Murray State pulled the big upset Thursday, beating No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt, and tries to get another Saturday against No. 5 Butler, where former NSU English prof Dr. Rocky Colavito is on the faculty.
The Racers are coached by Billy Kennedy, a New Orleans native whose first college job was as an assistant at NSU on Dan Bell's first Demons staff in 1988-89 - the team that beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena.
Billy became head coach at Centenary, then Southeastern, before taking an assistant's post at Miami (Fla.) and getting the Murray State head coaching post. He coached the Lions to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, including an SLC Championship Game upset win in Prather Coliseum over the Demons.
Watching Billy's postgame press conference yesterday reminded me how low key and deadpan he is. You would have thought they just beat Tennessee State, not Vandy!
Another NSU connection comes at New Mexico State, where former Mike McConathy graduate assistant Paul Weir is an assistant coach. The Aggies were playing Michigan State Friday evening.
Weir was on Steve Alford's staff at Iowa for the 2006 NCAA Tournament, a year after being with the Demons. He had some mixed emotions that March 17, for sure.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Baseball organization talks about the Demons and Chad Sheppard
Nick Herfordt of Ping!Baseball recently did a nice article about the Demon baseball team, and in particular, NSU closer Chad Sheppard.
Check out the writeup here:
http://ow.ly/1nUpl
Check out the writeup here:
http://ow.ly/1nUpl
Sorting through new NCAA track rules
The NCAA qualifying landscape has taken a radical change for outdoor track and field in 2010. Below, Tom Lewis of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association tries to educate sports information directors about the changes in how athletes qualify for the national meet.
A sportswriter tells me he's heard from a good NCAA track source that this system will be revamped after the season. But this spring, you won't hear about provisional and automatic NCAA qualifiers, and the national championships will be very different than in past years. Turning to Tom Lewis:
Hello All,
While we’re recovering from the indoor season, this is probably a good time to go over what’s going to happen during the outdoor season. I’ve had several questions about this and I figured this would be a good time to fill every one in on the latest news at once.
First, everything you remember from the four-region system from the past seven years has changed. This year, the championships will have a totally different format and instead of a hard-line performance standard to qualify, we will have an absolute, field-size cut-off per event, meaning that season-best rank within the “region” will overshadow the mark itself.
Regional standards to qualify does not exist for this season, and, instead of having four regions, we will have two “preliminary sites” for the national championship. The national championship will technically begin at Austin and Greensboro and will essentially be the start of one continuous meet, held in three locations over two separate weekends and concluding in Eugene.
The season will be a constant “scoreboard watch” as the top 48 per “region” – that declare – in each individual event and the top 24 relays per region, that declare, will compete at the preliminary sites. The caveat to this rule would be for the combined events. The top 24 OVERALL that declare for the heptathlon/decathlon will contest their event at the national-final site in Eugene.
Some events, like the sprints and up to the 1500m will have four rounds as part of the national championship: two contested at the preliminary sites and two at the finals site. Some events contest one round at the prelim site, and two at the finals site. The 5000 and 10,000 will have a national semifinal at the preliminary sites and the national final in Eugene. Every round will have a “national” component to its title since this is essentially one big meet. For example, we’ll contest the 100-meter national first round and national quarterfinal, not a regional final, at the preliminary sites.
The meet can be pretty cut throat as advancement through the rounds relies more on placing than time which will lead to some interesting races. In addition, the “safety net” that used to apply the regional rounds of protecting those at the top of the descending-order lists no longer exists. Again, advancement through the rounds will be determined on the round in question and not on prior performance during the season.
Without any hard-line standards or solid ground to stand, it will be interesting to see how everyone describes in-season meets. Before, there were headlines like “Lobos with 11 Regional Qualifiers at Kentucky” or “Davis Runs to NCAA Qualification, Tops Auto Mark” … Now, it seems you may have to be more creative without really saying anything, “Wheating, Morris Highlight Great Danes’ Day in Arkansas” … “Clayton Claims Collegiate-Leading Mark” … “Morrison Among Nation’s Elite After Saturday’s Bomb” (now in nation’s top 20, etc.).
Thanks,
Tom
---
Tom Lewis
U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
Communications Manager
1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750
New Orleans, LA 70163
A sportswriter tells me he's heard from a good NCAA track source that this system will be revamped after the season. But this spring, you won't hear about provisional and automatic NCAA qualifiers, and the national championships will be very different than in past years. Turning to Tom Lewis:
Hello All,
While we’re recovering from the indoor season, this is probably a good time to go over what’s going to happen during the outdoor season. I’ve had several questions about this and I figured this would be a good time to fill every one in on the latest news at once.
