UAPB Coleman retools staff, eyes turnaround

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas — Monte Coleman rebuilt a large chunk of his coaching staff in 2010 following a sluggish two seasons as Arkansas-Pine Bluff head coach. Three seasons after that makeover, the Golden Lions won their first outright Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.

Coleman is hoping a similar reboot can have similar results.

Coleman begins his ninth season as UAPB’s coach this year trying to snap a skid of three consecutive losing seasons. He’s hoping some fresh faces and new ideas among his coaching staff, particularly on offense, can breathe new life into a program that is 8-25 since winning the SWAC title in2 012.



“There was a sense of need for something different,” he said. “It’s a real tough business. Just wanted to go in a different direction and that’s what we did.”

Coleman’s staff makeover includes the addition of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ted White, wide receivers coach Mark Fredericks, linebackers coach Damion Frenchie and defensive line coach Carrillo Santos. Frenchie is actually the second linebackers coach he’s hired since the end of last season. Stanley Smith resigned about a week before practice started to tend to his pregnant fiance, Coleman said.

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New football stadium ushers in next era at Prairie View A&M

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- Harold Bonner, who attended Prairie View A&M from 1958-62, couldn't believe his eyes when he glanced up at the Panthers' pristine, $61 million stadium.

"We never thought we'd see a day like today," Bonner said of older PVAMU alumni, many of whom were in the crowd during the stadium's grand opening on Saturday. "It's almost like an impossible dream coming true."

It's true all right, and PVAMU will play host to rival Texas Southern at 5 p.m. on Sept. 4, in a contest televised nationally on ESPNU to usher in a new era. The Panthers have come a long way in a short time, in constructing the state-of-the-art stadium on the same site of the old football home, a bare-bones structure now only a memory.

"Where this university has come from is truly amazing," Panthers coach Willie Simmons said. "We want to thank everyone who has blazed a trail before today – who have made it all possible."

The 15,000-seat stadium holds 10 skyboxes/suites and 500 premium seats, along with a field house featuring a large weight room, a dining area, locker rooms and training rooms, among other amenities. The long-term plan calls for an increase to 30,000 seats on down the line – and partially based on the Panthers' on-field success moving forward.



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In year 3, Comegy is ready to win at Mississippi Valley

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE

Rick Comegy (3rd season at MVSU, 159-101 record overall)

What happened last year?

The Delta Devils struggled mightily on their way to a 1-10 record. MVSU started 0-8 before pulling off an overtime road win against Alabama A&M. Eight of the Delta Devils’ 10 losses came by 28 points or more. A lot of freshmen and sophomores gained experience throughout the season, though.

Three questions for coach Rick Comegy

What are you looking forward to this upcoming season with the group of guys you have now?

“I’m looking forward to a group of guys that, themselves, are looking forward to an exciting year. They’re young, but I like that youth we have, that experienced youth. It’s going to pay off for us.”

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Gold Nuggets drop pair of matches at STU Invitational

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — Xavier University of Louisiana lost 25-21, 25-18, 25-11 to St. Thomas (Fla.) and 25-18, 26-28, 25-14, 25-23 to Coastal Georgia Friday on the opening day of the STU Invitational volleyball tournament.
     
The Gold Nuggets (1-5) were outhit .227 to .147 for the day.
     
Notable XULA individuals:
     
•  Tiffany Phillips extended her streak of assist/dig doubles to six. She had 22 assists and 10 digs against St. Thomas and 41 assists and 10 digs against Coastal Georgia. It's XULA's longest double-double streak sinceTaylor Reuther's seven consecutive matches (kills and digs) in 2013.
    
 •  Juliana Tomasoni had 15 kills and 18 digs against Coastal Georgia. It was her third double-double of the season.
    
 •  Amanda Perry had 12 digs in the first match and 14 in the second to extend her streak of double-figure performances to five matches.
    
 •  Kayla Jones had 10 digs against Coastal Georgia — her first double-figure performance of the season and the eighth of her career.
     
•  Monet Fontaine and Hasani Salaam had nine kills apiece against Coastal Georgia.
     
•  Adili Rikondja had three blocks against St. Thomas to match her career high.
    
In the lone set the Gold Nuggets won, they rallied from a 23-22 deficit and clinched on their fourth set point.
    
