Florida A&M Holmes looking for new beginnings this football season

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  By now everybody knows about all the things that went wrong in Earl Holmes' first year as head football coach at FAMU.

He had two coaches out, either recovering from an illness or the death of a relative during a six-week period. Then, running back coach Elijah Williams quit the job to handle a family matter midway through the season. Quarterback Damien Fleming, in the midst of a less-than-spectacular season, suffered a season-ending foot injury.

And, who could forget the foul up with the sidelines headsets that were so inadequate that they malfunctioned for almost an entire game? Go ahead, laugh because it seems funnier than it is to understand.

No matter how Holmes spins it, fans take those types of things as excuses for losing. Especially when expectations were for a season better than 3-9.

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Four Sign With TSU Volleyball For Upcoming Season

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Volleyball head coach Kathy Roulhac has added four players for the upcoming 2014 season. Samantha Beltran, Madison Halterman, Haley Hampton and Marie Hadar have all signed to compete for the Tigers in the fall.

 

Beltran, a 5’10 setter, comes to Tennessee State after completing her prep career at Streetsville Secondary School for Jim Dinner and Karen Young in Mississauga, Onatrio. The five-sport athlete led Streetsville to a ROPSAA Triple-A Championship in her finals season. In 2011, Beltran earned MVP honors at the Joan of Arc Tournament.

 

Beltran was a member of the Student Council, the Tiger Leadership Council, and earned Academic Honors every year in secondary school. The incoming freshman played club ball for Peel Selects coached by Ken Jones, Eclipse West Volleyball Club coached by Amanda Vigna, Defensa Volleyball Club coached by Aaron McGregor and Lakeside Volleyball Club coached by Bear Davies.

 

Halterman will transfer to TSU after spending two years at Iowa Western Community College. The 5’7 libero/defensive specialists earned a spot on the All-Region XI team as a sophomore, helping IWCC to a 7th place finish at Nationals, and a 4th place in her freshman campaign.

 

As a sophomore, Halterman played in 49 matches, averaging 4.24 digs per set as the Reivers and head coach Alicia Williams finished 44-5. The incoming junior recorded a career high 34 digs versus Miami-Dade (10/25). In her first season, Halterman played in 46 and collected 125 digs, along with four service aces and 11 assists.

 

The Omaha, Neb. native earned All-State honors in her final two seasons for Jennifer Rhine at Benson High School. Halterman was twice named to the Omaha World Herald’s All Metro team and was selected as the BHS team MVP as a senior. Halterman also competed for the BHS soccer team and was a member of the honor roll.

 

Halterman played club volleyball with the Omaha Wave for Terry Gamble and the Omaha Premier for Nate Mongan.  Halterman guided the Premier to a fifth place finish at the 2011 Junior National Championships.

 

The incoming junior intends to major in Psychology with future plans to work in human services as a social work.

 

Hampton completed two seasons for Amber McCray at Panola College where she earned 1st Team All-Conference honors as a sophomore and was an NJCAA All-American Nominee. Hampton spent her freshman season as an outside hitter and transitioned to middle blocker in 2013.

 

She was second on the team in kills with 2.59 per set and third in blocks with 0.82 per set. She also notched double-digit kills in 13 matches in her final season. During a 5-game loss to top-ranked Blinn at the Regional Tournament, Hampton helped lead the Fillies with 10 kills on 22attempts for a .409 hitting percentage.

 

Hampton’s accomplishments also extend past the court as she was named to the Region XIV All-Academic Team. She intends to major in Criminal Justice at TSU.

 

In her first season at PC, Hampton played in 31 matches, averaging 2.3 kills and 0.82 blocks per set, while finishing with a .303 hitting average. Her performance earned her a spot on the All-Conference Honorable Mention squad and the Most Improved Award at Panola.

 

Hampton prepped at Dr. John Horn HS in Mesquite, Texas where she was a three-sport athlete, competing in volleyball, basketball and track. The 5’9 middle blocker/right side hitter played competitively for Travis Ferguson and the Impact Highline 18’s.

