Amber Anderson | Staff Writer

Photo Credit: @chapternextphotography via Instagram 

The vision is clear and bright for Hampton University commit Victoria Davis, as she is one step closer to becoming a McDonald’s All-American athlete. Davis is living out a dream of many high school athletes. Along with more than 900 other high school basketball players across the country, she has been nominated for the McDonald’s All-American Game. 

The McDonald’s All-American Game has maintained a reputation for a difficult selective process. The names of the athletes have to be submitted and approved by a wide variety of judges. They include high school coaches, high school athletic directors, high school principals and McDonald’s All-American Games Selection Committee Members. What surprises people the most is there isn’t a set number on the amount of the nominees throughout the country.  

Once the voting committees cast their vote, 24 young women will have the opportunity to become a McDonald’s All-American. If selected, she will be playing with some of the best of the best on April 1 at the Toyota Center in Houston. 

Hampton students are excited to have Davis be a part of the Hampton family next season. Lanece Carpenter, a first-year player, believes that Davis could play a huge role in helping to make Hampton’s Lady Pirates basketball team a notable name. 

“Having an All-American girl play for Hampton will be a great achievement for Hampton, especially with the recruitment process,” Carpenter said. “It’ll help in putting Hampton on the map, considering the recent transition to the Big South Conference and allow the university to begin to dominate the conference in multiple sports.” 

  Not only is she one step closer to becoming an All-American athlete, but she is on her way to becoming a 6A state champion again with her teammates at Hamilton high school in Chandler, Arizona. 

Davis believes that it’s a team effort in order to find success. In an interview last month with the East Valley Tribune, Davis spoke about how she and her teammates have a clear understanding of what they need to do in order to win another state championship. 

“We lost a few seniors that had a big role, so it’s more stepping up to the plate, taking their position and still leading the team to state,” Davis said. “We know we still have most of the same people, and we know we can do it, it’s just doing the right things to get there.”

With her current mindset focused on hard work, there is little doubt about whether Davis succeeds as a Lady Pirate.

Harrington Gardiner | Staff Writer

Photo Credit: Unsplash User Dave Adamson

The Kansas City Chiefs rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 in Miami for their first NFL championship in 50 years.

This was the Chiefs’ second crown after downing the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.

Sunday’s game started off relatively slow in the first half. The defenses on both sides did everything possible to make life miserable for the opposing offenses, but it didn’t stop both teams from scoring touchdowns in the first half. The score was tied 10-10 before Shakira and Jennifer Lopez lit up the halftime show.

The story of the second half was focused on San Francisco’s inability to score and Kansas City stepping up when it was time to play defense on the biggest stage. 

The front seven for the 49ers, led by pass rushers Dee Ford and Nick Bosa, made life difficult for the offensive tackles of the Chiefs. Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh came up with all sorts of blitzes to frustrate Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes. San Francisco did a good job early of controlling the pace by running the ball and working the play-action pass. Jimmy Garoppolo made key throws in the first half, and the Niners offense was clicking on all cylinders. 

Even with the Niners playing well in the first half the biggest story outside of Mahomes’ performance was the 49ers losing control of the game. The Niners scored a touchdown and another field goal to go up 20-10 by the end of the third quarter, but when the fourth quarter came, nothing seemed to be going San Francisco’s way. The Niners seemed to have abandoned the run game late in the fourth and gave too much time on the clock for Mahomes and coach Andy Reid’s offense. The Chiefs would come back to make big plays on offense through the air, and the Chiefs defense, led by Tyrann Mathieu and Chris Jones, stood tall when it mattered for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Kansas City proved that it had a solid defense after having to listen to many critics all season, and the Chiefs’ offense got back to its explosive play.

The Niners struggled to make stops and they gave up 21 unanswered points in the fourth. Garoppolo also struggled once the Chiefs defense applied pressure. Jimmy G completed 86 percent of his throws for 199 yards, one TD and a 119.5 passer rating without pressure. With pressure, Garoppolo had an abysmal 11 percent completion percentage, 20 yards and two interceptions.

Also, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan had another questionable fourth quarter. Shanahan has now been outscored 46-0 in the fourth quarter of Super Bowls as a play caller. This dates back to his time as offensive coordinator of the Falcons when they took on the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. 

The Chiefs came out victorious, and Mahomes won Super Bowl MVP, going 26-of-42 for 286 passing yards, two passing TDs and two picks. Mahomes shined bright in the biggest stage and is adding to what is already a promising career. And after 22 years, Reid finally won his first championship. The sky’s the limit for Kansas City, which has 10 of 11 offensive players under contract next season.

Harrington Gardiner | Staff Writer

Photo Credit: Jim Heath / Director of Sports Information

Despite accomplishing so many achievements and receiving so many awards this season, Nylah Young has one goal in mind: a championship for the Lady Pirates. 

The freshman’s season so far has included winning the Big South conference freshman player of the week. Young has been averaging 15.3 PPG, 11 Reb and 2.3 steals this season. 

