SWAC Launches New Championship Logos

HOUSTON, Texas – The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), the first HBCU Conference to host two championships in professional venues in the same city, released their 2013 football and basketball championship logos.

The release of the logos comes after the conference made the announcement that championships for both sports will be moving to Houston, Texas.

The football championship game will be held at Reliant Stadium, 2013-15, while the basketball tournament will be hosted at the Toyota Center 2014-16. The 2013 Toyota SWAC Football Championship is scheduled for Saturday, December 7, with the basketball tournament set for March 11-15, 2014.

“We are excited to reveal the new SWAC Football and Basketball Championship logos. As the SWAC continues to honor our heritage, we look forward to advancing and growing the conference,” said SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp. “These efforts have started by moving the championships to Houston and providing a visual that reflects our move and advancements.”

The SWAC Football Championship will also include the Battle of the Bands competition with all of the conference’s member institutions. The contest will begin immediately following the football championship game at Reliant Stadium and admission is included with purchase of a game ticket.

COURTESY SWAC.org

 

THERE IS NO SHOW LIKE A SWAC HALF-TIME PERFORMANCE!!!!

 

Former university first lady dies

Mrs. Thelma P. Payton
(Courtesy: Tuskegee University)

 TUSKEGEE, Alabama (June 20, 2013) -- Thelma P. Payton, the wife of Tuskegee University's fifth president, Dr. Benjamin F. Payton, died today. She served as first lady at the university from 1981-2010. Formerly Thelma Plane of Evanston, Illinois, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee State University and a master's in social work from the Columbia University School of Social Work.

A long-time supporter of the university, Thelma Payton was known for her work with several aspects of Tuskegee such as the Legacy Museum. 

"Like that tiny grain of sand that coaxes the oyster until it creates a pearl, Mrs. Payton constantly reminded everyone that something had to be done with the art collection," wrote Cynthia Beavers Wilson in the acknowledgments of a 2010 museum program. 

Thelma Payton is survived by her husband, two children: Mark Steven and Deborah Elizabeth; and grandchildren: Danielle Marie, Maya Elizabeth, William Isaac and Nicholas Warren Payton.

The funeral service will be held at the Tuskegee University Chapel June 27 at 11 a.m. CST. People's Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.

COURTESY TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS

Winston-Salem Women Take Football 101

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Women from across the community flocked to Winston-Salem State University Saturday to get a hands-on education about the game of football.

Hosted jointly by the university’s Department of Athletics and football program, the Second Annual Women’s Football Clinic drew over two dozen women of all ages and abilities. Aimee McCaskill, who graduated from WSSU in 1983, was among the women who paid $20 to learn the basics of the sport.

“I wanted to learn more about football,” she said of her motivation to take part in the clinic, which ran from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. “I love football, so I am trying to learn all I can about it.”

The clinic was birthed last year, as a means of expanding the Rams’ fanbase, which has grown ever more fervent in recent years, as the team has posted back-to-back undefeated seasons in CIAA conference play.

CONTINUE READING

XU to play 30 in regular season, 9 at Convocation Center

NEW ORLEANS — A debut in the Convocation Center and four matches against 2012 NAIA National Championship qualifiers are among the highlights of the 2013 Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball schedule.
    
First-year coach Hannah Lawing announced Thursday the schedule, which includes 30 regular-season contests. Xavier is the two-time defending Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion and is 28-0 the past two seasons against GCAC opponents.
    
Xavier will play nine times in the Convocation Center, which opened in November and seats nearly 4,000 for volleyball or basketball. The Gold Nuggets' home opener will start at 1 p.m. on Sept. 14 against Voorhees, which will join the GCAC in July to increase league membership to nine.
    
Xavier's other GCAC home matches will be against Fisk on Sept. 16, Tougaloo on Sept. 23, Dillard on Oct. 5, SUNO on Oct. 21 and Philander Smith on Oct. 28. Non-conference home matches will be against Loyola on Sept. 18, Mobile on Oct. 15 and Avila on Oct. 18. The Avila match will be part of a two-day tournament co-hosted by Xavier and Loyola with matches on both campuses. Avila will play Mobile at the Convocation Center at 2 p.m. on Oct. 18.
    
