FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 13 - 19, 2011

FINAL 2011 BCSP FOOTBALL TOP TEN

1. WINSTON-SALEM STATE (13-1) - Rams earn top ranking in nal Top Ten by virtue of undefeated regular season (10-0), CIAA championship game win over Elizabeth City State and top seed in NCAA Div. II Super Region I. Won CIAA's rst game in D2 playoffs since 1993 with second round win over California (Pa.) before knocking MAYNOR: Second-year head coach leads Rams to undefeated off New Haven in national quarternals. regular season, CIAA title and Suffered only loss in national seminals to NCAA D2 seminals. Wayne State. Head coach Connell Maynor's prolic offense and standout defense led Rams to historic season. 2. NORFOLK STATE (9-3) - Spartans under Pete Adrian nished 7-1 in MEAC to win their rst-ever conference title and automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. Had losses to West Virginia and Bethune-Cookman in the regular season. Defeated by Old Dominion in rst round of FCS playoffs. 3. BETHUNE-COOKMAN (8-3) - Wildcats in second year under Brian Jenkins tied for second in MEAC with S. C. State at 6-2 behind Norfolk State. Only MEAC team to beat Spartans. Losses to SC State, NC A&T and Miami. (TIE) SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (8-3) - Buddy Pough's Bulldogs tied for second with Bethune-Cookman in MEAC behind Norfolk State. Lost to Central Michigan, Norfolk State and Florida A&M. 5. GRAMBLING STATE (8-4) - After losing four of its rst ve, Tigers won seven straight including Saturday's 16-15 win over Alabama A&M to win the SWAC Championship in Doug Williams' rst year back at the helm. Tigers lost early to La. -Monroe, Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Prairie View. 6. JACKSON STATE (9-2) - Tied for SWAC East title with Alabama A&M and Alabama State but ineligible for championship. Overall record earned head coach Rick Comegy a two-year extension. 7. ALABAMA A&M (8-4) - Anthony Jones's Bulldogs tied with Jackson State and Alabama State for SWAC East Division title before falling to Grambling in SWAC championship game. Also lost to Hampton, Southern and Jackson State. 8. HAMPTON (7-4) - Donovan Rose's Pirates tied for fourth with FAMU in MEAC. Had losses to Old Dominion, Bethune-Cookman, Norfolk State and Howard. 9. FLORIDA A&M (7-4) - Joe Taylor's Rattlers tied for fourth with Hampton in MEAC with 5-3 record. Lost to Hampton, South Florida, Howard and Bethune-Cookman. 10. ELIZABETH CITY STATE (8-4)- Won CIAA North Division crown lost to Winston-Salem State for the second time in 2011 season in league championship game. Receiving NCAA Div. II playoff berth. Vikings also lost to Delta State and to California (Pa.) in Div. II playoff opening round.

WSSU RAMS FINISH ON TOP

CIAA Sports Photo

NEW LEADER: CIAA picks VSU AD Peggy Davis to lead conference on interim basis thru rest of 2011-12 season.

WSSU LOSES IN D2 SEMIS, BUT IS FINAL BCSP NO. 1; GRAMBLING WINS THE SWAC

FOOTBALL SCORES
NCAA DIV. II SEMIFINALS Wayne State 21, Winston-Salem St. 14, SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Grambling State 16, Alabama A&M 15

