New Offense and Attitude Has Morehouse Football Excited About 2017 Season

ATLANTA, Georgia -- When the Morehouse football team hits the practice field Aug. 4 for the start of fall practice, things won’t look like they did at the end of the 2016 season.

With a new assistant coach, a new offense and a different kind of spirit around the football program, the season is looking to be a promising one, despite the Maroon Tigers being picked to finish in fifth-place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s East Division, said Morehouse’s head football coach Rich Freeman.

“It definitely motivates me because I don’t see fifth-place talent when I look around our locker room,” Freeman said. “And I definitely don’t see fifth-place coaching when I see the experience on our staff; and I don’t see fifth-place scholarship resources as our institution invests in grant-in-aid so we can go out and bring in good players.

“We don’t have everything we need, but we have what we need to be a lot better than fifth-place,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that happening.”

Last season, the Maroon Tigers finished 3-7, largely because of an offense that sputtered despite having lots of talent, a defensive secondary that gave up way too many big plays, and inconsistent play on special teams. All of those issues have been addressed during the offseason.

Five Maroon Tigers were chosen for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s preseason All-Conference team announced in July – linebacker David Smith, tight end Ryan Edwards and kick returner Ricci Nuckles made the first team, while defensive linemen Antonio Johnson and Voris Bryant were named to the second team.

Freeman’s staff recruited a new kicker to help the special teams play, while added emphasis in recruiting and coaching is being put on shoring up the secondary, he said. That will help what is already one of the SIAC’s top overall defenses.

The biggest change has been the hiring of Harry Williams as the team’s new offensive coordinator. Williams, who was at Langston University last season, brings a spread offense that scored nearly 41 points a game and helped Langston lead their conference in scoring last season.

Gone is an offense heavy on reads and intricate blocking schemes. Now, the Morehouse offense will be one that is more aggressive and will spread the ball all over the field.

“With Coach Williams, he’s brought in a bunch of new looks and he kind of reinvented the spread look, and interspersed some power into it,” said quarterback Kivon Taylor. “So, it’s a new look. The conference hasn’t seen this look. Now, we have an offense designed around our strengths.”

It’s an offensive scheme that has ignited a sense of enthusiasm in the entire team, Freeman said.

“We had an exciting spring practice,” Freeman said. “Not just reinvigorating our offense, but our entire football team. We needed success and a lot better tone. We’ve gotten that tone, in a football perspective, back during that 15 days of spring practice and I’m excited.”

Edwards said this is also an important season for the Morehouse seniors. They are looking to show the entire Morehouse community – students, alumni, faculty and staff – that football at Morehouse is in great shape.

“We have a lot of pride in Morehouse,” he said. “We know that Morehouse is not the biggest football or athletic school, but with this new offense and the type of defense we have, we’re looking to make some noise in our conference and looking for different types of people to come to the games. That’s what it’s about – fans and support – so we’re going to give it to them.”

The Maroon Tigers open the season on Sept. 2 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and then host Lane College on Sept. 9.

For more about Morehouse football, go to http://athletics.morehouse.edu/index.aspx?path=football.

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Claflin University Athletics Welcomes Two New Head Coaches

 Revonda Whitely
Head Coach Women's Basketball

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- The Claflin University athletics department announces the hiring of Revonda Whitely and Mary Rotimi as the head women's basketball coach and head volleyball coach, respectively.

 
Whitely's appointment was effective July 24 while Rotimi's appointment was effective July 31. 
 

Revonda Whitley, WBB Coach

Whitley joins the Lady Panthers staff after serving 13 years as the associate head coach at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), an NCAA Division I program.
 "We are pleased to have someone of Whitley's caliber join our staff," Dr. Jerome Fitch said. The athletic director added: "Her length of service and experience on the Division I level was a major consideration in her selection and I'm confident that she has the capability to lead the Lady Panther program to sustained success in the SIAC."

 
Whitley is no stranger to the state of South Carolina, having played collegiately at Winthrop University in Rock Hill.  She was a four-year standout for the Eagles women's basketball program from 1990 to 1994, ending a stellar career, with over 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 140 steals.
 
