifth 3-pointer kept the Aggies in front. But A&T foul trouble allowed the Dukes to get back in the game. JMU went to the line 22 times and made 17 in the second half. Angela Mickens missed her first but got the second free throw to pull JMU within one. A layup by first-team All-CAA guard Kirby Burkholder put JMU in front, 57-56, with 9:28 left. Burkholder led the Dukes with 22 points and 14 rebounds in the contest. 
 
The two teams went scoreless over the next two minutes, trading turnovers and missed jumpers.
JMU pulled in front by three on a jumper by Mickens, but Calvin responded by hitting another shot from downtown to tie the game at 59-59 with 6:05 left. The Dukes went on a 5-0 run to gain the upper hand. Calvin sank her seventh three-pointer to pull A&T to within two, but the Dukes posted a 11-0 run, aided by two key steals by Mickens and 5-for-5 shooting from the free throw line to put the game out of reach. First-team All-MEAC senior JaQuayla Berry collected a jumper as time expired to end her career with 1,433 points—sixth on the all-time career scoring list. She had 12 points in the contest. 

“The bulk of their points came out of transition. They did a good job of forcing us to turn the ball over and scoring out of that versus half court,” said Robinson. “They pressed us early and obviously it took its toll in the second half and started to wear on us.”

The Aggies, who shot 45 percent in the first half, were 9-for-27 from the floor in the second half. Calvin contributed 4-for-6 from beyond the arc for A&T in the second half.

“They just weren’t knocking down the shots as I was,” Calvin said of the team’s second half shooting.

First year head coach Robinson said that this is just one step in the process of making the program an annual competitor in postseason national tournaments. A&T is the only MEAC school to have made three WNIT appearances to date.

“I talked to my ladies about being able to compete against what I consider to be one of the top mid-majors in the country and wanting to make a statement about our program and about our university,” he said. “We didn’t come out with the win, but I think we did make a statement that our program is on the rise and is going to be one to be reckoned with.

“Our 22-10 record I think again says a lot about the direction that we’re heading in. I just want to say how proud I am of my ladies.”

The Aggies will be back in the WNIT this year, as they are slated to open the 2013-14 season by competing in the preseason WNIT.

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COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
 

Southern takes Gonzaga to limit before falling

Salt Lake City, Utah — Facing a Gonzaga team that graduated from Cinderella to national power, Southern embraced the role of giant killer, knowing full well no 16-seed had ever defeated a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Southern nearly became the first team to break that drought as the Jaguars kept the Bulldogs on the ropes for 40 minutes, before falling 64-58 on Thursday afternoon.

“Coming into the game we thought we were going to make history,” senior guard Jameel Grace said. “No one comes into a game expecting to lose. We always expected to come in the game and win the game.”

Kevin Pangos made a pair of big three-pointers to help Gonzaga escape down the stretch as the Jaguars gave the Zags everything they could handle, raining down a flurry of 3-pointers to kept Gonzaga on the ropes.

The Jaguars came up short against the nation’s top-ranked team when shots stopped falling from the perimeter in the final minute.

Derrick Beltran scored 21 points and shot 50 percent from 3-point range to keep Southern (23-10) within striking distance. Kelly Olynyk scored 21 points and collected 10 rebounds, while Pangos added 16 points for the Bulldogs (32-2), who will advance to play ninth-seeded Wichita State in the third round Saturday.

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