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Willard Bailey Classic
Panthers return for first home game of season
Bye bye cramped bus seat. Hello Hovey Field. Finally, the road-weary, yet road-conquering Virginia Union University Panthers will merely have to stroll across Lombardy Street to play a football game. Now 3-0 after three long bus rides, Coach Alvin Parker’s squad will play host to Fayetteville State 6 p.m. Saturday under the Hovey lights. It also will serve as the Willard Bailey Classic, honoring the former (and still avid supporter) who posted a 157-73-6 record in two stints of duty, 1971-1983 and 1995-03.

Battle for I-95 comes to VUU on Saturday
And now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the main event. Nine weeks of preliminaries have passed. Saturday at 1 p.m., Virginia Union will play host to Virginia State for the CIAA Northern Division title, a trip to Salem for the CIAA title game, and perhaps a shot at the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Transfer portal complicates next season for Rams
With the calendar spinning toward the 2024-25 season, what now for VCU hoops?

VUU, VSU left mark on NFL
HBCU grads sidelined at NFL Draft
Nowadays, the NFL seems to have overlooked HBCU athletes. None were selected in the most recent draft and just one was called in the past three years. Current NFL rosters only average about one HBCU player per team.

Wildcats’ Byrd is the word
Armstrong’s standout athlete feels ‘capable of doing anything’
There was only one No. 5 on the Armstrong High football roster, but it must have seemed like four to the Wildcats’ opponents.

Controversial call shoots down victory for Lady Justices in semifinals
Seven was indeed a lucky number this winter for John Marshall High School girls’ basketball, and a most unlucky number for the Justices’ foes. Quality trumped quantity for the school on Richmond’s North Side. With a bare bones roster of seven, the Justices came within a referee’s controversial call of reaching the State 3A final. “We were seven strong,” said Coach Travis Richardson, Class of 1998. “Our motto was ‘Seven deep, no sleep.’ “We were determined not to rest until we achieved our goals.”

Smart trades Rams horns for Texas Longhorns
When Shaka Smart was hired as Virginia Commonwealth University’s basketball coach in 2009, he was a little known, much traveled assistant, with a name that puzzled people. Since then, his name and fame — and that of his signature game style, “Havoc” — spread. Last week, Smart traded his Rams horns for the Texas Longhorns. He leaves Richmond as one of the hottest commodities in the sport, practically a household name among hoops enthusiasts.

JeQuan Lewis brings it for VCU in Weber’s absence
When the credits roll for Virginia Commonwealth University basketball, JeQuan Lewis is no longer among the supporting cast. The Tennessean with the distinctive fade haircut has popped up as a leading man for coach Shaka Smart’s short-handed but still Atlantic 10-leading Rams.

VUU gets training edge
College and NFL football share some common ground on Richmond’s North Side. Virginia Union University has been given the green light to practice once a week at the Bon Secours Training Center. The Leigh Street facility opened three years ago as the preseason training camp for the NFL Washington franchise. It’s the latest effort to open the partially city-funded facility to the community for other uses.

Mo’ne Davis to play Saturday in Henrico
Mo’ne Davis, the 14-year-old female pitching sensation selected as the Associated Press 2014 Female Athlete of the Year, will be testing her fastball Saturday against a team of Richmond area standouts.

Freshman quarterback at JM has big heart
When your varsity quarterback is a smallish, 14-year-old freshman and there are only three seniors on the team roster, two things are predictable:

NBA draft looking for a few ‘freshmen’
Expect to hear the word “freshman” frequently during the NBA draft on Thursday, June 22.

Clouds lifting for Huguenot Falcons varsity team
Huguenot High School’s 2015 football Falcons were either 2-8 or 8-2, depending on whether you attended games on Friday or Thursday nights.

Wythe, Marshall remain positive despite losses at state tourney
Both George Wythe and John Marshall High schools are looking forward to continued basketball excellence next season — and the next, and the next. Two freshmen who made their mark this winter figure to provide the Bulldogs and Justices with long-term success.

Kamaru Usman defends MMA welterweight title on ‘Fight Island’
Fight fans who admired boxer Floyd Mayweather are likely to have an appreciation for Kamaru Usman.

‘Tip Your Cap’ in honor of 100th anniversary of baseball’s Negro Leagues
A monthlong “Tip Your Cap” campaign hon- oring the formation 100 years ago of baseball’s Negro Leagues got underway June 29.

Forecast cloudy for VUU football
Virginia Union University began last football season with two clearly established senior quarterbacks — Shawheem Dowdy and Kenneth Graham.

Petersburg's Frank Mason III playing for call up to Bucks' active roster
Frank Mason III is dribbling down the comeback trail with the desired final destination only 88 miles away. The former Petersburg High School and University of Kansas basketball sensation is suiting up for the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G-League.

Coach Tubby Smith gets the boot at Memphis
Memo to colleges in search of a new basketball coach: One of the very best, Tubby Smith, is available again. With Richmond roots, Smith is among college basketball’s most successful coaches. He is also among the most traveled.

Bolt loses world race; still fan favorite
For the first time in nearly a decade, the world’s fastest man isn’t named Usain Bolt. Justin Gatlin has regained that title again after holding off the iconic Jamaican in the 100-meter final of the World Championships of Athletics last Saturday in London.