Saturday, March 1, 2014

SWAC allows four ineligible teams in conference tournament

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  -- Last season, only seven teams played in the SWAC tournament as three teams were ineligible for the NCAA tournament due to APR penalties.

This year, the league has decided to let every team play in the postseason tournament -- including four teams that are banned from the NCAA tournament for 2013-14.

According to USA Today, the 10 school presidents voted to include the ineligible teams: Southern, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Mississippi Valley State and Grambling.

Southern will be the top seed in the conference tournament, but they cannot play in the NCAA tournament. As a result, the NCAA released a statement regarding what would happen in the event one of the four ineligible teams wins the conference tournament.

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SWAC allowed to amend its automatic qualification policy for 2014

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana  --  In response to a request from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees will allow the conference to amend its automatic qualification policy for the 2014 championships only.

The conference tournaments will still determine the automatic berths into both NCAA championships. The eligible team that advances furthest in the conference tournaments will receive the automatic berth to the NCAA championships. In the event of a tie (for example, all tournament-eligible teams are eliminated in the same round), the automatic berth will go to the highest-seeded team.

The process will be revisited when the men’s and women’s basketball committees meet in the summer.

COURTESY NCAA.COM


NCCU eyes regular-season MEAC title, hosts S.C. State

DURHAM, North Carolina  -- An N.C. Central win against S.C. State would allow the Eagles to clinch at least a share of the regular-season championship in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

The Eagles (22-5, 12-1 MEAC) have been rolling, 14 wins in row. And they’ve been outstanding at home, winning 21 straight at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium — 12-0 there this year.

NCCU will look to protect its nest on senior day today. The S.C. State Bulldogs will come barking and hope to have the bite to back it up (4 p.m., NCCUEaglePride.com).

Today and Monday — when NCCU hosts Savannah State — will be the last times Eagle seniors Jeremy Ingram and Emanuel Chapman will perform at home.

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A bit of everything Saturday at the CIAA

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  -- Basketball, concerts, step teams, the Miss CIAA competition and even a bit of stock car racing will be part of Saturday’s schedule as the CIAA tournament comes to an end.

The tournament’s champions will be crowned in the women’s title game at 5 p.m. and the men’s at 8:30 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena. But as has been the case all week, there will be much more to the CIAA experience in Charlotte than just basketball.

The Miss CIAA event, sponsored by Food Lion, is set for 11 a.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena, with no admission charge.

The CIAA Stepshow, featuring step teams from the conference’s member schools, will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Grady Cole Center.

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Tournament Brackets

Women | Men

Mar. 1 - WOMEN 
Shaw
Fayetteville State
@Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena   CIAA Tournament Championship
5:00 PM  ASPiRE TV -LIVE

 
Mar. 1 - MEN     
Winston-Salem State
Livingstone
@Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena   CIAA Championship Game
8:30 PM  ESPNU Tape Delayed - 1 AM
Live: Bounce TV
Live Audio Stream at www.HSRN.com

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/28/4731089/a-bit-of-everything-saturday-at.html#.UxIGJ8uYZjo#storylink=cpy

Gregory returns as MVSU offensive coordinator

ITTA BENA,  Mississippi -- Mississippi Valley State University head football coach Rick Comegy has added another member to his coaching staff.

Shawn Gregory has returned for his second stint as offensive coordinator for the Delta Devils. Gregory, who first came to MVSU in 2002 under then head coach Willie Totten, arrives back in Itta Bena following one season as the head coach at his alma mater New Hope High School in Columbus, Mississippi.

Gregory began his coaching career in 1996 as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks and running backs coach at Redan High (Ga.) before stops at the collegiate level at Morris Brown College, Tuskegee, Samford and MVSU.

While at MVSU, Gregory served as the offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks and receivers coach from 2002-03 for the Delta Devils. In his first season coaching the Delta Devils offense, the team posted a 5-6 record after going 0-11 the year before.

He was the receivers coach and head baseball coach at Tuskegee University from July 2000 to January 2002. Both of his teams at Tuskegee won the Pioneer Bowl and the 2000 team won the Black College National Championship with a record of 12-0. The 2001 team finished second in a race for the championship, posting an 11-1 record.

During the 1998 and 1999 seasons, Gregory coached at Morris Brown College. In 1998, he coached the quarterbacks and tight ends before serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and receivers coach in 1999. Morris Brown's record improved from 3-8 in his first year to 6-5 in his second year at the school.

Gregory also previously served as head football coach for one season at Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, Ala in 2008.

