The Charlotte Post Blog

Despite the cold, wet conditions, Hampton fans are up in here at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Band and cheerleaders are here so you know who's going to win that battle.

Duke definitely has the size advantage but  Ariel Phillips gives the Pirates the first lead but Alexis Jones ties it right up. This place should be packed. If it were a men's game, it would be. But the fans are loud. Hampton president is also here. No matter how you feel about Duke, Cameron Indoor is just the best place to watch basketball.

Pirates trail 8-4 with 16:01 left in 1st half. Blue Devils just too big in middle. Hampton has to hit perimeter shots, but also going inside. Not intimidated. You should see these white fans looking at Hampton's cheerleaders on the floor. They are in culture shock. But Hampton's band is a big hit.

David Six has put in Verdine Warner, his tallest player on the team at 6-6.Tricia Liston's 2 FTs gives Duke 14-8 lead. Allison Vernerey makes it 16-8, Duke's biggest lead. 

Just heard that Hampton brought 8 buses. Now, that's fan support!

Olivia Allen hits Hampton's first 3-pointer. Duke leads 16-11.

Officials aren't calling any fouls. Oops, spoke too soon. Bad charging call foul called on Hampton. Duke leads 20-11.

Blue Devils starting to pull away, 25-11, as Hampton is cold from the outside. Now 32-13 but Hampton is battling.

Halftime: Duke 32, Hampton 15.

Pirates have had plenty of good looks at the basket but just couldn't hit from the field.

Allen scores first for Hampton, but Liston comes back with a 3. I covered Liston during the Greater N.C. Pro-Am Summer Basketball League when she was a freshman, and she was deadly from outside then. Her shot has only gotten better.

Pirates starting to get hot from the field. If they shot like this in the first half, game would be a lot closer. Duke leads 37-23 with 16:34 left in game.

Allen pulls Hampton to within 12, but there's Liston again with another 3.

Hampton won't go away, however. Allen jumper makes it 42-29. Pirates had a chance to pull closer but threw the ball away and Duke scored.

Hampton comes right back with a steal and basket to pull to within 11 with 12:50 left. Another turnover and Duke makes them pay. Allen is on fire. 46-36. Turnover Duke. Keiara Avant pulls Hampton to single digits - 8 pts - with 11:14 left. A Hampton steal. Pirates playing with some energy and confidence. Couldn't make the shot. Duke rebounds.

Avant's pretty reverse bucket pulls to 6. Another Hampton steal. Misses shot. Another Duke TO. Can't convert. 2 chances to cut lead to 6. Duke's Williams gets putback. This time a Hampton TO. 8 minutes left in game.

Lead back at 10. Not after a turnaround jumper by Avant.  Lead has grown to 12 with 6:06 left. Liston's overhead layup makes it 56-42. Time out Hampton.

In other basketball news, Gonzaga men have lost. You knew it was going to happen after Southern exposed their flaws. Miami should have been the other No. 1 seed.

Duke is going to win this. Lead 67-48 with 35 seconds remaining.

Game over: 67-51. President Harvey congratulating each player on the floor.

What else, but Gov. Pat McCrory's first budget. Yes, there are a lot of numbers and statistics involved, but here are some of the basic logistics, thanks to The Progressive Pulse.

In the budget:

• 1,800 new teaching positions

• 5,000 additional slots for early education program

• $5 million to pay private attorneys for indigent defendants

• Three positions in the Office of Charter Schools

• $4,000 for furniture for Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (and we know he so needs new furniture at taxpayers' expense)

• $3.4 million for drug treatment court funding

• Tuition increase of out-of-state students in the UNC system

Not in the budget:

• Teacher's assistants positions beyond the first grade

• Five prisons are slated to be shut down in Wayne, Bladen, Duplin and Robeson counties, and a youth prison in the western area

• Reduced aid to libraries and the elimination of four state historic sites: Aycock birthplace, Pol Memorial, Vance birthplace and House in the Horseshoe

• $10 million reduction to the N.C. Rural Center

• Cuts in advertising and marketing budgets for the N.C. Education Lottery. Advertising cuts? Now, those are fighting words.

Former Durham Mayor Nick Tennyson has been named chief deputy secretary of support at the NCDOT. Tennyson, who will oversee five business functions, will lead the implementation of a 25-year transportation infrastructure plan.

McCrory will continue to tradition of North Carolina governors by becoming the state honorary chair of the United Negro College Fund. Every governor sine James G. Martin has accepted the honor, but is there anyone else who finds the hypocrisy in McCrory?

Wednesday was National Signing Day. For most HBCUs, however, the day is a wait-and see to see which recruits go Division I and which don't.

For MEAC signings, click here.

For SWAC signings, click here.

For SIAC signings, click here.

Fayetteville State - UPDATED 3/15/13

• Dondre Whitmire, OL, Friendship Collegiate Academy, Washington, D.C.

• William Nelson, LB, Friendship Collegiate Academy, Washington, D.C.

• Darrius Wirt, OL, Hoke County High, Raeford, N.C.

• Phillip Bell, QB/DE, E.E. Smith, Fayetteville

Shaw

High school signees:

Tyriek Able - DB - (5-9, 180) out of Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro

Kanavius Brown - LB - (6-0, 200), Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro

Kendal Dukes  - LB - (5-9, 200), Upland High School in Upland, Calif.

Orin Gregg - RB - (5-11, 195), Dutch Fork High School, Irmo, N.C.

Christian Hartsfield - OL - (6-4, 320), Panther Creek High School, Apex

Vincent Jefferies - QB - (6-1, 185), Garner High School, Garner

Dontavious Jackson - DB - (6-2, 200), Hillside High School, Durham

Junior college/college transfers

Andres Magallon - K - (5-9, 170), Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, Calif.

