NCAA VP Robert Vowels could be next UDM athletic director

Robert Vowels (bio)
B.A., Duke; J.D., NCCU
 

DETROIT, Michigan  --  Detroit Mercy has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to name its next athletic director to replace Keri Gaither. One of the strongest candidates appears to be Robert Vowels.

The university announced in early March that four candidates would be brought in for interviews in April and May. Vowels, Michael Hermann, Jay DeFruscio and interim AD Jason Horn were the four candidates.

Vowels was recommended for the job by UDM’s search committee but it was unclear whether a deal was finished, said one person familiar with the situation. UDM president Antoine M. Garibaldi hires the AD, and he was not available for comment. A second person familiar with the athletic department told the Free Press that Vowels was in line to get the job.

Vowels works in the NCAA’s national office as vice president for student-athlete affairs. He was hired in 2007. He was previously the commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Vowels joined the SWAC in 2003. He also was commissioner of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2000-02.

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ECSU Sharpless takes talents to NBA scouts

BROOKLYN, New York  --  From competing on area barnstorming tours with ACC players to highlight dunks posted on YouTube, Angelo Sharpless might have already arrived in many people’s eyes.

But arriving at his first-ever NBA Draft combine, held at Brooklyn on Wednesday, there was little fanfare for Elizabeth City State’s all-everything college basketball star.

Even Sharpless’ school was only known as ‘Elizabeth’ to NBA scouts.
 

“I always had a chip on my shoulder in where I believe I belong on that stage,” Sharpless said. “I’m representing the guys that are Division II, the CIAA, the guys from Elizabeth City, and people that don’t get the exposure coming from small towns.”

The obscurity that follows the CIAA Player of the Year on such a high stage hasn’t slowed Sharpless on the road to a potential professional basketball career, one he hopes will include 
being selected in the June 27 NBA Draft, also being held by the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center.

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Arizona basketball: Southern added to schedule

TUCSON, Arizona  --  Arizona Wildcats have completed their nonconference schedule for next season by inviting Southern University to McKale Center for a Dec. 19 game.

Southern went 23-10 and won the SWAC tournament last season. The Jaguars were a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament, losing 64-58 to top-seeded Gonzaga in Salt Lake City.

The Wildcats' nonconference schedule includes four previously announced games that are part of multiyear series (at home against Texas Tech and UNLV, and on the road at Michigan and San Diego State).

Arizona will also play in the NIT Season Tip-Off, which includes two home games and a chance to play two more games in New York during Thanksgiving week.

The rest of the games were contracted for one time only, though NAU is a perennial opponent and Long Beach State is returning to McKale for the second straight season on a single-game basis.

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Tennille Adams Named Head Women's Basketball Coach at Howard University

WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Today, Howard University Director of Athletics Louis "Skip" Perkins named Tennille Adams as the new head women's basketball coach. Adams comes to Howard with an impressive record, including an integral role in six double-figure winning seasons at Northwestern University and a notable coaching career with Big Ten, Patriot League and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Division I institutions.

"We were in search of a coach that understood Howard University's legacy of academic excellence, possessed the characteristics to maintain the program's distinction, while making the Lady Bison a principal force in the MEAC and beyond," Perkins said.

 

Adams hangs up her Northwestern Wildcats purple and white, for the Bison blue and white after five seasons under the direction of head women's basketball coach Joe McKeown.

 

While at Northwestern, Adams was named defensive coordinator (2012-13), offensive coordinator (2011-12), while being instrumental in Northwestern's 10^th best turnaround season, a fourth place finish in the BCS (2009), back-to-back WNIT appearances (2009-10 and 2010-11), and the development of two First Team All-Big Ten student-athletes, one Third Team All-Big Ten student-athlete, and one Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.

 

"I am extremely humbled and honored for this opportunity," said Adams.  "I would like to thank my new Director of Athletics Louis "Skip" Perkins and the Bison family for believing in my ability to lead the women's basketball program here at Howard University.  It is privilege to represent an institution with such rich tradition and history as well as return to the MEAC." 

 

No stranger to the District of Columbia, Adams was the assistant women's basketball coach at American University.  Adams was responsible for recruiting as well as key involvement on post player development and the point person for academic affairs and external relations with the basketball program.

 

Prior to her stint at American, Adams spent two years with the Aggies of North Carolina A&T State University as an assistant to the legendary Patricia Cage-Bibbs, Adams established her administrative foundation.  Adams, a standout at the University of Arkansas, began her coaching career in 2004 as an assistant at Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville, Texas.

 

As a student-athlete at Arkansas, Adams was a member of the 1997-98 Final Four team and the 1998-99 WNIT Championship team. On an individual level, Adams was ranked in the top five post players in the nation and as one of the top 50 seniors by Blue Star.  Adams completed her matriculation with a bachelor's of art in English.

Adams will inherit a program with strong reputation of winning, including three consecutive championship game appearances, two invitations to the WNIT (2011 and 2012), the first-ever Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) appearance (2013), and two 20+ wins seasons.

For more information on Howard University women's basketball, visit the official athletics website at www.howard-bison.com.

 

 

By Ariel V. Germain, Assistant Director for Athletic Media Relations

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Saint Augustine's University Shatters 29-Year Division II Men's 4x100 Relay Record at NCAA Championships

The St. Aug 4x100 Relay Team: From Left

to Right - Taffawee Johnson, Burkheart Ellis, Jr.,

Ramaan Ansley, and Jermaine Jones

PUEBLO, Colorado  -- Saint Augustine's University broke the national Division II record in the men's 4x100 meter relay with a time of 39.01 seconds on the first day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl on the Colorado State University of Pueblo campus.