The Convocation Center replaces The Barn, a 1,300-seat gymnasium which opened in 1937 and was razed in May. The Gold Nuggets won in their Barn finale in 2012, a 21-25, 17-25, 25-15, 25-12, 15-7 decision against SUNO which clinched for the Nuggets the GCAC regular-season championship.
    
The Nuggets' matches against 2012 NAIA National Championship qualifiers will be Spring Hill on Aug. 23 and Sept. 3, St. Thomas (Texas) on Aug. 30 and Georgetown (Ky.) on Sept. 7. All four will be part of 13 consecutive road matches to start the season, including a school-record eight matches in August.
    
Xavier will begin its sixth season on Aug. 23 in the UMobile/Spring Hill Tournament at Mobile, Ala., playing Spring Hill at 2 p.m. and Asbury at 4 p.m. The Gold Nuggets also will travel to Houston and Georgetown, Ky., for tournaments. Georgetown defeated Xavier in four sets in the opening round of the 2012 NAIA National Championship.
    
Avila, Columbia (S.C.), Lourdes, Montana Tech, Trinity Christian and Voorhees will be first-time opponents.
    
Xavier will visit SUNO on Oct. 8 and Dillard on Nov. 2 in the regular-season finale. The GCAC Tournament will be played in Little Rock, Ark., for the second consecutive year, and the winner will earn the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.
    
Another road match in New Orleans will be at Loyola on Oct. 19 in the finale of the Loyola/Xavier Tournament.
    
Match times and tournament names are subject to change.
    
Xavier was 22-8 in 2012 and returns all its major contributors from that team, including GCAC Player of the Year Taylor Reuther, first-team All-GCAC players Moira Kirk and Franziska Pirkl and second-teamers Chinedu Echebelem, Jodi Chatters and CeCe Williams. Echebelem was the GCAC Tournament MVP.

2013 XULA VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUSIANA

Prep Football: Holman takes charge at DC

MOCKSVILLE, North Carolina — The story goes that the Holman family had to sit on the 50-yard-line at South Carolina State-North Carolina Central football matchups and cheer for both teams because there was a Holman playing on each side.

 

“Those men playing were my uncles,” said Devore Holman, who was recently named as Davie’s new head coach. “I come from a long football background.”        

Holman is a name that’s been respected in Rowan County for a long time. One of Devore’s football-playing uncles was the late Baxter Holman Jr., who was team captain at North Carolina Central. After he played in the Canadian Football League, Baxter coached in the Winston-Salem high school ranks in the 1960s. During the years of segregation, he coached at all-black Anderson High, and he piloted Anderson to a 3A runner-up finish in 1966 and a state title in 1967.

When Winston schools integrated, Baxter was named head coach at Mount Tabor, and in a Remember the Titans sort of scenario, he demonstrated to an initially skeptical white community and white players that he was the best man for the job. He was coach of the year in 1970.

 

CONTINUE READING

 

Holman eager to take the reins as Davie’s football coach

 

MOCKSVILLE  --  One evening last month, Doug Illing drove to Devore Holman’s house in Mocksville and delivered the news. Illing was leaving after 15 years as Davie High School’s football coach — and Holman had been with Illing every step of the way.
 
“He told me he would ask me to come with him,” Holman said last week after he was named to succeed Illing. “But he said he was leaving for his dream job (Socastee High in Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and that it was time for me to chase my dreams.”

 

So that’s what Holman — an assistant coach at Davie for 23 years — did.
Twenty-six coaches applied for Illing’s job. Holman, the War Eagles’ defensive coordinator for the last 14 years, got it.

“I am humbled beyond measure to be able to give back to the community — and these kids and this school — what I got as a young man from these coaches, making me do the right things and being a positive role model in their lives,” Holman said. “I can’t think of a better place to do it.”

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Xavier SID wins 3rd straight NAIA feature-writing award

Ed Cassiere

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Ed Cassiere received first place for features for the third consecutive year in the NAIA's Dr. W. Jack Bell Writing Contest.
       
