BCSP Notes . . .
Longtime baseball coach named JSU's new athletic director
Jackson State has selected longtime former baseball
coach Robert Braddy to be 
its next athletic director. The
announcement was made by JSU President, Dr. Ronald Mason
Jr. Braddy, who was recently inducted into the
SWAC Hall of Fame, served as the Tigers' baseball
coach for 28 years. A 1964 JSU graduate, Braddy also served as the university's interim
athletics director in 2000. He replaces Roy Culbertson
who resigned last month.
"We are excited about the hiring of Coach Braddy," said Mason. "We have built our facilities, enhanced our academic support and fully funded all of our scholarships. But one piece was missing, and that was to reconnect athletics with the winning tradition of Jackson State University. No one is better suited to make that connection than Coach Robert Braddy."
Braddy is the winningest baseball coach in SWAC history with a 823-555-3 career record. Between 1973 and 2001, his teams won 12 SWAC championships, more than any other coach in league history. He guided the Tigers to three NCAA tournament appearances, two NCAA play-in games and four NAIA tournaments. Braddy was named SWAC Coach-of-the-Year nine times.
"It's a dream job," said Braddy, the first African-American to be inducted into the American Baseball College Association Hall of Fame in 2003. "There's a lot of work to be done, and I'm looking forward to the challenge. We're going to depend on alumni and friends of the university, as well as the business community. My goal is to bring Jackson State back to national prominence."
Braddy's first conference title came during his first season as JSU's head coach. His team won back-to-back titles in 1977 and 1978, and again in 1989 and 1990. He also won three consecutive SWAC titles from 1993-95. His other league championships came in 1980, 1982, 1986 and 2000.
Since Braddy's first season at JSU, 52 of his players have reached the professional ranks, including Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, Marvin Freeman, Wes Chamberlain, David Clark and Curtis Ford. He produced two first round draft choices in Clark, an outfielder, (1983) and pitcher/outfielder Earl Sanders (1986). Before joining the Tiger athletics staff, Braddy coached at McLaurin High in Florence, Miss., where his team compiled a 64-14 record and won the Highland Conference championship four of the six years he coached. He spent one year as Florence High's coach.
Bethune-Cookman receives votes in preseason softball Top 25
Bethune-Cookman softball was certainly put on the
map last season with a trip to the first-ever NCAA Super Regional
in Austin, Texas. The rewards from that accomplishment are
still being reaped as the women's team received numerous votes
in the preseason Top 25 poll.
On Friday, the B-CC softball team received 18 votes for the Top 25 preseason poll in the earliest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll. The Wildcats finished the 2005 campaign with a school-record 49-19 mark, as well as finishing the season ranked 23rd in the final USA Today/NFCA polls.
Returning numerous players from last year and starting a new regime under interim head coach Willie Brown, the Fighting Wildcats were predicted to finish second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference behind defending champion Florida A&M in voting conference head coaches and sports information directors. FAMU collected 14 first-place votes.
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