GAME RECAPS

Winston-Salem State stopped by Wayne State, 21-14 in Div. II seminals

Wayne State derailed CIAA champion Winston-Salem State's run at a Div. II national football championship, knocking off the previously undefeated Rams in the seminal round of the national playoffs in a hard-fought game at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. Saturday afternoon. The Warriors (12-3) jumped to a 7-0 lead on the rst possession of the game and never gave up that lead in handing the Rams (13-1), the top seed of Region 1, their rst loss of the season. Wayne State led 14-7 at the half and then got a turnover off a fumble by WSSU QB Kameron Smith and a short TD a play later on a run by fullback Chet Privett to lead 21-7 with 4:34 left in the third. Winston-Salem State fought back however, getting a key interception by linebacker Malcolm Rowe in the fourth quarter that he brought back to the WSU 6. Tailback Nicholas Cooper scored on fourth down from the 1-yard line to bring the Rams within 21-14 with 10:34 to play. The Rams would get two more fourth-quarter possessions but penetrated only to the WSU 47. A fourth down pass in the nal minute was knocked away by Warriors' defensive back Gerren DuHart to end the nal threat. The Wayne State defense held a Rams offense in check that came in averaging 43 points per game. Cooper, the Rams 245pound senior 1,000-yard rusher, totalled 96 yards on 21 carries with 66 of those coming after the break. Smith was harassed WSSU Sports Photo all day and sacked ve times. The WSSU tailback Nicholas Cooper Wayne State defense registered (9) ran for 96 yards on 21 carries 13 tackles for losses. and scored on a 1-yard run. WSU's biggest stop was holding the Rams out of the end zone after a WSSU drive reached their 2-yard line near the end of the third quarter with WSU up 21-7. The Warriors threw Cooper for ve and six yard losses on rst and second down and then forced two incompletions in the end zone. Wayne State needed just four plays after the opening kickoff to reach paydirt. Josh Renel did all the damage, running for 29 yards on two carries and covering the nal 25 yards on a swing pass from Mohner to put the Warriors up 7-0 less than three minutes into the game. Mohner would come back to score on a 1-yard run with 8:38 left in the second quarter to give WSU a 14-0 lead. The tally came at the end of a 12-play, 80-yard drive. The Rams rst TD came when Smith hit wideout Jahuann Butler on a 26-yard scoring pass :51 seconds before the half. Alejandro Suarezs PAT sent the Rams into the break trailing 14-7. Mohner nished the game completing 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards with two interceptions. Renel led the ground attack, running for 82 yards on 22 carries. Dominique Maybanks had six catches for 35 yards. Smith completed just 13 of 29 passes for 129 yards for WSSU. He was held to 28 rushing yards on 13 carries. Cooper added ve catches for 25 yards. Dominique Fitzgerald had three receptions for 49 yards. Rowe led the WSSU defense with 11 stops and one interception.

Winston-Salem State is nal BCSP No. 1

LUT WILLIAMS The historic run of the 2011 Winston-Salem State team to the national seminals in NCAA Div. II football earns the Rams the designation as the top team in black college football inand the No. 1 team in the BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS PAGE nal ranking. Second-year head coach Connell Maynor's Rams were the only black college team to go thru the regular season with an unblemished record, posting a perfect 10-0 mark. They then backed that up with a dominating win over Elizabeth City State in the CIAA Championship Game. By virtue of their unbeaten record, the Rams rose as high as third in NCAA Div. II national polls and earned the top seed and rst round playoff bye in Super Region I. But it was in the 24-team playoff eld that the Rams really distinguished themselves as a history-making outt. Their 35-28 second round win over California (Pa.) ended 18 years of CIAA frustration, halting a nine-game playoff losing streak dating back to 1993. They followed that up with a 27-7 win over New Haven in the quarternal round that propelled them into the national seminals. It marked the rst time a CIAA school had advanced to the Div. II Final Four since present WSSU Athletic Director Bill Hayes took a Rams' team to the semis in 1978 a feat that stretched back 33 years. Though the 13-1 Rams fell short in the national seminals to Wayne State (see story), they distinguished themselves as the most outstanding team of the 2011 season and thus take home the BCSP nal No. 1 ranking. The Rams follow Albany State of the SIAC who took the nal No. 1 a year ago after an undefeated regular season and spot in the D2 quarternals. Pete Adrian's Spartans of Norfolk State (9-3) were another team to make some history in 2011. The Spartans broke thru to win their rst-ever MEAC championship and get the rst FCS playoff berth in school history. They posted a 7-1 conference mark with its only blemish a
BCSP Editor

RAMS ARE NO. 1: Winston-Salem State's undefeated regular season (10-0), CIAA championship, march to the NCAA Div. II seminals and 13-1 overall record mark them as the BCSP Final No. 1 for the 2011 season.

