Official Statement On Prairie View A&M Football

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- After three seasons as head coach, Willie Simmons has left the Prairie View A&M University football program.
 
"We want to thank Coach Simmons and his family for their contributions to Prairie View A&M University," said Vice President/Director of Athletics Ashley Robinson. "He led Panther football through an exciting period with the opening of our new football stadium and helped Prairie View A&M to again become a contender in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. We wish him success in his future endeavors."
 
Assistant head coach Bubba McDowell has been named Interim Head Coach. He and quarterbacks coach K.J. Black will lead the program during this transition.
 
Dr. Corey Bradford, Senior Vice President of Fiscal Affairs, will chair the committee and the national search for the next football coach at Prairie View A&M University.

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION

TWITTER STATEMENT FROM WILLIE SIMMONS (Dec. 9, 2017)

Ram Ramblings: Buck Joyner's funeral will be Friday in Winston-Salem

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- Ed “Buck” Joyner’s funeral will be held Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the United Metropolitan Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.

Joyner, a former CIAA head coach at St. Paul’s and Livingstone, died on Dec. 6 at the age of 68.

Joyner, a Winston-Salem native, was a Parkland High School graduate who spent more than 45 years coaching basketball. He also spent time as an assistant coach at Johnson C. Smith with his brother, Steve, who is the longtime coach of the Golden Bulls.

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Hampton University Introduces Prunty as New Football Coach

HAMPTON, Virginia — Robert Prunty was introduced as the 21st head coach of the Hampton Pirates at a news conference Dec. 8 at Hampton University’s Student Center Theater.

“I am up for the challenge,” Prunty said.

Eugene Marshall Jr., Director of Athletics at Hampton University, welcomed Prunty, a Hamptonian with more than 30 years of football experience as a player and coach and a four-time conference recruiter-of-the-year honoree with two different Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs.

“Coach Prunty’s record speaks for itself,” Marshall said. “He’s from Virginia. He played for Hampton. It was very refreshing to hear him say ‘I want to come back to Hampton.’”



Prunty served last season as East Carolina University’s associate head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Prior to that, he served four years as the University of Cincinnati’s associate head coach and defensive ends coach and three years as co-defensive coordinator. Before impacting the Bearcat program, Prunty spent three seasons under Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech, 2010-2012, directing the Red Raiders’ defensive ends.

“You have no idea how great it is to be back at Hampton,” Prunty said. “This is not my team. It belongs to the university, the alumni, the fans and I want to make that clear.”

Prunty is up to the challenge of taking a winning Pirate team into the bigger spotlight of the Big South Conference, which Hampton University joins next July.

“We will be fundamental and disciplined,” he said. “I didn’t come to Hampton to lose!”

Prunty has been part of five bowl appearances, a conference co-championship and has been recognized by Scout.com as the Big 12 Conference Recruiter-of-the-Year in 2010-11 and 2011-12 before earning similar honors as the American Athletic Conference’s (AAC) top recruiter in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

His player evaluation and relationship cultivation skills produced Texas Tech’s second-highest rated class in school history in 2012 and his efforts were saluted by both Scout.com and Fox Sports. Prunty plans on putting that skill to work on tapping the Hampton Roads rich high school talent pool for the Pirates.

“The 757 area: it will be our bloodline,” Prunty said. “Every coach on my team will be looking for 757 talent.”

Prunty is a Chatham, Va., native and a 1983 Hargrave Military Academy graduate. Prunty split his collegiate career between Hampton University and Alabama A&M, where he graduated in 1988.

For more information on Hampton University football, contact the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5757, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Savannah State moves to Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Savannah State University (SSU) President Cheryl Davenport Dozier today announced intentions to pursue membership in the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), pending NCAA approval. SSU’s application to begin the official transition to NCAA Division II will be submitted by February 1, 2018.

SSU competed in the SIAC from 1968 until 2000 when the university was approved for Division I membership as an independent. Savannah State was accepted into the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) as a provisional member in 2010 and attained full membership a year later.

“With the input of the athletics transition taskforce and the athletics department, it was determined that the SIAC was the best fit for SSU and its students,” said Dozier. “I look forward to renewing old SIAC rivalries and establishing new ones that will engage SSU Tiger fans.”

SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore stated: “Welcoming Savannah State University to the SIAC not only adds a 15th outstanding institution, but also restores important historic and geographic rivalries, which I’m certain SIAC alumni, students and fans will enjoy.”

“We are very pleased to welcome Savannah State University back to the SIAC,” stated Council of Presidents Chairman and Miles College President George T. French Jr. “The historical ties shared by Savannah State and the SIAC, coupled with a shared commitment to academic and athletic excellence, makes them a perfect fit for our great conference.”

