Two new coaches, key players to be available at 2026 SWAC Football Media Day on July 15
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced Monday the student-athletes and coaches set to participate in the league’s annual SWAC Football Media Day on Wednesday, July 15 at 10:00 am CST at the Sheraton-Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama.
All twelve SWAC head football coaches, including new head men at Florida A&M and Southern will be in attendance to address media about the upcoming football season.
Much of the attention will be focused on former Florida A&M quarterback Quinn Gray now leading his alma mater after winning the SIAC championship at Albany State and guiding the Golden Rams deep into the NCAA Div. II playoffs last season. Gray is bringing with him to FAMU and to the Media Day his quarterback at Albany State, Isaiah Knowles who has transferred to FAMU. The Rattlers were 5-7 overall, fourth in the SWAC East at 4-4 under James Colzie last season.
NFL Hall of Famer, former running back extraordinaire Marshall Faulk is now at the helm at Southern. His presence is sure to garner a lot of attention as he endeavors to lead a Jaguar resurgence. Southern finished at the bottom of the SWAC West last season at 1-7, 2-10 overall under Terrence Graves who was replaced late in the season by Fred McNair.
Last season’s all-SWAC first team quarterback, Andrew Body of Alabama State, will be in attendance along with head coach Eddie Robinson Jr. Body is coming off a scintillating season where he led the conference in rushing and passing stats before his campaign was cut short after only eight games by injury. He is certain to be the most ballyhooed player in attendance. Body is one of seven QBs expected for Media Day but is the only first team all-SWAC offensive team member from last season to be in attendance.
Alabama State defensive back Ta’Shaun Sims and Arkansas Pine Bluff linebacker Danarius Hilliard are 2025 first-team all-SWAC defenders scheduled to appear. Jackson State defensive back Kam Sallis, Alcorn State defensive lineman Eric Thomas and Bethune-Cookman offensive lineman Christian Loving were 2025 all-SWAC second team selections who will be in attendance.
It will also be interesting to see what Prairie View A&M head coach Tremaine Jackson has up his sleeve after winning the SWAC title and a Celebration Bowl berth in his first season leading the Panthers. The same can be said for fourth-year Jackson State head man T. C. Taylor who won the SWAC East title last season and met Jackson and the Panthers in the SWAC title game.
A complete listing of the head coaches and student-athletes slated to be in attendance is listed below.
Alabama A&M
Cornelious Brown IV, Quarterback
Jeremiah Hudson-Davis, Defensive Back
Sam Shade, Head Coach
Alabama State
Andrew Body, Quarterback
Ta’Shaun Sims, Defensive Back
Eddie Robinson Jr., Head Coach
Alcorn State
Jaylon Tolbert, Quarterback
Eric Thomas, Defensive Lineman
Cedric Thomas, Head Coach
Bethune-Cookman
Christian Loving, Offensive Lineman
Stephen Sparrow, Linebacker
Raymond Woodie, Head Coach
Florida A&M
Isaiah Knowles, Quarterback
Antonio Camon, Defensive Lineman
Quinn Gray, Head Coach
Grambling State
Alexander Vigil, Offensive Lineman
Marcellius Johnson, Linebacker
Mickey Joseph, Head Coach
Jackson State
Jared Lockhart, Quarterback
Kam Sallis, Defensive Back
T.C. Taylor, Head Coach
Mississippi Valley State
Josh Brown, Quarterback
Jamari Stokes, Defensive Back
Terrell Buckley, Head Coach
Prairie View A&M
Rodny Ojo, Wide Receiver
Molik Mason, Defensive Lineman
Tremaine Jackson, Head Coach
Southern
Herman Brister, Defensive Back
Cameron Jefferson, Wide Receiver
Marshall Faulk, Head Coach
Texas Southern
Cam’Ron McCoy, Quarterback
MJ Hinson, Defensive Back
Cris Dishman, Head Coach
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Jordan Jackson, Wide Receiver
Danarius Hilliard, Linebacker
Alonzo Hampton, Head Coach
Ed Davis, son of Virginia Union and NBA hoops veteran, indicted on federal gambling charges
One of two former NBA players indicted Monday along with four co-conspirators on federal gambling charges is the son of a Virginia Union and NBA basketball great.
Ed Davis, son of former Virginia Union standout Terry Davis, was charged along with Malik Beasley and the four others by the Eastern District of New York in an alleged gambling scheme while Beasley was with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-24 season.
The six are charged with wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in a scheme to bribe Beasley to manipulate his performance in NBA games and use inside information about Beasley’s intended performance to profit via illegal betting activity.
According to the indictment, Davis was known to other co-conspirators as Beasley’s “gatekeeper,” telling him that “…we could make good money” in gambling via text message. Beasley alerted Davis and other co-conspirators charged in the indictment of his intent to underperform in at least three games so they could wager on his statistics.
“Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players and a current NBA player agent who exploited inside NBA information for profit erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public,” the indictment reads. “Our Office will continue in its strong tradition of holding accountable anyone who seeks to corrupt sports through illegal means.”
As further alleged, in return for performance fixing, Beasley received bribes from the co-conspirators, typically by having Beasley’s gambling debts to Davis reduced or paid off.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle said in the indictment, “These defendants allegedly operated an illegal betting ring in an attempt to unlawfully earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. As alleged, Malik Beasley allowed himself to be bought and altered his gametime performance to line pockets of Ed Davis and his other co-conspirators. The FBI continues to dismantle fraudulent schemes that erode the integrity of any institution, including our nation’s professional sports leagues.”
Ed Davis, a 6-9 center who played collegiately at North Carolina (2008-10) and won an NCAA championship with the Tar Heels in 2009, played 11 seasons with eight different NBA teams in all after he was selected 13th overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2010 NBA Draft. He last played in the NBA during the 2021-22 season. He earned roughly $48 million in gross salary during his career.
Terry Davis played 10 seasons in the NBA with the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets. He started at center three of his four seasons at VUU, averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds each of those seasons. He was the CIAA’s Most Outstanding Player in 1989 as he and current Panthers coach A.J. English took VUU to the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.
INDICTED
Former NBA players Malik Beasley (l.) and Ed Davis (r.) have both been indicted in the latest round of charges in the government’s widening gambling investigation.
Beasley, who has played for six NBA teams, and Davis were teammates in Minnesota during the 2000-2001 season. Former players Damon Jones and Terry Rozier and former player and head coach Chauncey Billups were previously charged with Jones pleading guilty in 2026. Beasley last played for the Detroit Pistons in 2024-25. He has not played in the NBA since because of the investigation.