WSSU Sports Photo

last-second loss to Bethune-Cookman. NSU holds down the No. 2 spot. Bethune-Cookman and South Carolina State both nished with 8-3 overall records and shared second place in the MEAC behind Norfolk State. The two share third in our nal poll as a result of their similar results. Secondyear head coach Brian Jenkins's Wildcats were the only conference team to beat Norfolk State but stumbled against South Carolina State and North Carolina A&T. SC State beat B-CU but lost to Norfolk State and Florida A&M. With MEAC teams holding down three of the top four spots and ve places in the Final Top Ten, there's little argument that the MEAC was the strongest conference among the four HBCU conferences. In Doug Williams's rst year back at the helm at Grambling, the Tigers started slow, losing four of their rst ve games, but re-grouped to win seven straight including last Saturday's win over Alabama A&M in the SWAC Championship Game (see story). The G-Men round out the top ve in our nal Top Ten. With a 7-2 SWAC record, Jackson State tied Alabama A&M and Alabama State for the East Division title and would have represented the division in the title game if not for NCAA and SWAC imposed postseason bans for low

academic performance. The 9-2 Tigers performed well enough however to earn head coach Rick Comegy a contract extension and the No. 6 spot in our nal ranking. Anthony Jones's' 8-4 Alabama A&M squad was the beneciary of JSU's ban and represented the East in the title game. The Bulldogs hold down the seventh spot. Hampton and Florida AM, who tied for fourth in the MEAC with 6-3 league marks and who both had 7-4 overall records, hold down the eighth and ninth spots in our nal ranking. Donovan Rose's Pirates of Hampton knocked off Joe Taylor's FAMU Rattlers in head-to-head competition and therefore get the eighth position. CIAA North Division champ and conference runner-up Elizabeth City State (8-4) rounds out the BCSP Top Ten. Waverly Tillar's squad earned a bid to the NCAA Div. II playoffs losing a rst round game to California (Pa.). In addition to Doug Williams's rst-year performance with the Grambling Tigers, a number of other rst-year coaches and their teams made strides that bode well for the competitiveness of black college football in the future. Perhaps most surprising was the performance of two rst-year coaches and their programs in the SIAC. The Miles Golden Bears (7-5, 5-2 SIAC) in their rst year under head coach Reginald Rufn, emerged from a tight race with Stillman (7-4, 5-2) and new head coach Teddy Keaton in the SIAC West Division to knock off perennial kingpin Albany State in the rst SIAC Championship Game and win their rst-ever league title. The Bears would go on to lose a close game to CIAA representative Johnson C. Smith in Pioneer Bowl XIII. Howard (5-6, 4-4 MEAC) under rst-year head coach Gary Harrell also made some big strides getting wins over Florida A&M and Hampton. North Carolina A&T (5-6, 4-4) in its rst year under Rod Broadway was a factor, particularly early in the MEAC race, knocking off BethuneCookman before suffering four tough single-digit losses.

Grambling comes back to knock off Alabama A&M 16-15 for SWAC title

BCSP Notes
Davis tabbed as CIAA Interim Commissioner
HAMPTON, Va.(December 8, 2011) The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and its Chairman, Dr. Mickey Burnim, announced the appointment of Peggy Davis as Interim Commissioner for the Conference. Davis, whose role is effective December 10 and will run thru the end of June 2012, has been athletic director at Virginia State University since July 2003. She has been a part of the CIAA family since 1997 where she held the titles of head women's basketball coach, associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at VSU. "The CIAA Board of Directors is very pleased that Ms. Davis has agreed to accept this assignment and serve this great conference," Burnim said in the release. "Her accomplishments are exemplary and well respected across the Conference and beyond." Davis plays a vital role as a member of the CIAA 100th Anniversary Planning Committee. She is past President of the CIAA Executive Committee, as well as the CIAA Athletic Director's Association. She is also a member of the CIAA Tournament Committee. Davis has been named Athletic Director of the Year of the CIAA for four of the last ve years. She was Davis also honored with the Jeannette A. Lee Administration Achievement Award in 2005 and 2010. She holds memberships in the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA), National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), and the Womens Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Davis also sits on the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Committee representing the Atlantic Region. A national search has begun for a permanent Commissioner for the CIAA. The Board of Directors is expected to complete the search by July 1, 2012.

