Larry Inman Resigns as TSU Head Women's Basketball Coach

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Larry Joe Inman, the winningest coach in Ohio Valley Conference history, has announced his resignation as the head women’s basketball coach at Tennessee State University.

“I am resigning for personal reasons and want to thank Ms. Phillips for the opportunity to coach at Tennessee State University,” said Inman. “I’ve had a very positive experience here and I will always cherish the memories and relationships that I’ve had the opportunity to develop. Most of all, the memories that I’ve had with my players through the years have been wonderful and they’ve made such a difference in my life.”

Inman, who has spent the past five seasons at the helm of the women’s basketball program, led the Lady Tigers to an OVC Tournament Championship in 2015 and helped the team earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in 20 years.

During his stint at TSU he coached one All-OVC first team selection, one OVC Tournament MVP and four members of the All-OVC second team.

An eight-time Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Inman has won seven OVC Tournament championships at three different schools and has 10 regular season titles under his belt.

Inman began his collegiate coaching career at Middle Tennessee in 1978 before spending 20 years at Eastern Kentucky. As his success continued, his name became synonymous with winning. Entering this season, with a total of 535 wins, he was the 24th all-time winningest coach among active Division I coaches. He is also a member of three Halls of Fame - Ohio Valley Conference, Middle Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky.

“We are thankful to Coach Inman for guiding the Lady Tiger program and taking TSU women’s basketball back to the top with the 2015 OVC championship and NCAA tournament berth,” commented Director of Athletics Teresa Phillips. “I view Larry both as a friend and colleague and personally wish him all the best as he moves into a new phase in his life’s journey. Tennessee State has been blessed by his time here with us.”

The university will conduct a national search to identify the next head coach of the women’s basketball program.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Ashland Defeats Virginia Union in National Championship Game

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Virginia Union might not have been the best team in its national quarterfinal and semifinal, but it was the best team on those nights.

However, No. 1 Ashland was the best team all season, and that was no different in the NCAA Division II women's national championship Friday night at Ohio Dominican University's Alumni Hall in Columbus, Ohio.

Alexis Johnson scored a season-high 28 points, and Lady Walker had 19, but the Panthers lost 93-77 loss to the Ashland Eagles.

Jodi Johnson and Laina Snyder led Ashland (37-0) with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

Ashley Smith scored only 6 points following her 28-point performance in the semifinals for Virginia Union, which finished national runner-up for the second time in program history.

Union (28-5) had the lead at points in the second quarter and trailed by just 2 halfway through the third quarter. But from the five-minute mark on in the third, Ashland took over the game, outrebounding the Panthers 19-13 in the second half and expanding its lead to 16 points in the fourth quarter.

"They finished their easy baskets, where we missed a lot of easy baskets," VUU coach AnnMarie Gilbert said. "Oftentimes, it looked like we were playing a little fatigued or just not balanced."

Virginia Union made its first three field goals of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 1. But with VUU down 2 with 5:07 remaining in the quarter, Ashland went on an 8-2 run in a span of three minutes with only one made field goal. Maddie Dackin hit six free throws before the end of the third, giving Ashland a commanding 68-58 lead.

An Alex Henning layup and a 3 from Johnson put the Eagles up 15 to start the final quarter, and they never led by fewer than 12 points in the fourth. Ashland made 18 of 20 free throws in the second half and 20 of 22 in the game. Virginia Union was 5 of 15 from the line.

"In a game in this magnitude, you cannot miss assignments, you cannot leave shooters wide open, you cannot miss free throws," Gilbert said. "All the little things that took for us to get here, we just failed in some of those areas today."

Virginia Union struggled to convert from the floor early, missing 10 of its first 14 shots, where Ashland hit at a 64 percent clip in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Panthers started with a 7-0 run to take a 3-point lead before Ashland's second-ranked 3-point shooting was on full display. The Eagles hit 5 of 9 shots from beyond the arc in the quarter, but Union hung with the No. 1 team, with 20 combined points from Walker and Johnson in the quarter.

For 30 minutes of the game, the margin was either one or two possessions. However, what had gotten the Panthers to the title game was their rebounding, and Friday night, after grabbing 60 rebounds as a team in the semifinal, Virginia Union was outrebounded 37-34.

The offense proved particularly difficult for Gilbert to solve. She said her team had yet to play a team that plays like Ashland.

"We tried a little zone, we tried a little man, we pressured a little bit," Gilbert said. "But they push tempo so well. They get it out of the net and they go."

In Johnson's first year in the program, she was one of the most productive players and led the team in scoring in the national championship — a feat she credits to Gilbert.

"It's a learning experience," Johnson said. "We want to come back and make sure we learn from our mistakes."

It is Ashland's second national championship in four years, winning it all in 2013 also.

Virginia Union made the national final in Gilbert's second year at the helm, proving the program is trending in the right direction.

"We are a program that is on the rise," Gilbert said. "We are rebuilding a program that won a national championship in 1983, and the Lady Panthers are back."

BOX SCORE

VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Virginia Union Lady Panthers Finish Ranked #2 In Nation

RICHMOND, Virginia -- The Virginia Union University women's basketball team has finished the 2016-17 season ranked #2 in the final Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll of the season, released on Saturday, March 25.

The Lady Panthers moved up from #18 due to a miraculous run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating in an appearance in the 2017 National Championship game against Ashland University on Friday, March 24.

The #2 ranking is the highest finish ever for a VUU women's team in the WBCA poll.  VUU finished the 2016-17 with a 28-5 record.

