Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Grambling's Broderick Fobbs to receive the Eddie Robinson Award

COURTESY GRAMBLING STATE ATHLETICS
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Broderick Fobbs, the head football coach at Grambling State University, will be recognized as the 2014-15 recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award when the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame holds its annual awards banquet on Saturday, August 8 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee is sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The award is presented annually to an athlete, coach, team or athletic administrator in Louisiana who demonstrates the qualities most associated with Grambling legend Eddie Robinson: outstanding achievement in athletics, academics, sportsmanship and citizenship by maximizing the use of limited resources.

Fobbs is being honored after taking over the reins of the award's namesake's program and lifting it up from depths to which it had never fallen in history - a combined record of 2-21 during the 2012-2013 seasons. Things sunk so low that the 2013 season was most memorable due to a player revolt related to dissatisfaction with athletic facilities and travel accommodations. The week-long boycott forced cancellation of a road game against Jackson State.

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Hopson takes Alcorn to top of SWAC mountain

VICKSBURG, Mississippi -- The achievements of Jay Hopson range from being a four-time letterman and academic All-Southeastern Conference honor roll selection at Ole Miss, to being the first white head coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Hopson spoke to the Port City Kiwanis Club last week and reminisced on his time spent at Alcorn State. He inherited a meager football program when he took the position in 2012 and has turned it into the defending conference champion. The Braves were also picked to win the SWAC at this year’s league media day.

“I don’t know if you remember my first year at Alcorn, we were a really bad football team. Ain’t no way to put it,” Hopson said. “I know my dad came to practice and he left after 30 minutes. He said ‘God bless you son, it’s going to be a long haul.’”

The Vicksburg native coached at 10 universities including Tulane, LSU, Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Michigan before taking the Alcorn position. He’s been a part of several conference championship teams and had records ranging from 15 wins to one.

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Berry’s rise at ASU from unknown to undeniable

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- He’s here. He’s there.

Alabama State junior linebacker Kourtney Berry seems to be everywhere on the football field.

“He makes it tough on me,” said Alcorn State senior quarterback John Gibbs Jr., the 2014 SWAC co-offensive player of the year. “He makes it tough on me. I was talking to him and I said, ‘You’re on every tackle.’ I’m trying to figure out how did he get over there when he was just over here seconds ago. He’s a tough ball player.”

Berry arrived in Montgomery as a walk-on from Merrillville, Indiana, who didn’t receive a football scholarship offer from any NCAA school. Two years and 233 tackles later, Berry is the premier defender in the SWAC.



“I had to make a statement that you guys missed out on me,” Berry said. “I’ve been playing these last two years with a chip on my shoulder. I could have played, but no one actually took a chance on me except for Alabama State. I can’t thank the coaching staff from beforehand enough. They gave me an opportunity to get out on the field and be able to play on a collegiate level.”

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Brandon Reeves Named Chicago State Volleyball Head Coach

 BRANDON REEVES
HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH
CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY
CHICAGO, Illinois – Chicago State University Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Denisha Hendricks announced today the hiring of Brandon Reeves as the university's new head volleyball coach.

"We're very excited to have Coach Reeves join the CSU Athletics family. We're looking forward to an exciting volleyball season coming up and are ready to welcome our team to campus in a couple of weeks," stated Hendricks.

Reeves comes to CSU after serving the last two seasons as head volleyball coach at Concordia University in Selma, Ala., where he tallied a 25-8 record last season, was ranked No. 1 in the USCAA power rankings and advanced to the Elite Eight of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Tournament. In addition, he was also a finalist for the USCAA National Coach of the Year accolades.

Reeves also served as an assistant coach for the Concordia women's basketball team that advanced to the semifinals of the USCAA Division I Tournament last year with a 24-4 season record.

Before his stint at Concordia, Reeves spent six seasons as head coach at Rust College, an NCAA Division III institution from Holly Spring, Miss. During his tenure at Rust, the Lady Bearcats posted an 81-55 record under Reeves while advancing to the NCAA South Region Tournament in addition to producing a third-team All-American and two all-region performers.

