It's not always following a legend, but Willard Coker's off to good start at Virginia Union.

Coker, the Panthers' first-year basketball coach, succeeded Dave Robbins, who won 713 games, 13 CIAA championships and three Division II national titles over 30 seasons. After starting 3-3, VUU's last two games have been big wins against No. 3 Augusta State and preseason CIAA West No. 1 Johnson C. Smith. The best part is the Panthers haven't played their first home game yet. "They've been playing hard and it seems like we had a couple of shots to go our way...which is important," Coker said. "We got a couple of breaks to go our way when we needed them and we've been in some tough games that didn't go our way, so it evens out." Coker, who played on VUU's 1980 national title squad, spent 23 years as Robbins' assistant.

The lessons learned at the side of the master have made Coker uniquely qualified to keep the Panthers among the CIAA elite.

"I think Coker's well-prepared for the job," said J.C. Smith coach Steve Joyner, a former VUU assistant who recruited Coker in the late 1970s. "He understands he has to go in and be his own man, so he's not trying to be Dave Robbins. He's taking the things he learned from Dave and using them very well. He's tweaked his own philosophy and the kids are buying in." It helps that the Panthers have good players. The backcourt duo of Braxton and Brandon Byerson and forward Gregg Thondique gives VUU an experienced nucleus, and the Panthers' extended road trip has put them in position to be a force in league play.

"It's always good that you can depend on kids who've been there," Coker said. "They've played in big games, the game at Madison Square Garden (a 52-51 win against Bowie State), and then we had the opportunity to play Duke this year (in a preseason scrimmage at Cameron Indoor Stadium).

Even though they beat us, but it was one of those situations that our guys gained experience playing against a crowd like that. That's the type of stuff we push. Once you've been in front of crowds like that, you should be able to handle anything. Guys who've been there, that's what you expect them to do." Count Coker among that group.

"It's been an adventure," he said. "It's been a game-to-game thing. My wife is here critiquing me on my behavior and all that stuff and being able to work under coach Robbins for 23 years was a blessing and I tried to watch everything he did and soak up all that knowledge. That's all I'm trying to do now - apply it."

It's a new year, and many of us will resolve to do something differently. Why shouldn't black college sports? Here are a few that just beg for attention. Better football officiating. Black-college officials took a beating in '08, with the SWAC

suspending an unnamed pair of whistle-blowers for their actions during the Mississippi Valley State-Jackson State game on Oct. 25 and Philip Harden permanently suspended after blowing a go-ahead touchdown at the Turkey Day Classic between Tuskegee and Alabama State. Both calls had a bearing on rankings and milestones. Jackson State won its game 29-27 and went on to the SWAC

Eastern Division title. Alabama State topped Tuskegee 17-13, ending the Tigers' 26-game winning streak and their chances of repeating as black college national champs. Everybody complains about officiating, but let's have fewer mistakes that determine the outcome of games, OK? Better Division I basketball. There's nothing wrong with Dayton, Ohio in March, unless you play hoops in the MEAC or SWAC.
That's where you can usually find the champion of either of those leagues in what amounts to a play-in game for the NCAA tournament. Based on their RPI from past seasons, neither league is going to get much respect until they start beating non-conference opponents on the regular. Here's an ide
a: play more mid-major opponents. The money isn't as good as the guaranteed beat-downs from big-money competition, but at least there's a better chance at improving the RPI.

Develop platinum programs. The best programs bring good athletes to campus, coach them up and put resources behind the product. That takes commitment and money for the long haul, something too many administrators and fans fail to understand. S.C. State football is an example of how to do it right. The Bulldogs win consistently, including the 2008 MEAC title with a competitive effort in the first round of the

Division I playoffs. Grambling is on the same level if the Tigers could actually get into the playoffs, which the SWAC championship game prevents. Among non-revenue sports, St. Augustine's track is a national program that can hold its own on an international stage. Coach George Williams has produced a string of all-Americans and Olympians, proof that the program is top of the line. Some love for non-revenue sports.

Maryland Eastern Shore won the national championship in bowling, but no one noticed outside the immediate campus community. Football and basketball may rule the barber shop trash talk, but any success - especially a national title - should be celebrated. Better support. HBCU fans may love their team, but something's not right when half the crowd at a football team goes missing after the bands do their thing at halftime. Is the music really that much better than the game itself? If so, then perhaps the on-field product is in need of an overhaul. Basketball seems to be an afterthought on many campuses, where good seats can be found from tip-off to the final horn.

Ernest Jones was fired as Alcorn State's football coach on Dec. 11.

