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9B SPORTS/The Charlotte Post Thursday, Januaryr 25,1996 For the week of January 23 through January 29 RATING THE PROSPECTS NC A&T Sports Photo STEPHENS: NC A&T lineman rated among top ten prospects in nation. T COACH EDDIE ROBINSON LOOKS TO 54TH SEASON AT GRAMBLING UNDER THE BANNER whats going on in and around black college sports NO FLUKE: After establishing a new NCAA Division II record for blocked shots in a game with 15 rejections against St. Augustine's College on December 5, St. Paul's College freshman center LaKeisha Phifer has duplicated that feat against Norfolk State. Phifer blocked 15 shots against the Spartanettes on January 13 to tie her newly established record. She now has the top two blocked shot performances of the 1995-96 season and leads the nation averaging 8.8 rejects per game. Phifer finished this week with 40 points, 37 rebounds, six steals and 36 blocked shots to earn CIAA Rookie of the Week honors. She had 22 points, 17 rebounds, 12 blocked shots, four steals and one assist against Virginia State. Clark Atlanta's Kisha Farmer is tenth in the country averaging a respectable 2.9 blocks per game. Farmer jumped into the top ten thanks to the nine blocks she accumulated January 9 in a game against Claflin. ROBIN'S IN THE HOOD: Ironically in the same game where Phifer tied the blocked shot record, Norfolk State's Michelle Sessoms picked up 11 steals, to tie for second place nationally for most steals in a game this season. Sessoms' perfomance tied three other players behind Miles College's Deshawn Cooley who had 12 thefts on November 22 against Stillman College. The top thief in Division II women's bas ketball is Virginia State's Doris Moncrief averaging 6.4 steals per game. Albany State's Chiquita Norfolk State Sports Photo SESSOMS: Eleven steals against St. Paul's. Wright is third in the nation with 4.8 thefts per contest. Sessoms is fourth with a 4.6 steals per game average just ahead of N.C. Central's Michelle Harrison who averages 4.5 steals per contest. MOVIN' UP, HUH?: After a reasonably successful football campaign (8-3 in Division I-AA) the Hampton Pirate basketball teams are having a rough time in their first year in Division I. The women’s team suffered through a seven-game losing streak beginning with a loss to the Lady Aggies of N.C. A&T in the championship game of their own Thanksgiving Tournament. Hampton’s women (4-8) didn’t win their second game of the season until they beat Lafayette at home Dec. 30. Things have improved a bit as the Lady Pirates are 3-1 in January going into a Jan. 24 game against the College of Charleston. Hampton’s men's team (4-12) is currently in themiddleof a four-game losing streak having suffered blowouts on the road at Dayton (91- 65) and Marshall (123-95) only to return home and suffer back-to-back losses to Iona (91-69) and Manhattan (98-64). The Manhattan loss, televised on ESPN2 last weekend, leaves the Pirates at 1 -1 on television this season. Hampton appeared on “The Deuce” back in December and beat The Citadel, 83-66, in Charleston, SC. THE STAT CORNER WHO ARE THE BEST PERFORMERS IN BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS € AZEEZ Conmnakatioas, Idc. VOL. 2, NO. 23 1995-96 BLACK COLLEGE BASKETBALL (Results, Standings and Oustanding Players) SCORES JANUARY 20,1996 Alabama A&M 97, Tuskegee 82 Alabama St 83. Grambling 72 Alcorn St 105, Prairie View 84 Beth-Cookman 65, Howard 53 Central State 75, Ky. State 37 Cheyney 71, Mansfield 60 Clark Atlanta 85, Savannah St 73 Lem-Owen 87, Morris Brown 72 Miles 80, Ft Valley St 62 Manhattan 98, Hampton 64 Miss Valley St 74, Jackson St 73 Morehouse 76, Paine 73 Morgan St 57, FAMU 54 NC A&T 68, Delaware St 66 NC Central 72, St Augustine's 67 Norfolk St 88, Eliz City St 84 St Paul’s 71, Virginia St 61 SC State 67, Md-Eastem Shore 50 Southern 85, Texas Southern 74 Tenn St 82, SE Missouri 70 Winston-Salem St 74, JC Smith 71 JANUARY 21, 1996 NC Central 65, Winston-Salem St 51 CIAA (thru 1/20) NORTH Va. Union Bowie St Norf State Eliz. City St.Paul's Va State SOUTH NCCU Shaw St Aug Livingstone WSSU Fayv. State JC Smith ALL 3-0 1-0 2-1 1-1 1-2 0-4 13-0 5- 9 10-2 7-8 6- 9 5-9 5-0 3-2 2-2 2-2 1-3 1-3 0-2 12-1 9-5 6-6 6-9 3-10 5-9 5-8 CIAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK RODNEY CARMICHAEL, Jr., F, Norfolk State Finished his two-game week with 39 points. 