"I'm excited to return to the area where it all started for me," Whitley said.  "I began volunteering with then, Head Varsity Girls Coach, Tammy Shadd at Eau Claire High School and my passion to develop young student-athletes grew from there."
 
"To be chosen as the head women's basketball coach at Claflin is an absolute honor and privilege.  I say this because of the academic prestige of the institution as well as the vision that President (Henry) Tisdale has for moving the institution forward.  I felt immediately that Claflin was the right fit for me."
 
Whitley began her collegiate coaching career at Elizabeth City State in 2001, just an hour away from where she grew up in Pantego, N.C. During her tenure at Elizabeth City State, she served as the Head Volleyball Coach for two seasons (2003-04), while also serving as an adjunct professor in the Physical Education Department (2002-04).
 
Her coaching resume includes stints with the Columbia Warriors men's semi-professional basketball team (1998), The Timmerman School (1999) and she was also the head junior varsity coach at Eau Claire High School (2000), all in Columbia, S.C.
 
She graduated from Winthrop with a degree in psychology and earned a master's degree in human performance and sport studies (sport psychology) from the University of Tennessee in 1997.

Rotimi rejoins the coaching ranks after serving as the Program Director with the Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia the past three years. She succeeds Ashley Jordan who was named volleyball coach in March, but was unable to remain in the position due to personal reasons.

Mary Rotimi
Head Coach Volleyball 

"We are pleased to have Coach Rotimi join our staff," Dr. Jerome Fitch said. The athletic director added: "She has extensive experience in the sport of volleyball at various levels and her experience will help the Claflin volleyball team continue its winning tradition."
 
Prior to her stint with the Boys and Girls Club, Rotimi spent one season (2013-14) as the assistant athletic director of recreation and head volleyball coach at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pa. In addition she was the assistant women's basketball coach at Wilmington University (2012-2014) in New Castle, Del. and the head women's volleyball coach at Manor College (2012-2013).
 
Rotimi began her coaching career at Delaware County Community College where she served as the head women's basketball coach and head women's volleyball coach for two seasons (2008-2010).
 
"It feels good to be back in coaching, it's definitely something I've been looking to do," Rotimi said.  "Being chosen as the head coach volleyball at Claflin University is a great opportunity. Knowing that it is a winning program, I see nothing but great things for this program. I want to thank everyone at Claflin University for seeing me as a good fit to help lead the program."
 
Rotimi was a standout basketball player at Lincoln University (Pa).  She finished with the most career double-doubles in Lady Lion history (37).  Rotimi scored 921 points with 814 rebounds over four seasons (2003-2007).  During her career, she averaged 12.2 points and 10.8 rebounds.  In 1995 she was inducted in Lincoln University (Pa) Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Romiti earned a degree in health science from Lincoln and a master's degree in public administration with a graduate certificate in sports management and athletics from West Chester in 2011. 

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Finding Purpose: Former Hampton University Pirates Greg Scott

WINTON, North Carolina – No question, Greg Scott is home.

It’s not here in the Roanoke-Chowan area, but just across the Virginia state line in Southampton County; the town of Franklin, to be exact.

Actually, in some ways he never left.

Raised near Courtland, VA, Scott played football at Southampton High, then went on to star as a defensive end at Hampton University, leading the Pirates to the 1998 MEAC conference championship. In 2002, he was drafted by the NFL Washington Redskins (another near-Virginia connection). He later played for the Cincinnati Bengals before heading overseas to play with the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe. He then closed out his five-and-a-half-year pro career in 2007 in the Arena Football League with the Grand Rapids Rampage.



When it was done he says he made some $3 million fulfilling his boyhood dream of making it in professional football.

Following football, Scott entered private business as an entrepreneur. Today, he is currently the founder and chairman of the board of a non-profit group that provides kids meals to at-risk youth and children who might not otherwise afford school meals. The group also teaches nutrition education and educates children on portion control to combat food insecurity, childhood obesity, and reduces health problems caused by poor diet. Currently they have more than 12,400 children in southeastern Virginia enrolled in their after-school feeding program and have served more than two-million meals and snacks since 2010.

