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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Hampton’s Kwame Morgan tallied 29 points, none bigger than the final three, as the junior guard knocked down a trey with 0.8 seconds left, to defeat Colorado State, 77-75, snapping the Rams’ six-game win streak.
Colorado State trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but fought back to take their first lead, 62-61, with 7:20 left to play in the contest. And with CSU clinging to a one-point lead, 75-74, with 7.3 seconds left, Morgan’s shot all but ended the game. The Rams’ ensuing inbound was deflected back out of bounds and when they got the ball in play, Travis Franklin’s desperation heave with 0.4 left came up well short.
The Rams committed a season-worst 18 turnovers, and the Pirates converted those extra possessions into 23 points. With the loss, Colorado State falls to 10-4 on the season while Hampton improves to 11-3.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Hampton University junior guard Kwame Morgan hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to lift the men’s basketball team past Colorado State 77-75 on Saturday in the final day of the Hilltop Classic at War Memorial Gym.
It was Morgan’s second game-winning trey of the season; he also hit the game-winner in the closing seconds on Dec. 22 against Liberty. Morgan (Largo, Md.) scored a career-high 29 points on 8-for-19 shooting and 6-for-14 from 3-point range in keying Hampton’s fourth win in its last five games. Hampton’s win also snapped Colorado State’s six-game winning streak.
Junior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) scored 17 points and dished out a team-high four assists. Senior forward Charles Funches (Jersey City, N.J.) and junior guard Christopher Tolson (Laurel, Md.) each added 10 points, with Funches adding a team-high eight rebounds.
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NEXT GAME: 1/8/2011, 4 p.m., Pirates (11-3, 1-0 MEAC) at Coppin State Eagles (4-7, 0-1), Baltimore, MD
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Erie Community College defensive lineman Ellie Hyppolite (Daytona Beach, Fla./Spruce Creek) has signed a National Letter of Intent to enroll and play football at Florida A&M. The 6-foot-4, 270 pound Hyppolite recorded 13 tackles (9 solo/4 assists) in eight games in 2010. He made 3.5 tackles for loss, broke up one pass, and forced one fumble. Hyppolite posts a 4.8 40-yard dash time.
Florida A&M won a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in 2010, finishing with an 8-3 overall record. The midyear junior college transfer signing period started December 15, 2010 and runs until Jan. 15, 2011.
Boyd Anderson High School quarterback Dane James would like to take advantage of early enrollment at a university so that he would have some leverage to compete for the starting job during spring workouts. James and his father told the Democrat on Saturday that there are at least four schools on his list. Florida A&M is the front-runner, they said.
Mark James also said his son will make his decision within a week so that he could enroll no later than a week after classes begin next week.
Seton Academy's Kenny Stevenson Jr., a sharp shooting 6-2/175 combo guard, attended prep school in New Jersey and will enroll at Texas Southern University for the upcoming semester. Kenny was coached by his well-respected father, who served as the school's athletic director and head coach, leading the program to the 2009 IHSA Class 2A State Championship.
Chicago, IL - Former Seton Academy basketball star Kenny Stevenson doesn't mind sitting out a semester. Stevenson, a 2010 Seton grad, will enroll at Texas Southern University after spending a semester at Central Jersey Each One Teach One in Somerset, N.J.
"I think it will make me better, because I will have that much more time to learn the plays and the system," Stevenson said. "I know they are graduating a few guards, so if I work hard, I think I will have a chance to play right away."
Right away is the 2011-2012 season. Stevenson originally committed and signed with Illinois-Chicago, but when coach Jimmy Collins retired, he decided to look elsewhere.
Videographer: danpon1 (Kenny Stevenson (Seton) Highlights and Interview with Daniel Poneman)
Ken Stevenson is the reigning Chicago Catholic League and Illinois Times Coach of the Year (2009). Sevenson was 106-75 in seven years in building Seton's program from scratch.
He came, he saw, he conquered.
Now, he's moving on. After starting a boys basketball program from scratch when Seton Academy went coed in the fall of 2003 and leading the Sting to a Class 2A state championship last spring, Ken Stevenson told The Times on Wednesday that he has resigned as head coach. He'll also step down from the athletic director's position at the end of the school year.
"I'm going to leave the whole shebang," Stevenson said. "I've had seven wonderful years at Seton Academy. I had the opportunity to build a program to my liking, but I just felt it was time for me to do something a little different.