Gregory was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Jackson State University, where he played from 1986-90. In his senior year at JSU, the Columbus, Mississippi native was named First Team All-SWAC after passing for 2,762 yards. That season, he also set an NCAA single game record for most yards gained per completion (33) in a 52-14 win over Southern University. He passed for 462 yards on 14 completions in the victory. In 2009, Gregory was elected to the JSU Sports Hall of Fame. Gregory and the Tigers won three SWAC titles (1987-88, 1990) during his time at JSU.

Gregory is a 1996 graduate of Jackson State University with a degree in
health, physical education and recreation.

COURTESY MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION    

TSU Completes Day One of OVC Indoor Championship


NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- The Tennessee State Tigerbelles and Flying Tigers completed the first day of the 2014 OVC Indoor Track and Field on Friday.

Clairwin Damues got TSU off on the right foot by placing first in the Pentathlon with a total score of 3,625. JaLyn Burr also had a strong performance in the event, picking up a fifth place finish.

Newly crowned OVC Female Freshman of the Year Amber Hughes ran a scorching 7.68 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles to take top prize while Dameus placed second.

Dameus also had a second-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 6.10 meters and Burr gave TSU 10 points with a winning 1.70 meter hop in the high jump.

For the Flying Tigers, Travon Alexander came in fourth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.41 seconds and Michael Johnson also came in fourth after a 49.60 second finish in the 400-meter.

In the field events, Daryl Rice placed third after a 2.08 meter leap in the high jump while Royce Dates (7.71 meters) and Tyler Anderson (7.58 meters) were second and third, respectively, in the long jump.

The teams will look to take home the championship trophies when action continues today.
 
 
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

The Lincoln University Appoints Pope as New Athletics Director

Dr. Darryl A. Pope
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pennsylvania – The Lincoln University appointed Dr. Darryl A. Pope, the current Director of Athletics and Physical Activity at the College of Lake College in Grayslake, IL, as its new Director of Athletics.

Dr. Pope will join Lincoln on March 31, 2014.

“We are excited to have Dr. Pope join us,” said President Dr. Robert R. Jennings.  “He has more than 20 years of progressive supervisory and managerial experience along with demonstrated leadership qualities in directing athletic programs and proven compliance experience.”

Dr. Jennings appointed Dr. Pope after a recommendation from the Athletic Director’s Search Committee, which was comprised of faculty, staff, alumni and students.   Dr. F. Carl Walton, Vice President of Student Affairs, to whom Dr. Jennings expressed his gratitude, had served as Interim-Athletic Director after the departure of former Athletic Director Dianthia Ford-Kee.

Dr. Pope has 18 years of administrative experience in Division I Athletics.  He has also served as Associate Athletic Director for Internal Affairs and Associate Athletic Director for Compliance at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA and as Consultant Sports Information Director at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA.

Additionally, he has served as Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance at California State University-Northridge, Los Angeles, CA and Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.  From 1995 to 1997, he served as Compliance Coordinator at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD and he was an Instructor with the National Youth Sports Program at Temple in the mid-90s.

Dr. Pope has served on several NCAA committees, including the NCAA Peer Review Certification Team — a position he has held since 2000; as well as is a member of the NCAA Leadership Institute Class of 2003.

A graduate of Howard University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications Management and Business Administration, he also holds a Master’s degree in Sports Administration from Grambling State University and a Doctorate of Education degree in Sports Management and Leisure Studies from Temple University.

Dr. Pope holds a certification from the United States Professional Tennis Registry and competed on the USTA Professional Satellite Circuit.

EDITOR’S NOTE: ‘THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY’ IS NOW THE OFFICIAL NAME FOR THE INSTITUTION FORMERLY REFERRED TO AS ‘LINCOLN UNIVERSITY’ OR ‘LINCOLN UNIVERSITY OF PA’ AND SHOULD BE ADHERED TO IN ALL REFERENCES.

Founded in 1854, The Lincoln University (PA) is the FIRST of four Lincoln Universities in the world and is the nation’s FIRST degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU).  The University combines the elements of a liberal arts and science-based undergraduate curriculum along with select graduate programs to meet the needs of those living in a highly-technological and global society.  Today, Lincoln, which enrolls a diverse student body of approximately 2,000 men and women, possesses an international reputation for preparing and producing world class leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, the FIRST African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Lillian Fishburne, the FIRST African American woman promoted to Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy, Langston Hughes, the noted poet, Kwame Nkrumah, the FIRST President of Ghana, Nnamdi Azikiwe, the FIRST President of Nigeria and a myriad of others. 

COURTESY THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS