BCSP Notes . . .

Black college players are at the pinnacle of national scoring races in both the NCAA and NAIA.

In the NCAA, Jackson State senior guard Trey Johnson is scorching the nets to the tune of 29.3 points per game. Johnson, who put his name in for the 2006 NBA Draft but withdrew before the deadline, leads the SWAC and all of Div. I in scoring.

Additionally, former Howard guard, now Bowie State scoring machine, Gil Goodrich is atop the stats for NCAA Div. II. The 5-10 senior averages a nation's best 27.1 points per game. Goodrich has led the Bulldogs on a recent surge that includes wins over Virginia Union and Johnson C. Smith, two of the top contenders for the CIAA title.

Goodrich left Howard after one year and transferred to Panola (Tx.) Junior College and then to Lamar University before landing in the lap of BSU head coach Luke D'Alessio. He's making the most of this final opportunity.

Three other black college scorers are in the top 20 of Div. II - high scoring guard Ted Scott of West Virginia State (23.8 ppg.), Monyea Pratt of Stillman (22.8 ppg.) and Antonio Fitzgerald of St. Augustine's (21.6 ppg.). Scott is 10th, Pratt is 12th and Fitzgerald is 17th.

Also leading in scoring stats is Tremaine Stevens, a 6-3 guard out of Florida Memorial College. Stevens lead all of NAIA Div. II in scoring at 28.9 points per game.

Massey to Massie at Livingstone

Livingstone College has announced the hiring of Lamonte J. Massie as its 33rd Head Football Coach. Massie is the former coach at Edward Waters College where he compiled a 28-34 record over six seasons. He replaces Robert Massey who had led the Blue Bears for the last two seasons.

In his second season (2002) at EWC, the Tigers finished with a 6-4 record, which was 15th best amongst all 49 black college football programs. The Jacksonville Advocate named him 2002 Coach of the Year.

His third season at EWC ended with a 7-4 record and the fourth season (2004) with an 8-3 record. In addition, EWC won the inaugural season of the South Eastern Atlantic Conference 2004 Championship and Coach Massie was selected as SEAC 2004 Coach of the Year.

"We liked the fact that he had been in a situation similar to Livingstone," said Cliff Huff, Livingstone's director of athletics. "He knows how to work with limited resources. I think he was just a good fit because he had come into a situation where there was no program and built it from the ground up. That's very important."

He has coached at Clark Atlanta University (1993), Corcoran High School and Kirk Park Pop Warner in Syracuse, NY (1992) and Tuskegee University (1990) as a student-assistant. He has been an active member of the American Football Coaches Association for twelve years.

"I think this is a great opportunity for me as a leader to be a mentor, coach, to be some young men's father figure and sometimes disciplinarian," said Massie.

"Me and my family are excited to be here. The family atmosphere is extremely refreshing. Everybody has been extremely pleasant, and that in itself is exciting. It makes things a whole lot easier."

Massie is a 1991 graduate of Tuskegee with a bachelor of science degree in Physics. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate from Tuskegee's US Army ROTC and a member of Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity.

O'Neal gets off to a good start

Former great Jackson State and SWAC golfer Tim O'Neal finished tied for 12th last week in the Nationwide Tour's first event, the Movistar Panama Open.

O'Neal carded a one-under par 279 total to finish behind winner Miguel Carballo who shot seven-under 274 to take home the $99,000 first prize. O'Neal took home $11,550 for his finish.

O'Neal shot rounds of 69-68-73-69 over the Panama Golf Club Course in Panama City. He finished tied for 11th last year in the same tournament and took home an identical amount.

O'Neal did not earn a promotion to the PGA Tour as a result of his finish on the Nationwide Tour a year ago. He finished 36th on the money list with $150,205. He made the cut in 14 of 26 starts in the 2006 season and had five top-10 finishes.

He was exempt thru to the final stage of Tour Qualifying School but did not shoot the necessary score to make onto the PGA Tour. This is his fourth time competing on the Nationwide Tour.

B-CC, W. Va. State top Baseball poll

Bethune-Cookman College and West Virginia State University have been selected as top choices in the preseason poll released by BlackCollegeBaseball.com

B-CC, top pick in the Division I poll, rolled through the MEAC last year with an unprecedented 15-0 mark during the regular season. They went on to complete their perfect conference run with three wins in the MEAC Tournament to capture the 2006 MEAC crown in Norfolk, Va. In the process, the Wildcats tied Howard's record back in 1998 as the only teams in MEAC history to go 15-0.

This season, the Wildcats return an overabundance of talented players, as well as bringing in two Junior College All-American talents. The Wildcats may have one of the best hitting teams they've had in years, according to B-CC head coach Mervyl Melendez … as well as some of his best pitching in recent memory with all but one starter returning on the mound.

Division II poll leader WVSU, which has participated in eight of the past nine NCAA regionals, returns a trio of imposing sluggers. 1B Jeff Miller (.487-19-69) is Baseball America's Preseason NCAA Division II Player of the Year. OF Brandon Halstead (.420-15-67), and OF Joshua Miller (.349-12-53) also should post big numbers again. 6-4 right-hander Travis McGrath (4-0, 2 SV, 3.23 ERA) is the top returnee on the mound for Calvin Bailey's Yellow Jackets. OF Tyler Courts (.346-4-33) and C Jonathan Stowers (.321-0-17) are also solid contributors.

Voters on the poll include Ruffin Bell, Blackcollegebaseball.com; Bo Carter, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association; Kenyatta Cavil, The Heritage Group; Charles Curti, Beaver County Times; Paul Kislanko, SEBaseball.com; John Manuel, Baseball America; Tony McClean, Black Athlete Sports Network; Jeremy Mills, Ncaa-baseball.com; Boyd Nation, Boydsworld.com; Sean Ryan, Collegebaseballinsider.com; Rick Rollins; Eric Sorenson, CSTV; Phil Stanton, Collegebaseballinsider.com and Glenn Tanner, College Baseball Newsgroup.

© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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