Cassiere's winning story, published Dec. 19, profiled XU women's volleyball coach Christabell Hamilton and her transition from coaching to motherhood. Hamilton resigned at Xavier after two stellar seasons (2011-12) and moved to Texas to be with her husband, who changed jobs.
     
Another feature, about women's basketball guard SiMon Franklin and her academic comeback, placed ninth. In the season preview/review category, Cassiere tied for second for his preview of the 2012 women's volleyball season.
      
Cassiere — who in July will begin his eighth year at Xavier — has received 16 NAIA writing awards the past five years, including four firsts, four seconds and three thirds.

COURTESY XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA ATHLETICS

ASU Football Adds Home Game Against Tuskegee

Albany, Georgia  --  The Albany State University Golden Rams and the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers have finalized their gridiron meeting for the 2013 football season.

ASU will host Tuskegee on September 14th at the Albany State University Stadium in Albany, Georgia. Game time is slated for 7 PM at the Coliseum.

The two teams last met in 2010 when ASU beat Tuskegee 34-6 in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Golden Rams finished 11-1 that season and won the SIAC and Black College National Championship. The Golden Tigers finished 9-2.

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Xenia's Cameron Vaughn to play at Prairie View A&M

GREENE COUNTY, Ohio — Departing Cincinnati State and former Xenia hoops player, Cameron Vaughn, will continue her collegiate basketball career after signing with Prairie View A&M this past week. She just completed her sophomore season at Cincinnati State.

Vaughn, a 5-foot-10 forward, averaged 13.8 points, 13.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while leading her team to a 25-7 overall record this past season. She finished with 10 or more rebounds in all but five games, recording a season-high 25 rebounds against Columbus State on Jan. 23. She finished the season 6th in the nation in rebounding, 1st in offensive rebounds (6.6), and set Cincinnati State’s record for most rebounds in a season with 412.



“We are so proud of Cameron for everything she has done for us and look forward to seeing her succeed as a player, student and person at Prairie View A&M,” Cincinnati State head coach Sonya Beeler said.

Vaughn earned multiple individual accolades including being named an NJCAA All-American, the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference’s “Player of the Year,” a NJCAA Region XII 1st Team selection and Cincinnati State’s “Female Athlete of the Year.” Vaughn also performed in the classroom earning a 3.0-plus GPA and named as a Cincinnati State “Scholar Student-Athlete.”

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Florida A&M Holmes, staff share strong opinions

MIDWAY, Florida -- Earl Holmes told a packed room here Tuesday night that he has some extremely high aspirations for the Florida A&M football program.

As he has done numerous times during a fund-raising tour over the past month, Holmes also pressed for financial support to help him and his staff compete in recruiting the best athletes.



But while his appeal had a familiar tone during the event at Tri-Eagles headquarters, the first-year head coach offered some of his strongest comments yet about what kind of team he plans to produce and what type of athletes he expects to recruit.

“You can’t give me a linebacker who has one leg shorter than the other,” Holmes told a group of supporters. “I don’t want those guys. I want what Nick Saban is getting. I want what Jimbo Fisher is getting. And I want what Urban Meyer is getting. If they need those kids to win championships, so does Coach Holmes.”

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JCSU's Trevin Parks works out for the Charlotte Bobcats

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  --  Former JC Smith star and Hickory native Trevin Parks got to work out for the Charlotte Bobcats today and it truly was a dream come true.

"I rode past this place a lot of times," said Parks after the hour and a half workout.  "I never pictured me coming here working out."

Parks certainly earned his opportunity to get this pre draft workout after a stellar career at JCSU.



As a sophomore, he averaged 22 points per game and became the first ever player in Smith's history to be the CIAA Player of the Year.

He followed that up averaging 22 points per game as a junior and 25 points this past season.  Each season, he earned All American status in D-II basketball.

CONTINUE READING

Southern Football Releases 2013 Fall Camp Schedule

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Head football coach Dawson Odums will open his inaugural fall camp July 31 at Southern University when players are scheduled to report to the A.W. Mumford Fieldhouse.

