UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
VOLLEYBALL HONORS: Morgan State
University senior middle blocker Tiffany
Oliver (Merced, CA/Golden Valley HS) has added yet another distinction to
her long list of volleyball honors. Oliver has been named to the USA
Volleyball Women's A2 Team Roster. The USA Volleyball squad consists of 20 of
the elite collegiate and club players in the nation. Tiffany is on a roster
that includes four members of the defending NCAA national champion
USC Trojans. Tiffany, and her talented teammates have been invited to
train in the USA Volleyball program from July 5-20 at the United States
Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. The squad will be coached by Paula
Weishoff-Hanold, a two-time Olympic medalist. She will be assisted
by Anne Kordes (Illinois) and Robby Pulliza (Texas). Oliver
is the only student/athlete from an east coast institution to
be represented on the squad and she's the only athlete from
the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference or any black college
to be represented on the squad. Oliver is coming off a
sensational junior season at Morgan State. She was named
First Team All-MEAC, while leading the squad in hitting
percentage (.283) and total blocks (138). She came to MSU after
one season at the University of Nevada-Reno.
MORE ACCLAIM FOR WEEKS: Two-time SWAC Player of the Year, second baseman Rickie Weeks of Southern, is quickly becoming the most decorated athlete this year in black college sports. The two-time Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year, already named winner of Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Year award and picked second overall in Major League Baseball's Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, added the 17th annual Dick Howser Trophy as the 2003 college baseball player of the year to his collection when he was named winner of the award last week. The voting for the award is done by members of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in conjunction with the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce. Weeks has led the nation in hitting in each of the last two seasons with averages of .495 and .479, respectively, as the second baseman from Altamonte Springs, Fla., rolled to one of the most successful careers in college baseball history. During the 2003 campaign the 2002 Howser Trophy finalist as a sophomore was 78-for-163 with an NCAA-best 1.61 runs scored per game (82 in 51 contests), hit 16 home runs and drove in 66 runs. A year earlier, he posted equally-outstanding numbers with a .495 average, 98-for-198 platework, 63 runs scored, a Southern-season-record 20 home runs and school-most 96 RBI. Over his last 107 games in college he batted .488 with 36 home runs and 162 RBI for an average of 1.55 runs-batted-in each outing. He played on a SU team which sported the nation's best winning percentage (.863) in Div. I baseball this season at 44-7. "We could not be more pleased to present the Dick Howser Trophy to a deserving young man like Rickie Weeks," said Howser Trophy chair David P. Feaster of the Greater St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Signature Bank-Florida. "He had an amazing season in 2003 and has put together two of the most successful back-to-back individual seasons in college baseball history." The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award. In addition to Friday's presentation, there will be a special ceremony before or during a 2003 Southern football contest to be determined to award Weeks the trophy in front of a "home" audience. Weeks is one of three finalists for the Rotary Smith Award, another honor that goes to the top player in Div. I baseball. He is also one of five finalists for the 2003 Golden Spikes Award which will be announced July 15 on Fox Sports Net. Weeks worked out in Milwaukee Saturday while his agent, Lon Babby, met in Baltimore with representatives of the Brewers who say they would like to get a deal done quickly. The Brewers were expected to extend their first contract offer to Weeks which is expected to be in the range of the $4.6 million signing bonus paid to last year's number two pick, B. J. Upton, by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "We're interested in getting it done quickly," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "We want him playing. We want him developing in our system. We want him to start his journey to the big leagues as soon as we can."
© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.