Trevius Folston - QB - (6-7, 220), Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Fla.

Thomas Street - CB - (6-0, 180), Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, Calif.

Kelvin Wagner - WR - (6-0, 190), College of Sequoias, Visalia, Calif.

Michael Douglas - DL - (6-4, 290), Contra Costa Community College, San Pablo, Calif.

Corey Johnson - DB - (6-0, 205), Los Medanos Community College, Brentwood, Calif.

De'Shawn Beck - WR - (6-0, 180), La Harbour Community College, Los Angeles, Calif.

Traneir Fraiser - LB - (6-1, 230), Garden City Community College, Garden City, Kan.

Virginia State (UPDATED 2/22)

Shaquille Robinson, LB, Eastern View High, Culpeper, Va.

Jae'len Williams, DL, Charles City High, Charles City, Va.

Niko Johnson, QB, Hermitage High School, Richmond, Va.

In a media briefing on March 12, Superintendent Eric J. Becoats discussed topics impacting students and parents.

THE RESULTS ARE IN

Students that applied for one of the district’s 23 magnet schools through lottery were notified earlier this month of their acceptance. Over 8,500 applications were received. About 1,900 of them came from students currently attending private, charter or home schools. The overall application numbers are up this year by about 30 percent.

With goals to utilize school facilities, promote diversity and offer relevant programs to students in the district, the DPS Board of Education approved five new magnet schools to be implemented during the 2013-14 school year:

• Holt Year-Round Elementary will transition to a Language Academy offering Spanish and Mandarin Chinese beginning with the kindergarten class.

• Lowe’s Grove Middle will become a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics school offering “Techways,” including digital media technology, robotics and design technology, environmental technology and arts and kinesthetic technology.

• Neal Middle will also become a STEM school with an emphasis on engineering and design.

• Chewning Middle will be converted to the School of Creative Studies. Enrolling grades six to 12, students will focus on media and entertainment arts, graphic design, architectural design and literacy arts.

• Southern School of Energy and Sustainability will comprise of four small schools. Beginning as a freshman, students can select the School of Computer and Technology Engineering, the School of Infrastructure Engineering, the School of Business Management and Sustainability, and the School of Biomedical Technology.

2013-14 BUDGET UPDATE

As in pervious years, inflation and growth plus funding restrictions equal deficit. In April, Becoats will present the BOE with his proposed budget. The school system faces challenges, including the impact of $1.7 million from sequestration. In the meeting, Becoats warned that effects could be felt down the road and could change Title I funding.

With a projected shortfall of over $12 million for 2013, restrictions in the Central Office’s budget, transportation efficiency and state discretionary reductions are under construction.

STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK SURVEY

From March 18-29, parents and DPS employees are encouraged to take the Stakeholder Feedback Survey on www.dpsnc.net. Questions will accesses services, internal communication and professional development.

Y.E. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

The East Durham Children’s Initiative led 14 students (left) from Y.E. Smith Elementary (above) to embark on a bus tour to Washington, D.C. Students will visit the National Archives and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.

The tour is the first of its kind for EDCI. Follow their journey on Twitter (@EDCI_NC) or on Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/East-Durham_Childrens_Initiative.

Oh, the irony! When the MEAC tournament was in Winston-Salem, all fans wanted to see was  N.C. Central vs. N.C. A&T matchup. Never happened. Now, in the first year at the Scope in Norfolk, Va., the archrivals will meet tonight for the third time this season. The Eagles have owned the Aggies since they resumed the series, winners of four of the past five matchups. But the Aggies may have a slight advantage tonight in that they have played a game – defeating Florida A&M yesterday – while NCCU had a bye. It should be a doozy of a game. If the Eagles should lose, fans better root for Norfolk State to win it all. That way the Spartans get an invite to the Big Dance, while NCCU will most likely go to the NIT. As far down as the men's basketball program has been, ANY postseason bid would be remarkable.

UPDATE: Norfolk State was upset by Bethune-Cookman. That means they get the NIT bid. NCCU lost to N.C. A&T. The Eagles season is 99 percent over.

More from the CIAA tournament:

• With all the talk about Shaw senior Karron Johnson getting put off the team, no mention was made of the dismissal of women's player Ronika Ransford. Why is that? Ransford was averaging 15.5 points per game and was instrumental in many of Shaw's wins. Some of us have heard rumors but due to possible legal action, we'd best keep quiet.

• The John B. McLendon Hall of Fame induction ceremony was almost half empty. Normally, the room at the Charlotte Convention Center is packed to the rafters. But this year, EVERYBODY had to pay the $50 per ticket. One attendee said many of the older honorees couldn't make it because they were on fixed income and couldn't afford the price.

• In the "You never know what's going on behind the scenes" department, Virginia Union guard Parress Davis scored 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers past Virginia State in the early rounds. Davis' father died a year ago on that day. She honored him by putting on one of her best performances all season.

• Johnson C. Smith's women's coaching staff is comprised of all former N.C. Central folks.  Head coach Steve Joyner Jr. is a former assistant; Shenika Worthy and Amba Kongola are former standout players, and assistant Joli Robinson is the former women's head coach. Talk about keeping it all in the family. It was good to see them. Those Eagles women's teams were more interesting to watch than any of the men during the time. It's a shame Kongola never got a championship ring. But she can get one as a coach. Just as long as Smith doesn't have to play Shaw.

• According to scuttlebutt, the CIAA board discussed several changes to the tourney. One would be to lengthen the tourney to start Monday night after the women's and men's luncheon. Duh! The second is having four play-in games on campus sites of the highest seeds. The winners then go on the play at the big arena. I can't see that one going anywhere. EVERY squad wants to play on the big stage. That may be the only chance they get.