Savannah State will become the 15th member of the SIAC, joining other Georgia colleges and universities including Albany State, Clark Atlanta, Fort Valley State, Morehouse and Paine, in conjunction with its other member institutions: Benedict, Central State, Claflin, Kentucky State, Lane, LeMoyne-Owen, Miles, Spring Hill, and Tuskegee.

Earlier this year, SSU announced its intent to leave MEAC at the end of the 2018-19 academic school year and to return to NCAA Division II Athletics. Following the announcement, an athletics transition taskforce was established to explore Division II conference options.

The SIAC, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., was established in 1913 and is the largest HBCU Conference in the United States. In addition to football, the SIAC sponsors baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, softball, women's track & field, men's track & field, men's tennis, women's tennis and women's volleyball.

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Established in 1890, Savannah State University is the oldest public historically black college or university in Georgia and the oldest institution of higher learning in the city of Savannah. The university's 4,900 students select majors from 30 undergraduate and six graduate programs in three colleges ‐ Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Business Administration and Sciences and Technology ‐ and the School of Teacher Education.

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Cheyney University finally fumbles its football program

THORNBURY, Pennsylvania -- It’s been the subject of speculation and rumor for years, but it’s now official: Cheyney University is dropping football due to worsening financial constraints.

Head coach Chris Roulhac confirmed that Wednesday evening after meeting with Cheyney President Aaron Walton, the coaching staff and players.

“We were invited to a meeting with the president on Wednesday and told that due to budgetary restraints, the football program was being discontinued,” said Roulhac, who returned for his second stint as head coach at CU in 2015. “It’s been a very sad last 24 hours, but there is really nothing we can do about it. You hear rumors, but we always held out hope that the program could be saved.”

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference sent out a release Thursday about the move. Calls to the Walton’s office and Cheyney’s interim Athletic Director Sue Kilian were not returned. Nothing about the move was mentioned on the school’s main website or athletic website as of Thursday evening.

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PSAC STATEMENT ON CHEYNEY FOOTBALL

LOCK HAVEN, Pennsylvania --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is aware of Cheyney University’s announcement of dropping football from its sports sponsorship menu.

We have been in contact with Cheyney University President Aaron Walton as he and his staff deliberated potential actions. The communications between the Conference and President Walton have been objective and forthright on both sides.

These are very difficult times financially for many institutions of higher education in the country and the Commonwealth. Cheyney’s decision is a result of that.

The Conference Office will work with its member institutions to find potential opponents in the 10 now open dates in mandated league schedules.

SWAC issues go beyond figuring out football future

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Last week’s SWAC championship game was supposed to be the conference’s last one.

Back in June, the conference announced plans to “suspended” its title game to place more emphasis on the Celebration Bowl between SWAC and MEAC champions in Atlanta to kick off the bowl season.

“We are pleased with the commitment demonstrated by both conference commissioners, their council of presidents and chancellors,” said John Grant, the bowl game’s executive director, back in June. “This is great news for HBCU football fans, and reflects a greater understanding of the opportunity that the bowl game presents.”



The SWAC looked to eliminate divisions as part of eliminating the conference title game, but both may stay in intact for the 2018 season.

“I got an email yesterday that they’re going back to the divisions,” Alabama State coach Donald Hill-Eley said Thursday. “We’ll be prepared either way because the bottom line is we have to take it one game at a time.”

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2017 Celebration Bowl tickets on sale now

ATLANTA, Georgia -- With the college football postseason fast approaching, tickets are now on sale for the third annual Celebration Bowl. As the Bowl season’s opening game, the Celebration Bowl is a championship-style game between the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champions. The game will be broadcast live on ABC at noon ET on Saturday, Dec. 16, from the brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. SportsCenter on the Road will once again air live from the Stadium beginning at 10 a.m.

Establishing itself as a premier bowl game, the Celebration Bowl celebrates the heritage, legacy, pageantry, and tradition of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and is owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN. ESPN works with 100 Black Men of Atlanta to organize the game’s ancillary events which include a youth symposium, robotics showcase, fan experience and more. Each conference has claimed a victory in the event’s first two years, with MEAC Champion North Carolina A&T defeating Alcorn State 2015 and SWAC Champion Grambling State beating North Carolina Central in 2016. Two bowl champions were selected in the 2017 NFL Draft: 2015 Offensive MVP Tarik Cohen (Chicago Bears) and 2016 First Team All-SWAC member Chad Williams (Arizona Cardinals).

Fans can purchase tickets to the Celebration Bowl online at thecelebrationbowl.com or ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. Prices range from $50 to $175. A full list of events surrounding the game are available on the event’s website.

For more information, visit www.TheCelebrationBowl.com, and follow the event on Twitter and Facebook.

SWAC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS