FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 31 - AUG. 6, 2018 NC A&T picked to repeat in MEAC football LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor ™ Norfolk, VA - North Carolina A&T State was picked to defend its MEAC Football Championship as the Aggies topped the league's annu- al preseason poll unveiled at Friday's MEAC Football Media Day here. Voting for the poll was conducted by the MEAC's 10 head coaches and football sports information directors. Washington Eastman Simmons Jones Milstead MEDIA DAYS The Aggies received 19 first-place votes and were a unanimous choice PRESEASON ALL-MEAC TEAMS to defend their MEAC Championship and represent the league in the an- FIRST TEAM OFFENSE nual Celebration Bowl on Dec. 15 in Atlanta, Ga. The Aggies will be the QB Lamar Raynard Sr. North Carolina A&T High Point, N.C. OVER; RB Marquell Cartwright Sr. North Carolina A&T High Point, N.C. first MEAC team to take the field when they face Jacksonville State on RB Isaiah Totten So. N.C. Central Apex, N.C. PRELIMS FINISHED: Saturday, August 25 in the FCS Kickoff Classic in Montgomery, Alabama. WR Elijah Bell Jr. North Carolina A&T Wheeling, W. Va. KICKOFF WR Jequez Ezzard Jr. Howard Union City, Ga. MEAC holds Media Day. The Aggies, led by new head coach Sam Washington, have not won TE Leroy Hill Sr. North Carolina A&T Smithfield, N.C. MONTH North Carolina A&T consecutive MEAC Championships since the 1991 and 1992 campaigns. C James Holmon Sr. Howard Augusta, Ga. among those to kick off OL Marcus Pettiford Jr. North Carolina A&T Durham, N.C. Washington is one of five new coaches in the league this season includ- OL Dwayne Brown Sr. Bethune-Cookman Indianapolis, Ind. AWAY season on August 25. OL Nick Leverett Sr. N.C. Central Concord, N.C. ing Granville Eastman at North Carolina Central, Willie Simmons at OL Tyrone Ramsey Jr. Howard Detroit, Mich. FIRST TEAM DEFENSE MEAC UNVEILS PRESEASON FOOTBALL PICKS; Florida A&M, Ernest Jones at Morgan State and Rod Milstead at Del- DL Darryl Johnson, Jr. Jr. North Carolina A&T Kingsdale, Ga. aware State. DL Kawuan Cox Jr. N.C. Central Summerville, S.C. NEW HOOPS COACH AT DELSTATE, AD AT ECSU DL Malachi Washington Sr. Morgan State Waldorf, Md. Howard was predicted to place second in head coach Mike London's DL Stefen Banks Sr. Savannah State Columbus, Ohio second season followed by N.C. Central in third place and Bethune-Cook- LB Nigel Chavis Jr. Norfolk State Richmond, Va. LB Brian Cavicante Jr. Delaware State Portsmouth, Va. man in fourth. LB Rico Kennedy Jr. Morgan State Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. DB Davanta Reynolds Sr. N.C. Central Tucker, Ga. DB Timadre Abram Sr. North Carolina A&T Lakeland, Fla. UNDER THE BANNER PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH DB Frank McCain So. North Carolina A&T Greensboro, N.C. DB Keyjuan Selby Sr. Delaware State Bear, Del. WHAT'S GOING ON IN AND AROUND BLACK COLLEGE SPORTS FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS 1. North Carolina A&T (19) 6. Norfolk State PK Uriel Hernandez Sr. Bethune-Cookman Homestead, Fla. 2. Howard 7. S.C. State P Fidel Romo-Martinez Jr. Delaware State Banning, Calif. NEW DELSTATE MEN'S HOOPS COACH: 3. N.C. Central 8. Savannah State RS Marcus Taylor Sr. Norfolk State Highland Spr., Va. 4. Bethune-Cookman 9. Morgan State Dover, Del. --- A Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference SECOND TEAM OFFENSE 5. Florida A&M (1) 10. Delaware State QB Caylin Newton Sr. Howard Atlanta, Ga. alum is the new head coach at RB Devin Bowers Sr. Florida A&M St. Petersburg, Fla. RB Brycen Alleyne Sr. Delaware State Wilmington, Del. Delaware State University. WR Kyle Anthony Jr. Howard Miami, Fla. WR Marcus Taylor Sr. Norfolk State Highland Spr., Va. DSU Director of Athletics North Carolina A&T State quarterback Lamar Raynard was se- TE Josh McCoy Sr. N.C. Central Sharon, S.C. Scott Gines has announced that Eric lected as the MEAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while N.C. C Wes Jones Sr. Norfolk State Wilmington, Del. OL Kenneth Kirby Jr. Norfolk State Newport News, Va. Skeeters, most recently an assis- Central defensive back Davanta Reynolds was selected as the Presea- OL Andrew Dale Jr. N.C. Central Morehead City, N.C. son Defensive Player of the Year. OL Loubens Polinice Sr. Florida A&M Palm Coast, Fla. tant at Maryland-Baltimore County OL Kendrick Hair Sr. S.Carolina State Orlando, Fla. (UMBC), has been appointed as the Raynard passed for a MEAC-best 2,932 yards SECOND TEAM DEFENSE and 27 touchdowns en route to an undefeated (12-0) DL Julian McKnight Sr. North Carolina A&T Conyers, Ga. 13th head coach of the Hornets' men's DL Todney Evans Sr. Bethune-Cookman Delray Beach, Fla. Skeeters 2017 season which included a postseason win in the DL Randy Anyanwu Sr. N.C. Central Clayton County, Ga. basketball program. This