Rank	School (record)	Points	First-place  votes	Previous rank
1	Ashland (37-0)	600	24	1
2	Virginia Union (28-5)	548	0	18
3	California Baptist (35-3)	547	0	3
4	Harding (31-4)	509	0	10
5	Columbus State (31-2)	493	0	4
6	Drury (30-4)	420	0	5
7	Queens, NY (25-4)	414	0	15
8	Emporia State (29-5)	380	0	6
9	California, PA (30-4)	379	0	7
10	Alaska-Anchorage (29-2)	374	0	2
11	Colorado State-Pueblo (28-4)	320	0	9
12	West Florida (28-7)	309	0	NR
13	Lincoln Memorial (26-5)	289	0	13
14	Adelphi (27-5)	283	0	8
15	West Texas A&M (26-9)	261	0	NR
16	Pittsburg State (25-6)	247	0	11
17	Eckerd (27-5)	196	0	12
18	Western Washington (26-6)	185	0	16
19	Bentley (26-5)	176	0	14
20	Angelo State (26-6)	153	0	20
21	Minnesota State-Moorhead (24-5)	125	0	17
22	Central Missouri (24-7)	121	0	19
23	Simon Fraser (26-8)	84	0	NR
24	Wingate (25-5)	78	0	21
25	Central Oklahoma (25-8)	38	0	25

VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

NCCU Athletics to Search for New Women’s Basketball Coach

DURHAM, North Carolina -- North Carolina Central University will not renew the contract of women's basketball head coach Vanessa Taylor, the Department of Athletics announced Thursday (March 23).

"I would like to thank Coach Vanessa Taylor for her years of service to North Carolina Central University. Coach Taylor worked hard to grow our program," said NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree. "However, at this time, we will look to new leadership for our women's basketball program."

In five seasons as head women's basketball coach at NCCU, Taylor led the Lady Eagles to a win-loss record of 33-113. This season's team finished with an 8-21 overall record.

Associate head coach Kendra Eaton will serve as interim head coach and oversee women's basketball operations until a head coach is hired. A national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Former ’Nole coach applies for FAMU vacancy

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Pat Kennedy cherished his 11 years in Tallahassee as the successful men’s basketball coach at Florida State. If given the opportunity, Kennedy wants to return to the state capital and Florida.
The veteran coach has applied for the men’s basketball coaching vacancy at Florida A&M.

“I have always had great respect and admiration for FAMU,” Kennedy told the Tallahassee Democrat Friday.
“Remember, I was the coach who last played FAMU at FSU. The Lawson Center is a first class facility and they are a prestigious academic institution."

Kennedy, 65, led the Seminoles to Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances during his tenure (1986-97), compiling a 203–130 record and earning ACC Coach of the Year honors (1992). He has an overall coaching record of 499-497, including stops at Iona (1980-86), DePaul (1997-2002), Montana (2002-2004), Towson (2004-11) and Pace (2013-15), a Division II school in the New York metropolitan area.

Kennedy has coached 23 players who played in the NBA, including former Seminoles and first-round selections Charlie Ward, Sam Cassell, Bob Sura and George McCloud.

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Gold Rush beat OBU, extend home win streak to 16 duals

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana continued its home success, and Antoine Richard and Catalin Fifea defeated regionally ranked singles players Wednesday in a 5-2 men's tennis victory against Ouachita Baptist.

The XULA men (8-3), ranked second in the NAIA, won for the 16th consecutive time at XULA Tennis Center and the eighth time in their last nine dual matches overall. It was the fifth Gold Rush victory of the season against a ranked opponent — the Tigers (3-8) are No. 39 in NCAA Division II.

Richard and Fifea won in singles and doubles. Fifea won 7-5, 6-0 against Juan Moncada, ranked 16th in the D2 Central Region, and Richard used a late surge to beat Lennart Lonnemann, ranked seventh in his region, 6-4, 7-5.

"Antoine was in a pretty good battle," XULA coach Alan Green said. "He got down in the second set, got down mentally, but he overcame that and put together five good games in a row to close out his match."

Karan Salwan got the other XULA singles victory, a 6-1, 6-1 decision against Dan Kaplun. Salwan and Fifea have 6-match singles win streaks.

Richard and Moses Micheal won 9-8 (7-0) against Moncada and Luis Chab, and Fifea and Adam Albrecht — paired for the first time in doubles — rallied from 5-2 and 7-4 deficits to defeat Andre Stefano and Braydon Montgomery 9-8 (7-4).

Next for the Gold Rush will be a noon dual match April 8 at Jackson State.

NOTES: The Gold Rush are 3-0 at home this season after going 7-0 in 2016 and 6-0 in 2015 . . . The XULA men are 19-7 against ranked opponents (all venues) the last three seasons . . . Green said he added Grambling to the Gold Nuggets' schedule. They'll meet at 1 p.m. April 1 at Alexandria, La. As a result, the XULA dual that same day with LSU-Alexandria moved to 9 a.m. Alexandria City Courts will be the site of both duals.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
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Coppin men's basketball coach Michael Grant let go

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Michael Grant will not return as Coppin State's men’s basketball coach after three losing seasons, the university announced Monday morning.

Coppin State University athletic director Derek Carter, in a news release saying that Grant's contract will not be renewed for the 2017-18 season, said a national search will begin immediately.

While expressing his disappointment at being unable to continue to coach the Coppin State men’s basketball team, Grant said he understood the university’s decision.

“Whenever you lose your job or you’re not going to be renewed where you’ve spent the last three years there, you’re invested,” Grant said Monday morning. “It’s not like I was here for a year and left. I’ve been here for three years and I moved my family here and became rooted in the community. So yes, I’m disappointed, but as I said before, it’s all part of the business, and this is the business I signed up for, and if you’re in this business long enough, you’re going to get let go. That’s just the way things go.”

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