BCSP Notes . . .

The hard-hitting second baseman was named Tuesday as the player of the year on the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-America team. Add that honor to three national player of the year awards already in his possession and two more major awards for which he is a finalist.

Weeks was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers with the second overall pick in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He led all Division I hitters with a .483 batting average. He also hit 17 homers and had 73 RBIs.

Et tu, WSSU
A story in Saturday's edition of the Winston-Salem Journal says that Winston-Salem State has added its name to schools planning to explore the possibility of moving from NCAA Div. II to Div. I status.

The story by reporter John Dell quotes WSSU Chancellor, Dr. Harold Martin, saying that a $35 million capital campaign scheduled to begin next summer could have as much as $2 to $3 million earmarked for athletics.

According to the article, WSSU Athletic Director Percy "Chico" Caldwell chaired a committee that reported to the school's board of trustees recently that a move up could help the university meets its goals of improving its image and attracting more money, students and attention. Caldwell said the next step in the process is to form a committee to study the feasibility of such a move. That process could take as much as six months, he said.

Only if that committee comes back with a favorable report would the university seek reclassification, a process that would itself take about five years.

WSSU is a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the oldest black college athletic conference, which competes on the NCAA Div. II level. Another CIAA member, North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., has announced its intentions to pursue a similar upgrade.

The CIAA lost longtime members Hampton (1993) and Norfolk State (1995) when they moved to Div. I and joined the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference. Former CIAA schools Howard, Morgan State, Maryland-Eastern Shore, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central left the CIAA to form the MEAC in 1970. NCCU eventually returned to the CIAA in 1979. The MEAC competes at the Div. I level in all sports except football which carries a Div. I-AA designation.

Caldwell mentioned the MEAC as well as the Big South or Southern Conferences as possible destinations if the university is successful in making the move but noted that more coaches and sports would have to be added.

MEAC Commissioner, Dr. Dennis Thomas, who was the athletic director at Hampton when the school left the CIAA, spoke from his experience saying that the school must have the solid backing of its administration to make a successful move up. Hampton has fared quite well in the MEAC and in Div. I and is already one of the conference's top programs. Thomas said the MEAC, who may lose Florida A&M who is seeking I-A status in football, would possibly be interested in WSSU but would not pursue the school.

The man perhaps most effected by the defection talk is CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry who said that the conference is considering a two-tier (Div. I and II) alignment to keep the conference viable while accommodating those schools that want to move up.

FAMU Band in the Spotlight, Again
The world-renowned marching band of Florida A&M is getting a place at the NCAA Hall of Champions.

A Tallahassee Democrat story Tuesday said a film crew was at FAMU's Bragg Stadium last week to shoot footage of a performance by the Marching 100 that will be on display at the Hall, a 25,000-square-foot visitors center and museum located in Indianapolis, home of the NCAA.

The Hall celebrates the accomplishments of student-athletes in all 23 NCAA sports and all four NCAA divisions.

"FAMU is considered one of the better bands in the country and pioneers in the style and use of drum cadence that is so popular today," said George Smith, director of the hall. "That is why we chose them."

As visitors leave the museum's orientation theater, the first thing they will see is the drum cadence, Smith said. The display will prominently feature the percussion sections from FAMU and Jackson State University, as well as a montage of football pageantry from other schools around the country.

Jones on NCAA hoops committee
South Carolina State University associate athletics director Charlene Johnson has been selected to serve as a member of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee.

Johnson will be replacing Cynthia Dupont-Jones effective immediately through September 1, 2007.

Ms. Johnson is no stranger to NCAA committees as she has served on several, including the Memorial Resolutions committee and the Division I Women's Volleyball Committee.

© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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