Media Picks Tennessee State to Finish Second, Coaches and AD's Pick the Tigers Third in the OVC; TSU's Bass Named Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

By ADD SEYMOUR JR. 

#55 Anthony Bass (photo from TSU athletic department web site)

Four defensive starters, including the Ohio Valley Conference's 2014 preseason Defensive Player of the Year, defensive end Anthony Bass, have led media experts to believe Tennessee State will finish second in the conference race this year. 

The Tigers, who finished 10-4 last season and sported one of the nation's most dominating defenses, were narrowly picked to finish second to Jacksonville State, a team that was 11-4 in making the FCS Division playoffs last season.  One of their losses last year was to Tennessee State. 

OVC coaches and athletic directors picked the Big Blue Tigers third, behind JSU and Eastern Illinois, a team that featured QB Jimmy Garoppolo who is now in the NFL. Eastern defeated TSU twice last year, one in the regular season and again in the FCS playoffs. 

This season, Bass picks up where he left off last year. Bass was a one-man wrecking crew last season with 34 tackles, 14.5 for losses, ten sacks, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, a safety and a blocked kick.  He was named the OVC's 2013 Defensive Player of the Year from a defensive squad that led the OVC is nearly all defensive categories and was ranked sixth nationally in total defense. 

Three other Tigers defense was named to the preseason All-OVC team - linebacker Nick Thrasher (110 tackles, three forced fumbles in 2013); defensive backs Daniel Fitzpatrick (FCS National Defensive Back of the Year with 75 tackles and a nation-leading eight interceptions) and De'Ante Saunders (39 tackles, four interceptions).  

Quarterback Michael German rebounded from an early season suspension to lead the Tigers into the playoffs in being named to the OVC's preseason All-Conference team.  In seven games, German had nearly 1,200 yards passing and 13 touchdowns and no interceptions for the Tigers.  He will be defended by talented offensive lineman Robert Myers, also an All-Conference pick. 

TSU opens their season on August 30 against Edward Waters in the John Merritt Classic at LP Field. 

Defending SWAC Champ Southern Favorite to Win 2014 Football Title, According to League Poll

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

Southern wide receiver Willie Quinn (photo from Southern athletic department web site)

Southern may have lost their start quarterback and top receiver, but Southwestern Athletic Conference watchers believe the Jaguars have enough to successfully defend their 2013 SWAC football title.

SWAC head coaches, sports information directors and selected national media members chose Southern in the West Division and Alabama State in the East as its preseason favorites for 2014.

The Jaguars do return breakout running back Lenard Tillery, who had nearly 800 yards rushing and nine touchdowns during his freshman season last year.  Fellow sophomore Willie Quinn also had a big freshman season where he was one of the SWAC top receivers as he averaged 13 catches a game, with nearly 800 yards receiving and seven touchdowns all season. Tillery is a second team All-SWAC preseason pick while Quinn made the first team.

Offensive lineman Anthony Mosley made the first team while his colleague Zach Brown was a second team pick. Defensive lineman Arthur Miley and Daniel Brown are first team choices.

The Jaguars have all that going for them, but head coach Dawson Odums still hasn't come up with a final choice as to who will be the quarterback replacing graduated star Dray Joseph.

Doesn't matter, he says.

"It takes a collective effort from everyone around to make that guy stand out," he said at the SWAC media day, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.  "He just needs to do his part and everyone else do their part.  I don't think you have to be great. You can become great because of the people around you.  You make good decisions.  Whoever is going to lead the Southern Jaguars in 2014 at that position will do it because they make good decisions."

Alabama State were the experts' pick in the west.  The Hornets were one of the conference's stingiest defenses against the run last year as first team pre-season All-SWAC picks LB Kourtney Berry and DL Derrick Billups led the Hornets.  Berry came from out of nowhere as a freshman to be the SWAC's third-leading tackler with 105 stops and seven sacks.  Billups had 80 tackles and was in the SWAC's top ten in tackles for loss.  Edward Mosely and Justin Mitchell, second team preseason All-Conference picks, round out the SWAC's top defensive line.

