Former Coastal Carolina All-American joins another Canadian Football League team
Former Coastal Carolina All-America quarterback Alex Ross has changed teams in the Canadian Football League.
Ross was released by the British Columbia Lions on April 12 following a full season on Canada’s Pacific Coast and has been signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Last season, Ross completed five of 12 passes for 82 yards with two interceptions while serving as the backup to Jonathan Jennings and Travis Lulay.
Ross, 25, who is 6-foot-1, holds Coastal Carolina’s records for career passing yards, completions and touchdowns.
The Winnipeg depth chart at quarterback includes former Florence Wilson High and North Carolina QB Darian Durant, Eastern Washington alum Matt Nichols and East Carolina alum Philip Nelson.
The CFL requires an adjustment for a signal-caller. The field is longer and wider than an NFL field, there are 12 players per side compared to 11, and receivers and running backs with the exception of the one or two receivers who are out wide are allowed to move toward the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped. The outside receivers can move along the line of scrimmage, and several players can be in motion at once.
Winnipeg begins its season on June 14 at home against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Gridiron honors
Coastal Carolina placed 10 players on the Athlon Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team – four on offense, four on defense and two on special teams – led by senior Malcolm Williams on the Second Team as an all-purpose player.
Last season, Williams led the Chants in receptions (43), receiving yards (793) and receiving touchdowns (7) and finished with 1,093 all-purpose yards including kick returns.
Third team selections include offensive lineman Brock Hoffman, defensive tackle Ja'ree Tolbert, linebacker Silas Kelly, safety Fitz Watley, and punter Evan Rabon.
The Fourth Team includes running back Marcus Outlow, offensive lineman Trey Carter, cornerback Anthony Chesley and kick returner Ky'Jon Tyler.
Track concludes
Coastal Carolina took five men’s and women’s athletes to the NCAA Division I Track and Field East Preliminaries at the University of South Florida from Thursday through Saturday.
While a few advanced from preliminary heats to the final round, none were among the top 12 in each individual event who qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Senior Kevondre’ Hunt finished 20th in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.27 seconds, senior Jerome Coaxum Jr. finished 21st in the 400 hurdles in 51.86 seconds, sophomore Erik Eckleben finished 17th in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 7.49 meters, senior Aynslee van Graan finished 15th overall in the women’s 1500 in 4:22.55, and junior Dee Jennings failed to advance from heats in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles.
Norman a runner-up
Coastal Carolina graduate and Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman finished as a runner-up Monday night on the “Dancing with the Stars: Athletes" finale.
Norman, along with partner Sharna Burgess, came up just short of claiming the Mirrorball Trophy behind Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and his partner.
Former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding was also a runner-up. Norman had two dances in the finale, a foxtrot and freestyle.
Several of Norman’s Redskins teammates attended the finale including running back Chris Thompson, defensive lineman Anthony Lanier, offensive lineman Ty Nsekhe, kicker Dustin Hopkins and safety Fish Smithson, according to Washington’s WJLA TV.
Norman, a Greenwood native, was raising awareness for his charity Starz24, which benefits youth, through his DWTS participation.
Kaleta on call
Coastal Carolina football alum Joe Kaleta took part in an interesting experimental league this month called Your Call Football.
The league had practices for two teams over six weeks and played four games in which it allowed fans to call the offensive plays – essentially a real life Madden Football video game.
The games were scheduled for May 3, 10 and 17 at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla., and the teams were coached by former Green Bay Packers head coach and general manager Mike Sherman and former NFL running back and ESPN analyst Merril Hoge.
In Your Call Football, fans download an app and vote on one of three plays coaches propose each down, and the play with the most votes is run. Fans accumulate points based on how often their choice is run.
Players included former NFL players wide receiver Robert Meachem and running back Bernard Pierce.
Kaleta, an offensive lineman listed at 6-7 and 318 pounds who was recently in the Arena Football League, was coached by Sherman and considered the league a great opportunity to be seen. He received playing time at tackle in the games.
“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Kaleta said. “I’m looking to do my job and take care of business and be like a sponge, soaking up all the coaching techniques that are getting taught to me. . . . After all this that I went through I feel like I am ready for another opportunity out there somewhere.”
Academic success
All of Coastal Carolina’s intercollegiate sports posted multi-year Academic Progress Rate scores above 950 for the third consecutive year, according to APR information released by the NCAA this week. Eleven of Coastal’s 18 eligible sports had a score of 980 or higher.
The women’s tennis program led with a perfect rate of 1,000. Lacrosse (994), men’s tennis (993), women’s golf (991), women’s soccer (989), women’s cross country (988), indoor volleyball (985), men’s golf (985), softball (983), men’s track (982), and men’s basketball (980) followed.
The women’s tennis and beach volleyball programs earned the NCAA Public Recognition Award for scoring in the top 10 percent of their sports.
The APR is a point system based on scholarship athletes’ eligibility and retention for a pre-determined four-year period. NCAA sports falling below the established cutoff of 930 may be subject to penalties including scholarship reductions.
This story was originally published May 26, 2018 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Former Coastal Carolina All-American joins another Canadian Football League team."