Tigers In The News

Charlotte Observer 12/9/2008
Former West Charlotte quarterback Darius Thomas, the Observer's 2007 Offensive Player of the Year, signed to play at N.C. Tech. Tech is a post-high school graduate program based in Charlotte. Thomas committed to Gardner-Webb but did not enroll.
-Langston Wertz

Charlotte Observer, The (NC)
2006-10-19
Section: SPORTS
Edition: ONE-THREE
Page: 8C

PROGRAM IS 2ND SHOT AT COLLEGE
90-PLAYER TEAM MAKES UP ENTIRE STUDENT BODY
JOE HABINA, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Coach Tim Newman tosses a football into the air as he huddles with members of his N.C. Tech football team. The team features mostly area athletes and they play prep schools like Fork Union Military Academy, their opponent tonight.
They're no longer playing for their respective student bodies or communities. The cheerleaders, pep rallies and marching bands are merely memories of more spirited seasons. Some of the young men who play for N.C. Tech (7-0) might be a year or two removed from their heyday as high school stars. But for most, this is their final grasp at reeling in a college scholarship, a dream the players still pursue.
Fielding its inaugural team this fall, N.C. Tech is an educational program rooted in Concord. Its primary interest is molding post-graduate and junior-college students into a competitive team.
Administrators and coaches hope the program can serve as a stepping stone to traditional college programs for its players, who have had difficulty achieving that goal.
Newman founded N.C. Tech last year after winding his way through college sports. Three years ago, he was tapped to lead Barber-Scotia College's attempt to start a football program.
But when the small liberal arts college in Concord lost its accreditation in 2004, the football program and other established athletic programs evaporated.
Newman resurfaced in 2005 at Louisburg College, which also was starting a football program at the junior-college level. But he left without coaching a game because he and the school couldn't agree on contract terms, he said.
The groundwork for N.C. Tech was laid in September 2005, and students attended their first classes in January. Its student body, made up solely of the players on the roster, falls into two categories:
Some of N.C. Tech's students qualify as prep school students. They want to improve their chances of getting into college and approved to play football by the NCAA by improving their grade-point averages and SAT scores.
Those students attend college prep classes at Barber-Scotia.
Other students are enrolled at either Rowan-Cabarrus Community College or Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte.
They earn college credit and can play football, which doesn't count against their years of college athletic eligibility.
Players are allowed to live in Barber-Scotia dormitories, but most live off-campus.
The N.C. Tech team - about 90 players strong - is not a member of a conference and does not play under the regulations of any sanctioning body.
Its schedule includes teams from other college preparatory schools.
Newman said the team is eligible to play junior college and college junior varsity teams.
Newman, the program's chief administrator, said the team is funded by private sponsors.
It practices at an all-purpose field at Barber-Scotia and plays its home games at Waddell High in Charlotte, where it charges $10 for admission.
Newman and his staff of seven assistants (who are paid a stipend, he said) have recruited athletes from all over the Southeast. Nine players are from Cabarrus County.
Many of his players were recruited by colleges in high school, he said, but they couldn't qualify academically. On the field, they've had fewer problems. The results of the team's first two games: victories of 63-0 over a school in Raleigh and 99-0 over Walter Reed (Washington, D.C.).

1. MARTY PRICE - SPECIAL TO THE OBSERVER. Coach Tim Newman, quarterback Chris Smith and N.C. Tech practice at Barber-Scotia and play home games at Waddell High.

Charlotte Observer, The (NC)

October 18, 2007
Column: LANGSTON WERTZ JR. - SPORTS
FORK UNION GAME WILL TEST N.C. TECH
CAN POST-HIGH SCHOOL TEAM UPSET NATIONAL POWER AGAIN THIS YEAR?
Author: LANGSTON WERTZ Jr., Staff Writer
Edition: THREE
Section: SOUTHMECK
Page: 11S

Estimated printed pages: 2
Article Text:
Tonight is the biggest in the two-year history of N.C. Tech.
Tech is a post-high school team that plays Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy at 7 tonight at Waddell High. Coach Tim Newman is calling this his team's Super Bowl.
Tech was 12-0 last year and is 8-0 this season. Newman's team upset Fork Union 22-20 last year, and Fork Union is a nationally respected program that has produced more than 70 NFL players.
Newman wants to put his program on the map, and the best way to do that, he said, is to beat name programs.
Newman started Tech because he saw a need. He grew up poor in Charlotte and starred at Olympic High and Johnson C. Smith University. He played in the NFL for the New York Jets in 1987.
Since then, he's been a minor league coach, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools middle school coach and coached at the college level.
He said he's never stopped wanting to help kids who get a little behind, who need a second chance.
"I can relate to those kids," Newman said, "because I was one of those kids."
Tech takes players who didn't qualify for college and enrolls them in classes at Central Piedmont Community College or Charlotte's Evelyn Mack Learning Center on Monroe Road, for five months, from August to January. The players live in apartments and have strict rules, with curfew and tutorials and practice.
This year's team is more than 100 strong and includes 17 players who played for CMS and many more who played in the area.
Many, like Victory Christian's Sanquan Davis, were big-time college recruits last season.
Some will be this season.
More than 20 on last year's team signed with colleges. Newman, whose office is littered with letters from college coaches inquiring about his players, expects that number to double this season.
In the fall, Newman hopes to launch a new private high school, based at Evelyn Mack. He hopes to take some of the kids from CMS who are branded as troublemakers and those struggling to make it and give them a place to put their lives back together.
"I believe in second chances," Newman said. "I want those kids that nobody else wants. I think what we are doing over here can help. We can make this work."
Langston Wertz Jr: 704-358-5133; lwertz@charlotteobserver.com
Caption:
RICK HAVNER - SPECIAL TO THE OBSERVER. N.C. Tech coach Tim Newman rallies his team before a game earlier this year. His post-high school team gives a second chance to athletes who didn't qualify for college.PHOTO: 1