Here is the SWAC Preseason predicted order of finish and their votes:

WEST
1) Southern (95)
2) Prairie View (88)
3) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (66)
4) Texas Southern (50)
5) Grambling State (31)

EAST
1) Alabama State (93)
2) Alcorn State (91)
3) Jackson State (72)
4) Mississippi Valley State (40)
5) Alabama A&M (34)

Howard Women's Soccer Becomes Member of the SWAC

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

(photo from Howard University athletics web site)

This may sound strange, but Howard will be competing for a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship this fall.

It's the Howard women's soccer team.   Since the Mideastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) doesn't have women's soccer, Howard was accepted by the SWAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors as an official SWAC women's soccer program.

Their first SWAC game will be Sept. 26 at Alcorn State.  And instead of playing their home games in Washington, D.C., the Lady Bison will host SWAC squads in Vestavia Hills, Ala.  Howard's season opener is against VMI on August 22.

"We are pleased to welcome Howard University and its women's soccer team to the Southwestern Athletic Conference," said SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp earlier this year in a SWAC.org statement.  "They are an amazing university with a strong academic and athletic history.  Howard's athletic programs have strong fan support and the program fits well with the goals we have in place for the sport."

The SWAC will now have 11 teams competing in women's soccer.  The SWAC champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championships.  Howard will be immediately eligible for a conference title and, in 2015, the NCAA championship bid.

The Lady Bison women's soccer team has been in existence since 1995, but has competed as an independent.  The Lady Bison finished 6-7-2 last season, flirting with their first .500 or better season since 2001 when they were 10-8.

"We are excited about our women's soccer team joining the Southwestern Athletic Conference," said Howard Athletic Director Louis "Skip" Perkins.  "[The] SWAC has been recognized for its competitiveness and commitment to academic excellence.  Howard looks forward to entering the conference and contributing to [the] SWAC's traditions of top performance on the field and in the classroom."

Leon Douglas Resigns As Tuskegee Mens Hoops Coach After Elite Eight Season

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

(From Tuskegee athletics web site)

Only four months after a historic appearance in the Division II mens basketball Elite Eight, Tuskegee basketball coach Leon Douglas has resigned.

Douglas, the Division II Clarence "Big House" Gaines College Basketball Coach of the Year, stepped down Wednesday.

In a statement on the Tuskegee website, school officials said they had offered Douglas a contract that would have made him the highest paid coach in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Apparently that wasn't good enough.

"I appreciate Coach Douglas' commitment to Tuskegee basketball," said athletic director Curtis Campbell. "We had a very successful season and I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors."

Douglas, a former star at the University of Alabama, was 118-114 in eight seasons at Tuskegee. His teams won SIAC tournament titles in 2010 and 2014, claiming appearances in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament in both seasons.

This past season, the Golden Tigers finished 21-12 and advanced to the school's first Elite Eight ever.  They fell to Metro State 106-87.

Tuskegee's search for a new coach begins immediately, while Douglas becomes a hot commodity on search lists around the country.

LLJuna Weir Becomes Interim Athletic Director at Alcorn State

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

{Photo from MEAC web site}

The Alcorn State athletic program has reached back to a reliable source to temporarily lead their intercollegiate program.

LLJuan Weir, associate director of athletics and senior administrator, has been named interim athletics director, the Southwestern Athletic Conference school has announced.

Weir, an Alcorn graduate, has been with the University for 16 years and has been in her current position since 2008.

“I believe in Alcorn athletics,” Weir said in a story posted on the Alcorn State website. “Working together, we can and will accomplish more. I believe in the power of members of the athletic family—our athletes, coaches, employees, student workers and alumni.”

The position has been in a state of flux since 2012 when Patric David Simon accepted that job in February of that year, but abruptly resigned two months later.  Simon, who had been at Langston before coming to Alcorn, then turned up as Tuskegee's athletic director that summer. He then resigned again, this time eight months into his Tuskegee tenure. He cited personal reasons.

Former NFL player Dwayne White became the interim athletic director at Alcorn after Simon's resignation.  White stepped down from the post last week.

School officials are searching for a full-time athletic director. 

On First Day in Office, Interim Grambling President Cynthia Warrick Removes Athletic Director and Mens Basketball Coach

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

Grambling's interim president, Cynthia Warrick, wasted no time in making changes in the beleagured Tigers athletic department. 