First, everything you remember from the four-region system from the past seven years has changed. This year, the championships will have a totally different format and instead of a hard-line performance standard to qualify, we will have an absolute, field-size cut-off per event, meaning that season-best rank within the “region” will overshadow the mark itself.
Regional standards to qualify does not exist for this season, and, instead of having four regions, we will have two “preliminary sites” for the national championship. The national championship will technically begin at Austin and Greensboro and will essentially be the start of one continuous meet, held in three locations over two separate weekends and concluding in Eugene.
The season will be a constant “scoreboard watch” as the top 48 per “region” – that declare – in each individual event and the top 24 relays per region, that declare, will compete at the preliminary sites. The caveat to this rule would be for the combined events. The top 24 OVERALL that declare for the heptathlon/decathlon will contest their event at the national-final site in Eugene.
Some events, like the sprints and up to the 1500m will have four rounds as part of the national championship: two contested at the preliminary sites and two at the finals site. Some events contest one round at the prelim site, and two at the finals site. The 5000 and 10,000 will have a national semifinal at the preliminary sites and the national final in Eugene. Every round will have a “national” component to its title since this is essentially one big meet. For example, we’ll contest the 100-meter national first round and national quarterfinal, not a regional final, at the preliminary sites.
The meet can be pretty cut throat as advancement through the rounds relies more on placing than time which will lead to some interesting races. In addition, the “safety net” that used to apply the regional rounds of protecting those at the top of the descending-order lists no longer exists. Again, advancement through the rounds will be determined on the round in question and not on prior performance during the season.
Without any hard-line standards or solid ground to stand, it will be interesting to see how everyone describes in-season meets. Before, there were headlines like “Lobos with 11 Regional Qualifiers at Kentucky” or “Davis Runs to NCAA Qualification, Tops Auto Mark” … Now, it seems you may have to be more creative without really saying anything, “Wheating, Morris Highlight Great Danes’ Day in Arkansas” … “Clayton Claims Collegiate-Leading Mark” … “Morrison Among Nation’s Elite After Saturday’s Bomb” (now in nation’s top 20, etc.).
Thanks,
Tom
---
Tom Lewis
U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
Communications Manager
1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750
New Orleans, LA 70163
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Coach of the Year
Great news today from Cheney, Washington, about James Smith's former Lady Demon basketball assistant (1992-2000) Wendy Luebbers Schuller (you can send her a note at wschuller@mail.ewu.edu via e-mail, and she's also on Facebook.
Here's the press release from Eastern Washington University, home of the Big Sky Conference basketball champion Lady Eagles:
Eastern Washington University women's head basketball coach Wendy Schuller has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday (March 16). The 2010 recipient was chosen in a vote by the league coaches earlier this week.
The Eagles are 19-11 overall and won the Big Sky regular season with a 12-4 record. The Eagles hosted the 2010 Big Sky Women’s Basketball Championship last week -- the first time that the tournament has been played in Cheney, Wash.
Eastern Washington returned to Big Sky tournament play after missing the postseason three-straight seasons. Not only did the Eagles get back to the tournament , but they secured the outright regular season title for the first time in program history.
Picked to finish seventh in the league by both the coaches and media, EWU's run to the conference regular season title was sparked by winning its first seven conference games. Included was a home sweep of Montana and Montana State on back-to-back nights.
Under Schuller, Eastern Washington placed two players on the 2009-10 All-Conference Team in juniors Julie Piper and Kyla Evans. Piper was named to the first team, while Evans was named to the second team. Sophomore Brianne Ryan received the honor of being named the league’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Montana State’s Sarah Strand.
Piper earned regular-season MVP honors and was a unanimous first team selection. She became the program’s first-ever league MVP, and had earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors as a sophomore. The Eagles haven’t had a first team All-BSC selection since Julie Page was honored in 2006.
Schuller has now collected 113 wins in nine seasons as the head coach at Eastern Washington and has posted a 56-78 record in the conference play. In her first five seasons, the Eagles qualified for the Big Sky Tournament and have now made Big Sky Championship appearances in six of her nine years at the program.
The 2009-10 season pushed the program to new heights, and with the regular season title the Eagles secured a spot in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The appearance in the WNIT is the first postseason appearance for the Eagles since the 1987 season.
