South Carolina HBCU Sports This Week

Stacy Danley Out As SC State Athletic Director

South Carolina State University President Alexander Conyers announced Tuesday the termination of Director of Athletics Stacy Danley, effective immediately.

Less than one month after naming new men’s and women’s head basketball coaches at SC State, Athletics Director Danley had been terminated, effective immediately.

Danley was not under contract with the university. Conyers said:

"SC State University has made the decision to move our athletics programming in a different direction. We thank Mr. Danley for his service to the university. We wish him well in his future endeavors."

Keisha Campbell has been appointed interim director of athletics. Campbell is an SC State University Athletics Hall of Famer, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference player of the year and MEAC All-Time Team member. She previously served as head women’s basketball coach at SC State University, was athletics director for Hampton University and worked as director of championships for the NCAA.

Series Of Developments

Conyers, a SC State graduate and retired U.S. Army colonel, was unanimously voted by the school’s Board of Trustees to the permanent position of president in April. He had served as acting president since July 2021. He was named interim president a month later on August 25, 2021.

He had been in the position as Danley has been engulfed in a swirl of controversy over the past year. Danley took over as the Bulldogs’ athletics director in 2017.

Danley abruptly fired women’s head basketball coach Audra Smith in late February of this past basketball season. The firing came a day after Smith filed a Title IX lawsuit against the university. Smith, a former head coach at Clemson, was hired in 2018.

Two weeks after Smith’s firing, former men’s head coach Murray Garvin named Danley in a suit he filed against the university. Garvin, who was head coach for the Bulldogs from 2013-2021, claimed the program was underfunded and accused Danley of interfering with his coaching duties and withholding monies due to the program. Danley did not renew Murray’s contract after the 2021 season.

Danley also garnered national attention when he denied a basketball recruit’s request to be released from his National Letter of Intent after former men’s head coach Tony Madlock left in April.

Danley’s Recent Moves

Danley announced on July 12 the hiring of longtime Cincinnati assistant Erik Martin as the new men’s head coach. A day later, he hired former Rutgers assistant Timothy Eaton as the new women’s head coach.

The men’s position at SC State had been open since mid April when Madlock resigned. The former Memphis assistant resigned after one year to take over as head coach at Alabama State. Madlock was reportedly also not under contract at SC State.

Assistant Ervin Monier was named interim head coach after Smith’s firing and finished out the women’s season.

Bulldog Lineman Named Preseason All-American

South Carolina State defensive lineman Jeblonski Green has been named second-team FCS All-American by Stats Perform.

Green, who missed four games last season, finished seventh on the team with 38 total tackles. He led the team with 19.5 tackles for loss and finished with 3.5 sacks and an interception.

The redshirt junior was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year at the recent MEAC football media day. He is one of 10 HBCU players selected among the three teams and the lone MEAC player chosen.

Furman teammates Ryan Miller (tight end) and Anderson Tomlin (offensive line) were each named to the second-team offense.

The Paladins were recently selected to finish third in the Southern Conference behind East Tennessee State and Chattanooga.

Defending FCS champion North Dakota State and South Dakota State led the way with six selections each.

QB – Xavier Shepherd, Kennesaw State

RB – Isaiah Davis, South Dakota State

RB – Isaiah Ifanse, Montana State

FB – Hunter Luepke, North Dakota State

WR – Xavier Gipson, Stephen F. Austin

WR – Taylor Grimes, UIW

TE – Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State

OL – Michael Corbi, Villanova

OL – McClendon Curtis, Chattanooga

OL – Matthan Hatchie, UT Martin

OL – Cody Mauch, North Dakota State

OL – Mason McCormick, South Dakota State

Defense

DL – Nate Lynn, William & Mary

DL – Devonnsha Maxwell, Chattanooga

DL – Josiah Silver, New Hampshire

DL–Spencer Waege, North Dakota State

LB – Jacob Dobbs, Holy Cross

LB – Ryan Greenhagen, Fordham

LB – Isaiah Land, Florida A&M

LB–Patrick O'Connell, Montana

LB – Stone Snyder, VMI

DB – Anthony Adams, Portland State

DB – Justin Ford, Montana

DB – Ferlando Jordan, Southeastern Louisiana

DB – Kedrick Whitehead, Delaware

Special teams

PK – Matthew Cook, Northern Iowa

P – Grant Burkett, Missouri State

LS – Robert Soderholm, VMI

KR – Malik Flowers, Montana

PR – Jah'Marae Sheread, Florida A&M

AP – Ulonzo Gilliam Jr., UC Davis

AP – Jacob Saylors, ETSU

Second team Offense

QB – Jason Shelley, Missouri State

RB – Juwon Farri, Monmouth

RB – Malik Grant, Sacred Heart

RB – Jaleel McLaughlin, Youngstown State

WR – Avante Cox, Southern Illinois

WR – Jakob Herres, Richmond

TE – Kemari Averett, Bethune-Cookman

TE – Ryan Miller, Furman

OL–Noah Atagi, Weber State

OL – Garret Greenfield, South Dakota State

OL – Alex Jensen, South Dakota

OL – Kyle Nunez, Stony Brook

OL – Anderson Tomlin, Furman

Defense

DL – Brevin Allen, Campbell

D –Malik Hamm, Lafayette

DL – Jeblonski Green, South Carolina State

DL – Jordan Lewis, Southern (2020)

DL – Clay Patterson, Yale

DL – B.J. Thompson, Stephen F. Austin

LB – Kelechi Anyalebechi, UIW

LB – Adam Bock, South Dakota State

LB – Spencer Cuvelier, Northern Iowa

LB – David Hoage, Northern Colorado

LB – Titus Leo, Wagner

LB – Tristan Wheeler, Richmond

DB – Zy Alexander, Southeastern Louisiana

DB – Montrae Braswell, Missouri State

DB – Robby Hauck, Montana

DB – Michael Tutsie, North Dakota State

Special teams

PK – Kyle Sentkowski, Sacramento State

P – Max Quick, Stephen F. Austin

LS – Dalton Godfrey, South Dakota

KR – Isaiah Bolden, Jackson State

PR – Devon Harper, Mercer

AP – Jake Chisholm, Dayton

AP – Javon Williams Jr., Southern Illinois