St. Thomas is 5-0, and Coastal Georgia is 3-3. In the final match Friday, St. Thomas rallied for a 19-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-13 victory against NAIA No. 2 Missouri Baptist.
     
The Gold Nuggets will play Saturday at 10 a.m. EDT against Missouri Baptist and 4 p.m. against Indiana Tech. XULA will play its home opener next Friday.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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from THE EDITOR, DWIGHT FLOYD COMMENTARY: FAMU Board of Trustees Stifles Change

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- In public administration we are taught to implement change in increments of small, non-abrupt changes that will add up over a period of time. To make dramatic changes you need the support of your employer and stakeholders (the people who most associate with the organization, benefit from it, or are somehow impacted by its existence).

So how did the positive changes at FAMU lead to a rejection of Dr. Elmira Mangum’s leadership? Most organizations have associates with privileged access. Sometimes that privilege leads to personal rewards. In other cases, it influences how the organization is run, who gets hired, and how much certain employees are paid. So, imagine what happens when that access is abruptly cut off.

Since Dr. Mangum first arrived she has focused on the mission without regard to politics. She made tremendous change to the organization, and from the very beginning denied access to people used to having the privilege. She was all business and that rubbed some folks the wrong way. Sadly, some of these folks are the reason that dramatic change is needed.

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FAMU Rattlers Hold Scrimmage in Preparation For Season

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Coach Alex Wood took the Rattlers through a very controlled scrimmage today in preparation for the Sept. 3 opening game against the Hurricanes of the University of Miami at Hard Rock Stadium. The players did about a 90-minute practice on the bottom field, affectionately known to former football players as “The Pit.”

Today’s practice had a concentration on situation planning. From onside kick, to running out the clock, to field goal block and other things that could occur during a game, the Rattlers covered it. Wood’s goal, to leave no stone unturned about situations that could possibly occur during a football game.



Wide receiver Montavius Williams is just excited to get started on a new season. “Last season is over. It has been on our minds since the last game. There’s only one way to truly erase last season, and that’s to go out an prove that all the work we did was for a purpose. We’re playing with a chip on our shoulders and we just can’t wait for the opportunity to play and prove that we’ve bought in and a re ready to compete,” he said.

One main highlight of the day was the field goal block team. Keenan Anderson, who is about 6’6” and 360 lbs, blocked a kick and scooped up the deflection and ran about 70-yards for the score. The rest of the kick block team escorted him to the end zone. He rolled over in the end zone to the cheers of the entire team. At post-practice Wood addressed the play. “That was a good touchdown Keenan. I started to blow the whistle, but I let you keep going,” Wood jokingly said. Athletic director, Milton Overton, who was watching practice went over to Anderson to congratulate him for “making the big guys look good.”




FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS 

Gold Nuggets swept; 5 matches next week in NOLA

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida  — Xavier University of Louisiana volleyball lost 25-20, 25-23, 25-20 to NAIA No. 2 Missouri Baptist and 17-25, 25-8, 25-17, 25-19 to Indiana Tech Saturday to finish 0-4 in the STU Invitational.
     
The Gold Nuggets (1-7) got two-match totals of 16 kills and 36 digs from Juliana Tomasoni, 15 kills fromMonet Fontaine, 13 kills from Terri Drake, 34 digs fromAmanda Perry and 24 digs from Kayla Jones.
     
After eight consecutive out-of-state matches to open the season, XULA will play five times next week in New Orleans. The Gold Nuggets will play Tuesday at 5 p.m. against St. Thomas (Texas) and 7 p.m. against city rival Loyola at the Wolf Pack's home court. Then XULA will play host to four opponents in theBig Easy Blastoff at the Convocation Center, meeting Pikeville at 11 a.m. and William Carey at 5 p.m. Friday and Southwest (N.M.) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
    
Mallory Dillon, first-team All-America a year ago, had 19 kills and hit .341, and Natalie Gremaud had 27 digs for Missouri Baptist (6-2). Sarah Pitts-Groce and Drake had seven kills apiece for XULA. The Gold Nuggets' highlight was nine consecutive points during a 14-4 run to open the second set. Drake and Hasani Salaam had two kills apiece during the surge.
     
Cassie Sarabia had 18 kills, 20 digs and four blocks to lead Indiana Tech (2-2). For XULA, Tomasoni had 12 kills and 24 digs — her fourth double-double of the season — Fontaine had nine kills, Jones had a season-high 17 digs, Kaelan Temple had 10 digs and two aces, and Perry — reaching double figures for the seventh consecutive match — had 21 digs.
     