15 rebounds and two assists. Against Eliz. City he scored 30 points had two assists and grabbed 12 rebounds. MEAC (thru 1/20) CONF ALL SC State 5-0 9-4 Coppin 4-0 7-7 NCA&T 3-1 5-8 Morgan St * 2-1 3-11 Md-ES 4-3 9-8 Del State 3-3 4-11 FAMU 1-5 6-10 Beth-Ckmn 1-5 5-9 Howard 0-5 0-14 Hampton** 4-13 *not eligible for post season play *not eligible for conf. championship MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK JAMEL GREY, Soph., G, NC A&T ScoredAI points had fiveassists nd five rebounds in wins over BCC and Delaware State and a loss to North Carolina Central. SIAC (thru 1/20) CONF ALL EAST Clark Atl Albany St Ft Valley Sav.State 6-0 5-2 3-3 3-4 Morris Brwn 2-3 Paine 13-0 8-7 5- 8 4- 8 6- 6 5- 9 WEST Ala A&M LeM-Owen Miles Morehouse Tuskegee 9-1 4- 2 3-3 5- 4 1-5 Kentucky St 1 -8 11-2 7-4 6-7 9-6 4-7 3-11 SIAC PLAYER OFTHE WEEK RODNEY RICHARDSON, Jr., G, Alabama A&M Averaged 21.3 points and 1.6 boards in three games, two victories and one loss. SWAC (thru 1/20) Miss Valley Southern-BR Alabama State* Alcorn State Tx Southern Grambling Jackson State Prairie View *not eligible for post season play CONF ALL 5-0 14-3 3-2 8-5 3-2 6-9 3-2 6-9 2-3 7-10 2-3 7-10 2-3 6-12 0-5 3-13 SWAC PLAYER OFTHE WEEK MARCUS MANN, Sr., C, Mississippi Valley Had 27 points, 15 rebounds and two steals in 94-93 win over Jack- son State. DECARLOS ANDERSON, Sr., F, Alcorn State Had 30 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and one steal in 105-84 win over Prairie View. COMMENTS / QUESTIONS Write The Black College Sports Page at 407 Holbrook St., Danville, VA 24541 or e-mail us at AZEEZ@aol.com. Gettin' ready to get paid LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor The National Combine ratings of collegiate football prospects appeared in USA Today last week (Jan. 17) and the early results show only a couple of black college players have chances of being first round picks in the April 20- 21 National Football League draft. Steve McNair (Alcorn State - Houston Oilers), Hugh Douglas (Central State - New York Jets) and Tyrone Poole (Fort Valley State - Carolina Panthers) were all black college first round picks in last year's draft but this year that number could dwindle to one. If so, that one is sure to be North Carolina A&T offensive I ineman Jamain Stephens, rated one of the top ten prospects in the entire draft. The 6-6, 310 pound offensive tackle is projected as an early first round pick based on his 6.9 rating out of a possible 8.0 score. That rating is the eighth highest among prospective draftees. A rating of 6.9 indicates the player is a solid prospect. Tenn. St. Sports Photo TSU'S JONES: Third highest rated black college player in draft. Maddox's size and physical toughness. Maddox, the SIAC Defensive Player of the Year, received a rating of5.8. His college teammate, tight end Clarence Benford has a 5.0 rating. South Carolina State running back Michael Hicks, the MEAC Offensive Player of the Year has a 5.1 rating. BCSP HOOP TOP TEN 1. VIRGINIA UNION (13-0) - Beat Benedict, Va. State, Shaw and Norfolk to stay on top. 2. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY (14-3) - Two conference wins. Including squeaker at Jackson State, make for second straight undefeated week. 3. SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (9-4) - Bulldogs looked Impresive knocking off FAM U and UMES. Weather postponed first meeting vs. Coppin. 4. CLARK ATLANTA (13-0) - Keeps on rolling through SIAC opposition. BIQ win over Alabama A&M on ML King's birthday, 5. NC CENTRAL (1J-1)-Eagle8 topped A&T before 10,000 In Greensboro before return to ho-hum CIAA South, 8. NORFOLK STATE (10-2) - Stumbled In first meeting with Va. Union and just topped Elizabeth City by four. 7. ALABAMA A&M (10-2) - Ran Into Clark Atlanta buzzsaw suffering second loss In two weeks. 8. COPPIN STATE (7-7) - Undefeated week but big MEAC showdown with SC State cancelled due to bad weather. 