MEAC Announces All-Sports Award Winners

Coppin State finished seventh in the Layman Hill Award and 11th in the Mary McLeod Bethune Award as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced its annual all-sports winners.
Hampton won its fifth consecutive women's title with 60.5 points, while the Norfolk State men won for the second straight year with 67.5 points.
The CSU men earned 36.5 points with its highest point totals coming from basketball (10 points) and baseball (9 points).
The Eagles' women's programs received 35.5 points highlighted by the 12 points from the conference champion basketball team. The CSU volleyball team earned six points.
Points are awarded on a descending basis beginning with 12 points for a championship or first place finish. The second place team receives 10 points, and tied teams split the point total.
The Mary McLeod Bethune Award, named after the founder of Bethune-Cookman College, awards the top overall women's athletic program during the course of one full academic year. The first Mary McLeod Bethune Award was given in 1987 to Delaware State University. Florida A&M leads all MEAC schools with nine women's awards from 1993-2000. The men's all-sports award is named after the late Talmadge Layman Hill, a former player and coach at Morgan State, and former Chairman of the MEAC Steering and Planning Committee, as well as the league's first President. Howard University was the recipient of the first award in 1972. South Carolina State holds the men's record with 11 awards from 1973-84.

NCAA sends out warning

The NCAA is trimming the gray area from eligibility rules for underclassmen entering the NBA draft.
However, player-agent Bill Neff said that's a futile exercise, with many in his profession cutting under-the-table deals with players.
The NCAA recently distributed a four-page memo, reminding schools what underclassmen can and cannot do to test their NBA marketability. The memo warns underclassmen not to accept travel expenses from NBA basketball teams, though that's been common practice in the past.
One of the authors of that memo said its purpose is heading off trouble and, potentially, holding rule-breakers accountable.
"It's fair to say we've had multiple student-athletes facing possible violations of NCAA rules," said Rachel Newman Baker, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities. "We're trying to avoid (those problems), so we're not dealing with it next semester."
The NCAA now requires underclassmen in the draft to sign forms, stating they know the rules and understand the risk to their eligibility.
"We want it very clear up front," Newman Baker said, "if we do get into investigating a case, the `I-didn't-know' answer will not work."
The NCAA dealt with messy situations the past few years, involving former Connecticut forward Charlie Villanueva and current Kentucky center Randolph Morris. Each turned pro and had contact with an agent, only to pull out of the draft and seek to play college basketball.

Hampton adds point guard to list of signees - Ncaa

Following the announcement that point guards Rodrick Coleman and Matthew Williams would not be returning to the Hampton 's men's basketball team next season, first-year head coach Kevin Nickelberry responded with the signing of Vincent Simpson of Cardinal Dougherty High School in Philadelphia .
?Vincent will be thrown into the fire right away at Hampton ," Nickelberry said. "He reminds me a lot of George Mason's Tony Skinn because he's a scoring point guard. He's a good passer and can set a team up, but he can really shoot it and take over if he has to.?
The 6-foot-2 Simpson was an all-conference selection at Cardinal Dougherty where he guided his team to a mark of 21-6 this season, winning the Catholic League Northern Division title along the way, thanks to his 15 points per game.

HU tries to point toward future

Hampton University's men's basketball team moved quickly to fill the void at point guard Monday by signing Vincent Simpson from Cardinal Dougherty High in Philadelphia. The Pirates landed Simpson one day after coach Kevin Nickelberry announced that Rodrick Coleman and Matt Williams, the team's top two point guards last season, would be granted releases to transfer.Simpson, a 6-foot-2 senior, averaged 15.5 points last season and was named first-team all-Catholic League in Philadelphia. Dougherty finished 21-6, winning the Catholic League Northern Division title. Simpson scored 29 points, making 6-of-9 3-pointers, in a league tournament semifinal loss."Vincent will be thrown into the fire right away at Hampton," Nickelberry said. "He reminds me a lot of George Mason's Tony Skinn because he's a scoring point guard. He's a good passer and can set a team up, but he can really shoot it and take over if he has to."He gives us an influx of scoring and size at guard."Simpson said Hampton was the only visit he made, this past weekend, but added that he received offers from schools in the Mid-Eastern Athletic, America East and Northeast conferences. He said that he is academically qualified to play for HU."I like the way they are going to push the ball offensively and play 94 feet of pressure defense," Simpson said. "I got along very well with the coaching staff and liked the fact that Hampton has my major: communications."Simpson is the Pirates' third signing this spring. The other recruits are Michael Freeman, a 6-7 forward from Alexandria, and Jon Ntoko, a 6-2 guard from Maryland.

Nickelberry quickly assembles staff - Ncaa

Kevin Nickelberry is wasting little time putting his stamp on Hampton University's men's basketball program. Introduced on Friday as the Pirates' coach, Nickelberry said Wednesday that he has hired three assistant coaches.His top assistant is Darryl Hilliard, an assistant the past two seasons at Holy Cross. He also hired Hartford assistant Chris Pompey and Brian Merritt, the director of basketball operations at Louisville.The hires reflect Nickelberry's Washington, D.C., roots and the strong, though indirect, influence of Louisville coach Rick Pitino. Nickelberry considers himself, Hilliard and Merritt to be part of the Pitino coaching tree. Like Hilliard, Nickelberry was a Holy Cross assistant to Ralph Willard. Willard assisted Pitino with the NBA New York Knicks and at Kentucky.Nickelberry said: "The coaches on the Pitino Family Tree recruit long, athletic players who press and get their hands on the ball. They're also great recruiters and work long hours."I'm going to be demanding of my staff, my players and myself."Nickelberry never has been on the same staff with any of his three assistants, but said that he knows each well.

HU basketball coach resigns

Bobby Collins resigned today as men's basketball coach at Hampton University, according to Joe Taylor, the school's athletics director. Taylor said that the school will begin an immediate national search to find Collins' replacement of the basketball college team.

Taylor said that Richard Morgan, an HU team assistant coach, will oversee basketball operations until Collins' successor is named. Taylor said that Collins' other assistants, Tellis Frank and Lonnie Blow, will not be retained by the university.

Hampton , Bethune-Cookman

Jaz Cowan scored 8 of his 12 points during a key stretch in the second half of the game as Hampton beat Bethune-Cookman 57-55 on Thursday in the tornament quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Cowan's crucial stretch came early in the second period when Bruce Brown, Hampton's 6-foot-11 center, was called for his third foul on that game and went to the bench. Cowan scored 8 of his team's 10 points during a 2:49 stretch that opened a 44-34 lead and forced the Wildcats to play catch-up the rest of the way.
Bethune-Cookman was able to cut its deficit to 50-46 with less than two minutes left, but the Pirates were able to convert 7 of 10 from the free throw line to hold off the late run.
Rashad West added 17 off the bench for Hampton (14-15).
Antonio Webb scored 17 points to lead Bethune-Cookman (15-15), but he took 16 shots and missed 8 of 12 from 3-point range. Sam Barber had 14 and Michael Williams II score 11 for the Wildcats
Both teams had shooting problems. Hampton shot just 28 percent from the field. The Wildcats connected on 62 percent, 15-of-24, of their free throws.
Hampton basketbal team advances to Fridays tornament semifinals against crosstown rival Norfolk State.