So why is he still recruiting for the Braves? Jones is appealing his termination and until a university grievance committee hears his case, he'll remain on the job, even if the administration wants him gone. Not only is Jones' employment up in the air, he's also filed a $3 million lawsuit against Alcorn alleging breach of contract. Would any recruit actually buy into ASU as the place to be with a coach who apparently wasn't worth keeping after one season? Luring good players will be hard enough at Alcorn, which went 2-10 this season.

But being recruited by what is best described a lame duck coach raises all kinds of red flags. What happens if Jones' appeal is rejected? Will scholarship offers be taken off the table? Who'd take his place? Will offensive and defensive philosophies and schemes change? According to the Associated Press, Jones' lawsuit alleges he was hired on Dec. 11, 2007 but worked without a contract until Aug. 11, 2008. He also says Alcorn Athletics Director Darren Hamilton blocked ASU coaches from supplementing their income from other sources as well as reneging on an agreement to build a new weight room from money earned from a game against Division FCS opponent New Mexico State.

Jones seeks unspecified damages, court costs and attorney fees. Maybe he should sue for a less confusing workplace.

The SIAC has a new full-time commissioner.

The league's Council of Presidents voted to appoint Gregory Moore as the commissioner of the league effective January 19. Moore's previous sports administration experience includes general counsel of the Jersey Express, a minor league basketball franchise as well as sports law at his New Jersey practice.

Moore, who was picked from a field of four finalists on Dec. 18, has also served as deputy counsel for the New Jersey State Legislature and legal counsel at Essex County College in Newark. The SIAC has been under interim leadership since Williams Lide was fired in June, and one of Moore's first priorities is to restore confidence in the commissioners' office.

Lide was fired after an internal audit revealed misuse of league funds and a lack of communication between his office and SIAC members regarding conference fnances. "Mr. Moore brings a wealth of educational and professional experiences to the position," Tuskegee University president and Council of Presidents Chairman Benjamin Payton said.

Moore also has experience in sports marketing, broadcast licensing and NCAA compliance policies, which he intends to use to increase the SIAC brand. "It is my sense that SIAC student athletes are the embodiment of what is best about college sports and I will work tirelessly to broaden the platform to showcase these outstanding young men and women," Moore said in a prepared statement.

The trouble with polls is that they're always open to heated debate. It's especially true in black college football. Exhibit A is the venerable Sheridan Broadcasting Network poll, which crowned Grambling State the 2008 national champion and left South Carolina State second. Exhibit B is the rival Boxtorow.com/BASN poll, which mirrored SBN.

The Tigers won 23 of 30 first-place votes in the Sheridan poll, and 12 of 16 from Boxtorow.com/BASN. Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny polls' power to generate an argument, and these results will be debated for a while. In the interest of full disclosure, I was a Sheridan pollster for a couple of seasons in the mid-1990s, and participated in this year's Boxtorow.com survey. There's no denying Grambling (11-2) had an excellent campaign that included a 10-game winning streak and a sweep of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, including East champion Jackson State twice.

But the league overall was down in 2008, and the East Division wasn't anywhere close to the West, where Grambling and Prairie View (fourth in both polls) were head and shoulders above the crowd. I voted S.C. State (10-3) No. 1 because the Bulldogs roared through a more competitive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with an unbeaten record. Their three losses were to Football Bowl Subdivision programs Clemson and Central Florida and Appalachian State in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. None of those games were on S.C. State's home field and the Bulldogs played three-time FCS champ Appalachian State tougher than anyone dared imagine for 50 minutes. Perhaps it all came down to final impressions.

Grambling won the SWAC title on national TV the week after S.C. State was eliminated from the FCS playoffs. Tuskegee, a Division II program and the 2007 national champ, lost to Division I rival Alabama State on Thanksgiving Day, snapping a 26-game winning streak. The Golden Tigers finished third in both polls. Don't hold your breath for the return of a black-college championship game like the ill-fated Heritage Bowl in the '90s.

Besides, it would spoil the fussing over who's top dog. Or cat.

Trouble seems to follow L.C. Cole as surely as winning football games.

The new Stillman head coach left some wreckage at Alabama State, which is in major hot water with the NCAA infractions posse over his time there. Before that, it was Tennessee State.

On Wednesday, the Division I Committee on Infractions slapped ASU on probation for five years due to major and secondary violations in its athletics programs, especially in football. The panel found a lack of institutional control, no monitoring by Cole and violations in academic fraud, recruiting, benefits, ineligible participation and financial aid. In other words, the committee found Cole and ASU turned a blind eye to violations in the athletics department before he was fired in 2003. "A revolving door of administrators at the institution, including within the department of athletics, was a prime factor in the institution's inability to establish a viable compliance program, which ultimately resulted in the institution's failure to exercise institutional control," the committee reported. In addition to probation, ASU is banned from postseason football competition next year, recruiting activities and athletic scholarships will be reduced. It also must vacate its records and submit a compliance program review.

