By Staff
From Staff Reports
Jan. 22, 2002
Itawamba Community College men's basketball coach Marty Cooper is impressed with the Northeast Mississippi Community College Tigers despite their 5-8 overall record coming into this week.
Top players for Northeast are freshman forward Qyntel Woods, who averages nearly 28 points per game, and freshman point guard Jeremy Law of York, Ala.
Cooper's Indians beat Northeast 84-81 at Booneville on Jan. 14, leaving Cooper impressed with his team as well.
The Indians are 10-3 overall and 4-0 in the North Division. The top finisher in the men's North Division will host the MACJC state tournament this year.
Marty Stamper
NJCAA WBCA to add three in 2002
The NJCAA Women's Basketball Coaches Association will induct three new members into the Hall of Fame in March at Salina, Kan.
The inductees are Gary Barton of John A. Logan College in Illinois, Orville Gregory of Johnson City (Kan.) Community College, and Rosie Walker of Panola (Texas) Junior College.
At the time of his retirement, Barton was the third most winning coach in women's basketball. In a 21-year career, he accumulated 548 wins to go with only 111 losses.
His teams reached the NJCAA Women's Final Four four times and the final eight nine times.
Gregory is the originator of the NJCAA National Women's Basketball Championship.
The first tournament was hosted by Johnson County Community College in 1975. JCCC would go on to host the event from 1975 to 1982.
Walker was a member of the 1980 Olympic Team. She led Panola to two successive NJCAA championships in 1976 and 1977 and was named to the all-tournament team both years.
She was a first-team NJCAA All-American both years and went on to become a two-time Kodak All-American at Stephen F. Austin University.
Marty Stamper
EMCC's Yeates signs with Delta State
East Mississippi Community College running back David Yeates has signed a football scholarship with Delta State University.
Yeates finished his sophomore season as the leading rusher for Coach Tom Goode's team at Scooba. He rushed for nearly 700 yards as the Lions finished with a 2-8 record.
Yeates was one of 11 players signed by Delta State on Thursday.
Three others came from the Mississippi Juco League including Marlon Loggins from Holmes, Scott Copeland from Northwest and Tremaine Frison from Itawamba.
Jeff Byrd
Kennedy-King coach dies
Willie Little, who built Kennedy-King Community College into a nationally-ranked junior college program, recently died after a game in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
Little, 51, suffered a fatal heart attack after his team lost to Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College in double overtime.
He had undergone open-heart surgery two years ago but continued to coach with the use of a portable oxygen tank to assist his breathing.
Marty Stamper
Tallahassee's Wilson out for year
Sophomore guard Tai Wilson of Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College suffered a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 20.
Wilson was averaging 10.2 points per game prior to tearing her anterior cruciate ligament.
She was the 2001 Florida state tournament MVP as Tallahassee finished third in the NJCAA Women's National Basketball Championship, losing 105-96 to eventual champion Cloud County (Kan.) in the semifinals. Wilson scored 26 points against Cloud County and was selected to the all-tournament team at the nationals.
The Lady Eagles were 5-0 with Wilson and 6-2 without her. They were ranked No. 15 in the Jan. 15 NJCAA women's poll.
She is being recruited by the University of California and Penn State.
Marty Stamper
Women's NJCAA tourney prelim?
Several of the participants in last year's NJCAA Women's National Basketball Championship played in the Best of the U.S. Tournament at Ocala, Fla., Dec. 14-16.
Defending national champion Cloud County (Kan.) Community College knocked off Cincinnati State 80-65.
Ironically, the teams met in the second round of the 2001 national tournament with Cloud posting a 58-39 victory.
Also in the Florida tournament, Cincinnati State defeated Louisburg (N.C.) College 55-53 and lost to Wabash Valley 71-68.
Louisburg also played in the 2001 national tournament, going 2-2 with wins over Western Nebraska and Central Arizona and losses to Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College and Utah Valley.
Louisburg has appeared in the national tournament nine times in the last 11 years and has won the national championship twice. The 1992 Lady Hurricanes went 36-1.
The current Louisburg team was 9-0 heading into the Best of the U.S. Tournament.
The Cincinnati State team apparently isn't strapped for funds as it played in the Broward (Fla.) Community College Tournament, Dec., 7-8, beating Miami-Dade 63-62 and losing to Broward 94-85.
A 61-57 win over Owens Community College on Jan. 5 left the Surge from Cincinnati with an 11-4 record.
Marty Stamper