BCSP Notes . . .
2009 Sporting News Football Picks Unveiled
Defending Mid Eastern Athletic Conference football champion South Carolina State is the only black college team to break the FCS Preseason Top 25 in the Sporting News College Football '09 annual that will hit newsstands soon.
The Bulldogs, who finished 10-3 overall last season, were a perfect 8-0 in the MEAC and played three-time defending FCS champ Appalachian State tough in a first round playoff loss, are ranked 25th, but are picked to repeat as MEAC champs.
SCSU star running back Will Ford is one of just two black college players to make the SN FCS All-America team. He is joined on the team by Florida A&M kick return sensation LeRoy Vann.
SC State is picked ahead of Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman in the MEAC predictions. FAMU quarterback Curtis Pulley was chosen over Ford as the top offensive MEAC player. Norfolk State defensive back Terrell Whitehead was picked as the league's top defender. Penn State transfer wideout Chris Bell of Norfolk State is dubbed the top newcomer.
The MEAC 'Game to Watch' is the October 17 showdown in Orangeburg, S.C., between the Bulldogs (SCSU) and the Rattlers (FAMU).
The magazine predicts a three-team race for honors in the Southwestern Athletic Conference between West Division rivals Grambling State, Prairie View A&M and Southern.
Defending champion Grambling State, led by quarterback Greg Dillon and the running back tandem of Cornelius Walker and Frank Warren, is picked to repeat in West. Jackson State, last year's East champ, is chosen over Alabama A&M and Alabama State in that division.
Prairie View cornerback Anthony Beck is picked as the top defender with reigning offensive player of the year, Southern QB Bryant Lee, as the top offensive player. Western Kentucky transfer quarterback Kenneth Black of Prairie View is the top newcomer.
The Oct. 3 classic match-up of Grambling and Prairie View in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl is the 'Game to Watch.'
In the Div. II preview, defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conferencechamp Tuskegee is picked 16th while defending Central Intercollegiate Athletic Associationchampion Shaw is 25th, in the preseason Top 25.
No black college player was named to the magazine's preseason Div. II All-American team.
SCSU's Bill Hamilton to be honored at CoSIDA
Veteran South Carolina State Sports Information Director Bill Hamilton will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at this year's College Sports Information Director's Association national meeting in San Antonio and will be presented the Arch Ward Award on behalf of the organization.
Hamilton, who has served as SC State's sports information director for 36 years, will receive the Ward Award, the highest individual honor a member of the esteemed profession and organization can achieve. Since 1958 it has been presented annually to a member of CoSIDA who has made outstanding contributions, as well as brought dignity and prestige, to the profession. The 2009 CoSIDA Hall of Fame puts Hamilton among the best in a profession that has so many outstanding people and professionals that take care of information and media needs for America's colleges and universities.
Congrats to Bill from the BCSP.
© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.