UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
NEW GRAMBLING BB COACHES: Former Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State head basketball coach Rick Duckett has
agreed to become the new men's coach at
Grambling State. The announcement was made by Director of Athletics Troy Mathieu
last week and is pending approval of the Board of
Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.
Mathieu also announced last week that Donnita Drain will become the new head women's basketball coach at GSU. Drain, the architect of the Langston University basketball revival and the reigning two-time Women's Basketball Coaches Association Region III Coach of the Year, must also await approval from the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System before she can officially take the job.
In eight years as a collegiate head coach, Duckett compiled an impressive 149-76 mark at FSU and WSSU before becoming a top assistant to Dave Odom at South Carolina for the last six seasons. While at WSSU from 1998 to 2001, Duckett posted a 73-19 ledger that included three NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances, three 20-win seasons, two CIAA Tournament Championships and two CIAA Tournament Coaches Awards. He was 76-57 in five seasons at FSU. Duckett finished his tenure at WSSU with the top winning percentage (.800) in school history.
He will replace Larry Wright, who was 88-160 in nine seasons at Grambling. The Tigers were 7-19 this past season. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Duckett holds both Bachelor's (1979) and Master's ('80) degrees from the University North Carolina in the field of Education.
A native of Taloga, Okla., Drain arrives at
Grambling after a 13-year tenure at Langston rewriting the
record books as the most successful head coach in school history with 244
wins, six NAIA Division I National Tournament Appearances, two Red
River Athletic Conference Championships (RRAC), four 20-win seasons,
one 30-win campaign and a total of 48 players who've received either
All-American, Academic All-American, All-Conference and Player of the
Year honors. She replaces David "Rusty" Ponton
who had led the Lady Tigers for 11 seasons but won just two games in
his final campaign.
Under Drain's watchful eye, the LU women's basketball program emerged as a national power over the past three seasons as the Lady Lions finished the 2007-08 season ranked sixth in the NAIA Division I National Ratings and a No. 2 seed in the 2007-08 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. Drain guided Langston to an 84-12 mark during that span along with an impressive 34-game undefeated conference winning streak that culminated with an Elite 8 and Sweet 16 finishes in the NAIA Division I National Tournament.
A 1990 graduate of Northwestern Oklahoma State, Drain was a two-time NAIA All-American Honorable Mention honoree and currently ranks third all-time in points scored among school scoring leaders with 1,916 during a decorated four-year career that was topped off by being named the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1990
WALKER OUT AT ALCORN ST.: Alcorn State has announced a coaching change in its women's basketball program. Legendary coach Shirley Walker has been replaced on an interim basis by former Braves' men's player Jason Cable. Walker had headed the program for the past 30 years and posted a record of 492-332. Under her tenure, ASU had captured 11 SWAC regular-season titles and seven conference tournament championships. "We thank Coach for her service and Alcorn State University will continue its fine tradition in women's basketball by continuing to recruit, retain and graduate its student-athletes," said athletic director Darren Hamilton in a statement released on the ASU web site.
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