JONES EARNS TSU'S FAITH: Tennessee State has taken the interim title away from Tracee Jones by naming her as the Lady Tigers head women's basketball coach. The appointment was officially approved, effective April 1. Serving as interim coach this past season, Jones took over a program that was 1-25 overall and winless in 16 Ohio Valley Conference games the previous season. This season, the Lady Tigers finished 8-8 in conference play and 11-17 overall. Jones has signed a four-year contract to lead her alma mater. The eight-win improvement within conference play is the best ever from a team that finished last the previous season and the second best overall improvement since the OVC began women's conference basketball play in 1977-78. Jones, a native of Belleville, Ill., played for the Lady Tigers from 1994-98 and was a freshman member of the team that won its second OVC title in 1995. She started two years, leading the team in assists. She also excelled off the court, earning Dean's List honors and as a member of the TSU Honors Program. She was named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll and received both the Sheila Jackson Dedication Award and Civitan Sportsmanship Award. She began her coaching career at Chicago State , where in her second year, she helped lead the program to its first appearance in the semi-finals of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament. After her tenure at Chicago State, she moved to Wright State where she was again the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. She returned to her alma mater in 2002 as an assistant coach. She served as interim coach during the summer of 2003 and for the second time beginning last June.

ROBBINS TOP D2 COACH: Dave Robbins, head men's basketball coach at Virginia Union who led the Panthers to the NCAA Div. II national title this season, has been named Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Robbins received the award during the Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Sunday, April 3, at the Millennium in St. Louis, Mo. This year's title was the third national title for Robbins in 27 years leading the Panthers' program, with others coming in 1980 and 1992. Robbins is the first coach to win national titles in three decades and one of only three coaches with three titles. En route to the title this year, Robbins won his 13th CIAA Tournament crown and seventh South Atlantic Regional championship. The Guardian Awards are four honors that recognize coaches for achievements in the core areas of advocacy, leadership, education and service. They have been presented annually since 2002 at the NABC College Basketball Awards Show staged at the site of the Final Four. All coaches at any amateur level of basketball within the NABC membership are eligible for an award. Candidates are nominated by their peers, with one coach from the high school, junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division I, II and III levels selected as finalists for each award. Guardian Awards winners are selected by a blue-ribbon panel of coaches, NABC Board of Directors, media and others to be determined.

BACK IN THE SADDLE: Former Georgetown guard and Bethune-Cookman head coach Horace Broadnax began his duties as Savannah State men's basketball coach Monday. Broadnax was hired Friday to lead a program that went 0-28, the second winless NCAA Division I team in the last half-century. Broadnax, who led B-CC from 1997-2002, has been practicing law in Orlando. He was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference coach of the year in his second season, leading a team that finished 1-26 his first year to a 10-9 conference record his second. He stepped down to pursue his law career. Broadnax was a point guard on Georgetown's 1984 NCAA title team.

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