Baby, it's hot outside: Southern doing its best to prepare for likelihood of hot weather at season opener

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- It was another scorcher, and Southern coach Dawson Odums had already had his fill.

Last week, wearing his usual practice attire — wide-brimmed hat, sweatshirt and athletic shorts — Odums beckoned reporters to meet him for interviews in the gym, rather than the usual area behind the goalposts at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

“It’s too hot out there,” Odums said once everyone was in the climate-controlled environment.



Southern, like just about every south Louisiana football team this time of year, is feeling the heat. But there’s an added layer to it this season, considering what awaits the Jaguars when they officially kick off 2017.

By taking part in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Southern will get a rare shot to occupy a spot on the national marquee. Southern will host South Carolina State in a game broadcast on ESPN2 and played on Sunday, Sept. 3. It is unquestionably great exposure.

Now, the downside: The game — which, again, Southern is hosting — will kick off at 1:30 p.m. Exposure to the elements is the kind of exposure Southern is not particularly looking forward to.

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Dawson Odums says first-team offense impressed in Southern's final scrimmage of camp

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern’s third and final scrimmage of preseason camp Friday focused on situational football, and coach Dawson Odums came away satisfied with his team’s effort.

“I’m very pleased with where we are as a football team,” he said.

With senior quarterback Austin Howard back in the mix — Howard took part in just one play of last week’s scrimmage — the Jaguars' first-team offense ran smoothly, Odums said. Friday’s scrimmage was closed to reporters and the public.

Odums singled out Howard, running backs Herb Edwards, Devon Benn and Jamarqueza Mims and the first-team offensive line as having solid performances.

The scrimmage was heavily controlled, with an emphasis on simulating game-like conditions. The team practiced its two- and four-minute offenses and third-down situations, as well as punts and field goals.

Odums also wanted to use the scrimmage to pit some of the less experienced players against the first-team offensive and defensive units.

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Harris commits to Bethune-Cookman

SUFFOLK, Virginia -- Senior Lady Bulldog Camary Harris has decided where to play her college basketball.

Bethune-Cookman University will be getting a strong King’s Fork High School guard in Harris. This week, she decided she wanted to end her college recruitment and take her talents down to Dayton Beach, Fla., in the fall of 2018.

Harris was the starting point guard on an all-time historic King’s Fork girls’ basketball team. She orchestrated the offense and made plays for her teammates, which saw them playing for the 4A state championship back in March. What made Harris’ play so impressive last season was that she worked her way from an ACL injury. Because of her solid play at the point guard position, she started to spark the interest of NCAA Division I coaches. She was offered by both BCU and Hampton University and decided to roll with BCU.

“The reason I decided to go ahead and commit to BCU is because it was a very family oriented environment,” the senior Lady Bulldog said. “Everyone was really friendly and respectful to one another. The women’s basketball program is really good, and the coaching staff is wonderful.”

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UH hoops to open season vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Hawaii basketball team will open its 2017-18 season against a very familiar foe.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff is the first official opponent on the Rainbow Warriors’ schedule Nov. 10, UH announced in revealing the order of its Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic opponents today. It is the second time in four years UH slotted the Golden Lions of the SWAC for its opener (2014-15), and in all it will be the sixth trip in eight years to Manoa for UAPB.

UH follows with games against North Dakota (Nov. 12) of the Big Sky and Troy (Nov. 13) of the Sun Belt in the round-robin tournament format. It hasn’t yet been announced if the last game of the tournament will be a late-night game in the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon as in recent seasons.

Troy previously put out the field for the Rainbow Classic as part of its schedule but the order of opponents was unknown.

Pine Bluff went 7-25 last season, but North Dakota and Troy made the NCAA Tournament as 15 seeds. UH beat UAPB 64-44 last season and lost to Troy 65-63 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

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ASU, Tuskegee stars receive national preseason honors

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Head coaches Brian Jenkins and Willie Slater aren’t the only recognizable names competing in the rekindled Tuskegee-Alabama State rivalry game Sept. 2 at ASU Stadium.

Senior Sam Baptiste, Jonah McCutcheon and Osband Thompson made the Black College Football player of the year watch list and landed on the BOXTOROW preseason All-American team this week.

Baptiste earned first-team All-SWAC honors for the Hornets last season after helping clear run lanes for the conference’s top rushing attack led by 1,200-yard rusher Khalid Thomas. The 6-foot-4, 340-pound lineman out of Waycross, Georgia has the look of someone who could join another ASU lineman in the NFL.

The Oakland Raiders drafted Jylan Ware in the seventh round last April. Baptiste is on an early path to get that prized phone call next spring.

Right now, Baptiste and the ASU offense is preparing to find ways to move the ball on a Tuskegee defense led by Thompson and McCutcheon.

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Takeaways from Jackson State's final fall scrimmage

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Tony Hughes said Thursday that his Tigers aren’t anywhere close to being a finished product.

Jackson State held its third fall scrimmage on the campus of Germantown High School, and although Hughes liked the intensity and physicality he saw, he said he didn’t think his team was ready for the season opener against TCU in two weeks.

“We still have a lot of stuff to clean up,” Hughes said.

Here’s a few highlights and observations from that third scrimmage.

Backfield rising

Depth in the defensive backfield was the only real question mark on that side of the football coming into camp, and the Tigers have found some answers thanks to some young players.

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Alcorn Braves Unveil Challenging 2017-18 Basketball Schedule

LORMAN, Mississippi -- Going up against four NCAA Tournament teams from last year in the non-conference slate, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program released its 2017-18 schedule Thursday.

Alcorn will play a total of 14 home games including nine SWAC contests at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.

The Braves will go on the road to face 2016-17 NCAA Tournament teams in Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Creighton and Baylor. Alcorn will also head to LSU, Northern Iowa, Central Arkansas and Tulane non-conference.

"We put together a very challenging schedule this year that will show us what we're made of early. We have a really young team, but we still want to compete and play at a high level," said head coach Montez Robinson. "The goal for us is to stay healthy and be prepared for conference play."

The season opener is set for Friday, Nov. 10 at LSU. After five road games, the Braves will play their home opener against Yale on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

Alcorn will also host non-conference games against Concordia (AL), Rust College, Fisk University and Blue Mountain College.

SWAC play will begin Monday, Jan. 1 when the Braves head to Prairie View A&M. Alcorn's first conference home game is against Jackson State on Saturday, Jan. 6.

The conference will repeat its double round robin format where each school plays each other twice (once home, once away). The top-eight teams in the final standings will qualify for the SWAC Championships beginning Tuesday, March 6.

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