Charlotte Observer, The (NC)

September 28, 2006
N.C. TECH IS A PLACE TO TACKLE GRADES, FOOTBALL
PLAYERS AIM TO BECOME ELIGIBLE FOR COLLEGE AND NCAA FOOTBALL
Author: JOE HABINA, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Edition: TWO
Section: CABARRUS NEIGHBORS
Page: 8K

Estimated printed pages: 4
Article Text:
No longer are they playing for their respective student bodies or communities.
The cheerleaders, pep rallies and marching bands are merely memories of more spirited seasons.
Some of the young men who play for N.C. Tech may be a year or two removed from their heydays as high school standouts. But for most, this is their final grasp at reeling in a college football scholarship, a dream they still pursue.
Fielding its inaugural team this fall, N.C. Tech is an educational program rooted in Concord. Its primary interest is molding post-graduate and junior-college students into a competitive football team.
Administrators and coaches hope the program can serve as a steppingstone toward traditional college programs for its players, who have had past difficulty in achieving that goal.
*
Working toward bigger things
N.C. Tech was founded by Tim Newman, who three years ago was tabbed to lead Barber-Scotia College's attempt at starting a football team.
When the small Concord liberal arts college lost its accreditation in 2004, however, the football program, along with the school's established athletic programs, also was lost.
Newman resurfaced in 2005 at Louisburg College, which also was starting its own football program at the junior-college level. Newman said he coached from January to July 2005 but left without coaching a game because he and the school couldn't agree on contract terms.
The groundwork for N.C. Tech was laid in September 2005, and students attended their first classes in January. Its student body, which numbers the same as the players on the Tigers' football roster, falls into two categories.
Some of N.C. Tech's students qualify as prep school students. They want to better their chances of college enrollment and NCAA approval to play by improving their grade-point averages and SAT scores.
Those students attend college prep classes at Barber-Scotia, which, in the meantime, is contemplating its own plans for the future.
The second type of N.C. Tech student is enrolled as a regular student at either Rowan-Cabarrus Community College or Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. They earn college credit and can play football; the football doesn't count against their years of college athletic eligibility.
Both types of students and players are allowed to live in Barber-Scotia dormitories, but most live off campus.
They all want to gain academic eligibility to play at the college level and grab the attention of college recruiters.
*
90 players strong
The N.C. Tech football team - around 90 players strong - is not a member of a conference and does not play under the regulations of any sanctioning body.
Its schedule is made up of teams from other college preparatory schools. Newman said the team is eligible to play junior college and college junior varsity teams.
Newman, the program's chief administrator and the football team's head coach, said the team is funded by private sponsors.
It practices at an all-purpose field at Barber-Scotia and plays its home games at Charlotte's Waddell High, where it charges $10 admission and has drawn perhaps a few hundred spectators to each of its contests.
Numerous players from area high schools are on the Tigers' roster. Among them are Tim Bradley, Houston Stamper and Chris Fusaro from Mount Pleasant; Ques Cagler, Mike Mulligan and Richard Williams from Concord; Derrick Parks from Northwest Cabarrus; and Andre Robinson and Andrew Robinson from Kannapolis A.L. Brown.
*
Team overcomes difficulties
Bradley and Stamper, 2004 Mount Pleasant graduates, initially attended Cumberland College in Kentucky with the intention of playing football there.
Bradley played on the junior varsity for one season; Stamper sat out his first year while he gained academic eligibility.
Neither really cared for Cumberland, however. Since returning to Cabarrus County after one semester, they each got jobs and began attending classes at RCCC.
They learned about N.C. Tech through Fusaro (at age 22, one of the team's older players), whom Newman had recruited to play, first at Barber-Scotia, then at Louisburg.
"Coming back home and sitting out a year of football, doors started to close," said Stamper. "Any opportunity that (Bradley) or I got was better than nothing. Anything that would help me get back to school, and playing football, is a blessing in any regard."
Newman and his staff of seven assistants (who are paid a stipend, he said), have recruited kids from all over the Southeastern United States.
Many of his players were recruited by colleges out of high school, he said; they just couldn't qualify for them academically.
Players admit that gelling as a team presented its challenges, since they came from such diverse backgrounds. They hinted about scuffles as egos clashed during preseason practices.
Now, however, they have overcome those difficulties, they said. The proof is in the results of the team's first two games: victories of 63-0 over a school in Raleigh and 99-0 over Walter Reed (Washington, D.C.).
Yes, that's 99 to nil.
Winning games that way may be enough to help them forget about those disagreements - and the lack of cheerleaders, pep rallies and marching bands.
*
Freelance writer Joe Habina lives in Kannapolis.
Caption:
1. Tim Newman tells quarterback Chris Smith what play to call.; 2. PHOTOS BY MARTY PRICE - SPECIAL TO THE OBSERVER. Tim Newman tosses a football in the air as he huddles with members of his N.C. Tech football team. The team features mostly area kids and they play prep schools like Fork Union Military Academy.PHOTO:2
Copyright (c) 2006 The Charlotte Observer