BCSP Notes . . .

Attorneys for Grant filed suit Friday in Baton Rouge seeking a restraining order preventing a University Athletics Council appeals hearing Monday on his termination. The suit also seeks an independent body to hear the appeal saying that the UAC hearing would be unfair as the Council is stacked with Southern administrators. Grant is also seeking judgment against Southern for breach of the remainder of his three-year contract. He was fired April 27 after two years on the job and reassigned within the athletic department until May 15.

A judge Monday in Baton Rouge denied the restraining order. The UAC decided Monday to delay the hearing until Wednesday, it said to give Grant and his attorneys more time to prepare.

Grant was let go after compiling a 26-31 record over two years. His dismissal followed comments he made after he was granted permission from Southern to interview for the head coaching job at Youngstown State in his native Ohio. Grant, who was the head coach at Central State in Ohio before taking the Southern job, was quoted as saying he would take the YSU job immediately and had junior college recruits waiting to join him.

Those comments were included in a letter from Jackson outlining the reasons for his termination.

Spivery has led the Hornets to two Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in the last five years. His appointment is pending approval of the Southern Board of Supervisors.

"He was the only candidate on my list," said Southern Chancellor Edward Jackson in a Baton Rouge Advocate story. "We started the process last Friday, and he immediately told me that he couldn't talk with me, that I must first speak with the president of the school, before we could have any contact. I liked that about him, he handled his business appropriately," a fact that it appears Grant thinks Southern did not.

Spivery coached ASU for nine seasons, compiling a 129-136 record including winning SWAC Tournament titles and earning NCAA Div. I Tournament bids in the 2000-01 and 2003-04 seasons. Last season, the Hornets went 15-15, losing in the SWAC Tournament final. Spivery, who previously served as head coach at Montevallo, has a 20-year head coaching overall record of 304-281.

"I am proud and excited to become the next men's basketball coach at Southern University, ' said Spivery in the Advocate story. "The chance to take a program, and try to rebuild it back to prominence is a challenge that I wanted to undertake."

Spivery, once approved, will become the fourth coach in the last six seasons for Southern, which has had five straight losing seasons. Spivery's teams have gone 11-2 against Southern in the last five seasons.

Proctor to hold down the fort at Alabama State
Alabama State University has selected current assistant basketball coach Joe Proctor as interim head coach of the men's basketball team. Proctor takes over for Rob Spivery, who left ASU to take the head coaching position at Southern.

"Coach Proctor was chosen because he has prior experience as a head coach on the Division I level and I think he'll do a great job," said ASU athletic director Patrick Carter. Carter said no timetable is set for the selection of a permanent head coach. "We'll open it up for a national search. But we hope Coach Proctor and (current ASU assistant) Coach (Lewis) Jackson will put their names in the hat for permanent job," Carter added.

Proctor arrived at Alabama State in 1996 as Spivery's top assistant and has been on board as ASU has gone from a second-tier team to one of the elite programs in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. He is now charged with running the Hornets basketball operation until a permanent successor is named.

"I just want to keep everything in order. I'm part of the glue, along with Coach Jackson, that will keep the program together until the administration decides what it wants to do," Proctor said. "We should be done with recruiting in the next couple of days. That's the main thing so that there won't be a problem whenever the new coach comes in."

A Knoxville, Tenn., native, Proctor played collegiate basketball at what is now the University of Memphis. He earned sophomore-of-the-year honors in the Missouri Valley Conference in 1969 and other regional honors. After earning his degree from Memphis State in 1971, Proctor landed his first head coaching job at Catholic High in Memphis. The next year, he moved on to Shelby State College, where he coached until 1977. In his last season, he took Shelby State to the national junior college tournament.

Proctor worked as an assistant at Drake (1977-81), Baylor (1981-85), and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1985-94). It was while he was at UMKC that he got his first head coaching stint, when he served as interim head coach during the 1993-94 season. He led the Roos to a 13-8 record, including the school's first wins over teams in the former Big 8 and Southeastern Conferences.

"It's a little different because I took over there mid-year," Proctor said. "It's a little tougher because I had to jump right in. But coming in during the off-season provides a little different situation."

Joyner adds AD to JCSU title
Johnson C. Smith has named longtime men's head basketball coach Stephen Joyner as its new athletics director. He replaces Helen Caldwell.

Joyner was promoted to the new position on April 1, 2005. He previously worked as the university's assistant athletics director.

