BCSP Notes . . .
Hargrove named D2 player of the year
Virginia Union guard Darius
Hargrove and South Dakota forward Turner Trufholz were named Division II co-players of the year last
week by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Hargrove, a senior from Warfield, Va. that was named this year's CIAA player of the year, led the Panthers to a 30-4 record and their second consecutive berth in the national-title game. He averaged 17.3 points and 4.5 rebounds. The 6-4 Hargrove, a three-year starter and all-CIAA player at VUU who was the 2004 and 2005 CIAA Tournament most valuable player, also led the team in steals (67) and free throw percentage (85.1).
Hargrove has been invited to play in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament that begins next week, a showcase of top seniors in the nation for NBA and other pro scouts.
O'Neal posts second top 15 finish
Former Jackson State golfer Tim O'Neal
shot a final round 2-under 69 Sunday to finish in a tie for 14th at the Chitimacha Louisiana
Open. O'Neal took home $8,000 in his second start on this year's tour, the
second in which he's finished in the top 15.
O'Neal's 3-under 280 total tied him with six other golfers who ended up eight shots behind winner Johnson Wagner, who pocketed $90,000 for his first Nationwide Tour win.
O'Neal was playing for the first time since finishing in a tie for 11th at the Movistar Panama Open in late January where he earned $11,660. He skipped Nationwide events in Australia and New Zealand. He is currently 27th on the Nationwide money list.
Albany State hoops coach and AD steps down
Albany State Athletic Director and Head Men's Basketball
coach John I. Davis has resigned effective June 30, 2006. Davis handed in
his letter or resignation on Friday, March 17 and that school
president Everette J. Freeman accepted the resignation later that day.
Davis' departure ends two separate stints at ASU. His first stint at Albany State began in 1976, when he accepted the role as men's assistant basketball coach under Coach Oliver Jones, while teaching at the college's Hazard Laboratory School. Davis held that position until 1982, when he was named head coach of the women's basketball team. He was women's coach from 1982-90.
During that time he also started the Golden Ram's volleyball program and served as head coach from 1986-90. He was inducted into the Albany Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 From 1990-2000, the Albany Sports Hall of Fame inductee (1996) and Golden Ram alum (1969) worked in various administrative positions in the Dougherty County School System.
Davis was coaxed into returning to his alma mater by then-president Portia Holmes Shields. The school had been placed on probation and Shields wanted Davis to oversee the school's efforts to get back into compliance with NCAA Division II standards. Davis returned in 2001 as both athletic director and head men's basketball coach.
Last year, ASU went off probation and the men's basketball team won the regular-season SIAC title. For the past two years, Albany State has won the SIAC's All-Sports Trophy as the top overall athletics program. The school won titles in seven of its 11 sports last year and has already captured three of four fall championships (football, volleyball and women's cross country) this season.
Jackson State's Johnson to test NBA waters
According to a story in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger,
Jackson State's 6-5 guard Trey Johnson
has announced he will forego his senior season
to make himself available for this year's NBA Draft.
The prolific scorer, whose 23.5 points per game was eighth best in Div. I basketball and second to Grambling guard Brion Rush (25.8) in the SWAC, believes his showing this season proves he's ready for the next level.
"After the season I just had, the timing seems right for me in terms of making this decision," the Clarion-Ledger reported Johnson said during his press conference Friday on the JSU campus. "I feel that the (statistics) I put up really opened up some eyes out there."
Johnson's father, Clinton Johnson, said the family will not hire an agent to represent his son, meaning the door will be left open for a return to JSU.
Lincoln and Langston not to join SIAC
Lincoln (Mo.) University and
Langston University have informed the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference that they will not be joining the conference. Financial and geographical issues contributed to
the decision.
Langston and Lincoln were both in their first year of provisional membership in the SIAC. Langston was also applying for membership in the NCAA. Langston will remain a member of the NAIA competing in the Red River Athletic Conference. Claflin University is still a provisional member of the SIAC and is eligible to become the thirteenth full member beginning Spring 2007.
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