Texas Southern clinches SWAC Western Division with sweep of UAPB

2014 SWAC WEST DIVISION SOFTBALL CHAMPIONS
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LADY TIGERS
Photo courtesy of TSU ATHLETICS

HOUSTON, Texas  --  The Texas Southern Lady Tigers softball team completed a three-game sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday winning games two and three 9-1 (five innings) and 7-3.

With the two victories the Lady Tigers clinched the regular season title for Southwestern Athletic Conference's Western Division.

"We're really please with the way we came out and played this weekend," said TSU head coach Worley Barker. "Obviously there are a few things that we can improve on but overall I felt like we play well against a quality Arkansas-Pine Bluff softball team."

In game two of the series Madison Staton tossed a gem giving up just two hits and one earned run. Brianna Simpson, Princess Daniels and Kierra Patton helped give her all the run support she would need as they trio tallied three, two, and two RBI respectively.

"We hit the ball well all weekend," said Barker. "In practice we constantly emphasize pitch selection and being disciplined at the plate. Our team has bought into what we've been working with them on and it's starting to pay off for them at the plate."

In game three of the series the Lady Tigers got the opportunity to get several of their reserves some much need playing time. Samantha Jimenez went 5.1 innings picking up the win in the series finale.

Texas Southern will return to Memorial Park on Wednesday for a non-conference contest versus Sam Houston State. The Lady Tigers will host Southern this upcoming weekend in what will be TSU's conference series finale.

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  

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Jackson State’s basketball recruiting class has JUCO feel to it

JACKSON, Mississippi  -- Wayne Brent knows he’s returning a young group.

That’s why the Jackson State basketball coach didn’t target many high school players this recruiting season.

If the program wants to win fast, it has to bring in more experienced players, he said. So with the five scholarships he had to offer, Brent targeted junior college players.

“With the junior college kids, we got a chance to compete and win, right now,” Brent said.

“We felt, coming in from last year, we’d go get our freshmen kids, build our foundation, and the second year go back and bring in ...

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Defense dominates in Alabama A&M scrimmage

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- There was no middle ground on Friday morning when the Alabama A&M football road show continued. 

The Bulldogs' defense was generally terrific.  The Bulldogs' offense was genuinely horrific.

That's pretty much James Spady's review after the 100-plus-play scrimmage, held on the Bob Jones High practice field; A&M's new "community outreach" philosophy has taken the 'Dogs to Huntsville High and Johnson High as well.

"Our defense was really salty," Spady said. "I'm not sure if they were in the right place, if they had the right assignments, but they competed.

"As good as the defense looked, the offense looked that bad. We've got some work to do," he said.

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AAMU Football Adjusts Practice Schedule

NORMAL, Alabama -- The Alabama A&M football team will adjust their spring practice schedule for a workshop scheduled for all A&M student-athletes.

Wednesday's 7:00 p.m. practice at Louis Crews stadium will now move to Tuesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. at Louis Crews.

The remaining practice schedule for the month is listed below:

Monday; April 21, 2014 (7:00 PM) – Practice #12 (Full Pads)

Tuesday; April 22, 2014 (7:00 PM) – Practice #13 (Full Pads)

Friday; April 25, 2014 (4:00 PM) – Practice #14 (Helmets)

Saturday; April 26, 2014 (3:00 PM) – Practice #15 (Spring Game)

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Southern's Cador to unveil autobiography at Thursday presser

COACH ROGER CADOR
Photo courtesy of Southern University Athletic

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Roger Cador, Southern University head baseball coach, is set to release his autobiography, “Against All Odds” this summer. The book reflects on Cador’s journey to his successes as a player, coach and person.

A sneak peek of the book cover will be revealed at a press conference Thursday, April 24 at noon at the Embassy Suites located at 4914 Constitution Ave. Tressa Smallwood is heading the publishing effort at Life Changing Books and the book is set for release in late summer of 2014. For all attending the press conference, food and drink will be served during the event.

Cador credits friend, Alice Park who insisted he write this book to help motivate someone else.  “She said I needed to write this book because someone out there is going through what you went through and they may need to hear your story to help them,” said Cador.

Through this book, Cador said he hopes people will “learn the value of someone who had struggled with every facet of life and who was deprived of a basic education at a young age, who got laughed at and endured a lot of other things said about them. I didn’t quit. I just found ways to keep working and doing my thing and ignoring all of the negative things.”

Cador said in his journey of writing the motivational autobiography he found out that Herschel Walker, the former NFL player, experienced some of the same things as Cador.

One message he makes in the book is “That no matter what you go through you never give up or find fault or blame people. We live in a great country in the world. I was able to elevate myself from all of that horrible past to make good things happen,” said Cador.

Cador is in his 30^th season as the head baseball coach of Southern. He took over the program in 1984 and has become one of the most respected coaches in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with the accomplishment of compiling an 857-509-1 record.

During his time at Southern he has reached many accomplishments including: 14 SWAC Championships, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, three NCAA Play-In Tournament appearances, and his Jaguars became the first Historically Black College  University to win an NCAA Play-In game with the defeat of Austin Peay University in 1996.

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Dana Ford to Take Over TSU Men's Basketball Team



Photo courtesy of Tennessee State University Athletics

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Tennessee State will tab Dana Ford as its 17^th men’s basketball coach at a press conference Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. within the Athletics Atrium located in the Student Center.

The announcement will signal a homecoming of sorts for Ford who was an assistant under former TSU coach John Cooper from 2009-2011.

