by Russell Vannozzi | Sep 6, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Marshall County High School basketball standout K.J. Johnson is bringing his talents to Green Hills. The highly-coveted combo guard announced his commitment to Lipscomb via Twitter Wednesday evening. “After praying and talking it over with my family, I would like to announce that I will be staying home and furthering my education and basketball career at Lipscomb University,” Johnson said in the tweet. According to HoopSeen, coach Casey Alexander and his staff made Johnson a top priority. The Bisons recently offered Johnson a scholarship, and he quickly jumped on the chance to play approximately 50 miles from his Lewisburg home. The 6-foot-2 guard had offers from Morehead State, North Alabama, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin, in addition to interest from Murray State, ETSU and Western Kentucky. Johnson was named Tennessee’s Class AA Mr. Basketball after averaging 31.4 points, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals for Marshall County last season. He then drew more college attention while starring for the Elite Amateur Basketball Club on the AAU circuit this summer. KJ Johnson with 44 here at #BIGSHOTS #RockyTop pic.twitter.com/d3xgBFrgp5 — BIG SHOTS Midwest (@BigShotsMW) April 8, 2018 Johnson joins forward Jacob Hobbs as the second commitment of Lipscomb’s 2019 recruiting class. Hobbs, who hails from Cecilia, Kentucky, gave his pledge to the Bisons in August. Hobbs and Johnson will help replace Garrison Mathews, Nathan Moran, Eli Pepper and Rob Marberry, who are each entering their final season of eligibility. Photo courtesy of HoopSeen.com Thank you god. ???? pic.twitter.com/V73pT4hnIW — Kj Johnson ? (@_glo_boy_3) September 5,...
by Russell Vannozzi | Aug 23, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Fresh off its first-ever NCAA basketball tournament appearance, the Lipscomb men’s basketball team announced its 2018-19 schedule Thursday. The slate features 29 total contests, including 14 home games and six away games within a four-hour-drive of Nashville. The non-conference schedule will be challenging as the Bisons make trips to SMU (Nov. 18), TCU (Nov. 20), Louisville (Dec. 12) and Clemson (Dec. 30). Eight of Lipscomb’s non-conference foes finished higher than the Bisons in the final 2018 Pomeroy Ratings. “We talked to the team about how great it is to have expectations placed upon us, but at the same time, we showed them eight of our nonconference opponents who were better than us last year,” coach Casey Alexander said in a release provided by Lipscomb’s athletic department. “We have plenty of work to do.” Alexander also scheduled several local opponents for non-conference matchups. The Bisons will host Sewanne (Nov. 6), Tennessee State (Nov. 10) and rival Belmont (Nov. 15) to open the season, before traveling to Morehead State (Nov. 25), Middle Tennessee (Dec. 1) and Belmont (Dec. 4). The Bisons’ date with the Blue Raiders will be the first time the two teams have met since 2007. Middle Tennessee has appeared in two of the last three NCAA tournaments, including a shocking, 90-81 upset of No. 2-seeded Michigan State in 2016. “I am really excited we were able to get something worked out with Middle Tennessee,” Alexander said. “I have great respect for what they’ve done as probably the best program in the state of Tennessee over the last few years.” Other non-conference home games include Covenant (Dec. 17), Vermont...