The Jaguars, who travel to face Football Bowl Subdivision member Houston Cougars in the season opener on Aug. 30, will conduct its first practice of fall camp Aug. 1 at 4:30 p.m.

Southern's first practice in full pads is set for Aug. 3 at 3:30 p.m. followed by the first of six scheduled two-a-day practices Aug. 6 at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The final scrimmage of fall camp is slated for Aug 17. at 9 a.m. before the Jaguars gather to take a team photo in A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Classes for the Fall semester begin Monday, Aug. 19.

SOUTHERN FOOTBALL 2013 FALL CAMP SCHEDULE 

July 31 - PLAYERS REPORT - 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

Aug. 1 - PRACTICE #1 (HELMETS) - 4:30 p.m.- 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 2 - PRACTICE #2 (HELMETS) - 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Aug. 3 - PRACTICE #3 (SHELLS) - 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 4 - PRACTICE #4 (SHELLS) - 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

Aug. 5 - PRACTICE #5 (FULL PADS) - 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Aug. 6 - PRACTICE #6 (SHELLS) - 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #7 (FULL PADS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 7 - PRACTICE #8 (SHELLS) - 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 8 - PRACTICE #9 (SHELLS) - 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #10 (FULL PADS) 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 9 - PRACTICE #11 (SHELLS) - 4 p.m.-6 p.m. 

Aug. 10 - PRACTICE #12 (FULL PADS) 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #13 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 11 - PRACTICE #14 (HELMETS) 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 12 - PRACTICE #15 (FULL PADS) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. | PRACTICE #16 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 13 - PRACTICE #17 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 14 - PRACTICE #18 (SHELLS) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. | PRACTICE #19 (FULL PADS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 15 - PRACTICE #20 (SHELLS) 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Aug. 16 - PRACTICE #21 (SHELLS) 9 a.m.-11 a.m. | PRACTICE #22 HELMETS 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

Aug. 17 - SCRIMMAGE #23 9:45 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Aug. 19 - Classes Begin

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

O'Quinn to Throw Out First Pitch, Sign Autographs at Tides Game

Kyle O'Quinn
Orlando Magic

NORFOLK, Virginia – Former NSU great and current Orlando Magic forward Kyle O'Quinn will throw out the first pitch and sign autographs at the Norfolk Tides baseball game at Harbor Park on Wednesday night.

The game against the Indianapolis Indians is slated to start at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday. After throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, O'Quinn will sign autographs on the concourse behind home plate and make an appearance on the Tides radio broadcast for an inning.

O'Quinn recently finished up his first season with the Magic, averaging 4.1

points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game in 57 contests. He tallied 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a game at Charlotte on March 27, one of seven on the year in which he scored in double figures.

For more information, contact the Tides main office at 757-622-2222.

COURTESY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION, Mike Bello, Asstant SID

Hampton University lands York offensive lineman Johnny Cruz

Johnny Cruz

YORKTOWN, Virginia  --  York High's Johnny Cruz, a first team All-Bay Rivers District offensive guard in 2012, will play football this fall at Hampton University. Darlene Martin, Cruz's mom, said her son received a partial scholarship and that grants will make up the balance of the cost for him to attend HU.

She said that Cruz, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound senior who graduated on Friday from York, will attend summer school at HU to get a head start on academics and begin conditioning.

Cruz will also play for the East Squad in the Virginia High School Coaches Association Football All-Star Game in July. He will be joined on the East team by York teammate Cody Hendrickson, a James Madison signee.

CONTINUE READING

The Next Affirmative Action



U.S. Supreme Court

Want to help minority college students? Make the entire higher education system more accountable.

WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Affirmative action as we know it is dying. A growing number of states have moved to prohibit public universities from considering race in admissions, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in an anti-affirmative action lawsuit that left little doubt about where the Court’s conservative majority stands. Less than a decade after the Court upheld racial admissions preferences in Grutter v. Bollinger, newer jurists like Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts seem ready to render unconstitutional a policy that has helped generations of minority students grab a rung on the ladder of opportunity.

