Sunday, January 31, 2016

ASU baseball coach officially loses interim title

ALBANY, Georgia -- Daniel Stockdale entered Albany State's media day with big news. He lost the interim tag that lingered throughout last season even after he carried his Golden Rams to an SIAC championship.

"Grateful, appreciative, but we just continued to work throughout the interim tag," said Stockdale. "We never really worried about that. Individually my family and I we just continued to work hard every day and I'm happy to be officially the head coach."

The second year coach is confident in his squad as they are less than 2 weeks away from their home opener against Georgia Southwestern.

"What we're really looking for is professional and personal development of all of our student athletes," said Stockdale. "Having an All-American on our team this season is really going to do our school and our team a lot of good."

"This group and the ones that are getting ready for pitches right now," said All-American infielder Terrence Worthy. "We are the hardest working team that I ever been on. To have a hard working coach, I mean he's out there running with us."

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Donated TVs help with recruiting at FAMU

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M’s football has faced several sanctions from the NCAA in recent years and, despite applications for waivers from new AD Milton Overton Jr. and Deputy AD Elliot Charles, the program will have to operate without spring practice.

It’s another negative recruiting blow for a team that also can’t participate in the postseason. It’s also a challenge for Parker Brooks, the new director of FAMU’s strength and conditioning program.

Brooks said he wants to make changes to FAMU’s field house, which hasn’t been renovated since it was opened in 1983. First and foremost, he’s looking to add to what the Rattlers can show potential recruits who visit the facilities.

To help, the 220 Quarterback Club, a group of FAMU athletics enthusiasts, donated four 42-inch high-definition flat screen televisions to the athletic department. Three went to the field house and one to Gaither Gymnasium.

The contribution was worth just over $1,100.

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St. Augustine has 5 players commit to Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State



NEW ORLEANS -- Four St. Augustine players committed to Mississippi Valley State on Sunday, joining a teammate who pledged to another SWAC school last week.

Running back/wide receiver Darrell Landry, defensive end/tackle Lawrence Adams, center Brian Watson and tackle Evan Raymond all pledged to the Delta Devils. Landry announced the the commitments on his Twitter page.

Meanwhile, offensive lineman Darius Joseph announced he committed Jackson State last week.

Landry, 5 feet 9, 170 pounds, had 49 carries for 339 yards and three touchdowns and caught 36 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns in his senior season. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns

Adams, 6-3, 275, finished his senior season with 35 tackles, two sacks and one fumble recovery which he returned 99 yards for a touchdown. He could play inside or outside on the defensive line at the next level.

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What's next for Alcorn State?

LORMAN, Mississippi -- Jay Hopson inherited Alcorn State's football program while it was, in his own words, at "rock bottom."

After four seasons, he left the Braves at the top of the SWAC with back-to-back conference championships.

Following Hopson's hiring as Southern Miss' coach, Alcorn State is tasked with finding the coach who can keep pushing the program's momentum forward.

Shortly after the news was released about Hopson's departure on Saturday night, Derek Horne, Braves athletic director, appointed assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach Fred McNair as Alcorn State's interim coach.

In a university press release, Horne stated a national search for Hopson's permanent replacement would start immediately.

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Restivo leaves S.C. State to coach defense at McNeese State

COACH TOMMY RESTIVO
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- The South Carolina State Bulldogs football team knew at the end of the 2015 season that eight of the 22 players on the defense’s two-deep roster had played their final games in an SCSU uniform.

Replacing those players and their experience was a known need that SCSU Head Coach Buddy Pough knew he would encounter during this offseason and heading into the 2016 SCSU preseason workouts.

As of this week, the Bulldogs defense has lost another key component, as second-year defensive coordinator Tommy Restivo was announced on Tuesday as the new DC at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

In the 2015 campaign, Restivo steered the Bulldogs defensive unit to performances that led the nation (FCS rankings) in sacks, tackles for loss, pass efficiency defense and third-down defense. The Bulldogs also finished the season nationally-ranked third in passing defense, fourth in scoring defense, sixth in total defense and 25th in rushing defense.

"Tommy did a fine job for us and we appreciate it," Coach Pough said on Thursday. "This sort of thing happens when you hire high-end guys; people will try to come get them."

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Yahkee Johnson Heads to Hampton University

JUCO Running Back Yahkee Johnson

HAMPTON, Virginia -- Former L.C. Bird running back Yahkee Johnson has made a few statements in his career.

But this past week, the former standout, made his biggest statement – a commitment to where he would be finishing up his college career.

The 5-8 bolt of lightning has decided on Hampton University.

Yahkee Johnson is one of the finest young men I have ever coached,” said L.C. Bird coach, David Bedwell. “Hampton got a great football player but an even better young man. Expect big things to come.”

