Norfolk State Spartans Open Preseason Training Camp on Monday

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  The Norfolk State University football team opens its preseason training camp with a 9 a.m. practice on Monday morning at the Spartans' practice field.

The team will practice from 9-11 a.m. Monday through Friday during the first week of training camp with a conditioning session each afternoon. The team's first two-a-day session is Saturday, with a 9 a.m. intrasquad scrimmage and a 7 p.m. special teams practice scheduled.

Coaches and players will be available for interviews following the conclusion of the 9 a.m. practice each day. Practices are generally open to the media unless otherwise stated.

NSU returns 14 starters from last season and had nine players voted to the Preseason All-MEAC first, second or third teams.

The Spartans open the 2014 season at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30 at defending Colonial Athletic Association champion Maine in Orono, Maine. NSU's home opener is at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6 against defending Big South Conference co-champion Liberty at Dick Price Stadium.

NSU season and single-game football tickets are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the NSU Ticket Center on campus between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tickets can also be purchased any time at www.nsuspartanstickets.com.

Matt Michalec, Asst. AD/Communications

NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Ex-NSU Spartans Williams, Deloach sign with Italian teams

NORFOLK, Virginia  -- Former Norfolk State guards Pendarvis Williams and Michael Deloach will compete professionally in Italy during the 2014-15 season, the school announced Friday.

Williams, who wrapped up his NSU career in 2014, recently signed a contract with Moncada Solar Agrigento of the A2 Gold league.

Deloach has been playing professionally overseas since he finished his career at NSU in 2010. He recently signed a contract to play for Liomatic Viola Reggio Calabria of the A2 Silver league.

The pair won't be the only former Spartans to play professional basketball this season. Kyle O'Quinn will enter his third year with the Orlando Magic after the organization kept him past the July 15 waiver deadline.

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Williams takes over at middle linebacker as Bethune-Cookman rebuilds defense

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Florida — Even a veteran like LeBrandon Richardson needed to get acclimated Friday as Bethune-Cookman opened its first preseason training camp at the New Smyrna Beach Sports Complex.

And not just because of the mid-summer heat and high humidity. The defensive end was surrounded by new faces and unsure paces as the Wildcats embarked on a rebuilding project — replacing eight departed defensive starters.

“It's a new crew. We're putting the pieces to the puzzle together, and it was a great start today,” Richardson said.

With only three defensive starters returning — including Richardson, a two-time all-MEAC selection — the Wildcats are looking for several of last season's reserves to step up.

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NCCU Eagles dodge rain to get to work for Mack

DURHAM, North Carolina   — That moment when rain pushes back the first day of football practice: “We’ve got to get on the grass some kind of way,” first-year N.C. Central coach Jerry Mack said shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.

NCCU was supposed to start practice at 3:30 p.m. Soaking rain flipped the script.

But make no mistake, the Eagles were going to work Friday.

“Rain, sleet or snow, we’re going to practice,” Mack said.

Having the East Carolina Pirates waiting in Greenville on Aug. 30 can create such a sense of urgency, although NCCU senior defensive end Ty Brown would tell you Mack’s intense like that all of the time. 

Football players at Duke and North Carolina can go hard in indoor practice facilities when the weather outside is frightful. NCCU doesn’t have that option.

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North Carolina A&T Begins Football Practice

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The North Carolina A&T's football team returned to the field for its first official practice on Saturday.

A&T practiced for two and a half hours in preparation for a 12-game 2014 schedule.

Twenty-nine days later the Aggies will open the season in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney at 11:45 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 31 at Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando, Fla. A&T's home opener is Saturday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m., against FCS playoff quarterfinalist Coastal Carolina at Aggie Stadium.

The Aggies were 7-4 overall and 4-4 in the MEAC last season. The Aggies return five starters on offense and four players on defense.

The Aggies have four preseason first-team All-MEAC players in reigning MEAC Rookie of the Year running back Tarik Cohen, fifth-year offensive lineman William Ray Robinson III, senior wide receiver Desmond Lawrence and fifth-year linebacker D'Vonte Grant.

 

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Brian Von Bergen joins Albany State as QB coach

ALBANY, Georgia — For the second straight offseason, Albany State has landed a quarterback coach with an impressive resume and Division I coaching experience.

ASU announced the hiring of Brian Von Bergen as its newest QB coach on Thursday, filling the void left by Willie Totten, who left his post with the Rams after one season to take an assistant coaching job at Alabama A&M.



Like Totten — a former head coach and legendary receiver at Mississippi Valley State — did last summer, Von Bergen brings plenty of experience to the Rams.

“I feel very fortunate to be at Albany State,” said Von Bergen, who was the passing game coordinator and wide receiver coach for Division I Montana State the past five seasons and helped turn the Bobcats into one of the top offensive teams in the Big Sky Conference. “Ultimately I feel like I’m on a championship team and feel very blessed to work with these guys.”

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2014 CIAA Media Day Commissioner's Observation

2014 CIAA Media Day Commissioner's Observation from CIAA Media Relations on Vimeo.

DURHAM, North Carolina -- CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams said last Thursday as she kicked off the 2014 Preseason Football Media Day at the Durham Convention Center that the cancellation of last year's CIAA Football Championship Game was a "dark day in history" for the conference but a significant lesson was learned.

"It reminded us," McWilliams said, "of what we should be focused on and what is most important to this conference, and that is the welfare and the experience of our student/athletes." Speaking prior to media interviews with coaches and players from each of the league's 12 teams, McWilliams said an ad hoc committee of the conference's Board of Directors, the league's presidents, decided that no further action would be taken against the institutions involved but also made changes to the conference's constitution so that "what happened last year will never happen again."

"The bottom line," McWilliams said in also announcing conference initiatives to promote fair play, ethical conduct and sportsmanship, "isthere is zero tolerance for behaviors that diminish the values and the mission of this great conference." When it got down to play on the field, Winston-Salem State in the South and Virginia State in the North, the two teams that were scheduled to meet in last year's championship game, were the preseason selections by the league's head coaches and sports information directors to repeat in their respective divisions. But things will be a little different, at least at WSSU.

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