A native of Redlands, Calif., Schuller and her husband, Mark, have an 9-year-old son, Rory (born Oct. 16, 2000), and a 6-year-old daughter, Megan (born July 15, 2003). The family resides in Cheney.
Here's the press release from Eastern Washington University, home of the Big Sky Conference basketball champion Lady Eagles:
Eastern Washington University women's head basketball coach Wendy Schuller has been selected as the Big Sky Conference Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday (March 16). The 2010 recipient was chosen in a vote by the league coaches earlier this week.
The Eagles are 19-11 overall and won the Big Sky regular season with a 12-4 record. The Eagles hosted the 2010 Big Sky Women’s Basketball Championship last week -- the first time that the tournament has been played in Cheney, Wash.
Eastern Washington returned to Big Sky tournament play after missing the postseason three-straight seasons. Not only did the Eagles get back to the tournament , but they secured the outright regular season title for the first time in program history.
Picked to finish seventh in the league by both the coaches and media, EWU's run to the conference regular season title was sparked by winning its first seven conference games. Included was a home sweep of Montana and Montana State on back-to-back nights.
Under Schuller, Eastern Washington placed two players on the 2009-10 All-Conference Team in juniors Julie Piper and Kyla Evans. Piper was named to the first team, while Evans was named to the second team. Sophomore Brianne Ryan received the honor of being named the league’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Montana State’s Sarah Strand.
Piper earned regular-season MVP honors and was a unanimous first team selection. She became the program’s first-ever league MVP, and had earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors as a sophomore. The Eagles haven’t had a first team All-BSC selection since Julie Page was honored in 2006.
Schuller has now collected 113 wins in nine seasons as the head coach at Eastern Washington and has posted a 56-78 record in the conference play. In her first five seasons, the Eagles qualified for the Big Sky Tournament and have now made Big Sky Championship appearances in six of her nine years at the program.
The 2009-10 season pushed the program to new heights, and with the regular season title the Eagles secured a spot in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The appearance in the WNIT is the first postseason appearance for the Eagles since the 1987 season.
A native of Redlands, Calif., Schuller and her husband, Mark, have an 9-year-old son, Rory (born Oct. 16, 2000), and a 6-year-old daughter, Megan (born July 15, 2003). The family resides in Cheney.
Monday, March 15, 2010
March Madness and NSU
Proud NSU supporter Dustin Cross called this morning to ensure we knew about the latest national pub for Demon basketball.
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschella, speaking during a discussion on ESPN last night about the 2010 NCAA Tournament, talked about NSU and coach Mike McConathy.
When discussing Wisconsin's tournament chances, Fraschella brought up the Demons' 2006 NCAA Tournament win over Iowa and called McConathy "the Demons' great coach."
That's pretty special on national TV ....
... NSU alumnus and Lady Demon basketball great Sandy Pugh has coached Southern's Lady Jags back into the NCAA Tournament. Southern swept the regular-season and tournament titles in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and will get its first-round matchup in the NCAA women's bracket announcement tonight ....
... Not as fortunate was former Lady Demon assistant coach Wendy Luebbers Schuller, whose top-seeded Eastern Washington team fell in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at home to the sixth-seed, Montana State. EWU was missing its point guard, who could not play with a back injury, and the Big Sky Player of the Year was limited to 18 minutes with foul trouble in a heart-breaking 65-57 loss. Schuller's Eagles will play in the WNIT ....
... Friday night semifinals in the Big East Tournament were unkind to former NSU point guard Mike Brey (head coach at Notre Dame) and former McConathy assistant and now Marquette head coach Buzz Williams. The NCAA Tournament bracket was much more complimentary as both at-large selections earned regional No. 6 seeds, essentially ranking both teams among the best 24 in the country.
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschella, speaking during a discussion on ESPN last night about the 2010 NCAA Tournament, talked about NSU and coach Mike McConathy.
When discussing Wisconsin's tournament chances, Fraschella brought up the Demons' 2006 NCAA Tournament win over Iowa and called McConathy "the Demons' great coach."
That's pretty special on national TV ....
... NSU alumnus and Lady Demon basketball great Sandy Pugh has coached Southern's Lady Jags back into the NCAA Tournament. Southern swept the regular-season and tournament titles in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and will get its first-round matchup in the NCAA women's bracket announcement tonight ....
... Not as fortunate was former Lady Demon assistant coach Wendy Luebbers Schuller, whose top-seeded Eastern Washington team fell in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at home to the sixth-seed, Montana State. EWU was missing its point guard, who could not play with a back injury, and the Big Sky Player of the Year was limited to 18 minutes with foul trouble in a heart-breaking 65-57 loss. Schuller's Eagles will play in the WNIT ....