Pedraic Major Photo

OFFENSIVE MVP: Michael Willis (l.) of Farmer's Insurance and SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp (r.) present Most Valuable Offensive Player Award to Grambling senior wide receiver Mario Louis (#1, c.) who had two receptions for 86 yards including an 80-yard third-quarter TD reception in the Tigers' SWAC Championship Game win over Alabama A&M. Grambling State scored 16 unanswered points to capture the 2011 SWAC Football Championship over Alabama A&M Saturday at Birmingham's Legion Field. Down 15-0 with less than three minutes remaining in the rst half, the G-Men used a eld goal and two big plays to capture their sixth title in the 13-year history of the event. Alabama A&M jumped out to a 15-0 lead on an 11-yard run by Kaderius Lacey, a 36-yard strike from QB Deaunte Mason to Terence Pride and a 34-yard eld goal by Chance Wilson. However two missed PAT attempts by the Bulldogs proved to be their undoing. A 27-yard eld goal by Grambling's Zoltan Riazzo with just 2:42 remaining in the rst half cut the AAMU lead to 15-3 at halftime. Grambling won the game despite completing just four passes and being outgained in total yardage 331-183. Two big plays by GSU, one in each of the two nal quarters, helped propel the Tigers into their only lead of the game and fourth straight win over A&M in the championship game. An 80-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Williams to Mario Louis and a missed PAT attempt helped GSU cut the lead to 16-9 at the 6:53 mark in the third quarter. GSU's Jacardi Carter picked up an Alabama A&M fumble and ran 66 yards to tie the score at 15 with 12:27 in the fourth quarter. Riazzo's PAT gave Grambling its rst lead of the game. Grambling's defense shut out A&M in the second half and held Lacey, the SWAC's second leading rusher, to just 86 yards in the game. Meanwhile, SWAC rushing leader Dawrence Roberts of Grambling ran for just 63 yards, well below his season average of just over 110 yards per game. Grambling nishes the season at 8-4 with its seventh straight victory of the season. AAMU falls to 8-4.
AZEEZ Communications, Inc. Vol. XVIII, No. 20

2 0 1 1 - 1 2 B L A C K C O L L E G E B A S K E T B A L L (Men's Standings and Weekly Honors thru 11/28)

CIAA
N. DIVISION

CENTRAL INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION CONF W L ALL W L

MEAC

MID EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CONF ALL W L W L

SIAC

SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CONF W L ALL W L

SWAC
Alabama A&M Southern Alabama State Prairie View A&M Ark. Pine Bluff Texas Southern Alcorn State Jackson State Miss. Valley St. Grambling State

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CONF W L ALL W L

Virginia Union Bowie State Eliz. City State Lincoln Chowan Virginia State
S. DIVISION

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Winston-Salem State Shaw Livingstone J. C. Smith St. Augustines Fayetteville State

CIAA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER - Darren Clark, 6-0, Sr., G, BOWIE STATE - In two games, averaged 24.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. ROOKIE - Jordan Jones, 6-5, Fr., F, ST. AUGUSTINE'S - Was the third leading St. Aug scorer with 9 points in loss to North Greenville. NEWCOMER - Damion Harris, 6-7, So., F, VIRGINIA UNION - Had 17 points in win over Virginia State at New York's Big Apple Classic. COACH - Luqman Jaaber, VIRGINIA UNION - Guided Panthers to 22nd straight win over Virginia State and Jaaber his rst CIAA win at Big Apple Classic.

Norfolk State NC Central Bethune-Cookman Savannah State Hampton Howard Delaware State Coppin State Morgan State N. Carolina A&T South Carolina State Md.-Eastern Shore Florida A&M

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MEAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER - Percy Woods, 6-1, Jr., G, UMES - Had 16 points, 10 assists and 5 steals in win over Mercy. Made 4 of 6 3-pointers in the win. ROOKIE - Prince Okoroh, 6-5, Fr., F, HOWARD - Averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in 1-1 week. Okoroh had 21 points, hitting on 10-of-12 from the eld in win over DelState. DEFENSE - Yannick Crowder, 6-8, Sr., C/F, FLORIDA A&M - Averaged 10 rebounds, 4.3 blocks and 2 steals in three games. Had 13 boards, 7 blocks and 4 steals vs. Allen;13 rebounds vs. Southeastern, 5 blocks vs. USF.

SIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER Cecil Bent, 6-9, Sr., C, FORT VALLEY STATE - Averaged 12 points and 4 rebounds in wins over Clain and Stillman. NEWCOMER Corey Hunter, 6-8, So., F, KENTUCKY STATE - Averaged 13 points and 7.0 rebounds in two games, wins over Stillman and Clain.

SWAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK PLAYER NA. NEWCOMER NA