If FAMU wasn’t under a big enough of a microscope for its football program, its bowling program is now receiving national attention – and not in a good way.
Shamoria Johnson told Roland Martin her story of how she was kicked off the FAMU bowling team by first-year head coach Capri Howard.
According to November 29 she alerted the coach that she would not be able to practice on Dec. 4 in preparation for practice. Johnson says other teammates alerted Howard they would not be able to attend as well, and she says that there seemed to be no problem accommodating their requests.
“I got no response back,” Johnson told Martin. “I didn’t get a text message back and instead she sent us an email where she was stating that we needed to manage our time better. And being a student athlete, we should be able to balance our school work and our academic work. So having homework or studying is not an excuse to miss practice.”
Johnson says she responded with an email of her own, reiterating that she would need to take care of her academic requirements in lieu of heading to practice on that date.
“I ended the email saying that I would prioritize my academics as a student athlete,” Johnson said. “And I also referenced one of the rules from the women’s bowling team, rules where it stated that being a student is the priority. That was the only bolded rule on the rule sheet, and I didn’t get a response to that email either.”
Instead, according to Johnson, she was dismissed from the team by Howard with assistant AD Breon Hagans in attendance.
“Capri said that I have been disrespectful all season and that my last email was entirely disrespectful, that she no longer wishes to work with me because my energy is a cancer to the team,” Johnson said.
Johnson says several of her teammates walked out with her after she was dismissed.
“So my teammates walk out with me, and as we’re walking out, Mr. Hagans calls behind us and he says… you know that you walk out of that door, then you won’t get your scholarship back. We we can take your scholarship away and everybody just kept walking because we didn’t think that that was something that they could do.”
According to Johnson, her teammates that walked out had their scholarships revoked. The current FAMU roster shows six bowlers.
Florida A&M VP of Intercollegiate Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes released the following statement on Saturday afternoon.
“In December 2023, Coach Howard dismissed a student-athlete from the bowling team for reasons supported by NCAA Bylaws. Though it’s always challenging to see our student-athletes dismissed, I support the decision by Coach Howard as the proper procedures were taken before the dismissal.
All of the former members of the bowling team, have been awarded their athletics aid for the remainder of the academic year.”