Complex grad Williams to play hoops at Tuskegee University

Tuskegee University head basketball Coach Leon Douglas has big Clint Williams coming in from the Virgin Islands, as the Golden Tigers prepare to make another run on repeating as SIAC Champions.

St. Croix, Virgin Islands - Big Clint Williams has chosen a school. The 6-foot-10/330 pound post man has decided to play his final two years at Tuskegee University. Williams chose the Golden Tigers over NAIA powerhouse Mid Continent.

“It was a long process, and I took into consideration the name of the school and the coaching staff,” said Williams. “I love the atmosphere at the school, and coach Leon Douglas can help me become a better basketball player.”
Tuskegee University is coming off its most successful season in more than three decades. The Golden Tigers finished the season 20-11 and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division-II tourney by winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) title.  TU lost in the first round of the brackets to No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech.

“Coach Douglas has turned the program around,” said Williams. “I hope, with me aboard, we can make the NCAAs every year.” Williams, a St. Croix Educational Complex graduate, played his last two seasons at Arkansas Baptist College, (a private, two year program located in Little Rock, Arkansas under the presidency of Dr. Fitzgerald (Fitz) Hill, a former professor at the University of Central Florida and the former head football coach at San Jose State University.)

“Coach Charles Ripley gave me an opportunity, when most did not,” said Williams. “I am thankful to him and the Arkansas Baptist College family. “In my two years at AB, it was nothing that I had expected,” added Williams. “I did not know I would have been tutored by a former NBA player in Corliss Williamson, and I did not expect that I would be so heavily recruited."

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TUESDAY: 2010 Michael Vick Football Camp Meet & Greet

Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick

For all Hampton Roads/Hampton University Pirates football and Michael Vick/Philadelphia Eagles fans, the 2010 Michael Vick Football Camp Meet and Greet will be held tomorrow, June 22, 2010 from 4-6 p.m., at the NASCAR Sports Grille in Hampton, Virginia. The 2010 Michael Vick Football Camp will be taking place on the campus of Hampton University from June 23-25. The three-times NFL Pro Bowler and Hampton University's football Coach Donavan Rose will conduct a question and answer session regarding the camp.

So far, two current NFL players with ties to Hampton University--Jacksonville Jaguars middle linebacker Justin Durant and Miami Dolphins defensive end, Kendall Langford are confirmed for the event. Plus Aaron Brooks (University of Virginia), retired NFL quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and Vick's second cousin will be there.

Michael Vick and Coach Donovan Rose are hosting the meet and greet and it will be broadcast on the Tony Mercurio (aka "The Blastman") show as he will be at the Sports Grille too. The Blastman program is on ESPN Radio 94.1 FM (Hampton Roads) between 3 and 7 weekday afternoons, and is where listeners turn for sports talk.

The event is free and open to the public. The NASCAR Sports Grille is located at 1996 Power Plant Parkway, Hampton, VA 23666, Telephone:757.224.5802. Stop by after work for some sports talk and fun.

Printers and BC Lions lose a thriller at Empire Field

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Fans at Empire Field were pleased with the facility but not with the result of the game. In their first game in their new temporary home the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League lost 36-32 to the Edmonton Eskimos. It was a last second touchdown pass from Jason Maas to Skyler Green that proved to be the winner for the Eskimos. Overall, the Lions had a pretty good game as starting quarterback Casey Printers (Florida A&M University) got a feel for some of his new receivers and running backs. Printers hooked up with Jamal Robertson twice for a couple of scores.

Big plays also came from Printers as he connected with Jamall Lee for a 95-yard play that resulted in a touchdown. Eskimos linebacker T.J. Hill picked off a Casey Printers pass that went off of Jamel Robertson's hands and went 60 yards for a major score on just the second play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead 54 seconds in. Printers guided the Lions through the first half and finished the day completing 13-of-22 passes for 263 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Attendance at the first ever game at Empire Field was 24,763. The B.C. Lions ended pre-season with a 1-1 record.

Next Game: SEASON OPENER - Sunday, July 4 at Edmonton Eskimos, 4 p.m.

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S.C. State University drops president’s contract

President George E. Cooper, top S.C. State Bulldogs supporter.

The S.C. State University board of trustees voted Tuesday afternoon not to renew the contract of President George Cooper, according to a university spokeswoman. Cooper, whose contract ends June 30, became S.C. State’s 10th president after he was voted unanimously into the presidency in 2008. He has served in the role slightly less than two years. Cooper replaced Andrew Hugine, who was fired in December 2007 by the board before his contract ended. Hugine filed a lawsuit over his firing and eventually settled out of court.

The last five presidents at South Carolina State University have been fired or asked to resign. The average tenure of a university president is eight-and-a-half years, nearly double that of recent leaders at South Carolina State University. University spokeswoman Erica Taylor confirmed that the board decided not to renew Cooper’s contract, but she referred all other questions to the school’s board of trustees. Several messages were left with board members, who could not be reached this morning. During his time, Cooper faced a slate of problems, including declining state funds and stalled construction of the James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center.



Note: Dr. Cooper earned his Ph. D. in Animal Nutrition from the University of Illinois, Urbana; a master’s degree in Animal Science from Tuskegee University; and a bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry from Florida A&M University. Dr. Cooper is uncle to C. Houston Sr. (Videographer, Editor, Graphics) who has shared his video of football, family and fun in Orangeburg, S.C. with the Shaw Family. The Rattlers' sophomore Derrick Shaw (#14) was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 41st round of the MLB draft on June 9, 2010. Unknown at the time, this would be the last 'FAMU vs. SCSU' game in their present roles, as Rattler football player and SCSU president. Dr. Cooper is a native of Tallahassee, Florida.