Part of Johnson’s success at L.C. Bird had to do with the trust that he built with Bedwell, calling him someone who is there for him to this day. During his senior year, Johnson broke Jason Snelling’s all-time record for total rushing yardage in a game when he gashed Midlothian for 302 yards. The record has been broken multiple times since, with Paul Robertson being the current record holder, with 426 yards.

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Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey Tops $3 million in cash donations to 'Home By the Sea'

Dr. and Mrs. William R. Harvey
HAMPTON, Virginia -- With Dr. and Mrs. William R. Harvey’s latest $100,000 gift to the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute, HU’s University President has given more than $3 million to the institution of higher learning that has grown exponentially under his leadership. That personal donation dollar amount is $3,066,327. The gift speaks to the couple’s heartfelt commitment to the “Standard of Excellence” that is Hampton University. Dr. William R. Harvey and Mrs. Norma B. Harvey are more than President and First Lady of the Hampton University community. They have dedicated their lives to the success of the university.

All university presidents are called upon to enhance the quality of the university’s student population, academic programs, faculty, physical facilities and financial base. That’s the job. What Dr. Harvey has done extends beyond any official expectation. His giving is best described as ‘not just talking the talk, but walking the walk.’ He has done all that is in his power to support the historic institution, from the Emancipation Oak to the shoreline that hugs the campus on three sides.

As a visionary, Dr. Harvey, has embraced HU founder General Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s mission to have everything at Hampton University excel. And excel it has under Dr. Harvey’s leadership. The Harvey years, 38 and counting, will grace the record books as an unparalleled accounting of mega success, not just for the HU students, faculty and staff whose lives give testimony to the results of his labor; but for the global community of stakeholders who will continually reap the benefits of his astute leadership for generations to come.

Dr. Harvey has introduced innovations, which have solidified Hampton University’s stellar position among the nation’s colleges and universities. Seventy-six new academic programs, satellites on active missions in space, the largest free-standing proton therapy cancer treatment center in the world, all of what Dr. Harvey has accomplished speaks to his desire to leave the world better than he found it.

The Brewton, Alabama native is a servant leader who faces each day determined to enrich the lives of others. His blessed path led him from a small town in Alabama to the coveted classrooms of Harvard University. With his Ivy League degree in hand, Dr. Harvey could have taken any one of so many prestigious university offers. However, Dr. Harvey, the true educator, chose to lead at an HBCU where he could make a real difference in the academic worlds of young people who yearned for better lives. Dr. Harvey, the businessman, put his acumen to work placing Hampton on the fast track for growth and development as a world-class university.

Dr. Harvey has reached into his own pocket several times to help members of the university community. He has covered salary increases during the lean financial periods. For example in 2011, Dr. and Mrs. Harvey gave a gift of $1 million to be utilized as incentives to increase faculty salaries. In 2011 and again in 2014, the Harveys gave donations of $166,000 and $108,403 respectively, to support wage increases for full-time permanent HU staff. The Harveys also made a generous donation to scholarships in 2001. That year they gave a gift of $1 million to fund scholarships for students interested in becoming K-12 teachers.

“My parents were my first role models,” Harvey said. “Establishing the W.D.C. Harvey Endowed Scholarships in my father’s name is my way of honoring all of the life lessons they shared. They taught my sister Anne and me the benefit of giving and sharing to improve the world we live in. The scholarships will assist in making it possible for the next generation of leaders to emerge.

This latest gift of $100,000 will provide an endowment of at least $3,000,000 in scholarships for students to attend the William R. Harvey Leadership Institute (WRHLI). The students will become “Harvey Scholars” after a rigorous selection process. Upon completion of the program, the fellows receive an 18-hour-minor in leadership studies.

The WRHLI was the brainchild of Dr. Harvey who convened several of his closest academic advisors with the clear purpose of creating an institute with a curriculum focused on character development, critical thinking, leadership theory and application, ethics and policy development.

Dr. and Mrs. Harvey’s most recent personal contribution of $100,000 will support scholarships for 25 “Harvey Scholars” each year over a period of four years for a total of 100 scholarships. The Institute provides an impressive curriculum designed to teach Dr. Harvey’s ten-point leadership model--vision, work ethic, academic excellence, team building, innovation, courage, management, fairness, fiscal conservatism, and results.

The proof of performance for the William R. Harvey Leadership Model is in the career stories of executives who have studied the model under Dr. Harvey’s mentorship and as a result reached the height of their careers. An unprecedented 17 executives attribute their positions as President or C-E-O of a university or institution, to Dr. Harvey and the effectiveness of his leadership model.

The newly financed William R. Harvey Leadership Scholarships will be awarded in Fall 2016.

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS