Rush 6th in GCAC; David, Davison earn preseason honors

NEW ORLEANS — The men's basketball head coaches of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference have picked Xavier University of Louisiana to finish sixth in 2017-18, and they selected Jalen David and Virgil Davison of the Gold Rush to the preseason All-GCAC team.\

The conference announced the order of finish and preseason team Tuesday but did not reveal the teams' point totals or distribution of first-place votes — a departure from previous seasons.
     
XULA will open its 80th season at 2 p.m. EDT Friday at St. Thomas (Fla.) in Miami Gardens. The Gold Rush home opener will tip off at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 against Miles at the Convocation Center.
     
A year ago the XULA men placed fourth in the GCAC at 6-6 and were 10-20 overall to finish with their first sub-.500 record since 1989-90, when they were 14-21. Dillard, GCAC Tournament champion each of the past two seasons and GCAC regular-season champion a year ago, was the coaches' pick for first place, followed by Tougaloo, Talladega, Philander Smith, Edward Waters — the Panthers and Tigers tied for fourth — XULA and SUNO.
     
David — a 6-foot-4 senior guard/forward from Mount Vernon, N.Y., a graduate of Mount Vernon High School and a former Moberly Area (Mo.) Community College standout — led the Gold Rush last season with 11.5 points and 1.3 steals per game and was second-team All-GCAC.
     
Davison, a graduate of Hillcrest High School in Memphis, Tenn., is in his first XULA season after transferring from Dyersburg State Community College. A 5-8 junior guard, Davison averaged 23 points as a Dyersburg sophomore and 16.1 points as a freshman.
     
The NAIA announced Tuesday its preseason national coaches polls. XULA opponents making the top 25 were No. 2 LSU-Alexandria, No. 15 Dillard and No. 16 William Carey in Division I and No. 14 Florida Memorial and No. 20 St. Thomas (Fla.) in Division II.

GCAC Men's Basketball 2017-18 Coaches Poll
Rank	School
1	Dillard
2	Tougaloo
3	Talladega
4-tie	Philander Smith
4-tie	Edward Waters
6	XULA
7	SUNO

XULA in previous GCAC polls
2016-17 — 3rd 2015-16 — 3rd 2014-15 — 2nd 2013-14 — 2nd 2012-13 — 1st 2011-12 — 2nd 2010-11 — 1st 2009-10 — 8th 2008-09 — 2nd 2007-08 — 1st 2006-07 — 6th		2004-05 — 3rd 2003-04 — 4th 2002-03 — 5th 2001-02 — 1st 2000-01 — 2nd 1999-2000 — 3rd 1992-93 — 2nd 1991-92 — 1st 1989-90 — 6th 1988-89 — 4th 1987-88 — 2nd

2017-18 Preseason All-GCAC Men's Basketball
Player	School
Rick Cooper	Dillard
Jessie Ward	Dillard
Jalen David	XULA
Virgil Davison	XULA
Devonte Dixon	Talladega
Deangelo Anthony	Talladega
Christopher Journet	Philander Smith
JaCarre Crockett	Philander Smith
Tonzell Handy	Tougaloo
Anfernee Parker	Tougaloo
GCAC Preseason Player of the Year:  Jessie Ward, Dillard Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagold www.facebook.com/xulagold

Gold Nuggets picked 2nd in GCAC, 30th nationally

NEW ORLEANS — Though it's just a preseason snapshot, Xavier University of Louisiana women's basketball has gained ground in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and the NAIA compared to one year ago.
     
In preseason coaches polls announced Tuesday, the Gold Nuggets were picked to finish in a second-place tie in the GCAC, and they were 30th of the 31 NAIA Division I teams receiving votes for the national top 25.
     
A year ago XULA was picked third in the GCAC and 32nd nationally. The Gold Nuggets followed that by tying for third in the GCAC regular season, finishing second in the tournament and collecting zero points in the final four polls before the national tournament, which XULA missed for just the fourth time in its last 23 opportuntities and the second time in the last three seasons.
     
XULA returns 10 letterwomen from last season's 19-13 team, including four of its top five scorers. The Gold Nuggets will open at 6 p.m. Thursday at city rival Loyola, which is No. 20 nationally. The Gold Nuggets' home opener will start at 1 p.m. Sunday against Southeastern (Fla.) — No. 4 in the preseason in NAIA Division II — at the Convocation Center.
    
 Dillard, which hasn't won a GCAC regular-season or tournament championship since 2003-04 — the Gold Nuggets have won a combined 11 titles since then — was picked to win the league. XULA shared second with Philander Smith. Last year's regular-season and tournament champion, Talladega, was fourth, followed by Edward Waters, Tougaloo and SUNO.
    
Despite its No. 1 ranking in the GCAC, Dillard received zero points nationally. The only GCAC team in the top 25 is Talladega, which outpolled Pikeville by two points to grab the 25th position. Future XULA opponents in the top 25 are No. 8 Lindsey Wilson and No. 13 Our Lady of the Lake — both will visit the Gold Nuggets in December.
     
Also announced Tuesday was the preseason All-GCAC team, but the Gold Nuggets had no representatives.

GCAC Women's Basketball 2017-18 Coaches Poll
Rank	School
1	Dillard
2-tie	XULA
2-tie	Philander Smith
4	Talladega
5	Edward Waters
6	Tougaloo
7	SUNO

XULA in previous GCAC polls
2016-17 — 3rd 2015-16 — 1st 2014-15 — 1st 2013-14 — 1st 2012-13 — 1st 2011-12 — 1st 2010-11 — 1st 2009-10 — 2nd 2008-09 — 1st		2007-08 — 2nd 2006-07 — 3rd 2004-05 — 1st 2003-04 — 2nd 2002-03 — 2nd 2001-02 — 1st 1999-2000 — 1st 1993-94 — 1st

2017-18 Preseason All-GCAC Women's Basketball
Player	School
Shaelynn Moore	Dillard
Alyssa Washington	Dillard
Terralyn Dominick	Philander Smith
Jasmine Lee-Stackhouse	Talladega
Montoria Atkinson	Tougaloo
Jermisha Collins	Edward Waters
Brittany Rowell	Edward Waters
GCAC Preseason Player of the Year:  Shaelynn Moore, Dillard

NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches'
Preseason Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records from 2016-17)

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last
1	Oklahoma City (8)	34-2	219	tie-5
2	Lewis-Clark State	35-2	207	2
3	Freed-Hardeman	35-1	204	1
4	Vanguard	30-4	200	tie-5
5	Shawnee State (1)	31-3	196	3
6	Campbellsville	28-7	186	10
7	Westmont	29-5	174	7
8	Lindsey Wilson	32-3	170	4
9	Benedictine (Kan.)	25-9	167	13
10	Baker (Kan.)	30-5	150	8
11	Bethel (Tenn.)	24-11	142	18
12	John Brown	23-9	141	19
13	Our Lady of the Lake	24-9	133	16
14	Lyon	28-6	125	9
15	Central Methodist	24-10	117	20
16-tie	Montana Western	24-9	116	21
16-tie	Columbia (Mo.)	26-7	116	12
18	The Master's	23-9	111	17
19	MidAmerica Nazarene	18-14	86	RV
20	Loyola (N.O.)	26-7	81	22
21	Montana State-Northern	24-9	78	11
22	Cumberland	15-12	77	NR
23	Wayland Baptist	25-7	63	15
24	Loyola (N.O.)	22-10	55	25
25	Carroll (Mont.)	22-9	48	24
Dropped from previous rankings:  No. 14 Biola, No. 23 Pikeville     Others receiving votes:  Pikeville 46, Martin Methodist 41, LSU-Shreveport 31, Carroll (Mont.) 28, XULA 15, William Woods 12 Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications XULAgold.com XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA  twitter.com/xulagoldwww.facebook.com/xulagold

New faces abound as Gold Rush begin season in Florida

NEW ORLEANS — An infusion of new talent will be evident on the 2017-18 Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team.
     
There are 10 newcomers, only two of which have been previously announced. The XULA men will tip off their 80th season at 2 p.m. EDT Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla., against St. Thomas University, the 20th-ranked team in NAIA Division II.
     