"But how many people know that Wayne State, Detroit’s main public university, has an 8 percent—yes, 8 percent—graduation rate for black students? Who’s losing sleep over them?"  "In Duncan’s hometown, 19 percent of black students who enroll full-time at Chicago State University graduate within six years. At California State University, Los Angeles, it’s 22 percent. The University of the District of Columbia matches Wayne State for futility, with an 8 percent graduation rate for black students. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee? 19 percent."

The Court’s likely decision is particularly odious given the college admissions apparatus it will leave in place. Elite colleges warp and corrupt the meritocratic admissions process in a wide variety of ways. Academically substandard athletes, for example, are allowed in so they can play for the amusement of alumni and help shore up the fund-raising base. While some men’s football and basketball players come from low-income and minority households, many athletes at the highly selective colleges where affirmative action really matters engage in sports like crew and lacrosse that are associated with white, privileged backgrounds. Colleges also give preference to the children of legacies, professors, celebrities, politicians, and people who write large checks to the general fund. All of these groups are also disproportionately wealthy and white.

In other words, the Supreme Court is poised to uphold affirmative action for everyone except minority students. We’ve come to this point in part because the Court has been packed with people like Roberts, who once struck down a plan to integrate public schools on the grounds that he saw no distinction between race-conscious policies that increased integration and the kind of brutal discrimination outlawed by Brown v. Board of Education. Apparently, John Roberts doesn’t see race, so neither should anyone else.

CONTINUE READING 

Prairie View welcomes Robinson as new athletic director

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas  --  Ashley Robinson's appointment as the Prairie View A&M athletic director on Tuesday served as a homecoming.

Most recently the athletic director at fellow Southwestern Athletic Conference school Mississippi Valley State, Robinson now has been hired by Prairie View twice in the last four years.

It's his work for Prairie View before he was hired the first time, however, that played a major role in his rise to his new job.

In 2010 Robinson worked in compliance, academics and championships for the SWAC office. Prairie View president Dr. George Wright said the school's compliance officer quit at a time when it was trying to get off of NCAA probation.

Wright called Robinson, 33, and asked for his help in the process, which included improving the school's Academic Progress Rate.

CONTINUE READING

Pigskin Preview: Fort Valley State

FORT VALLEY, Georgia -- Last year saw Fort Valley State reach the SIAC Championship game and the Division II playoffs while finishing at 8-4. The Wildcats are hoping to build on that success in 2013.

FVSU will be leaning on its defense this year, which returns seven starters, not including players like linebacker Stephon Harper who saw significant playing time as a back-up.

The offense must rebuild without the All-SIAC duo of quarterback Antonio Henton and wide receiver Chris Slaughter, who played together at Peach County.

Coach Donald Pittmann says this year's team motto is: "One team, one mission: Division II National Championship."

CONTINUE READING  

Whatever happened to ... NBA star Bob Dandridge (from NSU)?

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  In 13 years in the NBA, Bob Dandridge displayed a unique talent both for blending in and standing out.

Early in his career, he played an essential role for the championship Milwaukee Bucks, a team led by all-time greats Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson. Later in the '70s, he started alongside Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes during the Washington Bullets' title run.

"I take pride in being able to play with two superstars on two different teams," Dandridge said, "and still being an integral part of both those teams."

Integral? You could say that. As a 6-foot-6 small forward, he averaged 18.5 points per game over his career, but bumped that up to 20 in the playoffs.



"I knew how to find a shot," he said, "even though I may have been the third option in the offense."

He learned at Norfolk State, where as a senior playing for Ernie Fears in 1969, he set a CIAA tournament record by scoring 50 points in a game.

Today, Dandridge lives a few miles from his alma mater, residing in ...

CONTINUE READING

BSU's Bryan Wilson and The LU's Brittney Waters Receives Victory Scholarship Award

Brittney Waters
(Courtesy: The Lincoln University Athletics)



Bryan Wilson
(Courtesy: Bowie State University Athletics)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania  -- Typically being a student-athlete ends after your senior season in college, but this isn't the case for Bowie State University's Bryan Wilson and The Lincoln University's Brittney Waters.

