BCSR SPOTLIGHT
Coach Tyler gets her share of the elite athletes
Howard University women's basketball
coach Sanya Tyler continues to persuade
top of the line
Lady Bison is a good idea.
Tyler,4 whose team won this year's
MEAC women's basketball title recently
added another blue shipper in the fold when
vices of Karen Wilkins who was a fourth
team Parade All -American thai season.
Wilkins sat out the '88 season because of
academic difficulties.
However, she paid big dividends for
HU in '89 in leading her team to the corlffet
Lady Bison coach Sanya Tyler.
she signed highly regarded Annette Babers
of Saginaw High School (Mich.). Babers
was one of the most sought after women
athletes coming out of the prep ranks this
past season. She was voted first team Ail
American by Parade Magazine.
Signing the blue chip athlete is nothing
new for Tyler. In '87, she landed the ser
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
was chosen as the tourney's MVP. Wilkins
played her high school basketball at H.D.
Woodson in Washington, D.C.
Tyler is a proponent of elevating her
team's level of play by going against the
best competition that she can find. She feels
that's one of the ways that black colleges
can enhance their chances of getting post
season bids for the NCAA Division I play
offs. - ;
Neither the SWAC or the MEAC get
automatic berths to the playoffs. That hasn't
happened since '83 and no Division I black
college women's team has ever landed an
The Lady Bison coach feels that can be ~
changed teams upgrade their schedules
against credible opposition. This past sea
son, she did more than pay lip service to the
idea by facing some of the toughest wom
en's teams around.
Here's a sampling of the "name"
schools that the Lady Bison faced during
the 88- 89 season: Georgia Tcch, Fresno
Stattf, Georgia, North Carolina State, Mary
land, Florida State.
. Considering the level of competition
and the quality of athletes that she's been
able to sign, it appears that Tyler is on her
way to helping Howard get a berth to the
playoffs within the next season or two.
SIAC football
Albany State, Savannah State, and
Alabama A & M dominated 'the voting in
the media picks for the SIAC pre-season
all-conference teams. The Rams and Tigers
each had seven players chosen and the Bull
dogs had five players picked.
Shannon Sharpe, Savannah State's
wide receiver, is the pre-season pick for
SIAC Offensive Player of the Year. Albany
State linebacker Michael Pullins was the
choice for conference Defensive Player of
the Year.
Here's the SIAC's pre-season first team
all-conference squads as picked by the
media:
OFFENSE
Linemen: Jonathon Warren, Albany
State; Tony Jordan, Albany State; Bernard
Patterson, Alabama A & M; Greg Ellison,
Ft. Valley State
Center; Madison Johnson, Tuskegee
University
Tight End : Kenneth Brown, Savannah
State
Wide Receivers: Shannon Sharpe,
Savannah State; Felix Lewis, Clark/Atlanta
University
Quarterback: Richard Basil, Savannah
State
Running Backs: Curtis Bell, Ft. Valley ,
State; Willie Conway, Albany State
Kicker (PATlFGs)r Clay Perkins,
Albany State
Return Specialist: Willie DeLoach,
Savannah State
DEFENSE
Linemen : Damon Johnson, Savannah
State; Wilbert Jack Cooper, Albany State;
Sean Broadwater, Morehouse College; Carl
Dawson, Alabama A & M
Linebackers: Michael Pullins, Albany
State; Wesley McGriff, Savannah State;
Daryl McCormick, Savannah State
Cornerbacks: Terry Smith, Alabama
A & M; Mario Black, FL Valley State
Strong Safety : Harvey Clayton, Alaba
ma A & M
Free Safety: Mike Wallace, Savannah
State
Punter William Garth, Alabama A &
to : ? ? : ~
Staff Photo
Soccer: HU vs. A & M
Two kingpins among Division I soccer
programs will get together this fall when
the Howard University Bison visit the Bull
dogs of Alabama A A M on Sept. 17 at
Normal, Ala.
The game will mark the first time that
two black colleges have faced one another
in Division I soccer, according to Bulldogs
coach Sal ah Yousif.
This past season, Howard finished the
season at 19-1-1 and finished second in the
NCAA championship finals, losing 14) to
eventual champ, Indiana.
Alabama A & M finished the year at
18-5. After taking Division II titles in 77
and '79, A & M became a Division I pro
gram in '80. In '84, the Bulldogs finished
the regular season with an 18-0 mark and
were ranked No. 1 in Division I.
No commissioner yet
The CI A A is still conducting its search
for a commissioner to succeed Bob Moor
man, who stepped down from that post in
late April. At presstime, it was learned that
the selection process is still taking place.
No deadline has been set for when the new
commissioner will assume his duties.
However, there are two names that
repeatedly come up when discussing the
position. One is Chris Fisher who is cur
rently the athletic director at North Carolina
Central, the other is Dr. James Frank, com
missioner of the SWAC.
Fisher is said to be very interested in
the job and conference observers feel he has
the right qualities to pick up where Moor
man left off in taking the CIAA to new lev
els of progress.
Frank, on the other hand, didn't indi
cate if he was interested in the post. He says
that nobody from the CIAA has contacted
him about the possibility of becoming the
conference's head man.
? Antonio Nunn