Tiffany Phillips, who entered the day with six consecutive assist/dig double-doubles to start her collegiate career, did not extend her streak. The XULA freshman setter had 24 assists and seven digs against Missouri Baptist and 24 assists and five digs against Indiana Tech.
     
XULA's 84 digs against Indiana Tech were its second-most in a match this season. The Gold Nuggets began the day ranked 24th in the NAIA with 17.59 digs per set.
     
XULA's 21 points per set against Missouri Baptist matched its most ever against a ranked opponent.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Former N.C. A&T Baseball Players Strive Professionally

GREENSBORO, North Carolina – There is some good news out about two North Carolina A&T baseball alumni. Luke Tendler (N.C. A&T ‘14) is having a great season for the High Desert Mavericks, an Advance Single A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, the team that drafted Tendler in the 2014 MLB Draft.

Another former Aggies slugger, C.J. Beatty, is also doing well in his professional baseball career. Beatty has been hired as a scout and hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals organization, the same organization that drafted Beatty in 2009.



Tendler’s power numbers led the Mavericks to the first-half (of the season) championship in the California League South standings, and they are in competition for the best overall record in the California League with the season coming to an end on Sept. 5. Tendler leads the league in RBI (90), he is tied for third in home runs (22) and he is fourth in the league in doubles (35). Tendler is also second in total bases (245) and only two other players have walked more than Tendler.

High Desert is three games back in the second-half standings. As first-half champions they will play in the best-of-5 divisional finals in the playoffs. Tendler has played in 314 minor league games in his career and is a career .283 hitter with 48 home runs, 220 RBI, 83 doubles and a .492 slugging percentage. He has also played for the Spokane Indians (Short Season-A) and the Hickory Crawdads (Full Season-A).

Before becoming the 876th overall selection in the 29th round of the 2014 MLB amateur draft, Tendler was a superstar power man for the Aggies.



Tendler led the Aggies in batting in three out of the seasons he played (2011-14), while starting 199 out of the 200 games he played at A&T. His career highlights include being named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American as a junior and he was named MEAC Preseason Player of the Year in 2013.

He was a career .349 hitter with 24 home runs and 179 RBI. He also finished with 66 doubles, 15 triples and a .561 slugging percentage. As a junior, he was fourth in the nation in doubles per game.

Beatty will be the hitting instructor for the State College Spikes, a Short Season-A team in Pennsylvania. Beatty has had a productive minor league career and has worked as a motivational speaker since leaving N.C. A&T in 2009.



In 2009, he was 789th overall pick in the 26th round by the Cardinals. He played three seasons (2009-11) in their organization before playing four seasons for various independent baseball teams (2011-14). There was also a two-year stint in Australia for the Brisbane Bandits in winter baseball. Beatty spent the final two years of his career in the Chicago White Sox organization (2014-15).

Beatty is one of the highest-ranked recruits to ever sign with N.C. A&T out of high school. Beatty spent three seasons at N.C. A&T where he was a career .339 hitter with 31 home runs, 47 doubles and 135 RBI. He also had a .590 slugging percentage. Tendler and Beatty are two of the 18 Aggies ever selected in the MLB draft.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION 

A team-by-team look at Rutgers' 2016 sked: Howard Bison

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

When/Where: Sept. 10, noon, High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway

2015 record: 1-10, 1-7

Returning starters: 16

Coach: Gary Harrell

Offense: Multiple

Defense: 4-3

Series record: Rutgers, 4-0

Last meeting: 2014, Rutgers, 38-25

On the web: www.hubison.com

Twitter line: Howard lost by a cumulative score of 125-0 in its two games against FBS teams in 2015, and was picked next-to-last in the MEAC preseason poll.



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NCCU Eagles eye third straight MEAC title as 15 starters return

DURHAM, North Carolina -- After closing the 2015 season with seven straight wins to earn a share of the MEAC championship for the second consecutive year, N.C. Central has its eyes on making history in 2016.

The Eagles have never won three straight conference titles — not since their football program began in 1923, and certainly not since moving from Division II to the FCS in 2011. The Eagles have also never beaten an FBS opponent, a streak that they’ll have two opportunities to break this season.



“That ball is very funny, and it bounces a lot of different ways, so as long as we try to continue to improve and control the things we can control ... hopefully it goes in our favor in trying to make history,” said head coach Jerry Mack, who returns 15 starters from last season’s 8-3 squad.

Here are four things to know about N.C. Central this season:

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Florida A&M: The New Voice of Bragg - Episode II And I

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- FAMU Athletics is searching for the next announcer at Bragg Stadium. longtime announcer Kenneth Jones retires after 30 years on the job. It's down tot he final 11. See who makes the cut to the final 3.  Watch as the contenders are dwindled down until there is a winner.




COURTESY: GOFAMUATHLETICS

Norfolk State Football Preview

NORFOLK, Virginia -- Trouble with the ground game

With a two-headed monster of Greg Hankerson and Gerard Johnson carrying the football, NSU's rushing attack was surprisingly bad last year. They didn't have a single rusher average more than 50 yards per game, and averaged under 100 yards per game and a paltry 3.1 yards per carry as a team. If the Spartans want to put up points, they'll have to fix their ground game.

Deep Defensive Line

During the offseason, the Spartans switched their base defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3 to emphasize the depth they have on the defensive line. Chris Lee and Phoebus high product Walter Brantley give the Spartans a strong interior presence.

Stability at QB

 The Spartans have experienced a lot of turnover at the quarterback position in recent years, so they are looking forward to the return of senior quarterback Greg Hankerson, who started all 11 games last season after transferring in from Florida Atlantic.



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Hampton U football preview: Breaking down players, storylines and games to watch

HAMPTON, Virginia -- THE COACH

CONNELL MAYNOR

Seventh year (54-20, 9-14 in two seasons at HU).

After being hired from Winston-Salem State, Maynor went 3-9 in his first season. That should put last year's 6-5 record, the program's first winning season since 2011, in better perspective. After losing 24 seniors, Maynor had to bring in more than a dozen transfers, including nine from FBS programs. Many of them could turn out to be starters.

THE STANDOUTS

T.J. Mixson

Sr. | 5-10 | 166 | WR

He goes into his final season with 140 catches for 2,171 yards and 19 TDs. That's fourth, fifth and sixth on the school's all-time list. All he needs to break all three marks are 50 receptions, 920 yards, and four TDs. A great season, to be sure, but each category would be a drop-off from his junior year (59 catches, 1,027 yards, 9 TDs).

Chaka Diarrassouba

Jr. | 6-0 | 188 | DB

With seven of the top eight tacklers from last season gone, he's the top returner with 42 stops and a blocked a field-goal attempt. He had eight tackles twice and seven in two other games. His most productive day came against Morgan State (seven tackles and an interception).

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Kellenberger: Predicting the football season

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Brandon Bryant has eight career starts. Breeland Speaks has two. Tony Hughes has never been a head coach before. Jay Hopson has never been a head coach at a FBS-level school.

Yet these are the men that are on the front of this year’s The Clarion-Ledger college football preview because they represent the future. We’ll always remember 2014, and 2015 was pretty great with Ole Miss winning a Sugar Bowl, Southern Miss and Alcorn State both taking home conference titles and Mississippi State sending out Dak Prescott with nine wins.

But it’s 2016 now, and it’s time for something new. It’s time for who is next.

That does not mean we’re predicting a slide. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s our opinion that there’s no outside forces preventing Ole Miss and Mississippi State from continuing to win in the vaunted SEC West, and why should Southern Miss not continue to score at will against most of Conference USA? Hughes was the best hire Jackson State could have possibly made, and those games against Alcorn State should be contentious, meaningful and fun as hell to watch.

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Experienced ASU Hornets try to take step toward SWAC title

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY

1. Welcome back: Alabama State begins the second season of the Brian Jenkins era with reasonably higher expectations. The Hornets were picked to finish second in the SWAC East behind defending SWAC champion Alcorn State. ASU return 17 starters from a season that was defined by resiliency. “Experience helps to build the team,” said lineman Kerry Williams, a three-year starter. “We’ve played together for a number of years so we all know each other. There will be nothing new to us.”