Wilson started 14 games for the CIAA Champion Bulldogs of Bowie State, The Upper Marlboro, MD native averaged 7.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and was the third leading 3-point shooter on the team making 32.3 % of his attempts behind the arc.

Waters and Wilson have been selected to receive the Victory Scholarship Award by Sport Changes Life (SCL). SCL awards student-athlete recipients the opportunity to study for their master's degree while continuing their career in sports. Victory Scholars provide its recipients with full tuition fees for graduate school, accommodation expenses, subsistence expenses, and an opportunity to continue their athletic career.

"I am delighted and feel blessed to be one of the Victory Scholarship recipients," said Waters. "This is an opportunity of a lifetime and certainly a dream come true for me."

A native of Capitol Heights, MD, Waters averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Lady Lions. Her experience at the University was enriched and filled with the joy of meeting new people and playing basketball.

Majoring in Accounting and a minor in Entrepreneurship has opened up plenty of doors for Waters.

“Professor Robert Allen gave me the idea of studying abroad in Ireland,” Waters said. Professor Allen was Waters major advisor and mentor during her four years at Lincoln.

Finding the balance between academics and athletics is not easy for most students; however, this was not an issue for Waters.  She was on the Dean's List and graduated with academic honors. Her transition from undergrad to graduate school shouldn't be overwhelming for Waters.

“While at Lincoln, I've always been a student first and an athlete second,” Waters proclaims. “I can truly say that Lincoln has prepared me for my future, athletically and academically.”

Lincoln Director of Athletics Dianthia Ford-Kee echoed those sentiments.

“We are very proud of Brittney,” Ford-Kee said. “I have been a part of Brittney's entire career at Lincoln and she has always been a model student-athlete. She is the first Lincoln student-athlete to receive this award with Sport Changes Life. We know she will represent our University at the highest level and will be a change agent for the students she touches in Ireland.”

Waters and Wilson are scheduled to attend the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. Waters will play for the Belfast Rockets, a professional team in the Irish Women's Superleague. In addition both players will coach and work with at-risk youths as part of the Sport Changes Life program.

COURTESY THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION and BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION 

UAH To Meet Alabama A&M In Men’s Basketball

Huntsville, Alabama - The University of Alabama in Huntsville and Alabama A&M University held a joint press conference on Monday afternoon at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville to announce that the two institutions will meet on the basketball floor inside Propst Arena on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

The contest will mark the first meeting between the cross-town foes since Nov. 18, 1998, and it will mark the 24th all-time showdown between the Chargers and the Bulldogs. Holding the upper hand in the series is A&M who has won 18 of the previous 23 games including the last seven. UAH last defeated the Bulldogs when it won 98-88 in the 1991-92 season.

Head Coach Lennie Acuff was on the Charger sideline the last two times the teams met, while A&M’s Willie Hayes was an assistant for the Bulldogs for the last four meetings.

CONTINUE READING

Academics: Alabama State failure symbolic of HBCU struggles

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  --  The NCAA’s Academic Performance Program revamped the Academic Progress Rate (APR) data in 2011, wary of the struggles historic black colleges and universities were facing in their compilation and submission of data each year.

New rules that went into place with the 2012-13 academic year don’t seem to have helped the situation, however.

Of the 36 programs facing APR penalties from the NCAA, 28 are located at HBCU programs within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).


APR is only a temporary set-back; no failures here on ASU campus... and diamond, track and fields. Go Hornets!

Of the 17 colleges and universities whose athletic programs face penalties, 11 are MEAC and SWAC programs.

“The Southwestern Athletic Conference remains committed to assisting our member institutions in meeting academic progress and the metric for a successful Academic Progress Rate,” said SWAC commissioner Duer Sharp. “The SWAC will continue to work closely with the NCAA, president Mark Emmert, Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) chair Walter Harrison and the Limited Resource Institutions advisory group. We are also proud of our student-athletes who have achieved academic success by graduating and performing at the highest level during competition.”

CONTINUE READING