by Erin Franklin | Jul 12, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider
President Randy Lowry announced today that Scott McDowell, Lipscomb’s senior vice president of student life, is moving to Abilene Christian University to serve as its new vice president of student life. McDowell is a Kittanning, Penn., native who has an undergraduate degree in Bible from Freed-Hardeman University, a master’s degree in religion from Lipscomb University and a doctorate in higher education leadership from Azusa Pacific University. He served at Lipscomb for more than 25 years. In 2014, he was selected to serve as Lipscomb’s senior vice president of student life. President Randy Lowry released a letter to Lipscomb faculty concerning McDowell’s departure. “We congratulate Scott on this appointment and, while we will miss his dedicated work at Lipscomb, we know that he will be an effective leader at ACU and will continue to make an impact on the lives of young people,” Lowry said. Lowry pointed to Lipscomb’s growing national “reputation” as reason for McDowell’s move: “As Lipscomb’s reputation continues to grow nationally, it is the reality that other institutions will increasingly look to our people to lead them,” Lowry said. “That is to be expected because it is our people, their vision, creativity and effectiveness that has made Lipscomb one of the fastest-growing and most innovative independent universities in our region. We do not cherish the moments when such occurs, but we share in the excitement when new opportunities are offered to those for whom we have great regard.” According to Lowry’s statement, Dr. Jim Thomas will serve as the interim senior vice president of student life. A “national search” will be conducted to find McDowell’s...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jun 7, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb infielder Lee Solomon was scrolling through his Twitter feed Wednesday, looking to find out if any of his friends had been selected in the MLB Amateur Draft. Around 2 p.m. central time, the Ohio native opened his laptop to see his own name appear on the screen. The San Diego Padres had taken Solomon in the 25th round with the 741st overall pick. “It was an intense day, for sure,” Solomon said. “My mom was blowing up my phone trying to see what was going on. It’s a blessing to go to a great school like Lipscomb and come out with a chance to play professionally.” Solomon had previously connected with Padres area scout Tyler Stubblefield, a former Kennesaw State and Padres minor league player. “I heard from some other teams, but I built a strong relationship with the Padres over the past few years,” Solomon said. “I was happy to be taken by them.” Solomon missed nearly three weeks of the 2018 season with a broken hamate bone in his left hand. After a minor surgery and some rest, the second basemen returned to the lineup and went on a tear at the plate. He clubbed five home runs in his final eight games to finish the season with a .286 average and 25 RBI. “Getting healthy helped me a lot,” he said. “I tried not to press too much. After you’re out for a while, you just want to be back out there to help the team win.” Solomon ended his four-year stint at Lipscomb with 174 hits, 13 home runs, 102 RBI, 64 stolen bases and a...
by Cole Gray | Jun 4, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider
An Academy group on a medical mission trip in Guatemala was not harmed by the Sunday eruption of the Fuego volcano, Mitchell Despot, a Lipscomb Academy spokesperson said. The team of teachers and students were in Antigua, less than 50 miles from the volcano, which has erupted once already this year. At least 25 people were killed in the eruption, according to CONRED, the country’s disaster-response agency. Twenty more were injured. Over 3,000 locals were forced to evacuate. The group is continuing its work until it flies back to the United States Tuesday morning, in keeping with its original schedule. This story has been updated to correct that the group was not covered in ash. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Russell Vannozzi | May 6, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb University’s most decorated athlete in recent memory is taking his game to the next level. One day after receiving his degree during the school’s graduation ceremony at Allen Arena, senior golfer Dawson Armstrong announced via Twitter that he is turning professional. “After much thought, prayer, and conversation with those around me, including (with) coach (Will) Brewer, I have decided to bypass the postseason and turn professional!” Armstrong said in the tweet. Lipscomb was left out of the NCAA tournament field that was announced Wednesday, although Armstrong had qualified as an individual by winning the ASUN crown in late April. The Bisons finished five strokes behind ASUN team champion North Florida, which is bound for an NCAA Regional in Norman, Oklahoma. “This is a very bittersweet decision as I cannot be more proud of the accomplishments and memories made at Lipscomb,” Armstrong said. “I hope to make Lipscomb proud as I begin my pro golf career.” Earlier last month, Armstrong told Lumination Network that he would only bypass the NCAA tournament if the Bisons failed to qualify as a team. The move allows Armstrong to begin his ambitious timeline of qualifying for next year’s PGA Tour. He hopes to do so by participating in several second-tier events and potentially the Web.com Tour playoffs, which grants PGA Tour cards for the top 25 money winners in the final four events. The two-time ASUN individual champion leaves Lipscomb with numerous school records and three NCAA tournament appearances. His amateur career also included victories at the Western Amateur and the Dogwood Invitational in 2015. Armstrong will begin his professional career on Monday...