is his first DL Antonio Miller Sr. Florida A&M Lakeland, Fla. Celebration Bowl. LB Jibreel Hazly Sr. Florida A&M Akron, Ohio head coach position. LB Damu Ford Sr. S.C. State Dillon, S.C. The redshirt senior from High Point, N.C. has LB Marcellus Allison Sr. Howard Durham, N.C. Prior to joining the Hornets, Skeeters served two compiled a 27-0 record as a starter and led the MEAC DB Bryan Cook So. Howard Cincinnati, Ohio DB J.T. Wahee Jr. Norfolk State Norfolk, Va. seasons as an assistant under head coach Ryan Odom at in six (6) statistical categories while shattering the DB Orlando McKinley Sr. Florida A&M Atlanta, Ga. UMBC from 2016-to-2018. Aggie record books as he broke the North Carolina DB Terry Jefferson Jr. Florida A&M Miami, Fla. SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS Last March, the Retrievers shocked the college bas- A&T single-season school records for touchdowns PK Giovanni Lugo Jr. Savannah State Belle Glade, Fla. Raynard P Chris Faddoul So. Florida A&M Wesley Chapel, Fla. ketball world and ruined millions of brackets with an his- responsible, passing, total offense, touchdown passes RS Jequez Ezzard Jr. Howard Union City, Ga. and completions in a season. toric 74-54 win over top-ranked Virginia, the first-ever THIRD TEAM OFFENSE win by a No. 16 seed against a No. 1 seed in 136 all-time He ranked in the top ten in three national FCS passing categories. QB Ryan Stanley Jr. Florida A&M Pembroke Pines, Fla. Reynolds ranked second nationally in interceptions per game (.06) RB Tupac Isme Jr. Bethune-Cookman Naples, Fla. NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament match-ups. RB Aaron Savage Jr. Norfolk State Baltimore, Md. while finishing the 2017 campaign ranked fifth WR Manasseh Bailey Jr. Morgan State Capital Heights, Md. UMBC's 2017-18 season was also highlighted by the WR Xavier McKoy Jr. N.C. Central Charlotte, N.C. amongst FCS defenders with six interceptions. TE Paris Baker Sr. Savannah State Savannah, Ga. second America East Tournament championship in team C Matthew Thompson Sr. Morgan State Perry Hall, Md. The Tucker, Ga. native broke up a pass, returned OL Obinna Nwanko Jr. Florida A&M Miramar, Fla. history and a school-record 25 wins (25-11). an interception for a touchdown, recovered a fumble, OL Joshua Miles Sr. Morgan State Baltimore, Md. OL Robbie Stephenson Sr. South Carolina State Fairburn, Ga. "Eric Skeeters stood out among an outstanding group defended seven passes and forced a fumble which OL Khalil Harris Jr. Florida A&M Gulfport, Miss. of candidates for head coach of the Delaware State men’s led to an 85-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. THIRD TEAM DEFENSE DL Brandon Carswell Sr. Savannah State Mt. Vernon, Ga. basketball team," said Gines. "He's a 21-year Division I In addition to his success in the secondary, the FCS DL Kevin Thompson Sr. Bethune-Cookman Baltimore, Md. DL Deshaywn Middleton Sr. Norfolk State W-Salem, N.C. assistant who has contributed to successful programs in All-American also finished fourth on the team in DL Aaron Motley So. Howard Highland Spr., Va. tackles with 54 stops and 2.5 tackles for loss. LB Ian McBorrough Jr. Morgan State Essex, Md. highly competitive conferences, including the MEAC. Reynolds DB Carl Garnes Sr. Morgan State Columbus, N.J. During his career, Skeeters has played a key role in help- North Carolina A&T State led the way on the DB De'Mario Evans Sr. N.C. Central Columbia, S.C. 2018 preseason team with a total of eight first team members and nine DB Kendrick Gathers Sr. S.C. State Columbia, S.C. ing to rebuild programs, while serving on staffs that en- DB Alex Brown Sr. S.C. State Holly Hill, S.C. players overall. A total of 11 players from Howard were represented on THIRD TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS gineered two of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament all three teams while N.C. Central had nine student-athletes selected. PK Dakota Lebofsky Gr. Howard Overland Park, Kan. history.” P Clifford Benjamin, Jr. Jr. S.C. State Holly Hill, S.C. "Eric will resonate with our current players, commu- nity, and alumni. They will love his energy, drive, and de- votion. He is well positioned to lead our men’s basketball Ten MEAC games to air on ESPN networks in 2018 team," said the new Delaware State AD. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced its on Nov. 17. The Florida Classic will air live at 2 p.m. on ESPN Classic. From 2013 to 2016, Skeeters was an assistant coach at ESPN television package for the 2018 season which features 10 regular Two wildcard contests have been secured by the MEAC in Novem- George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and the previous season match-ups on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN3 and ber featuring teams in contention for the conference title.