The St. Aug foursome of Ramaan Ansley (Sr./Philadelphia, Pa.), Taffawee Johnson (Jr./St. Ann, Jamaica), Burkheart Ellis, Jr. (Jr./Raleigh, N.C.) and Jermaine Jones (So./Wilmington, N.C.) shattered the 29-year old mark held by Abilene Christian, which ran 39.20 in 1984. The time also broke the facility record of 39.88 at the DeRose Thunderbowl.

The Falcons ran the 14^th fastest time in the United States this year. They easily won Heat 2 in the preliminaries to advance to Saturday's final, which starts at 7:20 p.m. eastern standard time. The Falcons entered the championship meet as the top-ranked 4x100 team in Division II.

The 4x100 relay team set the tone for the day. Dane Hyatt (Jr./Goodwill, Jamaica) won Heat 2 of the men's 400 meter dash in a facility-record time of 45.78 seconds, which was fastest among 400 meter qualifiers. Josh Edmonds (Jr./Jacksonville, Fla.), Ellis, Jr. and James Quarles (Jr./Washington, D.C.) also qualified in 400.

Jones was the victor in Heat 1 of men's 100 meter dash in 10.26. He qualified for Saturday's finals along with Johnson and Daniel Jameison (Fr./Windsor, Conn.). Elhadji Mbow (Jr./Dakar, Senegal) qualified for the men's 400 hurdles a time of 51.35, second-best among qualifiers.

On the women's side, Kelly Shaw (Sr./Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) wins Heat 2 of the women's 400 meter dash in 53.26. Nicketa Bernard (Sr./Westmoreland, Jamaica) and Cherrisse Lynch (So./Bridgetown, Barbados) also qualified for Saturday's finals.

The championship meet continues Friday, May 24. It will be shown live on the Internet at 7:30 p.m. eastern standard time on ncaa.com and saintaugfalcons.com. For live results, click on pttiming.com and ncaa.com.

COURTESY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION

XU Nuggets miss the mark on opening day of NAIA meet

MARION, Indiana -- Xavier University of Louisiana missed chances to advance and score points Thursday in the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.

On the meet's opening day, the Gold Nuggets did not qualify for the semifinals of the 400-meter relay or the 200-meter dash. And Devinn Rolland, an All-America long jumper at this meet as a freshman in 2012, finished near the back of a field of two dozen athletes.

Xavier's 400 relay team of Chelsea James, Rolland, Tramaine Shannon and SiMon Franklin ranked 20th in the preliminaries in 50.10 seconds and missed qualifying for Saturday's final by slightly more than two seconds. XU coach Joseph Moses said his team led early in the race, but a right-hamstring injury to Franklin flared up during Wednesday workouts and prevented the Nuggets from advancing.

"The medical team up here did a great job wrapping her leg tight," Moses said. "I told Monee she didn't have to run, but she wanted to because she's a senior, and this is her last meet."

Rolland, who reached the NAIA's 200 semifinals a year ago, did not qualify this time. She ran 25.34 to rank 14th in the preliminaries, about a third of a second slower than the time she needed to advance.

In the long jump, Rolland ranked 22nd with a best mark of 16 feet, 10 inches. She needed 18-7 to qualify for the final, which Oklahoma Baptist freshman Akela Smith won with a mark of 20-10 on her next-to-last jump in the final.

Franklin will try to run Friday in the 400 preliminaries.

No Xavier men qualified for the meet.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

XU Rush match highest-ever ranking, 5th, in postseason poll

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana climbed one place to fifth Tuesday in the NAIA Men's Tennis Postseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
    
Xavier (15-8) matched its highest-ever rating in an NAIA men's tennis poll. The Gold Rush were fifth in the polls of April 16 and 30 before dropping to sixth on May 6.
    
It's the third consecutive year that the XU men are in the top 10 of the season's final poll. This is the second straight year that the final poll occurred after the NAIA National Championship. The Gold Rush ranked eighth in 2011 and seventh in 2012.
    
The Gold Rush became the first XU program to reach the quarterfinals of an NAIA National Championship in consecutive seasons. Vanguard eliminated the Rush 5-2 in that round on Thursday.
    
Coupled with the Gold Nuggets' No. 3 ranking, it makes Xavier one of two schools — Auburn Montgomery is the other — with both tennis teams in the 2013 postseason top five.
    
The Gold Rush are in the top 25 for the 50th consecutive time — a streak which began April 4, 2007 — and in the top 10 for the 20th straight time.

NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through end of season) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (13) 24-2 343 1 2 Auburn Montgomery 21-4 332 2 3 Vanguard 24-1 321 3 4 Westmont 13-11 310 4 5 Xavier 15-8 294 6 6 Lindsey Wilson 17-4 290 8 7 Cumberland 19-5 274 9 8 Aquinas 25-5 269 12 9 Bethany (Kan.) 22-2 254 5 10 Bethel (Tenn.) 20-2 248 7 11 Concordia (Calif.) 12-13 226 10 12 Belhaven 16-5 222 11 13 William Carey 9-6 202 tie-13 14 Graceland 15-7 200 18 15 Northwestern Ohio 14-8 188 17 16 Northwood (Fla.) 12-6 182 15 17 Warner 13-10 165 19 18 Oklahoma Baptist 15-11 163 tie-13 19 Olivet Nazarene 11-13 146 21 20 Lewis-Clark State 7-9 134 16 21 Pikeville 10-5 126 20 22 Campbellsville 10-12 105 22 23 McPherson 21-8 98 23 24 Davenport 18-7 96 24 25 Webber International 10-12 75 25 Others receiving votes: Indiana Wesleyan 69, Coastal Georgia 51, Martin Methodist 48, Grace 21, Asbury 16, Mobile 9, Spring Arbor 9, St. Francis (Ill.) 8, Doane 6.

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA