Road to winning taken literally by TSU's Mike Davis

HOUSTON, Texas -- Every door to the Health and Physical Education Arena on Texas Southern's campus stays open. Students pass through, talking on their phones, catching up between classes. A few sit in the stands doing homework.

Sometimes the cheerleaders practice in a corner. Other times, the track team runs up and down the bleachers.

There's a lot going on at this gym in the heart of Houston. All while the basketball team is in the middle of practice.

In the center of it all is Tigers coach Mike Davis, yelling out drills, blowing his whistle, occasionally saying hello to passersby. It's nothing like a normal practice for an NCAA Division I men's basketball program.

Its practices are only one of the things that make TSU unorthodox. Aside from the basketball taking place on the court, nothing about the Tigers is typical.

Open practices, 13 non-conference road games, zero recruiting trips, several transfer players.

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How will Southern replace offensive stars Lenard Tillery and Willie Quinn? By creating opportunity

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The questions for Southern coach Dawson Odums right after the 2013 season ended centered on just how he would replace Dray Joseph, the school’s all-time leading passer, and his top receiver Lee Doss.

They’re similar to the questions he’s getting now regarding Willie Quinn, the school’s all-time leading receiver, and Lenard Tillery, the most prolific rusher the SWAC has ever seen.

The answer to both are the same: it’s not about replacing greatness, it’s about creating the opportunity for others to create their own form of greatness.



“We don’t talk about replacing guys,” Odums said. “What we talk about is a new window of opportunity for somebody to have the spotlight shined upon them.”

The Jaguars rode Tillery and Quinn heavily in 2016.

Tillery won the SWAC rushing title with 1,665 rushing yards, more than 400 yards of Alabama State’s Khalid Thomas (1,237), who was the league’s only other 1,000 yard rusher.

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Miller touts Arizona's 'tremendous upside,' but beware Texas Southern

Wednesday, November 30 at 9:00 p.m. (EST)
TV: Pac-12 Arizona (Daron Sutton & Matt Muehlebach)
WATCH ONLINE: CLICK HERE

TUCSON, Arizona -- Arizona's non-conference basketball schedule is very little about the other opponent.

It's about the Wildcats: Getting young guys experience. Defining roles. Just getting better game-by-game.

Home games so far against Cal State Bakersfield, Sacred Heart and Northern Colorado didn't raise much preseason interest, although a couple of those games ended up raising fans' blood pressure in closer-than-expected outcomes.

With that in mind, here comes Texas Southern on Wednesday night (7 p.m. McKale Center).

The Tigers really are one of the most interesting teams in college basketball.

They have a Final Four coach (ex-Indiana head man Mike Davis). They play all their non-conference games away from their Houston home.

They are from one of the lower mid-major conferences (Southwestern Athletic) but pull in big-time transfers.

They have a player who has been all-conference in basketball AND football.

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Maynor: HU's 'ship headed in the right direction'

HAMPTON, Virginia -- The non-conference schedule was one of the toughest Hampton University has ever faced. Old Dominion is a Bowl Subdivision team with more scholarships and resources. William and Mary and Coastal Carolina were both ranked in the FCS polls.

Predictably, the Pirates went 0-3 in those games. But their 5-3 record in the MEAC, even if that's no different than 2015, is what HU coach Connell Maynor sees as proof that his program is moving forward.

"Last year, 5-3 was fifth place," Maynor said. "This year, it was third place, so we've got the ship headed in the right direction. We're a couple of plays, a couple of players, away. There's not that big a difference between us and (MEAC champion) North Carolina Central.



"It's a process. Each year, we've gotten a little bit better, a little bit better. If we get a little bit better next year, that'll put us where we want to be."

Still, there's no denying this season could have gone better. For the season, the Pirates had 29 turnovers — more than anyone in FCS except Eastern Kentucky, Mississippi Valley and UT Martin. They also were the nation's 14th most-penalized team.

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Alcorn State getting set for Grambling rematch in SWAC Championship

LORMAN, Mississippi -- Alcorn State is 60 minutes away from becoming the first team in 14 years to three-peat as conference champions.

Standing in the way is a 10-1 Grambling squad that's ranked in the top 15 in FCS polls.

The Braves continued preparing for the Tigers with a Tuesday afternoon practice. Alcorn avoided the severe weather that affected most of the Magnolia State, Fred McNair's crew worked out at Spinks-Casem Stadium.

Coach updated the status of All-SWAC QB Lenorris Footman: "We're going to feel him out the rest of this week and will be a game time decision. Hopefully he prepares himself this week to be able to play. Still have Noah Johnson. Noah has done a great job for us this week and doing things that he needs to do to get prepared for this game."

Johnson has shined in Footman's absence, throwing for 11 touchdowns and running in 10. That includes a record-setting 8 TD performance November 12th versus Mississippi Valley. All-American center Detonio Dade feels the offense will be fine regardless. "Which ever one plays, we're going to protect our butts off on the offensive line, and receivers are going to do their thing catching the ball, whoever throws it to them. The quarterback is going to run the ball good just like the running backs. So we're all going to play together no matter who's playing."

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Are the Grambling Tigers back?

GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Broderick Fobbs knows enough about Grambling's football history to decipher the difference between the glory days and the present day.

And it's why he'll give a sarcastic and playful roll of the eyes when asked if the Tigers' football program, one that once ruled the college football universe, is back.

A few of Fobbs' players think that's the case following a 52-30 thumping over Southern in the Bayou Classic, but the third-year coach wants to pump the brakes a bit.

"I wouldn't say we're back. We're on the way to being back. It is a great performance, but you gotta understand what Grambling has been. Grambling has been a program that has gone all over the country," Fobbs said Monday. "We've gone to Japan. We've gone all over the place to play football games. There was a time when our players would go to the White House and visit the President. To say that we're back, we're not back yet, but we sure are showing signs of getting there."

Fobbs' logic is simple: Yes, Grambling has enjoyed success since he took over the program, but the Tigers still have yet to win a championship, something they can achieve this weekend against Alcorn State.

Running back Martez Carter opened the door for the conversation following Saturday's win in New Orleans. Carter was asked about the Tigers' confidence level, and the junior responded a comment about the history of the program.

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Bahamas' Jamaal Symonette One Of The Top Offensive Linesmen For NCCU Eagles

Jamaal Symonette

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Jamaal Symonette never played a football game before he left the Bahamas as a teenager. But for the past four years, except one year when he sat out with an injury, he has been one of the top offensive linesmen for the North Carolina Central University Eagles.

Symonette, back in action after sitting out the 2013/14 season, started every game at right tackle for the Eagles this season. On Monday, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) named Symonette to its All-MEAC Football Team as a member of the All-Academic Team and All-MEAC Second Team after posting the team’s second-highest grade of 89 per cent on blocking assignments with 27 pancake blocks.

The 23-year-old son of Geoffrey and Audrey Symonette will be graduating from NCCU on December 10 just before he and the Eagles play in the second annual Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta December 17 in a game at 12 noon that will be televised on ABC.

“I never really watched football growing up, but somebody just came from Florida and looked at me and told me that I have a good size to play football, but I said I wasn’t interested,” said Symonette, who prides himself as being a grand nephew of the late Timothy Gibson, the 1973 author of the Bahamas national anthem.

“My parents told me that I should give it a chance and it brought me a free education. It allowed me to get a degree and my parents didn’t have to pay a dime.”

After leaving St John’s College in 2010, Symonette enrolled at Miami Beach Senior High School for one year before he transferred to a private school in Hialeah, Florida and then it was on to NCCU where he studied accounting where he earned his degree.

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