 

Ford was instrumental in recruiting talented classes for the Tigers including players who went on to have professional careers in Robert Covington and Kellen Thornton. TSU went 20-13 in Ford’s last season, including the upset of previously unbeaten Murray State.

 

After his success with the Tigers, Ford became an assistant at Wichita State in 2011-12, helping head coach Gregg Marshall guide an NCAA Tournament team to a final Associated Press ranking of No. 18. The Shockers were 27-6 overall and claimed the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship.

 

Ford then joined the Illinois State coaching staff for the 2012-2014 seasons, where he assisted in the Redbirds’ 36-31 mark that included an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) semifinals. He was ISU’s recruiting coordinator and managed players’ academic progress along with his coaching duties.

 

Before TSU, he served as an assistant coach at Chipola Junior College (Fla.). While there, he helped lead Chipola to an impressive 35-2 overall record, its sixth-consecutive Panhandle Conference Championship with a 12-0 record, its fifth FCCAA State Championship in 10 years and a third-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament.

 

Prior to Chipola, Ford served two years as a graduate assistant under Marshall at Wichita State and Winthrop. While at Winthrop, the Eagles captured their first NCAA Tournament win, defeating Notre Dame and finishing the season ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press and USA Today Top-25 polls.

 

A 2006 graduate of Illinois State, Ford earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science. While at ISU, he was a four-year letterwinner from 2002-06 and was voted the squad's defensive player of the year after being ranked in the MVC top-10 in both steals and blocks.

 

Ford is a native of Tamms, Ill., and is a member of the NABC and BCA. He is married to Christina Ford and has a son, Carson, and a stepson, Cameron.

 

The press conference will be streamed on the OVC Digital Network

 

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TSU Women's Golf to Compete in OVC Championships

Courtesy: Tennessee State Athletics

MUSCLE SHOALS, Alabama – The Tennessee State women’s golf team is set to take part in the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference golf championships. After four years of play at GreyStone Golf Club in Dickson, Tenn., the championships will be played at The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Ala., for the first time since 2008. The teams will try to tame the Par-72, 6,203 yard Fighting Joe course.

 

The championships will consist of 54-holes over three days beginning on Monday, Apr. 21. Sarah Needleman will be a part of the first pairing to take to the course at 8:00am. Laura Bremer will tee off at 8:10am and will be followed by Amelia Dap at 8:20am, Natalie Spicer at 8:30am and Kelly Merkel at 8:40am. TSU will be paired with Eastern Illinois for the first round.

 

The Tigers will face off against Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, SIUE, Tennessee Tech and defending champions, Eastern Kentucky.

 

Hole-by-hole live results from each day of the championship can be accessed through links at OVCSports.com.

 

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FAMU Athletics Announces Home Football Game Times

HEAD FOOTBALL COACH EARL HOLMES
FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY
Courtesy FAMU Athletics

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  – The Florida A&M University (FAMU) Athletic Department released the start times for the 2014 Rattler Football home games today.

This year’s five-game Bragg Stadium lineup includes three games kicking off at 5 p.m., and two November games at 3 p.m.

The early season home games with Coastal Carolina (Sept. 20), Morgan State (Oct. 4) and Savannah State (Oct. 11) will kickoff at 5 p.m.

The 2014 homecoming game against Norfolk State (Nov. 1), and home finale against South Carolina State (Nov. 8) will kickoff at 3 p.m.

The Rattlers averaged 11,170 in home attendance last season and are looking to improve on those numbers with a reinvigorated fan base, and an improved squad under the leadership of second-year head coach Earl Holmes and new athletic director Kellen Winslow Sr.

FAMU has been in the Top 25 of the NCAA FCS Division over the last five seasons, and the university hopes to exceed its banner campaign numbers from 2011, when the Rattlers ranked No. 8 in the FCS, drawing 74,985 fans in four games, averaging 17,846 per game.

Tickets are now on sale at the FAMU Athletic Ticket Office and can be purchased by payroll deduction for State of Florida workers.

FAMU 2014 Football Schedule (.pdf)

Opponent	Date	Location	Series Record	Time - ET
Jackson State	Aug. 30	Jackson, Miss.	7-8-2	6:00 pm
Univ. of Miami	Sept. 6	Miami, Fla.	1-8-0	TBA
COASTAL CAROLINA	SEPT. 20	Tallahassee, Fla.	0-0-0	5:00 pm
Tennessee St.	Sept. 27	Nashville, Tenn.	24-28-0	TBA
MORGAN STATE	OCT. 4	Tallahassee, Fla.	20-6-0	5:00 pm
SAVANNAH STATE	OCT. 11	Tallahassee, Fla.	6-0-0	5:00 pm
Howard Univ.	Oct. 18	Washington D.C.	27-9-0	1:00 pm
N.C. A&T	Oct. 25	Greensboro, NC	43-13-2	1:00 pm
NORFOLK STATE	Nov. 1	Tallahassee, Fla.	13-1-0	3:00 pm
S.C. STATE	Nov. 8	Tallahassee, Fla.	33-22-3	3:00 pm
Delaware St.	Nov. 15	Dover, Del.	22-9-0	2:00 pm
Bethune-Cookman	Nov. 22	Orlando, Fla.	48-18-1	TBA

Home games in bold caps.

VIDEO:  Highlights of  Florida A&M's 16-13 win over Miami in 1979.  (Note: there is no audio on the 2nd half of this highlight reel).  Video courtesy of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. Please save in your personal archives on disk.

FOLLOW THE RATTLERS AT: FAMUATHLETICS.COM AND FOR TICKET INFORMATION.
 

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