Ken Stevenson will be starting from the ground floor again.
He started the boys basketball program at Seton Academy and won the Class 2A state title in 2009. The Hales Franciscan grad built the Sting into a Class 2A power before stepping down after last season. He was 106-75 in seven years.
Stevenson was named to a similar position at the new Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men's South Shore campus. He said he is excited about the challenge of starting a program.
"I believe in giving back, and this is one way to give back is to help develop young men and help guide them in their lives," Stevenson said. "Whether it is city kids, suburban, Seton, Catholic school or public school, I am looking forward to getting the program going and working with these young men."
AMES, Iowa - The Florida A&M University Women’s Basketball team had four Lady Rattlers to score in double –figures as the Lady Rattlers held on for a 89-85 win over East Carolina in their final game of the Cyclone Challenge, here Thursday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum.
FAMU (5-6) was paced by Antonia Bennett as she scored a game high 24 points to lead all scorers. Tameka McKelton dropped in 22 points, followed by Christian Rateree with 16. Shekeira Copeland in her first collegiate start at FAMU finished with 10 points. Qiana Donald led the Lady Rattlers on the boards with 12 rebounds, while McKelton dished out a team high five assists.
ECU (6-7) also had a quartet of Pirates to score in double-figures with...
FAMU coming off big win
While doing her review of a midweek loss to No. 25 Iowa State, coach LeDawn Gibson saw enough encouraging signs in the Florida A&M women's basketball team. She pointed them out to her players then sent them out to take on East Carolina.
"I told them about, pride, fight and the heart that they play with (against ISU) and we needed to go out and play like that every night," Gibson said. "They showed a lot of class."
AMES, Iowa - East Carolina could not overcome Florida A&M's hot shooting in the first half, seeing a second-half rally fall just short in an 89-85 loss to close out the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge. The Pirates will enter Conference USA play at 6-7 overall while the Rattlers are now 5-6.
East Carolina matched its program record for three-point field goals, knocking down 13. Senior Allison Spivey also took over sole possession of second place on the school charts as she now owns 167 as a result of the four in Thursday's game.
ECU converted 31 of 81 shots from the floor for a 38.3 shooting mark, but FAMU had the accurate hand, shooting 31-for-65 (48.8 percent). The Rattlers also ended with a 47-43 advantage on the glass with East Carolina grabbing 24 offensive boards to 16 for FAMU. The Pirates were stronger in the paint, winning the battle down low with 30 points as compared to 22 for the Rattlers. Florida A&M also turned the ball over 23 times while East Carolina recorded 16 miscues.
Ames, Ia. — The Iowa State women’s basketball team didn’t show much rust from an eight-day break Wednesday. Senior forward Kelsey Bolte made 7-of-13 3-pointers and poured in a career-high 28 points as the 20th-ranked Cyclones (9-2) rolled past Florida A&M 85-60 in the first night of the Cyclone Challenge. Iowa State will play at 7:30 p.m. tonight against Prairie View A&M (4-6), which lost 68-55 to East Carolina (6-6).
“Kelsey’s having a phenomenal senior season,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “Right now, when she plays well, we’re hard to beat. They started in a zone and her eyes got really big.” Playing before a crowd of 7,512 at Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones took command by making 13-of-15 shots during a 31-10 run in the first half. That gave them a 42-15 lead.
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NEXT GAME: 1/2/2011, 6 p.m. CT @ University of Nebraska - Lincoln WATCH LIVE FREE: CLICK LINK -FAMU vs. NEBRASKA
The University of Northern Colorado football program has enlisted a strong choice to serve as its next leader.
Earnest Collins Jr. has his job. He has sought this position, worked for it, prepared for it, learned for it and now has ownership of it. It is not a stepping stone. It is not a learning experience. It's what he wants, and that is a good thing for the Bears.
Collins first attempt to claim his job occurred in 2005 when he interviewed to replace Kay Dalton. Not hired, he listened closely to the critiques relayed to him.
Earnest Collins, Jr., didn't always know where life was going to take him, but he certainly knew that it would someday lead him back to the University of Northern Colorado.