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Title IX investigation into FAMU women's hoops coach complete

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M's Office of Equal Opportunity Programs last month ruled allegations that head women's basketball coach LeDawn Gibson bullied players based on sexual orientation were "unsubstantiated."

Allegations of bullying were originally brought to the attention of then-Deputy Athletic Director Elliot Charles, who on Feb. 3 forwarded an anonymous email to FAMU's director of equal opportunity programs.

The allegations included claims both Gibson and assistant coach LaTasha Ganus bullied, verbally abused and discriminated against the players who were dismissed from the team.

The findings of the investigation, dated June 30, said, "The same-sex allegation does not rise to the level of discriminatory behavior."

Added in the report, "It does not appear to be reasonable that a coach who has recruited and continues to recruit student-athletes who are openly homosexual would dismiss student-athletes because of same sex relationships when there is clear evidence that other, non-discriminatory factors impacted the dismissal decisions."

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FAMU head coach Alex Wood: 'We like this team'

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Florida A&M’s fall football camp is underway, and third-year head coach Alex Wood likes the vibe of this year’s group.

He has some solid reasons to like what he sees heading into FAMU’s Aug. 26 season opener against Texas Southern.

For the first time in Wood’s tenure with the program, FAMU’s football team is sanction-free. The group had spring practice and a spring football game. There are no limits cutting into the time Wood and his coaches can spend with the Rattlers this fall.

And – even though Wood doesn’t put too much stock in preseason accolades – the MEAC’s coaches are noticing some improvement in the program. The Rattlers over the weekend were picked to finish sixth in the MEAC this season.

That’s better than the eighth-place predictions FAMU was saddled with in 2016 and 2015, though not quite where Wood would rank his team.

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Dawson Odums looks for mental sharpness as Southern wears pads in the heat for the first time

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The pop of pads was audible for the first time at Southern’s preseason camp, but that was not what coach Dawson Odums was looking for Monday.

With his players wearing shells — shoulder pads and helmets — for the first time, Odums was gauging how his players would handle the extra bit of discomfort.

“It’s concentration,” he said. “Once you add the shoulder pads, it creates another element. Our guys pushed through it.”

Odums paid close attention to the conditioning sprints his team ran at the end of practice, after roughly two hours spent practicing in muggy conditions.

The Jaguars broke into three groups to run sideline-to-sideline sprints. The lightest players needed to complete the sprint in 16 seconds, the medium group needed to complete it in 18 and the heavy group was given 20.

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Albany State University Statement: NCAA Enforcement Investigation

ALBANY, Georgia -- Albany State University (ASU) has conducted concurrent internal and external reviews of the athletics program and has reported possible violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) legislation to the NCAA.

ASU President Art Dunning tasked all new institutional leaders to formally assess all functions of their units. Sherie C. Gordon, director of athletics, conducted an NCAA review, which revealed possible violations. The university subsequently retained Buckner Sports Law Firm, a sports and education law firm, as outside legal counsel to assist with a comprehensive investigation into the possible violations. The NCAA enforcement staff has agreed to conduct a collaborative investigation with ASU's outside counsel.

Dunning and the athletics leadership team recognize the importance of ensuring a culture of compliance. In concert with the NCAA investigation, ASU is working diligently to implement recommendations from the NCAA review to ensure the university builds a model and compliant Division II program. To protect the integrity of the ongoing collaborative inquiry, as well as to adhere to NCAA confidentiality rules, university officials will not comment further at this time.

About ASU…Albany State University, in Southwest Georgia, has been a catalyst for change in the region from its inception as the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute to its designation as a university. Founded in 1903 to educate African-American youth, the university continues to fulfill its historic mission while also serving the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population. A progressive institution, Albany State University seeks to foster the growth and development of the region, state and nation through teaching, research, creative expression and public service. Through its collaborative efforts, the university responds to the needs of all of its constituents and offers educational programs and service to improve the quality of life in Southwest Georgia. For more information, please visit https://www.asurams.edu/. Follow the university on Twitter and Facebook at @AlbanyStateUniv.

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