Reeves also served as head coach of the Rust men's volleyball team, who became the first southern Historically Black College/University (HBCU) to field a collegiate men's program. The 2013 squad posted an 18-6 record and ranked 11th nationally in the NCAA D-III poll. He also coached men's and women's track & field at Rust.

 "I would like to express my appreciation to Chicago State University, Dr. Hendricks and the rest of the executive administration for the opportunity to take the helm of the Cougars volleyball program," said Reeves. "From our very first conversation, it was very clear that Dr. Hendricks and I share many core values that I believe are essential in building not only a very successful volleyball program, but a very successful athletics department."

Reeves has also gained experience coaching several clubs in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi in addition to serving as an instructor for six years at the Nike Camp hosted by the University of Mississippi.

Reeves graduated from Lane College in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics, where he also competed on the school's men's tennis and traveling club volleyball teams. He also obtained a Masters in Arts in Education with a concentration in Sports Administration from Tennessee State University and is currently finishing up requirements for his doctorate in Sports Management at Northcentral University.


COURTESY CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Morgan State Football Media/Photo Day is set for August 6


COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

BALTIMORE, Maryland – Morgan State University will hold its Annual Media/Photo Day on Thursday, August 6 beginning at 10 a.m. at Hughes Stadium.

Photo/media day will include the taking of an official team photo, headshots, group photos of the coaches and the various support staff units, groups of player photos by position.

Head coach Lee Hull, staff and players will be available for interviews from noon to 1 p.m.

The Bears begin preseason practice from 7-9:30 p.m. as they prepare for the 2015 season opener on the road against the Air Force Falcons on September 5. The Bears home-opener at Hughes Stadium will be on September 19 against Virginia-Lynchburg.

For further information, please contact Leonard Haynes at (443) 885-3831.

Game Tickets: Season tickets for all five contests at Hughes Stadium plus are on sale now. For Morgan State football ticket information click here.

Click here for the 2015 Football Schedule

Follow Morgan State Athletics on Twitter (@MorganStBears) and Facebook (Facebook.com/MorganStateBears), in addition to www.MorganStateBears.com. The Morgan State Bears mobile application is also available for free download from the App Store and Android Market.

COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Big Easy Blastoff will open 2015 XU volleyball schedule

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana will open its 2015 women's volleyball schedule with a six-team, two-day home tournament.
    
Third-year coach Hannah Lawing announced Monday the schedule, which consists of 24 regular-season matches, 11 at home.
    
Joining the Gold Nuggets in the Big East Blastoff Aug. 28-29 will be four NAIA members — city rival Loyola, Faulkner, Mobile and Wayland Baptist — plus NCAA Division I's Mississippi Valley State. Xavier will play all but Loyola that weekend.
    
Xavier and Mississippi Valley will meet at 9 a.m. in the first of five matches Aug. 28. The Gold Nuggets and Mobile will close the day with a 5 p.m. match.
    
Xavier will travel to Brunswick, Ga., for the Mariner Invitational the second weekend and play Bethel (Ind.), Bryan, Coastal Georgia and Martin Methodist.
    

Wayland Baptist — a second-day opponent in the Big Easy Blastoff — and Coastal Georgia were NAIA National Championship qualifiers in 2014.
      
The Gold Nuggets will be at home for their first Gulf Coast Athletic Conference match, 7 p.m. Sept. 7 against Talladega. Xavier is the four-time defending GCAC regular-season and tournament champion and is 59-0 the past four seasons against GCAC opponents. Xavier is one of 12 schools to qualify for the NAIA National Championship each of the last four seasons.
    
Still undecided is the site of the GCAC Tournament Nov. 13-14. The tournament winner will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship, which will begin Nov. 21.
    
Xavier will play three road matches in New Orleans: SUNO on Sept. 25 and Dillard on Nov. 9 in the GCAC and Loyola on Oct. 29. The visit to Dillard will be the Gold Nuggets' regular-season finale.
    