That dream happened for Collins, the former Alcorn State head coach, on Thursday when he was officially introduced as the new head football coach at UNC before a full house in the Champions Room of the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
Speaking from his heart and without any script, Collins, who is the Bears 16th head coach, displayed his passion for the UNC football program, his family and his faith as he was introduced publicly for the first time before a room filled with media, UNC personnel and supporters of the program.
GREELEY, CO - New University of Northern Colorado head football coach Earnest Collins Jr. made one thing clear Thursday at his introductory news conference: He is going to make sure that Colorado and the school's alumni are excited about UNC football again.
Collins promised he would restore the winning tradition the school had during his playing days and his time as an assistant coach when it was a Division II program. "My No. 1 focus right now is to recapture the state of Colorado," Collins said. "That's the No. 1 goal for me, because when I was here, that's what it was. I don't know what it's like to lose. We never lost here."
Just a few years ago, NFL Pro Bowlers Eric Weems and Nick Collins were recruited to Bethune-Cookman University by former Wildcats head football coach Wyatt.
Wyatt, also known as "Shine," is a B-CU graduate and former All-American defensive back for the Wildcats. As a student-athlete, he was drafted in the NFL 6th Round by the Oakland Raiders in 1970. Coach Wyatt also played for the Buffalo Bills (1971-72) and Houston Oilers (1973).
He landed back at B-CU in 1975 as a defensive assistant football coach under legendary NFL Hall of Famer, Larry Little. In 1978, he was asked to re-build the Wildcats women basketball program, along with coaching football.
In 13 seasons, Wyatt became the winningest head coach in B-CU football history with a record of 90-54 (.620). He also wasn't a shabby basketball coach, setting the school record for wins in 18 seasons with a 260-200 (.565) career record, and two MEAC Titles.
Shine holds the distinction of being unceremoniouslydumped (November 23, 2009) by his Alma Mater quicker than you can say, Coach Ralph Friedgen and University of Maryland, after a 5-6, 4-4 MEAC season in 2009. He finished 2008 with an 8-3, 5-3 MEAC record.
One of Coach Wyatt's greatest deficiency was the inability of his "Wyatt-bone offense" to consistently beat in-state rival -- Florida A&M University and its hall of fame coaches, William "Billy" Joe and Joseph "Joe" Taylor. Wyatt was 4-9 during his career with the football Wildcats in the Florida Classic.
Lately, it has become virtually impossible for any Bethune-Cookman football coach and team to defeat the FAMU Rattlers in the 2nd largest attended FCS game. Just ask Wyatt's replacement, Coach Brian Jenkins, who undefeated 10-0 Wildcats were soundly stomped 38-27, by the Rattlers before 61,712 fans and a national ESPN Classic broadcast audience last month.
History repeated itself with FAMU (8-3, 7-1 MEAC) spoiling the Wildcats perfect season and gaining a three-way share of the 2010 MEAC championship with South Carolina State and B-CU.
NFL caliber players Wyatt did produce -- cornerback Ricky Williams (Chicago Bears) and Rashean Mathis (Jacksonville Jaguars), Nick Collins (Green Bay Packers) and Eric Weems (Atlanta Falcons), among other standouts. And Shine ran a "clean program" without any run in with the NCAA.
But, Wyatt's lawsuit against the university for breach of contract, ageism and wrongful termination has not been resolved by the parties nor the Court system. The school basically threw Wyatt under the proverbial bus after getting stampeded 42-6 by a bunch of Rattlers from FAMU, in the 2009 Florida Classic.
Surprisingly, Wyatt name is not even in the conversation for current vacancies at NCAA Division I or Division II programs. What's wrong with this picture -- with current head coaching vacancies at North Carolina A&T, Alcorn State, Savannah State, Delaware State, Howard University, Lincoln (Missouri) and Miles College? What say, Elon, Oklahoma Panhandle State (NAIA D2), Furman, Gardner-Webb, and Texas State. And non-BCS programs like Kent State and Miami-Ohio should all be blowing up Shine's cell phone.
Will Coach Wyatt become another iconic figure in football lore like former Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, Archie "the Gunslinger" Cooley?
Cooley produced the greatest player in NFL history --Wide Receiver, Jerry Lee Rice and a "Satellite" quarterback --Willie Totten, who set numerous (18) NCAA passing and offensive records. In the 1984 season, Totten threw for 5,043 yards and 58 touchdowns and then threw for 39 touchdowns in 1985, without Rice, averaging 51 points per game.