9. SOUTHERN (8-5) - Loss to Jackson State, win over Texas Southern in 2-1 week. 10. SHAW (9-5) - Gave VUU a run before falling. Trying to break into upper echelon. OTHERS RECEfVUNQ VOTES: Albany State, Md-Eastem Shore, LeMoyne-Owen, Mo-ehouso. and Texas Southern. Stephens' 40-yard dash time is 5.17. He is rated behind only UCLA tackle Jonathan Ogden (7.2) amongst all offensive linemen. Alcorn State's 6-3, 294 pound defensive end Bryant Mix is the highest rated black college defensive player. His 6.1 rating should translate to a late first round or early second round selection. The next highest rated black college prospect is Tennessee State wide receiver Clarence Jones. At 6-0, 184, Jones 6.0 rating makes him the eighth best player at the position considered the deepest in this year's draft. Jackson State receiver Greg Spann (6-0,212 pounds) has the fastest 40-yard dash time among the deep list of receivers with a 4.37 clocking. He carries a 5.7 rating. Scouts like Albany State defensive back Markco ELSEWHERE \\i\ie Senior Bowl in Mobile, Al., Winston-Salem State running back Richard Huntley wowed the scouts gaining 67 yards on eight carries (8.3 yards per carry) as the North defeated the South 25-10. Huntley, the leading rusher in black college football, is not rated among the top ten running back prospects but surely raised his stock with his performance. He was the only black college player of the North squad. Alabama State wide receiver Reggie Barlow caught two passes for 19 yards for the South squad. Barlow is not rated among the 15 top receivers. At the Hula Bowl in Hawaii, four black college players helped the East to a 17-10 win over the West. The black college players were Jackson State linebacker Eric Austin, Alcorn State defensive back Dante Dowers, Albany State tight end Clarence Benford and Central State junior wide receiver Jason Shelley who has declared for the draft. Hampton scholar cited Burger King Corporation's Scholar/Athlete Program presented Hampton University with a check for $25,000 last week in the name of senior running back Malcolm Benson. Benson was selected as the top scholar-athlete amongst players from NCAA Div. I-AA schools. Benson, an electrical engineering major with a 3.4 GPA, is a native of Jefferson City, Mo. Benson also is the recipient of an $18,000 National Football Foundation Post Graduate Scholarship awarded to only HU Sports Photo BENSON: One for HU and one for himself. 17 athletes from around the nation. Benson's brother, Tim, also a Hampton graduate, received the same award two years ago. Tim is BASKETBALL THIS WEEK SATURDAY, JANUARY 27,1996 Tuskegee al Alabama A&M - 7:30p Southern at Alcorn St - 7:30p NC A&T at Bethune-CJookman - 8:00p Kutztown at Cheyney - 8:00p Savannah St at Clark Atlanta - 8:00p Dist Columbia at Columbia Union - 8:30p Morgan St at Coppin St - 7:30p NC Central at Fayetteville St - 7:30p SC State at Florida A&M - 8:00p LeMoyne-Owen at Fort Valley St - 8:00p Md-Eastern Shore at Howard - 8;00p Alabama St at Jackson St - 7:30p Morehouse at Kentucky St - 7:30p Lane at Miles - 7:30p Grambling at Miss Valley St - 7:30p Paine at Morris Brown - 8:00p Texas Southern at Prairie View - 7:30p JC Smith at Shaw - 7:30p Livingstone at St Augustine’s - 7:30p Elizabeth City St at St Paul's - 7:30p Eastern Ky at Tenn State - 7:45p Norfolk St at Virginia St - 7:30p Boiwie St at Virginia Union ■ 7:30p MONDAY, JANUARY 29,1996 SC State at Bethune-Cookman - 8:(X)p Dist Columbia at Cheyney - 7:30p Albany St at Clark Atlanta • 8:00p NC A&T at .Florida A&M - 8:00p Alabama A&M at Fort Valley St - 8;00p Maine at Hampton - 7:30p Coppin St at Howard - 8:00p LeMoyne-Owen at Miles - 7:30p Savannah St at Morris Brown - 8:00p Knoxville at Norfolk St - 7:30p NC Central at Paine - 7:30p Rice at Southern - 7:30p Bowie St at St Paul's - 7:30p Mprehead St at Tenn State - 7:4Sp St Augustine’s at Virginia St - 7;30p Eliz City St at Va Union - 7:30p (CIAA TV Network) TUESDAY, JANUARY 30,1W Alcorn St at Cleveland St - 7:30p Bellarmine at Kentucky St - 7:30p LeMoyne-Owen at Tuskegee - 7:00p WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31,1996 Miles at Alabama A&M - 7:30p Valdosta St at Albany St - 8:00p St Paul's at Barber Scotia - 7:30p Bowie St at Dist Columbia - 7:30p Livingstone at Fayetteville St - 7;30p Clark Atlanta at Morehouse - 8:00p Delaware St at Morgan St - 7:30p JC Smith at NC Central - 7:30p Savannah St at Paine - 8:00p Winston-Salem St at Shaw - 7:30p cuurently enrolled in the University of Rochester Medical School. Malcolm is considering overseas graduate study. Coach Robinson looks to new challenges in 1996 FORMER BLACK COLLEGE PLAYERS IN SUPER BOWL XXX DALLAS COWBOYS NO POS. NAME COLLEGE 43 S Greg Briggs Texas Southern 61 OG Nate Newton Florida A&M 79 OT Erik Williams Central State PITTSBURGH STEELERS NO POS. NAME COLLEGE 29 DB Randy Fuller Tennessee State 82 WR Yancey Thigpen Winston-Salem State 84 TE Tracy Greene Grambling 95 LB Greg Lloyd Fort Valley State 80 WR Johnnie Barnes* Hampton • Injured Reserve SOURCE; Team Rosters ROSCOE NANCE BCSP Correspondent When you’re a 75-year-old coach whose been on the job for 53 seasons and