8
February 2005
SPORTS
Ketchum, Ferguson added to football coaching staff
COURTESY OF MEDIA RELATIONS
For Ram football fans, the
long wait for the announce
ment of the new coaching
staff members is now over
as WSSU head Coach
Kermit Blount officially
named Mike Ketchum as
the Defensive Coordinator
as well as naming Linwood
Ferguson the linebackers
coach.
Blount, who still has one
position left to fill, spent
nearly two months inter
viewing candidates and
scouring the nation to find
the best possible candidates
for the job. However,
Blount found the local talent
pool to be rich with quali
fied applicants, ultimately
choosing to go with "home
grown" talent.
Mike Ketchum, who spent
the past 17 years coaching
football at Guilford College
in Greensboro, the last 14 of
those years as the head
coach, has been named the
Rams' defensive coordina
tor. Ketchum resigned as
football coach at Guilford in
December and became an
Assistant Director of
Athletics before accepting
the coordinator position at
Winston-Salem State.
Commenting on his recent
hiring at WSSU, Ketchum
said, "Guilford was great
about everything, and I
think they just needed a
change. I am glad that I got
an opportunity to spend
quality time there, and now
I' m looking forward to this
opportunity and want to get
going as soon as possible to
get ready for the season,
which is approaching fast."
Ketchum will be responsi
ble for turning around a
Ram defensive unit that
ranked near the bottom in
the CIAA in five statistical
categories last season.
The Rams, who finished
4-6, gave up nearly 24
points per game, ranking
eighth in the CIAA, en route
to finishing 10th (of 11) in
total defense, allowing 342
yards a game as well as
ranking ninth in overall
passing defense. Blount
made sweeping off-season
personnel changes as
Ketchum replaces former
defensive coordinator Greg
Richardson (who now
serves in the same capacity
at Johnson C. Smith
University).
Ketchum, a 1978 graduate
of Guilford, had a 53-85
record as the Quakers '
head coach. Last season, the
Quakers finished 1-9 and 1-
5 in the Old Dominion
Athletic Conference.
Though he is coming off
of a disappointing season in
2004, Ketchum is second in
Guilford history in wins and
was the ODAC coach of the
year in 1991 and 1997 when
the Quakers won league
titles. In 1994 Ketchum led
Guilford to an 8-2 record,
one which helped them to
crack into the NCAA
Division III South Region.
Ketchum was not the only
addition to the Ram coach
ing staff as Kermit Blount
has also announced the hir
ing of Linwood Ferguson as
the linebackers coach.
Ferguson, who was a part-
time assistant with the Rams
last season will take over a
talented linebacking corps
after the departure of long
time assistant James
Braswell.
Ferguson is a well-trav
eled football coach who will
enter into his 31st season
behind the bench in 2005.
Prior to joining the WSSU
staff in a part-time capacity
last season, Ferguson served
as the Offensive
Coordinator at North
Carolina Central University
(2003). Before his lone sea
son at NCCU, Ferguson
served in the same capacity
at North Carolina A&T State
University.
Ferguson brings a well-
rounded football mind to
the Rams ' staff as he served
as the head coach at
Midwestern State University
during the 1999, 2000, and
2001 seasons after moving
from Murray State where he
was the defensive coordina
tor.
Ferguson is not a stranger
to the legacy of head coach
Kermit Blount as both
coaches got their coaching
careers started at East
Carolina University in the
mid 1970s.
Blount and the Rams will
kickoff the 2005 season on
Aug. 27 as they travel to
Salisbury to take on peren
nial NCAA Division II
power Catawba College.
Bonds'
image
takes
big hit
By Chris Haft
KNIGHT RIPPER NEWSPAPERS
SAN JOSE, Calif.
Entering this season with 703
home runs, Barry Bonds should
soon pass Babe Ruth, whose 714
rank second on the career hst, and
pursue Hank Aaron's record of 755.
Whether Bonds ascends to the
throne of the endorsement world is
another matter entirely.
Image is everything, and Bonds'
image has taken a beating through
out the Balco investigation.
Particularly damaging was the
grand-jury testimony - leaked to the
public Dec. 2 - in which Bonds said
he used, albeit unwittingly, the two
designer steroids at the heart of the
scandal.
"I think he's a big question mark
right now," said Brandon Steiner,
CEO of Steiner Sports Marketing in
New York. "People don't know
what to do to respond and when
they don't know, usually they do
nothing until things are real clear."
MasterCard, one of Major League
Baseball's top sponsors, was
approached by baseball officials late
last year with the idea of using
Bonds to promote the 2005 season.
But prospects evaporated as the
Balco controversy escalated. "We
didn't express interest in participat
ing. That's pretty much where it
stands right now," MasterCard
spokesman Chris Monteiro said
recently.
By at least one other measure.
Bonds' marketability has fallen
short of what would be expected
from a man on the verge of making
big history. Sales of his No.25 jersey
over the past two years are barely
25,000, according to
SportsScanlNFO, a firm that records
sales from retailers nationwide.
"That puts him nowhere" on a list
of sales rankings, said Neil
Schwartz, SportsScanlNFO's direc
tor of marketing and business
development.
Bonds broke from the MLB
Players Association's group licens
ing agreement after the 2003 season
KRT PHOTO BY JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO
San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds (25) waves to the crowd after hitting his
600th home run against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Kip Wells (32) in the 6th
inning of their game August 2002 game at Pacific Bell Park in San
Francisco, Calif.
to negotiate his own deals. Jeff
Bernstein, Bonds' marketing agent,
declined an interview request but
furnished a list of more than 20
companies that are official licensees
of Killer Bee, Inc., which handles
the seven-time MVP's marketing
deals. Many Bonds-related products
can be found on his official Web
site, BarryBonds.com, where trans
actions would escape
SportsScanlNFO's sales tracker.
NBA megastar Michael Jordan
was another prominent athlete to
split from his union to make his
own deals. But the difference in
marketability between Jordan and
Bonds is astronomical. Even in
retirement, Jordan makes about $24
million a year just from Nike;
Bonds, on the other hand, totals
about $4 million a year in endorse
ments, according to Sports
Illustrated.
Of Bonds, Nova Lanktree, execu
tive vice president of player market
ing with Chicago-based player
agency CSMG, said, "It was an
incongruity how little marketing he
got. He could have been one of
those who had the whole market
place by the butt because he has it
all: He's handsome, intelligent and
a magnificent baseball player."
"Where's the gap? The gap is atti
tude," said Steiner, whose company
has negotiated exclusive autograph
deals with Mark McGwire, Derek
Jeter and Aaron. 'The opportunity
is there if you have the right out
look."
Bonds' low profile in the national
marketplace is hardly news, since
his surly, solitary reputation has
grown with his status as the game's
premier performer.
Still, the Bonds market isn't dor
mant. Among five "ballpark experi
ences" the Giants recently auc
tioned to benefit tsunami relief, the
highest bid ($30,200) went to a
pregame meeting with Bonds.
Hines’
shot lifts
Rams to
victory
By Sam Harley
ARGUS REPORTER
The Rams can count on Audly Wehner and
Alleggrie Guinn for double-figure scores at every
game. But it takes more than two to make a team, and
it was a team effort that finally helped the Rams
defeat the Johnson C. Smith University Golden Bulls
in the 2005 Jim Richardson Legacy Basketball Classic
in Charlotte.
Thanks to a last second Curtis Hines jumper 71-70,
the Rams broke a three-game streak against the Bulls
that dated back to the 2002-03 season.
The Bulls opened the game with a three-pointer and
held onto an early lead in the first half. The Rams
battled back and took their first lead of the game at
the 13:28 mark of the first half off a Guinn free throw.
The Rams held on to that lead until three consecu
tive turnovers sparked a 5-0 Golden Bulls run that put
them ahead 22-17 with five minutes left in the half.
The Golden Bulls were able to extend their lead to
as many as six points, 27-21 with 2:41 left before the
Rams made a run and cut the deficit to two, 27-25.
Two three-point baskets by Golden Bulls forward
Chris Clyburn, the second of which came with only
five seconds left in the half, enabled Smith to extend
their lead to 33-28, as both teams went to their locker
rooms for halftime.
In the second half, the Rams came out flat and the
Golden Bulls took full advantage of it. Smith came
out of the locker room and went on a 12-4 run to
increase the team' s lead to 45-32 with 16:16 left to
play.
With 8:46 to play, the Rams still found themselves
trailing by 14 points and the probability of a win was
looking very slim. That's when Hines, a graduate of
West Charlotte High School, stepped in.
Coach Phillip Stitt, changing the whole pace of the
game, inserted Hines, along with Terris Sifford, Frank
Johnson and other reserves, into the line-up. The
energy and enthusiasm they brought to the court
inspired the whole team and started the Rams on the
comeback trail.
The comeback would be complete when Guinn
made a three-pointer with 3:52 left to tie the game at
64. The teams battled for the lead down the stretch,
with the victory taken in the final seconds.
Coming out of a timeout, the Rams had possession
of the ball and 20.5 seconds to take the lead. Running
their three-man weave around the foul line, Hines put
up a 17-footer with four seconds left in the game. The
shot went in and gave the Rams a one-point lead with
four seconds left.
The Golden Bulls still had four seconds, but only
mustered a 30-foot three-point attempt at the buzzer.
Hines, who was named the tournament MVP,
scored 15-points on six-for-12 shooting, but none was
bigger than those final two.