2. Ready to run: The Hornets have rushed for more than 2,000 yards as a team each of the last three seasons. Last season, ASU was fifth in the SWAC with an average of 182.3 rushing yards per game. Senior Khalid Thomas (720 rush yards and five touchdowns last season) returns to lead the backfield, but may have to shoulder even more of the load early as sophomore Alex Anderson, the second-leading rusher for the Hornets last season, is currently nursing a leg injury.



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Previewing SWAC Football

ALWAYS WATCH IN 1080p HD, WIDE SCREEN

JACKSON, Mississippi -- his article is part of the 2016 ClarionLedger.com College Football Preview. To find out why first-year coach Tony Hughes is the man to lead Jackson State, click here. Defensive end Javancy Jones wants to return to the SWAC title game during his senior season, click here.  Quarterback LaMontiez Ivy is out to prove he’s a winner, click here.  A pair of guys from “Last Chance U” have provided a boost to the JSU defense, click here. To find out how the Tigers’ schedule shapes up, click here.  And you can read more about Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State.

Coach with the toughest job

Rick Comegy, Mississippi Valley State: Comegy is working with a lot less resources than most of the conference’s other coaches. The Delta Devils are starting to build some talent, but went 1-10 last season and were picked to finish last in the East Division this year.

Newcomers to watch

Darius Floyd, Prairie View A&M, WR: The 5-foot-10, 175-pound redshirt junior should be a nice receiving target for Panthers quarterback Trey Green, who is one of the better quarterbacks in the conference.



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Gimme Some Mo Blue and Gold Marching Machine ... North Carolina A&T State University Blows Open the 2016 Band Season

Here it is, the first field show of the 2016 marching season! The band salutes various female artists at "The Battle for the Crown" in Greenville, SC., Aug. 20, 2016.






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THE BGMM MEDIA TEAM: FOLLOW THE AGGIES AT Thomas L. Jones, Jr.

Winning the new normal for MEAC favorite N.C. A&T Aggies

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The rebuilding project is officially over at A&T.

Now it’s just building.

The Aggies will open their football season at 6 p.m. Saturday at home against Division II St. Augustine’s.

It’s a season full of hope for A&T, which has shared the MEAC championship two years in a row and won the inaugural Celebration Bowl in December.

This year’s seniors — even the fifth-year redshirt players — have never experienced a losing season at A&T. Not one.

Let that sink in.

The Aggies are 33-13 (.717) the last four seasons. A&T had losing records in nine of the previous 10 seasons, going a combined 34-80 (.298).

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Southern notebook: Few surprises as Jaguars release Week 1 depth chart

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern released its first updated depth chart since the start of preseason camp, and while it mostly held true to the units the Jaguars ran out to the practice field, there were a couple of interesting notes.

Senior defensive back Rhaheim Ledbetter was not listed on the depth chart at all. Ledbetter missed all of last season because of eligibility issues but is considered to be a key component of this year’s secondary.

Three true freshmen appear on the two-deep, with one — Southern Lab graduate Curtlan Williams — penciled in as a starter.

Freshman Jerimiah Williams is listed as the top backup at both guard positions, and Kaycee Ntukogu is listed as Blake Monroe’s backup at the rover position.

Redshirt freshman Mason Sims won the camp battle with junior college transfer Christian Rodriguez to be the starting left tackle.

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Analyzing Grambling's floor, ceiling for 2016 season

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- It's been five years since Grambling last won a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.

Not long enough to call it a drought, but the Tigers are thirsty to bring home another conference title after falling short in the 2015 championship game to Alcorn State.

Is this the year Grambling climbs back to the top of the HBCU mountain of college football?

Grambling certainly has the makings of a championship team. Yes, Grambling lost about a quarter of its seniors from 2015, but an influx of transfers and in-house talent from the last two signing classes has expectations sky high around the football building.

Led by quarterback DeVante Kincade, running back Martez Carter, a deep receiving corps and a defense revamped with transfers, the sky is the limit for Grambling's potential. It all depends on how things progress, and more importantly, how the Tigers finish the season.

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Del State Hornets aim to improve as Carter enters 2nd year

DOVER, Delaware -- Once the curtain came down on the 2015 season, the Delaware State football team had already put it in the rearview mirror.

It was coach Kenny Carter’s first season and the Hornets slumped to a 1-10 record.

But Carter has called it a transition year. It took him some time to establish his system, his outlook for the program and, perhaps most importantly, bring in the players he wanted.