 

Hadar brings NCAA D-I experience to TSU after spending three seasons at Arkansas State. The Humboldt, Iowa native played in five matches, starting four, before an injury ended her season. Hadar recorded four kills against South Dakota and five blocks against Pittsburgh, while finishing the season with 12 kills, seven blocks, and three digs.

 

The 6’1 outside hitter played in 23 matches, starting 21, as a sophomore at ASU. Hadar led her squad in blocks per set at 0.78, tied with 11 solo blocks and delivered 175 kills. Hadar collected a career-high 14 kills against Louisiana-Lafayette as she registered a Sun Belt single game best .824 hitting percentage. At the Sun Belt Tournament versus UALR, Hadar matched her career-high kills’ mark of 14. She finished her second year with 59 total blocks, 22 digs and six assists.

 

As a freshman, Hadar played in four matches, collecting seven kills, one ace and two digs as ASU claimed the Sunbelt West Division title. Academically she was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

 

The junior transfer played four years at Humbolt High School for Connie Rasmussen and was named to the All-Conference, All-District and All-State teams. Hadar was a member of the Costa Rican National Team, who claimed the Central American Cup Championship in 2011. She was also played in the World Championships in Japan for Costa Rica.

 

Hadar played two years with the Iowa Power Volleyball Alliance team, while participating in volleyball, basketball, soccer and softball at HHS. Hadar plans to continue her degree in sports management with the aspirations of attending Law School.

 

The Tigers open the season on Aug. 29 at the University of Arkansas Tournament.

 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Alabama State Price Signs Free Agent Contract With Arizona Diamondbacks

PHOENIX, Arizona -- Alabama State University first baseman Dexter Price has signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
 

Price (6-2, 200, Sr., Lake Worth, Fla.) led the Hornets and tied for third in the SWAC with seven home runs and was fifth on the team with 40 RBI. He hit .299 this season with 14 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games with a .397 on-base percentage and .448 slugging percentage. Price was ninth in the SWAC in runs scored (29), tied for seventh in two-out RBI (19), and ranked 10^th in total bases (90). He started all 113 games he played in as a Hornet during his two-year career, hitting 15 home runs and driving in 67 runs.

 
"I'm very proud of Scooter and this great accomplishment," said Alabama State head baseball coach Mervyl Melendez. "He gave us two great years, was an outstanding player and a good teammate. We wish him well."
 
Price is the fourth player from the 2014 SWAC Eastern Division championship Hornets to be selected to play professional baseball, joining SS Emmanuel Marrero (7^th round pick - Philadelphia Phillies), OF Richard Amion (19^th round - San Francisco Giants) and C Richard Gonzalez (29^th round - Houston Astros).

"I want to thank the coaches for being there to help me during my time at ASU," said Price, who transferred to the Hornets from Daytona State College. "I will never forget all the players there. I wish I could stay longer because I had more fun on this team than any I've ever played on. I wish the best of luck to future players who will get the opportunity to play at Alabama State. It was a fun experience."

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

MVC Football Replay on Its Way?

Valley Football teams to experiment with replay

CARBONDALE, Illinois -- Missouri Valley Football Conference schools could be mandated to use instant replay in as soon as the next two years, according to commissioner Patty Viverito.

Two schools, Northern Iowa and North Dakota State, plan to use instant replay in all their games after the league approved experimenting with the process for televised games this fall. Before this year, Valley Football teams could only use replay during games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents or in the playoffs.

"I think it's an expense that everybody anticipates taking on, eventually. I just think it happened a year ahead, or two years ahead of where we anticipated, in terms of the investment," Viverito said. "But, you don't have to buy the equipment. You can rent the equipment on a game-by-game basis, so, I think that's why a couple of the schools are looking to see, to do just a game or two with rented equipment and then determine if it makes sense for the investment."

Instant replay has been steadily growing at the Football Championship Subdivision level over the last four years. The MEAC used it in televised games through its package with ESPN networks in 2011. The Big South and SWAC experimented with ...

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SU Fall Camp 2014: Jaguars report July 31

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Head coach Dawson Odums welcomes his defending SWAC champion Southern Jaguars to fall camp July 31 when players are scheduled to report to the A.W. Mumford Fieldhouse starting at 1 p.m.