your team posts a 5-6 record, the critics are bound to start singing that retirement tune. But that’s a song Grambling State football coach Eddie Robinson doesn’t want to hear. "When you get my age, people want to see you step down," said Robinson at the Jan. 11 Robinson Trophy Award Show in Hollywood. Robinson turns 76 on Feb. 13. "A lot of people opt for early retirement. They say they want to play golf or go fishing. I don’t play golf. The ball doesn't bounce right for me, and the fish don’t bite for me. I’d rather be on the field coaching. I believe I’ve earned the right to coach." Robinson, the winningest coach in football history with 402 victories, had only the sixth losing campaign of his career and it hasn’t set well with him. He’s already looking ahead to the 1996 season and the opportunity to make amends for the poor showing the Tigers made in '95. "Next season? I’m looking forward to next week," he said. "That ends everything on the banquet circuit, and I can get back to recruiting." Robinson has never been one to make excuses. But he says all the hoopla that accompanied his quest for 400 victories during the '95 season led to Crambling’s downfall. The 400 marketing campaign required him to be away from practice a great deal, and because he is such a hands on coach things sort of fell apart. "I didn’t do my best work," he said. "You have to cooperate with media, but sometimes you do things that take away from the team. I was taking bows when 1 should have been coaching. I don’t have any excuses. I have good players and good coaches." Grambling was picked to challenge Southern for the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship after winning the title in '94. However, the Tigers slipped to fourth place behind Jackson State, Southern and Alabama State. The offense was woefully inconsistent, losing 14 fumbles and throwing 15 interceptions. Despite the presence of senior Kendrick Nord, touted as the next great black college quarterback, the Tigers averaged just 144.5 yards passing a game. "It wasn’t an Eddie Robinson offense," said Robinson. "I need to be there. The coaches work as hard as they possibly can, and they’re good people. But 1 look at what happened when I was there." Robinson is eager to prove that ’95 was an aberration. But his wife of 54 years says he took losing in stride. "Other people worried about it more than he did," says Doris Robinson. "He’s always been able to take the losses. There COACH ROB: Grambling coach Eddie Robinson (r.) is shown with Robinson Award winner James Roe (I.) of Norfolk State and the bust of Robinson presented to Roe. The 75-year old Robinson spoke to BCSP about his coaching future. was a lot of second-guessing and wondering if he would, retire. He has himself together." One school of thought the past several years has been that Doris Robinson was encouraging Robinson to retire. Not so she says. "I'm not going to worry with it," she says. "He may decide to retire and in three weeks be dead. Look at Bear Bryant. He has something to get up for. I’ve never seen a person enjoy a job as much as he enjoys coaching. He’ll go down to the stadium just to smell the togs in the summer time. It’s challenging to him. He’s always wanted to coach, and he’s happy. If I said retire, he would. But I’m not going to say that." Robinson decided he wanted to become a coach when he was in elementary school. He started at Grambling at age 22, and over the years he has coached football, baseball and basketball, served as athletic director, Stephanie Cunningham Photo lined the field, washed uniforms and written game stories for local newspapers. He turned down an offer from the Los Angeles Rams in the ’70s that would have made him the first black head coach in the NFL. "I just didn’t want to work in the NFL," he said. "It’s a matter of what guys want to do. I had a championship team at home and Doug (Williams). I may look silly, but money isn’t everything. I’m not concerned about being the first. I’ve always coached some of the best athletes in the world." More than two decades later, some are saying Robinson issilly forcontinuing to subject himself to the rigors of college athletics; he has nothing else to accomplish. But for Robinson, it’s not about accomplishments. It’s about competing and touching lives. "If other coaches can do it, I can too," he said. ■MH
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 25, 1996, edition 1
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