The newest members of the Gold Rush are:
     •  Rondell Best, a 6-foot-7 forward from Boston, Brockton High School and Daniel Webster College. He's a business major at XULA.
     •  Ahmed Coulibaly, a 6-8 forward/center from Villiers-le-Bel, France, Joliot-Curie and New Mexico Military Institute, a two-year school. He is majoring in business communications.
     •  Virgil Davison, a 5-8 guard from Memphis, Tenn., Hillcrest High School and two-year Dyersburg State (Tenn.) Community College. His XULA major is sociology.
     •  Jeff Dixon, a 6-2 guard from New Orleans, McMain High School and Delgado Community College. Dixon is a business management major.
     •  Timothy Jordan, a 6-5 guard/forward from Antioch, Calif., Freedom High School and two-year Merritt (Calif.) College. Jordan is majoring in sociology.
     •  Damon McClain, a 5-11 guard from Louisville, Ky., and Trinity High School. His XULA major is mass communications.
     •  Thomas Ortique, a 6-foot guard from Hartford, Conn., and Windsor High School. He's a chemistry/pre-pharmacy major at XULA.
     •  Joseph Williams, a 6-6 forward from Memphis, Lausanne Collegiate School and NAIA member Freed-Hardemanb University. He is majoring in sales and marketing.

Best and Williams are seniors, Coulibaly, Davison, Dixon and Jordan are juniors, and McClain and Ortique are freshmen.

The other two XULA newcomers are 6-3 guard Rayshawn Mart of Houma, La., and 6-8 forward Galen Smith of Bay St. Louis, Miss., whose signings were announced during the spring.

XULA will play its first three games on the road before coming home to play Miles at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Convocation Center.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

Nuggets open season Thursday with plenty of newcomers

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's 40th women's basketball season of the Title IX era will tip off Thursday with several newcomers joining 10 returning letterwinners.
     
\New to the Gold Nuggets — who will travel to city rival Loyola for a 6 p.m. game at The Den — and receiving athletic aid in 2017-18 are:

     •  Alexis Burke, a 5-foot-7 guard/forward from Powder Springs, Ga., and McEachern High School. She's a pre-pharmacy major at XULA.
     •  Adriana Fernandez, a 5-11 forward from Sont Quirze del Valles, Spain, and Institut Sont Quirze del Valles. She is majoring in mathematics.
     •  Taylor Jacob, a 5-2 guard from New Iberia, La., and New Iberia Senior High School. Her XULA major is public health sciences.
     •  Taylor Jones, a 5-7 guard from Ellenwood, Ga., and Decatur High School. Jones is a biology major, and she hopes to attend dental school.
     •  DeDe Martinez, a 6-3 center/forward from New Orleans, Edna Karr High School and the University of Alabama. Martinez is majoring in mass communications.
     •  Nahrie Pierce, a 5-10 guard/forward from San Francisco, St. Ignatius College 
Preparatory and City College of San Francisco. Her XULA major is public health sciences, and she hopes to own a physical therapy clinic.

Martinez is a junior, and Pierce is a sophomore. Burke, Fernandez, Jacob and Jones are freshmen.
     
Loyola is ranked 20th in NAIA Division I. XULA's second game will be its home opener at 1 p.m. Sunday against Southeastern (Fla.), ranked fourth in NAIA Division II and 28-1 last season. The Gold Nuggets, 19-13 last season, are among others receiving votes in NAIA DI.
     
NOTES:  Pierce is expected to miss the season after suffering an injury Sunday during practice . . . Freshman walk-ons on the roster are forward Alexis Bridges of Ontario, Calif., and Chaffey High School and guard Nicole Swift of Torrance, Calif., and Redondo Union High School. Bridges is a biology / pre-medical major, and Swift is a dual degree physics and engineering major . . . XULA, 14-4 in openers under head coach Bo Browder, will meet Loyola in an opener for the first time. But it's the 40th overall meeting between the Gold Nuggets and the Wolf Pack.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold 

Nuggets clinch tie for 7th straight GCAC championship

TALLADEGA, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana defeated Talladega 25-15, 25-20, 25-12 Saturday to clinch no worse than a share of its seventh consecutive Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season volleyball championship.