Joyner recently completed his 17th season as head coach of the JCSU Golden Bulls with a career record of 319-200, making him the winningest coach in JCSU men's basketball history. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., he starred at point guard for the Golden Bulls from 1969-73. Since becoming head coach, he has taken the men's program to unprecedented levels, winning the school's only Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament and South Atlantic Regional titles in 2001 and establishing Smith as one of the most feared teams in the CIAA.

"Coach Joyner has shown leadership both as a coach and assistant athletics director," said JCSU President, Dr. Dorothy C. Yancy. "His new position fits the university's strategic goal to become noted as an outstanding liberal arts college with a strong institutional identity."

Cole brothers back at Lane
Former Alabama State offensive coordinator Johnnie Cole was hired Wednesday as the head football coach at Division II Lane College and says he will bring back his brother L. C. Cole, as defensive coordinator.

Lane is a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and is located in Jackson, Tenn. Cole takes over a Dragon program that went 2-9 last season.

"This is a great opportunity for me," Cole said Wednesday afternoon. "I'm lucky here because I've got a great president who's behind me and supports this team. We're going to do a lot of good things."

Cole was removed from his job at ASU in August 2001 after an internal investigation at the school allegedly turned up three NCAA violations he committed. He was never fired, but reached an agreement with the school that allowed him to be paid the remainder of his one-year contract if he left his position.

At this point, nearly three years later, the NCAA has yet to find Cole guilty of any wrongdoing. Cole said his background was thoroughly checked by the administration at Lane.

"The president (Wesley McClure) here said they put me under a microscope," Cole said. "It was funny. He said they couldn't find anything wrong with me but did notice quite a few parasites all around me, keeping me from moving forward. As far as the NCAA stuff goes, they checked all that out. From what they said, the NCAA didn't have a problem with me."

Cole said his first move as head coach would be to hire his brother, L.C. Cole, as defensive coordinator.

"That's a no-brainer," Johnnie said. "It's a family thing. He's hired me and I'm returning the favor. It's actually a heck of a deal for the school to get somebody like him."

WNBA superstar bound for Prairie View
According to a story in the Houston Chronicle, former WNBA superstar Cynthia Cooper is expected to be named the new women's basketball coach at Prairie View A&M within the next two weeks. Cooper confirmed Friday she has tentatively accepted the post, contingent on details of a contract being worked out. Athletic director Charles McClelland said that should take place within the next 14 days.

"(This) gives us the ability to take our women's basketball program to heights it's never seen," McClelland said in the story. Although the Lady Panthers (6-21 last season) never have advanced beyond the semifinals of the annual SWAC tournament, Cooper is talking about far larger accomplishments.

"I have the same goals that the school has and that the athletic department has," Cooper said. "I want to be No. 1. I want to win. I'd like to see a historically black university not only make it to the NCAAs, but win a championship, win an NCAA championship. There's no reason why not." The job opened up this month when Robert Atkins announced he was stepping down as of May 31. He compiled a 138-423 record over 20 years.

Cooper, 42, is one of the most decorated players to compete in the WNBA. The four-time WNBA Finals MVP retired in 2000 after leading the Comets to a fourth straight title. She was named coach of the Phoenix Mercury in 2001 and remained in that post for a little more than a year. After resigning, she twice attempted to return to the Comets as a player but each comeback was cut short by injuries. Cooper realizes fund raising will be a large part of the job at Prairie View.

"The more success we have in the program, the more funds will come into the program and the more sponsorships we will get," she said. "Right now, it's just on faith. But hopefully, we can get some sponsorships, based on faith in the program, faith in my abilities and Mr. McClelland's abilities. Then later on, hopefully, they (will) judge us on our abilities, our performance. So, sure, it's a challenge. But I feel like I'm up for the challenge. (We want to) get some new blood in there, new energy, a new outlook. I think that will help."

Jackson interim AD at FAMU
Florida A&M University (FAMU) has announced the appointment of Dr. E. Newton Jackson, Jr. as interim director of athletics. His appointment is effective immediately.

Jackson, who is presently serving as a department chair in the College of Education at FAMU, said that among his immediate tasks will be "the conducting of a thorough evaluation of the overall status of the athletic department, so that sound recommendations can be made to the President."

A native of Washington, D.C., Jackson holds a Ph.D in sports management from the University of New Mexico and a masters in sports administration from Grambling State University. He has served as a department chair in the College of Education at Florida A&M for the past two years.

© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.

Return to Front Page