Nylah is from Suffolk, Virginia with an undecided major. She’s been playing basketball since she was six years old. Young played AAU basketball and she also played all four years of high school basketball at Kings Fork High School. 

Since a young age, Young has been inspired by three basketball players: Candice Parker, LeBron James and most importantly her father. Nylah’s dad played overseas after playing at the University of Maryland and East Carolina.

“He’s been my inspiration because he’s been playing all his life too, so I wanted to play since I was young, and it just stuck with me,” Young said.

The decision to attend Hampton University came from her desire to be closer to home. Hampton also had a family atmosphere that was unlike any other school.

“When you go other places they pretend, but I felt like when I came here, I was treated like real family,” she said. “[Hampton’s] basketball program is great and I decided to go someplace where I’d fit in and become a threat as soon as I get there.” 

Nylah also discussed the bond she has with her teammates and coaching staff and how that has had an impact on her successful freshman season. 

“They’re always pushing me to do better and when it comes to my teammates, we love each other. Yes, we fight sometimes but in the end we know the common goal and we love each other. The coaches push me to especially Coach Six. He pushes me every day and he’s on me constantly in practice and everyone can attest to that, but he just wants me to do well so that’s why he pushes me to do better.” 

With success comes adversity, and Nylah talked about the roadblocks she went through in high school while she went through a frustrating recruiting process. 

“The whole recruiting process for me in high school was terrible. In high school, I thought that colleges were going to look at me and be interested in me but that wasn’t the case. Eventually, people thought that I couldn’t play basketball at the next level and that just made me want to work harder. Hampton gave me a chance and that’s why I came here as well.” 

Nylah wants to continue to improve by working out this offseason and staying in the gym. She emphasized conditioning and working on her core to continue to add to her muscle. She also wants to take on a leadership role next year and keep the freshman focused on team goals instead of individual accolades. 

“It’s good to have self-goals and accolades but at the end of the day, I want that championship and that’s the message I want to send to the incoming freshmen.”

Young doesn’t intend on stopping her basketball career, and when asked what she wants to do in the future after graduation, she discussed being a doctor or playing overseas. 

 

Staff Writer: Amber N. Anderson

Photo Credit: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Former NFL player George Atkinson III died Dec. 2 at age 27, one year after the suicide of his twin brother, Josh Atkinson. Currently, there is no reported cause of death for Atkinson. During his NFL career, George Atkinson III played for the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns.
In October, Atkinson released an open letter published by the Unsealed, titled, “How I Turned My Losses into Lessons.” He addressed the letter to kids going through adversity. Within the letter, Atkinson discussed his battle with depression, his traumatic upbringing and how the sport of football changed his life.
Atkinson struggled with expressing himself, not opening up about all that he was going through and just continued to move forward.
“I felt like I had to be this tough guy and show no emotion,” Atkinson wrote in the open letter. Growing up, he and his twin brother had an unstable household. The two dealt with a mother who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia while also having to from house to house.
At the age of 10, he became aware that the way he was being treated was not right. At one point he had to call the police on his mother because she was getting violent toward him and his brother.
The two were taken away from their mom, living with their uncle for two years, and eventually their father, former NFL player George Atkinson II, stepped up to the plate and moved the boys in with him.
Moving in with their father created stability for them. The two then began playing football in high school. Atkinson and his brother ended up with scholarships from schools all across the country but decided that the University of Notre Dame was the place for them to continue their football careers.
Although they were on the road to success, the two were still carrying a lot of pain with them. Last October, their mother died from complications from Crohn’s disease. That same year on Christmas, his twin brother committed suicide by hanging himself.
Atkinson also checked into a mental institution because he had attempted to harm himself.
Battling with depression and struggling with expressing his emotions, he sought out help and began seeing a psychologist.
“We all must make sure we don’t find the easy way out, like using alcohol or drugs to numb our pain,” Atkinson wrote. “That will lead us nowhere. We have to face our problems head-on, whether that is talking to people, praying or listening to motivational speeches. Whatever helps you get through a tough time, that’s what you’ve got to do, and that’s what I have to do, too.”

Approximately 46.6 million adults in the U.S. endure the reality of managing a mental illness every day, meaning that 1 in 5 will live with a mental health condition at some point in their lifetime, according to Athletes for Hope. People are often under the impression that athletes don’t have mental health struggles due to all the success, wealth, fame and being able to play the sport that they love. In reality, athletes do have mental health struggles, from the pressures of having to ensure their performance in the game is excelling, family issues, living their life in the public eye, and specifically for
college athletes finding the balance between being an athlete and a student.
According to the Athletes for Hope, 33 percent of all college students experience significant symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions. Out of that percentage, only 10 percent of student-athletes seek out help.
Among professional sports, Athletes for Hope said 35 percent of elite athletes suffer from a mental health crisis which may manifest as stress, eating disorders, burnout, or depression and anxiety.
Lanece Carpenter, a first-year sports management manager with a minor in leadership studies, thinks that sports teams need to increase their counseling offerings.
“They can support athletes in terms of mental health by meeting the growing demand of sports psychologists and providing mandatory counseling for all athletes,” Carpenter said.