Xavier's final home match of the regular season will be Oct. 31 against SUNO. It will include a Senior Day ceremony for six Gold Nuggets: Darian Harris, Claudia Haywood, Jodi Hill, Franziska Pirkl, Taylor Reuther and CeCe Williams. All but Hill have been All-GCAC selections. Reuther was the 2012 GCAC Player of the Year, and Reuther (2011), Haywood (2013) and Williams were GCAC Tournament MVPs.
 
Match times and dates are subject to change.
    
Xavier was 20-6 in 2014, 14-0 in the GCAC.

Xavier University of Louisiana
2015 Women's Volleyball Schedule


Aug. 28 (Fri.):  MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, 9 a.m. (Big Easy Blastoff)
Aug. 28 (Fri.):  MOBILE, 5 p.m. (Big Easy Blastoff)
Aug. 29 (Sat.):  WAYLAND BAPTIST, 9 a.m. (Big Easy Blastoff)
Aug. 29 (Sat.):  FAULKNER, 3 p.m. (Big Easy Blastoff)

Sept. 4 (Fri.):  Martin Methodist, 11 a.m. EDT (Mariner Invitational, Brunswick, Ga.)
Sept. 4 (Fri.):  Bryan, 3 p.m. EDT (Mariner Invitational, Brunswick, Ga.)
Sept. 5 (Sat.):  at Coastal Georgia, 11 a.m. EDT (Mariner Invitational, Brunswick, Ga.)
Sept. 5 (Sat.):  Bethel (Ind.), 3 p.m. EDT (Mariner Invitational, Brunswick, Ga.)
Sept. 7 (Mon.):  •  TALLADEGA, 7 p.m.
Sept. 11 (Fri.)  •  at Edward Waters, 6 p.m. EDT
Sept. 19 (Sat.):  •  TOUGALOO, 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 (Tue.):  •  DILLARD, 7 p.m.
Sept. 25 (Fri.)  •  at SUNO, 6 p.m.
Oct. 2 (Fri.)  at Mobile, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 3 (Sat.)  at Spring Hill, 1 p.m.
Oct. 6 (Tue.):  BELHAVEN, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 8 (Thu.):  •  EDWARD WATERS, 7 p.m.
Oct. 10 (Sat.):  •  PHILANDER SMITH, 1 p.m.

Oct. 17 (Sat.)  •  at Talladega, 1 p.m.
Oct. 24 (Sat.)  •  at Tougaloo, 1 p.m.
Oct. 29 (Thu.)  at Loyola, 6 p.m.
Oct. 31 (Sat.):  •  SUNO, 1 p.m.
Nov. 2 (Mon.)  •  at Philander Smith, 6 p.m.
Nov. 9 (Mon.)  •  at Dillard, 7 p.m.
Nov. 13-14 (Fri.-Sat.):  Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, site TBA

Home matches in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS
All times are Central except where noted
Schedules are subject to change


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
https://twitter.com/xulagold
https://www.facebook.com/

         

MEAC Football Press Luncheon Kicks Off Friday, July 31

COURTESY MEAC MEDIA RELATIONS
NORFOLK, Virginia -- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) will host the annual Football Press Luncheon, Friday, July 31 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel (235 E. Main Street, Norfolk, VA 23510/ (757) 627-4200). MEAC head football coaches and two student-athletes from each team will be on hand to offer an inside view on the upcoming 2015 football season.

A limited number of tickets are available to the public for the press luncheon and can be purchased by calling Jane Vega at (757) 951-2055 or jvega@themeac.com. Tickets are $30 per seat or $300 per table (10 persons).

Media members may obtain a credential for the luncheon and/or one-on-one interviews by completing an application found on www.MEACSports.com. One-on-one interviews will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m.

The 2015 MEAC football season kicks off on Saturday, September 5 featuring nine MEAC institutions in non-conference action.

South Carolina State will compete against Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the 11th annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge also on Labor Day Weekend, Sunday, September 6. Details and ticket information can be found on www.meacswacchallenge.com.

For more information about the MEAC, logo on to www.MEACsports.com.

COURTESY MEAC MEDIA RELATIONS