The Gold Nuggets (18-2, 10-0) will win the championship outright with a victory in their final two GCAC matches or a Dillard loss in its final four GCAC matches. Dillard (14-15, 6-2) will visit third-place Tougaloo (17-9, 8-3) Monday; XULA will play fourth-place SUNO (5-17, 4-5) at 6 p.m. Thursday at XULA's Convocation Center.

XULA closed the first set with a 12-2 run and scored seven straight points to take a 19-7 lead in the third. Kayla Black's kill ended the match, which lasted 66 minutes.

Juliana Tomasoni hit .417, served two aces and had 13 kills and 15 digs in her 12th double-double of the season. Lauryn Taylor produced double-figure kills for the second straight match; the freshman had 10 kills, hit .450 and had three blocks.

Also contributing for the Nuggets were Anna Dalla Vecchia with 16 digs; Adili Rikondja with three blocks, a .353 hitting percentage and a season-high nine kills; Black with seven kills, 12 digs and two blocks; Vivica Price-Spraggins with six kills and two blocks; Eva Le Guillou with a career-high-tying 25 assists; and Tiffany Phillips with 13 assists, seven digs and two aces.

Talladega (9-16, 2-7) has lost four straight.

The victory was the Gold Nuggets' eighth in a row; the last five matches were on the road within 10 days. XULA has won 17 of its last 18 matches and all 30 of its sets against GCAC opponents.

The Gold Nuggets are 16 victories above .500 for the first time since 2013.

XULA-SUNO will be a Dig Pink match for breast cancer awareness, and fans are encouraged to wear pink. Seniors Tomasoni and Kaelan Temple will be honored in a pre-
match ceremony.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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www.facebook.com/xulagold 

from THE EDITOR Dwight Floyd: FAMU Plays Young Talent at Key Positions

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- This is not about making excuses or looking ahead to next year. When you are trying to understand the mistakes and penalties, and for some, find blame for the way the Florida A&M University football team is playing, perhaps you should consider the youth on the team. The offense is young and mostly inexperienced. The defense on the other hand is filled with juniors and seniors. Where they are young on defense, you can tell the difference on the field.

Quarterback – The starting position is held by a redshirt sophomore, who started the latter half of the season last year. Somehow after winning four games we expected to see a mature quarterback that could lead us to a breakout season. The more reasonable expectation maybe, is that he’ll have a breakout game soon, and at some point, began to be the quarterback we expect. Just as in life, it all depends on whether he can learn from his mistakes. If not, there is a red-shirt freshman and two outstanding freshmen who are redshirting this year. Will any of them be ready in 2018, or will FAMU have to recruit a proven junior college transfer to give the freshmen time to mature? For FAMU, this is the most critical position on the field. What Ryan Stanley does the rest of the season will determine just how stable the position is.

CONTINUE READING

HBCU Football Judgement Day Scoreboard - Week 8

SATURDAY, October 21, 2017

SWAC
Grambling State 41, Alcorn State 14
Southern 35, Jackson State 17
Mississippi Valley 53, Virginia University-Lynchburg 5

MEAC
North Carolina A&T 24, Bethune-Cookman 20
Norfolk State 28, North Carolina Central 21
Hampton 31, Florida A&M 27
Howard 39, Morgan State 14
Delaware State 17, South Carolina State 14
Charleston Southern 52, Savannah State 27

CIAA
Virginia State 73, Lincoln (PA) 21
Bowie State 40, Virginia Union 22
Chowan 28, Elizabeth City State 18
Winston-Salem State 42, Livingstone 14
Johnson C. Smith 13, Shaw 10
Fayetteville State 34, Saint Augustine's 31

SIAC
Miles 23, Lane 13
Tuskegee 26, Kentucky State 21
Benedict 29, Morehouse 26
Clark Atlanta 44, Albany State 36
Fort Valley State 24, Central State (OH) 19

OTHER CONF.
Langston 21, Arizona Christian 20
West Virginia State 39, West Liberty 33
Warner 38, Edward Waters 10
West Chester 55, Cheyney 6
Indianapolis 45, Lincoln (MO) 0