Cole, who was hired as Division II Stillman's (Ala.) head coach last week, also must serve a two-year show-cause order. The show-cause penalty calls for increased monitoring of Cole and beefing up his rules education through NCAA-sanctioned seminars. According to the NCAA, from 1999 to 2005, ASU staff arranged for fraudulent academic credits for eight football players when their original letter grades were changed without approval from appropriate university administrators. Six athletes avoided ineligibility because of the grade changes. From 1999 to 2003, ineligible football, men's and women's basketball and baseball players received athletic scholarships, practiced, and played for the Hornets. The committee also found ineligible athletes and prospects participated in out of season workouts, which is prohibited. The school also provided meals, lodging and transportation to prospects and players, also a no-no.

At Tennessee State, Cole served a school-imposed suspension in 1998 for violations before the school sanctioned itself a year later after reporting its finding to the NCAA. Stillman, however, is sticking with Cole, who has an overall record of 48-31 at ASU and TSU.

"We did our due diligence," Stillman Athletics Director Curtis Campbell said in a statement. "We contacted the NCAA several weeks ago and were told there was no show-cause penalty on coach Cole at that time."

In addition, I contacted professionals knowledgeable of his work at prior institutions and discovered nothing that would have disqualified him from consideration. "While what happened in the past is regrettable, it doesn't change our feelings about coach Cole today," he said. "We expect him to do great things, the Stillman way." At least the Stillman folks know what they're getting.

Philip Harden has called his last Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game. He has no choice. The league permanently suspended Harden starting with the 2009 season after he blew what should've been the go-ahead touchdown for Tuskegee in last month's Turkey Day Classic between the Division II Tigers and Division I rival Alabama State. Tuskegee quarterback Jacary Atkinson threw what appeared to be a touchdown pass to receiver Jonathan Lessa in the waning seconds. Harden, the back judge, ruled Lessa out of bounds and after consulting with field judge Vincent Swift, confirmed the original call. Video, however, showed Lessa was inbounds and in possession of the ball. Alabama State won 17-13, Tuskegee's 26-game winning streak was snapped and its chances of repeating as black college national champs took a major hit.

The SIAC folks didn't take too kindly to the foul-up, kicking Harden to the curb and issuing an apology to Tuskegee. Moses Norman, the league's supervisor of football officials, said in a statement: "My conclusion is that the ruling by the back judge was in error because visual evidence available to me contradicts his explanation regarding the player being out-of-bounds when he secured possession of the football. Thus, the play should have resulted in a touchdown for Tuskegee. Certainly, this was a game-changing ruling by the back judge." SIAC Interim Commissioner George Mategakis was blunt: "We expect complete honesty from our officials at all times. Anything else is simply unacceptable. Our supervisor of football officials, Dr. Norman spends a considerable amount of time making sure our officials approach each game with the utmost importance and significance. To miss a call like this will not be tolerated. The balance and result of a sporting contest should not be decided by officials, instead it should be decided by the players."

No one said officiating was easy, and no one suggests Harden intentionally robbed Tuskegee, but black college football has struggled with complaints like this in recent years. While there are many good officials, Harden is the latest to be made an example of for messing up a crucial call. "We have very high expectations of all our officials and we expect them to call a fair game every time they step on to the field," Mategakis said. "We in no way expect or think that our teams should win every single game they play when facing out of conference competition, but we certainly expect a fair and just approach every single time."

Bowie State is in the market for a football coach while Stillman has hired a familiar name to lead its program. Bowie State Athletics Director Derek Carter and head coach Mike Lynn reached agreement on Lynn's resignation from the Bulldogs after five seasons and a 26-25 record, tying him for the most wins at BSU. Lynn's best season was 2005 when the Bulldogs went 8-4, reached the CIAA championship game and advanced to the Pioneer Bowl.

In Tuscaloosa, Ala., former Tennessee State and Alabama State coach L.C. Cole has been hired at Stillman. He comes from Texas Southern, where he was defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. "It's a great opportunity for me to come back to the state of Alabama and to coach at Stillman," Cole said. "Stillman is known for its competitiveness. I look forward to getting Stillman back into that winning spirit. I plan to start recruiting right way to get the program on a winning track." Cole, who has 26 years of collegiate coaching experience, is Stillman's third coach since the school brought back football in 1999.