The day after she began her tenure, she fired removed athletic director Aaron James and men's basketball coach Joseph Price from their positions.

"My primary focus as interim president is to move Grambling State University to a competitive position of excellence at every level," Warrick said in a statement issued by the University.  "I have started the process of making several strategic changes in my administrative team, which is a customary practice in transitions such as this. The significant challenges facing Grambling make these decisions even more important, and I am committed to assembling the best talent possible in order to move the University forward."

James told The News-Star (La) newspaper that he found out through a letter from the president's office.

"I didn't foresee it coming, but I do understand when you change president's — I've been in the system long enough — a lot of times the president's have the people they want to bring into different positions, and I do understand that," James said to the paper in a story published by The News Star. "It caught me off guard a little. Between working with athletics and playing professional basketball, those types of things happen all the time. I would have preferred that (the news came in person meeting), but whether you have a conversation or get a letter, it's the same outcome."


The Grambling athletic department has gone through several highly-publicized controversies.  In 2013, only two years removed from winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference title but a then 1-10 season after that, Grambling and Super Bowl hero Doug Williams was fired.  Williams said it was more political than it was for what was happening on the field, mainly having to do with an outside group of Grambling boosters who were raising funds to support the football program. Williams said former president Frank Pogue, opposed the fundraising by the group.

Football players were unhappy with Williams' firing, along with conditions of their facilities and having to make long travel weekends by bus.  They eventually walked out on a meeting with Pogue, boycotted a game at Jackson State and became a national story about player treatment.  Ragland was fired and replaced by assistant coach Dennis "Dirt" Winston.

The Grambling mens basketball program had fallen on hard times in recent years, enduring an 0-28 season in 2012-13.  Price was 5-52 during his two seasons - including a 45-game Division I losing streak - at Grambling, but seemed to finally be turning the program around. 

He won't get to see the fruits of those labors.

"I feel great about the progress we made with the program over the last two years," Price said in a statement published by the News-Star (La.).  "When I took the head coach position, Grambling was facing serious NCAA sanctions that required us to focus on academic eligibility, retention and the team's graduation rate, which in summary is the Academic Progress Rate.

"The program is now past most of the challenges and a foundation has been laid for a successful program," he said.  "I believe that Grambling will have a winning season this year, and I am grateful for the opportunity I was given to get the program on the right track."

Fifth Coach Since 2010, MarQus Johnson Vows to Take St. Augustine's Men's Basketball to New Heights

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

(Photo from St. Augustine's Athletics Dept Web Site)

St. Augustine's is looking to MarQus Johnson to bring some stability to the head coaching position in their men's basketball program.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association institution has named the assistant coach the school's new head coach.  It is the fifth change in the head coaching position since 2010. Virginia State head coach Lonnie Blow Jr. led the team from 2008 through 2010, followed by Ken Spencer's two seasons.  Blow came back for the 2012-13 season before going to Virginia State. He was succeeded by Tony Sheals, who was named head coach at Virginia Union in April.

Now Johnson, who had been an assistant under Blow and Sheals, gets his shot.

"I think its time to give him his due and see where he can take the program," St. Augustine's athletic director and track and field coach, George Williams, said according to a story on the school's athletic department web site. "I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead."

Johnson takes over a program that was 13-16 last season under Sheals.  The Falcons have hovered around the .500 mark in each season since Blow's 27-5 CIAA championship campaign in 2010

Johnson has had success as an assistant and as a semi-pro head coach.  He was an assistant under Blow from 2008 to 2010 before going to the Continental Basketball League as head coach of the Cary Invasion.  Cary was 22-5 in his two seasons, winning a CBL title.

"I am honored and humbled while also being appreciative of the opportunity that Saint Augustine's University [Interim] President Dr. [Everett B.] Ward and Coach Williams have given me," Johnson said in the web story.  "I will work diligently and with great passion to take this program to new heights. Our goal will be to recruit young men who not only value the opportunity to play collegiate basketball, but also have a sense of urgency in every aspect of winning.  When I say winning, I mean on the court, in the community and, most importantly, in the classroom."