BCSP X-27: BCSP Notes

BCSP Notes . . .

Movement at Florida A&M
Florida A&M interim Athletic Director, Dr. J.R.E. Lee III, resigned his position Friday in what could be the first in a series of moves to reverse the Rattlers' upgrade to NCAA Div. IA football.

Lee's resignation comes after FAMU President Fred Gainous voiced his displeasure with the progress of the move in a memo to Board of Trustees members. Gainous also questioned the wisdom of other decisions made by Lee since taking over the athletic department in November of 2002.

Gainous announced Tuesday that he was appointing FAMU faculty member Joseph Ramsey to the position of Special Assistant to the President for Athletics to help him run the athletic department until a permanent person could be found by May 15.

Lee's decision to pursue a move up from Div. I-AA and leave the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference was made five months after he assumed the reins of Rattler athletics. As part of the upgrade, Lee and FAMU signed a five-year deal with Harlem-based Urban Broadcasting Company that was supposed to bring in a minimum $1.5 million for improving Bragg Stadium and other facilities. UBC broadcasted six FAMU football games this past season but none of those funds have materialized.

Lee has refused comment on his resignation while Gainous says he cannot discuss personnel matters concerning Lee.

The question of whether FAMU football will be returning to the MEAC may have begun to be answered Tuesday at a meeting of the FAMU Board of Trustees. The school is facing a March 15 deadline to return its football program to the MEAC or have its entire athletic program expelled by June 30.

Even if the decision is to return to the MEAC, FAMU will not be eligible for the 2004 grid title as most conference schools have completed their schedules without the Rattlers.

Jones in at Va. Union
Virginia Union Athletic Director Michael Bailey introduced Arrington Jones last Friday as the Panthers new football coach. Jones, 44, a Richmond (Va.) native, starred as a running back at CIAA-member Winston-Salem State from 1977-81 where he has spent the last three years as offensive coordinator.

"It was a very easy fit for us," Bailey said of choosing Jones, who is getting his first head coaching assignment. Jones also served as offensive coordinator at Virginia State in the 1999 and 2000 seasons. "He's familiar with the conference, and he's proven on and off the field." Bailey said.

Jones will be replacing Willard Bailey, the CIAA all-time winningest coach with 211 wins who was abruptly reassigned following this past season after winning the conference's East Division title before losing to Fayetteville State in the CIAA title game. Coach Bailey had reportedly sought his re-instatement to the position and had sought legal counsel in that pursuit. Bailey is scheduled to be inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame at ceremonies during this year's basketball tournament. Michael Bailey thanked coach Bailey "for his contributions to the athletic department, the student athletes and the university," before introducing Jones.

CIAA Tourney Tip
Hampton grad and former Detroit Pistons bad boy Rick Mahorn and former Virginia Union scholar-athlete, Tracie Haygood will be guest speakers for the men's and women's 2004 CIAA Tournament Tip-Off Banquets at the Embassy Suites-RDU.

The 6-9 Mahorn was the 1979 CIAA Player of the Year and three-time all-CIAA performer who went on to a stellar career which included two NBA championships with the Pistons. He is currently a radio color analyst with the Pistons. He will address the men's banquet on Tuesday night, Feb. 24. Haygood, who received a dual degree in math and chemical engineering from Virginia Union and Howard University, will share her insight on basketball and the business world Sunday night, Feb. 22. Haygood is a Market Development and Account Manager for DuPont Dow Elastomers in Houston where she is responsible for managing business development at chemical plants.

HBCU Indoor Track

Black college teams representing 22 men's and 19 women's programs participated in the second annual Historically Black College (HBC) Track Classic Saturday and Sunday at the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Md., this past weekend.

Over 2,000 spectators were on hand each day to witness the competition and watched as 15 meet records were broken or tied. The meet featured teams primarily from the CIAA, SIAC and MEAC. Only Jackson State from the SWAC was able to participate.

The first day featured an address by Dr. Leroy Walker to the coaches and athletes. Dr. Walker was the 22nd president of the U.S. Olympic Committee serving as the USOC's first African-American president and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1987. A three-sport star in football, basketball and track and field at Benedict (S.C.) College, he earned All-American football honors in 1940 and later went on to become head track coach at North Carolina Central University and head track coach of the U. S. Olympic Team.

"We want to make this meet important to the athletes and they are working to be legends", said Dr. Walker.

Scheduling Flap
Southwestern Athletic Conference Commissioner Robert Vowels says in a release Friday that he was disappointed that Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher chose to publicly air his problems with Alabama A&M's handling of a scheduling conflict with Jacksonville State.

In an internal memo that was leaked to the Anniston Star newspaper, Steinbrecher called for all OVC schools to boycott A&M, a SWAC school, and not schedule them for any sports after the school got out of its contract to play Jacksonville State of the OVC in the 2004 football season.

The release from Vowels said "A professional courtesy call by the Ohio Valley Conference Office to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Office would have been appropriate before the demeaning and scathing memorandum recommending a boycott was sent. Any possibility of resolving the issue ended with the public circulation of the memorandum."

The SWAC release also said upon review of the scheduling issue the conference supported Alabama A&M's decision to cancel the agreement, which had a remedy clause that the school agreed to abide by.