But Cole's a winner with a 48-31 record in seven collegiate seasons at Tennessee State and Alabama State. Cole also earned a pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles at TSU, a fact not lost on the committee that unanimously recommended his hire. "We hired the best coach available. We are excited about bringing coach Cole to Stillman," Athletics Director Curtis Campbell said. "His experience separated him from the pack. ...That speaks to his caliber of coaching and his ability to turn programs around."

The SIAC is working on its third commissioner in seven months. Harry Stinson III has been named interim chief, replacing George Mategakis, who is resigning effectively Dec. 31 to become director of championships with the California Community College Athletic Association.

Stinson has worked for the SIAC since 2005 as communications and marketing director. Prior to his appointment, he served as the director of operations for the Georgia Games, an affiliate branch of the Amateur Athletic Union, and as a general manager of the World Boxing League.

The Executive Committee of the SIAC Council of Presidents held an emergency meeting Dec. 1 and named Stinson commissioner until a search committee recommends a permanent commissioner before the end of January.

The musical chairs started when Bill Lide was fired May 31 after an audit revealed financial irregularities in SIAC accounts. The investigation found mishandling of information and resources from the NCAA and failure to inform league membership of financial challenges facing the conference.

Mategakis took over on June 1 before giving way to Stinson, who will continue his media duties. Mategakis has filled several capacities over five years with the SIAC, including special assistant to the commissioner, director of championships, sports information liaison, and special events director.

The 2008 black college football season is almost over, and it's a good time to take stock of what happened - and didn't. Other than Langston (Okla.), which advanced to the third round of the NAIA playoffs, every HBCU is going overt the season that was. So will we. Without further ado, here are the highlights and lowlights: South Carolina State is the top team. You can make an argument for Tuskegee, the best HBCU program over the previous two seasons, but there's no denying the Bulldogs from Orangeburg. S.C. State went unbeaten in the MEAC, advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since 1982 and played three-time national champ Appalachian State tough before losing in the first round. That was the only FCS loss S.C. State took, and the Bulldogs beat every HBCU squad put across from them.

The best return to prominence belongs to Prairie View A&M. The Panthers completed their drive from joke to contenders in their fifth season under coach Henry Frazier with one of the SWAC's top defenses. A loss to West Division foe Grambling kept the Panthers out of the league title game, but that's about all that didn't go right for PV. Frazier deserves SWAC coach of the year and consideration for the Division I FCS honor as well. The swiftest fall from grace goes to Virginia Union. The Panthers, picked to finish first in the CIAA East, were 4-1 at midseason, but fell flat on their faces down the stretch to finish 5-5. First-year coach Greg Richardson was given the heave-ho to continue the carousel that started when Arrington Jones quit in the spring. Should've seen this coming, Lee Fobbs.

The North Carolina A&T Aggies didn't wait until season's end to run Fobbs off, cutting ties with the man hired with a mandate to return a proud program to relevancy. There was good news, however. A&T broke its school-record 27-game losing streak and finished 3-8. They're all in the (HBCU) family. Tennessee State, West Virginia State and Langston don't play in one of the four major HBCU conferences, yet fashioned strong seasons in their respective leagues. TSU went 8-4, 5-3 in the Division I FCS Ohio Valley Conference; WVS went 7-3, 5-3 in the Division II West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and Langston, of course, is still playing in the NAIA tournament. No love for the CIAA. The league was moved to Super Region 1 in a realignment mandated by the NCAA. The result was a disaster, with the CIAA locked out of the postseason.

Three teams - conference champ Shaw, Fayetteville State and Elizabeth City State won at least seven games, but that pesky strength of schedule doomed the CIAA when postseason invitations were extended. Note to entire league: Better start beating non-conference opponents with some regularity if you want to be taken seriously at playoff time. Pioneer Bowl on hold - again. The Division II postseason game was called off for the second time in seven years, leading to speculation its future is in doubt. Drawing fans is a perennial challenge, and the game has never been an economic juggernaut. Still, if anything can be done to save the game between CIAA and SIAC champions, it's worth the effort.

When Henry Frazier arrived as Prairie View A&M football coach in 2004, the Panthers were the laughingstock of the SWAC. No one's laughing in 2008. The Panthers have returned to relevance, standing second in the SWAC West at 6-1 and miles away from the program that didn't have a winning campaign from 1976-2007.