Legend has it that Totten, and the Delta Devils team of hard working country boys once bused 21 hours from IttaBena, Mississippi to Topeka, Kansas (1984) to play Washburn University. It was a no-contest with the Delta Devils demolishing the Ichabods 77-15.
Prior to arriving at MVSU in 1980 as the head coach, believe it or not, the gunslinger had been a defensive assistant at Alcorn State and Tennessee State. Within three years, Valley was the number one team in all of 1-AA Football.
Videographer: bruceeien: "Rare film clips of a 1984 game between Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Louisiana Tech."
Few know this true fact -- Coach Cooley was the innovator of the SPREAD offense that is run by every NFL team today, and most of the college and high school football programs in America. Cooley's "Satellite Express" offense broke just about every NCAA 1-AA passing record during the 1980's.
They can call it the West Coast Offense, Gulf Coast Offense, No-huddle offense, Run and Shoot, the Shot Gun, the Spread, the Gun Spread, the Gun Option, the Air Raid, the Zone Read, or the Pistol. But it all comes from the creative offensive coaching genius of Archie "the gunslinger" Cooley and the more than 200 offensive plays he innovated.
But, its Coach Cooley's offense that he perfected in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) long before Jerry Rice's first NFL coach, Bill Walsh, saw film of MVSU running the "Satellite Express" and decided to incorporate the passing schemes into the 49'ers offense for Rice and Joe Montana.
Award winning author Denny Dressman wrote about how Cooley's offense was stolen by San Francisco 49ers Coach Bill Walsh with the help of legendary coach W.C. Gorden, Jackson State -- in Jerry Rice's Hall of Fame Career a Tale of Stolen Magnolias. The rest is history of how Walsh integrated Cooley's passing innovations into the 49ers offense to win three Super Bowls and a permanent home in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Today, Coach Cooley barely gets mentioned and received no job or economic windfall from the NFL for his innovation of the passing game. Not even one lousy "consulting job" was offered by any major college program to Coach. Because of the same barriers that exist today for black head football coaches, Cooley head coaching career lasted a total of 13 years combined at Mississippi Valley (1980-86), Arkansas - Pine Bluff (1987-90) and Norfolk State (1993), based on records in the College Football Data Warehouse. It's a crying shame that the gunslinger never received the recognition that his talents truly deserved.
The next time a grasshopper or a recruit criticizes the coaching in the MEAC, SWAC, CIAA or SIAC, please send him a link to the Stolen Magnolias article or the few articles on Marino "The Godfather" Casem, Coach Cooley or W.C. Gorden. Maybe it will help him/her realize the ice is not colder on the other side of the tracks or at the PWCs.
Based on the recent 2010 Football Hiring Report Card, at no time in our history have black head football coaches been better prepared to lead major college football programs, with experience as both NFL players, position coaches, and prior head coaching experience at the lower divisions. Just check the biographies of Wyatt and all the current head coaches in the SWAC, MEAC, CIAA and SIAC, who continue to toil in obscurity and for below market compensation.
Then, check the biography of the coaches currently job jumping each season hoping to win off the talent coached and assembled by the previous successful coach, who has moved on or been removed before the 10-2 season comes to fruition the very next season. Sounds familiar, B-CU?
The greater question--Is Coach Wyatt football coaching career over or will Shine be provided the opportunity by a smart athletic director to build another program to championship level? Only time will reveal his fate...
1/1/2011 UPDATE: SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY HAS BEEN DISMISSED FROM THE ROBBY WELLS LAWSUIT BY THE COURT. MORE TO FOLLOW, AS WE SEEK A COPY OF THE DISMISSAL DOCUMENT.
Savannah State University played its final football game Saturday and ended its season with a losing record for a 12th consecutive year. The Tigers' troubles, however, extend well beyond the football field.
On Dec. 22, 2007, SSU - an institution listed among the South's historically black colleges and universities - broke tradition when Robby Wells became its first white football head coach. Barely more than two years later, Wells was gone, having resigned amid a cloud of charges and countercharges that included allegations of unethical behavior on his part and racism on the part of the university.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Hampton’s Kwame Morgan tallied 29 points, none bigger than the final three, as the junior guard knocked down a trey with 0.8 seconds left, to defeat Colorado State, 77-75, snapping the Rams’ six-game win streak. 