... Friday night semifinals in the Big East Tournament were unkind to former NSU point guard Mike Brey (head coach at Notre Dame) and former McConathy assistant and now Marquette head coach Buzz Williams. The NCAA Tournament bracket was much more complimentary as both at-large selections earned regional No. 6 seeds, essentially ranking both teams among the best 24 in the country.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
And That's a Wrap!
I feel a little like a fish out of water.
For the first time since last November, there is no women's basketball game broadcast for which to prepare.
I can only imagine how the Lady Demons players and coaching staff feels.
The 2009-10 season came to an end last Thursday afternoon in the semi-finals of the State Farm Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas. 48 hours after a thrilling dismantling of division-rival Stephen F. Austin in the quarter-finals, NSU came up short against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, which fell to Lamar in the finals.
Three seniors, Lyndzee Greene, Sherion Thomas and Anna Cate Williams, played their final college game. Good players, and even better people.
Now, it's time to look ahead to next season, and there is reason to be excited, even though next November seems like a long way off. Trudy Armstead, who had an outstanding freshman season, will be a year older. Armstead is conference Player of the Year material, and is looking at a very bright future. She will get help inside from Jasmine Upchurch, who despite limited playing time as a freshman, showed her potential when being forced into a big role, after Armstead got in early foul trouble against TAMU-CC.
Kottia White, who missed the season because of injury, will be healthy. Head Coach Jennifer Graf is really high on White, who was cleared to practice the final few weeks of the season. From the guard position, White can penetrate and score, draw contact, or pass.
Players expected to return who have lots of experience include Brittiany Houston, Jessica McPhail and Brooke Sheppard. Meredith Graf showed she can bury the three, and hustles every second she is on the floor.
Laneisha Jennie will be a sophomore, and will be joined by some incoming freshmen, as Coach Graf and her staff are out on the recruiting trail.
A heartfelt thanks to Athletics Director Greg Burke and Sports Information Director Doug Ireland for once again allowing me the privilege to work as the radio Voice of the Lady Demons. My thanks to Matt Bonnette for his behind the scenes help all year, as well as his efforts as the color analyst on road broadcasts (not to mention filling in for me while I had to miss three games). And my thanks to Coach Graf, her staff and players, for all of their help and hospitality.
The 2009-10 season is over, but I am already looking forward to next season. And I hope you are too!
Tony Taglavore
Voice of the Lady Demons
For the first time since last November, there is no women's basketball game broadcast for which to prepare.
I can only imagine how the Lady Demons players and coaching staff feels.
The 2009-10 season came to an end last Thursday afternoon in the semi-finals of the State Farm Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas. 48 hours after a thrilling dismantling of division-rival Stephen F. Austin in the quarter-finals, NSU came up short against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, which fell to Lamar in the finals.
Three seniors, Lyndzee Greene, Sherion Thomas and Anna Cate Williams, played their final college game. Good players, and even better people.
Now, it's time to look ahead to next season, and there is reason to be excited, even though next November seems like a long way off. Trudy Armstead, who had an outstanding freshman season, will be a year older. Armstead is conference Player of the Year material, and is looking at a very bright future. She will get help inside from Jasmine Upchurch, who despite limited playing time as a freshman, showed her potential when being forced into a big role, after Armstead got in early foul trouble against TAMU-CC.
Kottia White, who missed the season because of injury, will be healthy. Head Coach Jennifer Graf is really high on White, who was cleared to practice the final few weeks of the season. From the guard position, White can penetrate and score, draw contact, or pass.
Players expected to return who have lots of experience include Brittiany Houston, Jessica McPhail and Brooke Sheppard. Meredith Graf showed she can bury the three, and hustles every second she is on the floor.
Laneisha Jennie will be a sophomore, and will be joined by some incoming freshmen, as Coach Graf and her staff are out on the recruiting trail.
A heartfelt thanks to Athletics Director Greg Burke and Sports Information Director Doug Ireland for once again allowing me the privilege to work as the radio Voice of the Lady Demons. My thanks to Matt Bonnette for his behind the scenes help all year, as well as his efforts as the color analyst on road broadcasts (not to mention filling in for me while I had to miss three games). And my thanks to Coach Graf, her staff and players, for all of their help and hospitality.
The 2009-10 season is over, but I am already looking forward to next season. And I hope you are too!
Tony Taglavore
Voice of the Lady Demons
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