A slip from division leader Grambling State - the only team to beat Prairie View - could advance the Panthers (9-1 overall) to the league championship game. Ironically, missing out on the SWAC title game would leave Prairie View in position for an at large berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Before Frazier's five-year makeover, Prairie View was best known as the school with an 80-game losing streak from 1989-98. In 2003, Frazier was hired away from Bowie State of the CIAA, where he turned the Bulldogs into a league power twice - first as a player in the 1980s, then as coach.

He inherited a wreck at Prairie View, where the Panthers were coming off a 1-10 season and were outscored 543-109 the season prior to Frazier's arrival. Interest in the program, which was a black college powerhouse in the 1960s under legendary coach Billy Nicks, was non-existent on campus, the community and football-crazy Texas. Needless to say, they're paying attention now.

It's easy to get caught up with the four NCAA-affiliated black college conferences, but it's time to show some love for Langston University football's magical NAIA season.

The Lions from Oklahoma are reveling in its best football postseason ever and advanced to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics playoffs.

The 10-2 Lions will face 11-0 University of Sioux Falls (S.D) in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Series Saturday at 12 p.m. Central Time. LU, which is in the playoffs for the first time since 1994, won its second NAIA playoff game by knocking off MidAmerica Nazarene 20-14 last week.

The Lions forced four turnovers in beating MNU for the second straight season. The next round won't be any easier. USF is no slouch, riding a 33-game home winning streak and owner of seven shutouts this season, including a 28-0 first-round win against Ambrose in last weekend. This is the first meeting between the schools. Langston doesn't appear be an easy out, either. The Lions two losses have been to NCAA Division I programs Grambling State and Stephen F. Austin. That makes them pretty good by any measure.

South Carolina State has a daunting task in the opening round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs: knock out the division's resident dynasty.

The Bulldogs, who polished off an unbeaten MEAC season with a 55-0 thrashing of N.C. A&T Saturday in Greensboro, is headed to Boone, N.C., Saturday to face three-time defending national champion Appalachian State (10-2) Saturday at 12 p.m. The Mountaineers, who are seeded second in the 16-team tournament, won the Southern Conference title and making its 16th appearance. ESPNU will broadcast the game live. The winner advances to the Dec. 6 quarterfinals against the Eastern Kentucky-Richmond winner.

"Well, we know it will not be easy but we are happy to have a chance to compete for a national championship," S.C. State coach Buddy Pough said. "Appalachian State is about as good as you can get and three-time defending champion. We know we have our work cut out for us and are looking forward to the game." In two previous playoff appearances in the playoffs (1981 and '82) the Bulldogs won first-round games and lost in the second to the eventual champion. S.C. State beat Tennessee State in 1981 before losing at Idaho State.

The Bulldogs stopped Furman in 1982 only to lose the next week at Louisiana Tech. James Madison (10-1) is the top seed after earning an automatic berth from the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dukes, who won the 2004 national championship, are making their ninth tournament appearance. Northern Iowa (10-2), which is making its 14th tournament appearance, is the third seed.

The Panthers were the national runners-up to Appalachian State in 2005. Montana (11-1) , winner of the 1995 and 2001 championships, got the fourth seed. The Grizzlies are making their 16th straight appearance and 19th overall.

Football and basketball generate most of the headlines in black college sports, but a couple of volleyball programs are laying claim to dominance below the radar.

Florida A&M and Albany State have collected eight straight titles in the MEAC and SIAC to lay claim as the best programs going in any sport. Both schools earned automatic postseason bids, with FAMU going to the NCAA Division I tournament and Albany State headed to the Division II playoffs.

FAMU extended its MEAC streak by knocking off Maryland Eastern Shore 3-2 in Hampton, Va. UMES (25-9) led two sets to one and were ahead in the fourth 22-19 when the Rattlers fought back to win 31-29. The decisive set was tied 10-10 but FAMU reeled off the next five points to seal the deal. Jovana Blazeski led Florida A&M (14-11) with 30 kills, while Samara Ferraz recorded 25.

It's been a long wait between playoff appearances for S.C. State, but the Bulldogs are on their way. After a 26-year absence, S.C. State clinched the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship with a 32-0 win over Morgan State Saturday.

The Bulldogs earned a ticket to the Football Championship Subdivision tournament in the process. S.C. State, (9-2, 7-0 MEAC) which last earned a playoff bid in 1982, clearly is the league's - and perhaps black college football's - top team in 2008. In 2004, S.C. State tied Hampton for first, but lost the head-to-head meeting and automatic playoff bid, one of several near-misses during head coach Buddy Pough's six seasons on the Orangeburg, S.C., campus. "It's just a great feeling," Pough said. "Can you imagine being so close for all the six years I've been here and we finally got it done."