C. Houston Sr.--Thank you for showing the world what FAMU vs. SCSU football, family and fun is all about! We are all connected...

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Johnson introduced as new New Jersey Nets coach

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There have been doubts about Avery Johnson at every level in his NBA career. Some felt he wasn’t good enough to be a player. Others said the Spurs would never win a title with him at the point guard, and there were many who felt he didn’t have the characteristics or the experience needed to be an NBA head coach. All Johnson, a former Southern University standout, did was play 16 years in the league, win a ring with San Antonio and post the NBA’s all-time coaching record in 3 1/2 years with the Dallas Mavericks.

Johnson took on a new challenge Tuesday, the job of turning around the league-worst New Jersey Nets, and there was a cockiness about him. He smiled broadly, spoke of optimism and gave off a feeling of confidence that one expects from someone expecting to succeed again. “I am all about the positive,” Johnson said after being introduced as the Nets’ 16th coach. “I am about hard work. I am about dreaming. I have a big dream right now in my mind in terms of where this franchise can go and where we can take it and I see all the possibilities.”




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Savannah State and Tuskegee signs Beach High teammates

Teammates on Beach High School’s girls basketball and track and field teams, seniors Brianna Little and Alicia Champion sat side by side Thursday and secured their collegiate futures. Little signed to play basketball at nearby Savannah State University, while Champion will run track at Tuskegee University. “I’m very excited knowing that I will have the opportunity to play on the next level,” Little said. Champion received a greater financial package via a full academic scholarship, rather than accepting an athletic scholarship, to attend Tuskegee.

“I know without academics, you can’t go as far as you want in life,” Champion said. “Plus, running track is something I love. I try to do my best on the field and in the classroom.”

Little, a 5-foot-6 point guard, spent the first three seasons of her basketball career at Beach overshadowed by star teammates Khalilah Watson and Monique Willis. But in her senior year, Little flourished for the Bulldogs in a prominent role. Little averaged 18.3 points and 3.6 assists per game while using her speed and quickness defensively to disrupt and frustrate opposing teams while coming up with an average of five steals.

“Savannah State has come in and gotten, what I think is, a major D-I player,” Beach coach Ronald Booker said. “She has tremendous potential because you can teach a lot of things, but you cannot teach the quickness she possesses. And she finishes well at the basket and she shoots the ball well.”

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Jon Teitel's Interview Series: Maryland-Eastern Shore Legend Talvin Skinner

University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Talvin Skinner is a MEAC Hall of Famer (2002), UMES Athletic Hall of Fame inductee (2010); an all-conference selection (72-73 & 73-74) as well as the MEAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Performer (1974) . Skinner led the Hawks in rebounding in his final two seasons; was the 1973 NAIA Tournament's leading rebounder, and totaled nearly 400 points and rebounds the same year. Skinner's final year saw him post 456 points and grab 353 boards. He still stands eighth all-time in NAIA rebounding. Skinner was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in 1974 in the third round and played under NBA Hall of Famer, (Coach) Bill Russell. The 6-5/195 forward is from Berlin, Maryland.

In the most recent installment of his series of interviews on players who are among the best pros to come out of their particular schools, CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) great Talvin Skinner. Skinner was the leader of a UMES squad in 1974 that led the nation in scoring with an average of 96.7 points per game without the benefit of a three-point shot, and they also became the first HBCU to take part in the NIT.

Jon Teitel: In 1974 your team went 27-2 and you were named conference tournament MVP. How were you able to play your best when it mattered the most?

Talvin Skinner: Now you are starting to get serious, because the team that we played for the championship was Morgan State, which was Marvin Webster's team (which is kind of touching, because we lost Marvin in 2009). They had beaten us earlier in the year when we were 20-0, and had just became nationally ranked as the #20 team in the AP poll as a Division II school. They played a hard road trip from North Carolina through DC and back to Baltimore (four games in five days), which is something that I do not think that many basketball analysts or fans are aware of.

Basketball history, baby; I do not know if that has ever happened before. As a team, we were determined that they would pay and pay dearly. We beat them twice in 2 weeks by convincing margins, and took the championship. It was not just me: our team does not get the credit that it deserves. We did something that may never be done again in the MEAC or at any level of basketball (leading the nation in scoring with 96.7 PPG despite no three-point shot), and they did not even give us an invite to the NCAA tourney. I guess to answer your question: my teammates needed me to play my best.

JT: You played for Coach John Bates, who was the first coach to take a Historically Black College to the NIT. What was it like to play for Bates, and how big a deal was it to go to the NIT?

TS: Going to the NIT was okay by me as a senior, as well as for the other five seniors on the team. Our eyes were on the BIG dance; we had already proved that we belonged by playing in the then-64 team NAIA tourney in Kansas City and going to the 1973 national championship game against Guilford College (who had World B. Free & ML Carr: you know their legacies). Although we lost by three points, we felt that we could play with anyone in the country, and our records spoke for themselves.

As far as Coach Bates is concerned, I have nothing but respect fro him as a man and as a person, because he understood talent and he trusted us. He did not try to restrain that "something special" that he knew we had; as a matter of fact, he pushed the envelope. However, I can honestly say that he loved us as people: we were not some meal ticket to him who he was trying to exploit for his future. The funny thing is that it just worked out that way for him: it could not have happened to a better person. He is genuinely a good and honest human being, and we all love him.

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