BCSP Notes . . .

"Obviously, I still feel like I should have been drafted," Johnson told the Jackson (Ms.) Clarion-Ledger. "But if it had to be like this, I'm glad I was picked up by Miami. Now, I'm just preparing to do the best I can."

The Heat, one of the teams that had shown a lot of interest in Johnson before the draft, will play five games in the Orlando Summer League. NBA summer league teams are usually comprised of rookies and other players trying to find a spot on an NBA roster. Though nothing is guaranteed, good play can often materialize into an invite to training camp for undrafted players and eventually a spot on the team's regular season roster. Miami's summer league games are scheduled for July 9-13 at the RDV Sportsplex.

Johnson finished his senior season at Jackson State as the second leading scorer in the nation, averaging 27.1 points per game. He was also named the Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the year, SWAC Tournament most valuable player and a College Insider.com Mid-Major All-American. Johnson led the JSU Tigers to a SWAC Championship and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000. Johnson had gotten quite a bit of pre-draft publicity that his skills and abilities would likely have him taken in the second round.

"You knew teams respected Trey's game because so many teams invited him for a workout," JSU coach Tevester Anderson told the Clarion-Ledger. "I don't know why he fell out of the draft, but I still think there's plenty of interest."

Jackson State had even planned a press conference on campus for the hours following his selection. Neither materialized.

With the Heat, Johnson will look to find space on a guard roster that includes star Dwayne Wade, veterans Gary Payton, Eddie Jones and Jason Williams along with draftee Daquan Cook (Ohio State) and Chris Quinn, who just finished his rookie season out of Notre Dame. According to multiple reports, Payton has been leaning toward retirement. Jones will turn 36 years old before next season starts.

"They've got a lot of veterans to learn from so I think it's a great situation," Johnson told the newspaper. "Hopefully, I can find some room on the roster and grow as a player."

NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson to kick off 2007 SWAC Football Media Day
Former NFL All-Pro and 2006 NFL Hall of Fame inductee Harry Carson, who had a Mid Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame career at South Carolina State, will be the keynote speaker at the 2007 Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Media Day on Tuesday, July 24.

The former New York Giants standout will speak during the kickoff luncheon at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel located on Richard Arrington Boulevard in downtown Birmingham.

Carson spent 13 seasons with the New York Football Giants and during his tenure, the former All-Pro served as team captain for ten seasons. One of those magical seasons came in 1986 when the Giants downed the Denver Broncos 39-20 to capture Super Bowl XXI.

His career was filled with accolades and honors. He ended his first professional season being named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. Subsequently, during his NFL career, he was named to the All-NFL Team seven times, the All-NFC Team eight times, and NFC Linebacker of the Year twice. He once made an amazing 25 tackles in a Monday Night Football Game against the Green Bay Packers. With performances like that he was selected by his peers to play in the NFC-AFC Pro Bowl nine times and is among the top 300 players to ever play in the National Football League.

Currently, Carson is CEO and President of Harry Carson Inc., a Sports Consulting and Promotions Company. In that role, his company consults with media outlets, educational sources and corporations on sports as well as non-sports related issues. Harry Carson Inc. provides expert television, radio, print media and internet commentary on sports matters as well as motivational and inspirational speakers to schools and corporations.

He is also a member of the New York Football Giants preseason broadcasting team and is a regular season broadcast analyst and co-host of Giants GamePlan. Carson also serves as Executive Director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization dedicated to creating racial diversity within non-player roles within the National Football League.

The 2007 SWAC Media Day activities will begin at 9 a.m. with interview sessions from the head coaches and student athletes from all ten conference institutions. Following the interview sessions, the kickoff luncheon will begin at 11 a.m. with remarks from the Conference Office and the announcement of the preseason honors and predicted order of finish.

Limited tickets are available to the public for $30 and can be obtained by contacting Duer Sharp at the SWAC Office (205) 251-7573. Media registration forms can be found on the conference website and requested from the SWAC Media Relations office.

In conjunction with the kickoff luncheon, the fourth SWAC Youth Football clinic will take place on Monday, July 23, 2007 at Birmingham's Legion Field from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00n. The three-hour event will contain drill and instruction for Birmingham-area youth and will be conducted by SWAC football coaches. Scheduled to appear are Alabama A&M head coach Anthony Jones and new Alabama State head coach Reggie Barlow.

Blackcollegebaseball.com announces 2007 Elite Team
BlackCollegeBaseball.com released its fourth Black College Baseball Awards. Candidates were taken from the nineteen Division-I programs which included the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference, and Independent programs Chicago State and Savannah State University.

The 2007 Coach of the Year is Bethune Cookman's head coach Mervyl Melendez. Melendez has earned the award for the second straight year and continues to run the tables on MEAC opponents. During the regular season, Bethune only lost one conference game and has a two year conference record of 31-1. As a player for Bethune Cookman and as a coach, Melendez has won nine MEAC titles.

BCB Player of the Year award goes to Prairie View A&M shortstop Michael Richard. This is the second straight year the award went to a dominating SWAC shortstop. Before being drafted in the 11th round in the 2007 MLB draft by Oakland, Richard was named SWAC Player of the Year and Most Outstanding hitter. Richard accounted for almost 15% of Prairie View's runs scored.

Pitcher of the Year goes to Norfolk State hurler Luke Foss. Foss finished the season at with a 10-2 record and an amazing 2.28 ERA. Some of his notable wins this season were against Savannah State, Villanova and Seton Hall . Foss was also named to the 2007 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-East Region second team.

For the men and women behind the scenes that usually receive no recognition, Sports Information Directors and their baseball contacts are the ones that get the information out. Bryan Harvey of Bethune Cookman stayed busy sending press releases and game notes on his 2007 BCB Champion Wildcats. Bryan also helps Wildcat fans stay in touch with their team during games by using Gametracker and by keeping the Wildcat website fresh and current.

The Black College Baseball Elite Teams are comprised of athletes from the Independents, Mid-Continent, MEAC, and SWAC conferences. Bethune-Cookman and Prairie View landed 4 players on the squad. Alcorn State was next with three on the Elite Team followed by Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T and Jackson State at two apiece. The remaining schools had one representative on the BCB Elite Team: Alabama State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Maryland Eastern Shore, Mississippi Valley State, Savannah State and Southern.

FIRST TEAM POSITION PLAYERS
C Lyall Foran, Norfolk State
1B Johnathan Stevens, Alabama State
2B Shawn Taylor, Alcorn State
SS Michael Richard, Prairie View A&M
3B Charlie Gamble, North Carolina A&T
OF Marcus Davis, Alcorn State
OF Joe McIntyre, North Carolina A&T
OF Angel Mercado, Bethune Cookman

FIRST TEAM PITCHERS
SP Luke Foss, Norfolk State
SP Francisco Rodriguez, Bethune-Cookman
SP Matt Chase, Prairie View A&M
R Josh Schmitt - Delaware State

SECOND TEAM POSITION PLAYERS
C John Keene, Savannah State
1B Sean Bard, Mississippi Valley
2B Spenser Dennis, Prairie View A&M
SS Chris Henault, Bethune Cookman
3B Chris Stamps, Jackson State
OF Darryl Evans, Florida A&M
OF Joel Gonzalez, Maryland Eastern Shore
OF Anthony Mclin, Jackson State

SECOND TEAM PITCHERS
SP Wrandal Taylor, Prairie View A&M
SP Dustin Blackwell, Bethune Cookman
SP Roydrick Merritt, Southern University
RP Lee Johnson, Alcorn State

© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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