BCSP Tidbits . . .
- While two-time defending champion
Virginia Union (12-2) continues to march towards a three-peat in men's
2005-06 CIAA basketball, their chief
competition could come from 14-3 St.
Augustine's who has made a push to the top of the
West Division behind a trio of lethal scorers.
Junior guard Antonio Fitzgerald (22.6 ppg.), junior forward Nicholas King (19.4 ppg.) and junior forward Claude "Chip" Neeley (19.1 ppg.) are 1-2-3 in CIAA scoring and lead the conference in other stat categories while vaulting the Falcons to the top of the CIAA West.
They have propelled St. Aug's to an 88.4 points per game mark, which is tops in the CIAA and sixth nationally in NCAA Div. II stats.
Fitzgerald, a transfer from Kilgore (Tx.) Community College where he was a 20-point scorer in his two seasons, originally signed with Div. I Boise State before settling at St. Aug's. The 6-1 guard from Danville, Va., who battled in the same conference as current Duke star J. J. Redick in high school, is currently tenth in the nation in scoring. He's also averaging 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 83.1% from the line and 38.5% from three-point range.
King, a deadly 6-7 shooter from Philadelphia, averaged 14.1 points per game last season and was a first team all-MEAC forward for Coppin State. He decided to transfer after his second season at the Baltimore school. He currently leads the CIAA with 53 3-pointers (3.12 per game) and in 3-point field goal percentage at 47.3% (53 of 112). Neeley, a 6-2 guard from Tallahassee, Fl., who plays much bigger, is the only one of the triumvirate that played for the Falcons last year. He earned all-CIAA honors last season while leading the conference with a 17 points per game average. Despite his size, he currently leads the CIAA getting 9.5 rebounds per game.
- Head coach Greg Jackson and his defending champion
Delaware State Hornets completed the first half of the
MEAC season with a perfect 9-0 mark and are favorites to repeat as they head into the
last five weeks of the season.
Junior forward Jasha Bluntt has led the Hornets on both ends of the floor and is the leading candidate at the midway point for league MVP. He is averaging 14.4 points per game, eighth best in the MEAC, and also leads DSU getting 5.1 rebounds per game. He's shooting 39.5% from three-point range and is second in the league at 2.4 3s per game.
- A trio of black college players have been invited to the Feb. 23-27 NFL
Combine in Indianapolis.
So far, Grambling QB Bruce Eugene and defensive end Jason Hatcher have received their invitations as has Alabama State QB Tarvaris Jackson.
Eugene, who threw for 56 TDs and over 4,400 yards this season, has been working out in Phoenix with a personal trainer trying to get his weight down and increase his agility.
Hatcher, a 6-7, 285-pound first team all-SWAC defender, finished with 71 tackles and 11 sacks this season.
Jackson played in last week's East/West Shrine game and was 5 of 9 for 90 yards as a starter for the East.
- Negotiations are reportedly underway to have MEAC champion Hampton and SWAC champion Grambling State meet in the season-opening SWAC-MEAC Challenge in Birmingham on Sept. 2. Grambling was first and Hampton second in the final BCSP ranking while they tied for the top spot in the final Sheridan poll.
© 2006 Azeez Communications, Inc.