So the 1-10 year doesn’t have any effect on how the Hornets are setting their goals for this season. They’ve seen improvement in the spring, summer and fall. They want to keept up that trend of getting better.

“Hopefully we can keep progressing so we can be in Atlanta in December,” said sophomore quarterback Kobie Lain. “Because at the end of the day, that is the ultimate goal.”

A December trip to Atlanta means a MEAC Championship and a berth in the second-annual Heritage Bowl against the champion of the SWAC.

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2016 Norfolk State football preview: Impact players, big numbers and more

Impact players
QB Greg Hankerson

The first season-long starter to return at NSU since 2011, Hankerson is a dual-threat passer and runner with the ability to escape trouble in the pocket. The senior transfer from Florida Atlantic passed for 2,052 yards and rushed for 423 last season, but his goals are loftier: 2,500 passing yards and 1,000 on the ground.

RB Gerard Johnson

A senior transfer from ODU, Johnson is coming off ACL surgery to his right knee late last season. In his first campaign at NSU, Johnson led the team’s running backs with 418 rushing yards but just one touchdown. Scott expects bigger things: “I think Gerard Johnson’s back,” he said.

LB Kyle Archie

The former star at Portsmouth’s Norcom High was second on the team as a sophomore last season with 66 tackles, behind graduated LB Deon King’s FCS-leading 163. In NSU’s new 4-3 defense, the defensive line will be relied upon to replace the production of King, who has spent the summer in camp with the Dallas Cowboys. But should opposing runners get past the linemen, Archie will be waiting.

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Wyatt sees improved Edward Waters College football program

JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- A good start and a solid finish couldn’t mask the disappointment of six lopsided losses in the middle of Edward Waters College 2015 season. As far as head coach Alvin Wyatt is concerned, the Tigers have already put that 4-7 season behind them.

“Right now as we speak, Morehouse College is watching videos of this team from last year,” Wyatt told EWC supporters Wednesday at the school’s fall sports media day in the school gym. “But all those old tapes do is provide a false, negative view of our past. We are better than that now. We are ready to move forward.”

EWC hosts Morehouse on Saturday, Sept. 3, at Stanton Stadium. The NAIA Tigers will be looking for some payback from a year ago when Morehouse hung a 51-7 defeat on the Tigers to start their six-game slide. EWC allowed at least 42 points in all six losses, including 44-31 to Jacksonville University in the first Jacksonville Classic between the two city schools. They will meet again this year at JU on Sept. 17.

There’s reason for optimism this season. It starts with Wyatt, whose fiery, passionate dissertations to his team and the EWC community are met with the same enthusiasm and vigor in which they’re delivered.

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WSSU eyeing opener against UNC Pembroke

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- Winston-Salem State has its new-look helmets almost ready to unveil.

The helmets are all red with new decals complete with a new logo coming next week. They should be ready to go right before Sept. 3 and the opener at Bowman Gray Stadium against UNC Pembroke.

Coach Kienus Boulware and the Rams completed their camp Wednesday, and now the preparations in practice will be geared toward UNC Pembroke.

“Our camp went well, and we had a lot of competition really at all positions,” said Boulware, who will start his third season as head coach. “I like the way the guys got after it, and the energy level has been very high.”

With classes starting, Boulware said it’s a great time to eONnd the two-a-day workouts as practices will be scaled back to once a day. There will be a final scrimmage over the weekend, then the normal game-week approach will take hold Monday.

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Transfers bolster St. Augustine’s as Chavous era begins

RALEIGH, North Carolina -- Tom Chavous was named St. Augustine’s head coach during the offseason after he coached the final eight games of the 2015 season. He now has the opportunity to bring in new talent on the field and in his coaching staff.

New assistant coach Alvin Parker and new quarterbacks coach Jason Mai were hired from CIAA rivals Elizabeth City State and Winston-Salem State, respectively.

Additionally, Chavous said he recruited more than 30 college transfers to add depth — and, in some cases, elite talent — to his roster.

The parade of new acquisitions joins 14 returning starters on a St. Augustine’s squad that went 1-9 last year, beating only rival Shaw.

“(I’m) bringing in experienced players that focus on academics first. If I can get guys that focus on the main thing while they’re here, football is going to be pretty much easy for them, the playbook is going to be a little easy for them,” Chavous said. “I just want to change the attitude and bring a winning tradition here ... that they’ve never had.”

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