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UNDER THE BANNER What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
 FAMU GETS TWO: After resolving to leave outgoing President
Dr. Frederick Humphries in place for the time being,
Florida A&M University moved quickly over the
last week to fill vacancies at the top of their men's and women's
basketball programs. Late last week, Winston-Salem State
women's head coach Debra Clark resigned to take
over the Lady Rattlers fortunes and Tuesday the school was to announce
Tallahassee Community College head coach Mike Gillespie
to lead the men's program. Clark is leaving WSSU after a seven-year stint and
a career record of 116-82. The Lady Rams finished 20-9 this season and advanced to the
CIAA Tournament semifinals. Clark was named CIAA Coach
of the Year during the 1995-96 campaign and was serving
as president of the CIAA Women's Basketball Coaches
Association. Prior to coming to WSSU, Clark was an
assistant coach at Norfolk State University. Gillespie, 50, is
leaving after 11 successful seasons at TCC where he compiled a
256-58 record including a 31-2 mark this past season. He
becomes the first white head coach in the 51-year history of
FAMU basketball and the second currently in the
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, along with
Steve Merfeld of Hampton. Rob
Chavez, who led Maryland-Eastern Shore
in 1992-94 was the first. Jeff Menday (1994-96)
followed Chavez at UMES. Gillespie is expected to sign a
three-year contract which pays him $80,000 per year. Among
the former TCC players Gillespie developed were
Marvin "Bootsy" Thornton of St. John's, Florida State's Kerry
Thompson and Syracuse's Jason Cipolla. Prior to his arrival
in Tallahassee, Gillespie turned around a St. Leo College
program which had failed to produce a winning season in
four years. A DePaul University graduate, Gillespie was a
three-year starter for legendary coach Ray Meyer. He earned
MVP honors following his junior and senior seasons and
captained the Blue Demons as a senior. Gillespie and his
father, Gordon, are one of only two father-son combinations to
have played for Meyer at DePaul.
SSU GETS FORD: Savannah State University has named Henry "Hank" Ford as athletics director. Ford comes to Savannah State from Howard University where he had been athletics director from 1996-2000. Prior to taking the position at Howard, Ford was director of athletics for five years at Alfred University, a private nonsectarian university in Alfred, New York. Ford spent a total of 16 years on the faculty and staff at Hampton University. As the head basketball coach from 1975-87, Ford became the winningest men's basketball coach in the history of the school. He made the transition from coaching to administration in 1987, serving in a number of capacities including assistant director of athletics, NCAA compliance officer and development officer for athletics. Prior to joining Hampton, Ford was an assistant professor and head basketball coach at Tuskegee University from 1973-75. He was also an instructor, basketball and swimming coach at University of Maryland-Eastern Shore from 1972 until 1973.
GRADUATION RATES: South Carolina State had the highest graduation rate of student-athletes among all Division I historical black colleges and universities for a six-year period, according to the April 26 issue of Black Issues in Higher Education. For the six-year period which began with the 1993-94 school, year, S.C State had a 69 percent graduation rate of student-athletes who entered the university and received athletics aid for the entire time, figures show. Of 26 athletes meeting the criteria, 18 earned their degrees during the period. Trailing the Bulldogs in the 11-team Mid Eastern Athletic Conference were Hampton at 67 percent (8 of 12) and Howard at 66 percent (29 of 44). Florida A&M at 30 percent (14 of 46) and Norfolk State at 31 percent (10-32) were at the bottom. In the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Alabama A&M was number one with a 58 percent (15 of 26) graduation rate, while Mississippi Valley State at 21 percent (6 of 29) reported the lowest. No figures were reported by Prairie View, according to the magazine. © 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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