The Jaguars, who travel to face defending New Orleans Bowl champion UL Lafayette in the season opener on Aug. 30, will conduct its first practice of fall camp on Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. Freshman and newcomers will hold a brief practice at 3:45 p.m. prior to the full team practice.

Southern's first practice in full pads is set for Aug. 5 at 9:15 a.m. followed by the first of four scheduled two-a-day practices Aug. 6 at 9:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.

The final scrimmage of fall camp is slated for Saturday, August 16 at 9:45 a.m. before the Jaguars gather to host Fan Fest later in the afternoon.

Classes for the Fall 2014 semester begin Monday, August 18.

SOUTHERN FOOTBALL 2014 FALL CAMP SCHEDULE 

July 31 - PLAYERS REPORT - 1 p.m.-3 p.m.; Equipment Pickup - 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Aug. 1 - PRACTICE #1 (HELMETS) - Freshman and Newcomers 3:45 p.m.; Entire team 5 p.m.

Aug. 2 - PRACTICE #2 (HELMETS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Aug. 3 - PRACTICE #3 (SHELLS) - 3:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Aug. 4 - PRACTICE #4 (SHELLS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Aug. 5 - PRACTICE #5 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Aug. 6 - PRACTICE #6 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | PRACTICE #7 (SHELLS) 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.
Aug. 7 - PRACTICE #8 (FULL PADS) - 4:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Aug. 8 - PRACTICE #9 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | PRACTICE #10 (SHELLS) 4:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Aug. 9 - PRACTICE #11 (FULL PADS) - 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Aug. 10 - PRACTICE #12 (SHELLS) - 4:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 11 - PRACTICE #13 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | PRACTICE #14 (SHELLS) 5:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
Aug. 12 - PRACTICE #15 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Aug. 13 - PRACTICE #16 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | PRACTICE #17 (SHELLS) 5:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
Aug. 14 - PRACTICE #18 (FULL PADS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Aug. 15 - PRACTICE #19 (SHELLS) - 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m
Aug. 16 - PRACTICE #20 (FULL PADS) - 9:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Aug. 18 - Classes Begin - No Practice

Aug. 19 - PRACTICE #21 (SHELLS) 5 p.m. (Pre-Practice availability 4:35 p.m.)

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS 

Hampton hoping transfer Quinton Chievous can have immediate impact

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- The 2013-14 season in the MEAC was dominated by North Carolina Central, as Levelle Moton’s team went 16-1 in conference play and earned its first NCAA tournament berth as a Division I member. The question for the other teams in the MEAC heading into the offseason was a simple one: how do they close the gap between themselves and the defending champion Eagles?

One team asking that question is Hampton, which finished second in the MEAC standings with a 13-4 record. But the goal for teams in small conferences is to win their league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and for the second consecutive season Edward Joyner Jr.’s team lost its MEAC tournament opener.

The good news for Hampton is that while leading scorer and rebounder Du’Vaughn Maxwell (14.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg) is out of eligibility, they return the other four of their top five scorers led by point guard Deron Powers (11.8 ppg, 4.0 apg). The Pirates also add four newcomers with the most recent being former Tennessee guard Quinton Chievous.

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Cleveland Browns notes: Isaiah Crowell trying to make team as running back

BEREA, Ohio  -- If Ray Farmer has proven one thing in his first year as general manager of the Browns, it is he is willing to take a chance on a player with a checkered past.

 Isaiah Crowell fits that description. Crowell was regarded as one of the most talented running backs in the recent draft, but 32 teams passed on him through all seven rounds, so the Browns signed him as an undrafted rookie. The pre-draft scouting report on nfldraftscout.com explains why teams shied away:

“Crowell failed a drug test while at Georgia and was charged with two felony counts of possession of a firearm. Further, he hasn’t shown ideal toughness, struggling to play through relatively minor leg injuries throughout his collegiate career. … From a purely talent standpoint, Crowell may just be the best runner in the 2014 draft. Questions about his toughness and dependability, however, make him very much a gamble that some teams simply won’t be willing to take.”

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