by Cory Woodroof | Aug 20, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
A trip to Rupp Arena, Oxford, Miss., and Memphis are just a few of the highlights on the Lipscomb men’s basketball schedule for the 2012-13 season that was unveiled today. The Bisons are set to take on a few big-name teams this season, including the defending National Champions, the Kentucky Wildcats. Outside of conference games, the men’s team will play Kentucky, Ole Miss, Memphis, Gardner-Webb and Austin Peay at their respective stadiums. At home, the Bisons will play Freed-Hardeman, Maryville, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and recent NCAA tournament participants Murray State in their non-conference match-ups. The annual Battle of the Boulevard series against Belmont will take place at Allen Arena on Friday, Nov. 9, and at Belmont on Tuesday, Dec. 4. This is the first series in which the Bruins are competing outside of the Atlantic Sun Conference, as the team moved into the Ohio Valley Conference earlier this year. Coach Scott Sanderson, entering his 13th season as head coach of the men’s basketball team, told Lipscomb Athletics that he believes having home games against notable, non-conference opponents is very significant for the team. “Those games are important to us,” he said. “Having a couple of marquee games at home like Belmont and Murray State, who will be the first top-25 team to ever come in here and play, is huge.” Sanderson also believes that the lofty schedule might be one of the team’s toughest in recent years. “This is probably one of the most challenging schedules we’ve had,” Sanderson said. “With Memphis, Kentucky and Ole Miss, who I think is going to be a really good SEC team, along with...
by Hunter Patterson | Apr 14, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
“Goals are important. Having a vision is important. Commitment to the process is more important,” Butler men’s basketball coach Brad Stevens told the crowd at the fourth annual Don Meyer Evening of Excellence on April 14. And Stevens knows the significance behind not just winning, but figuring out what it takes to win. Character, Commitment to Details, Performance and Results – those are the levels of Stevens’ pyramid he has used each of the five years of his head coaching career at Butler to help his players remember to keep their priorities straight. In those five years, he’s managed to get his team two Final Four appearances. “You have to simplify things, but have to do a lot of work to before you can simplify things,” the two-time Horizon Coach of the Year said. With guidance from two notable coaches, Thad Matta and Todd Licklighter, Stevens learned he had to “think like a head coach every day,” and to “just be yourself.” On the bottom level of the pyramid, Stevens listed character as the most important attribute. “You can be humble, but you need to balance that with courage,” Stevens said. He said there have been seasons where the team has lost players to the NBA draft or graduation, and the younger players were not ready to “take the reins.” While the players may not have been physically or mentally prepared, near the season’s end, Stevens said the same players were playing with a courage that allowed them to “not care about anything and give everything.” The second level is preparation and attention to detail. “In basketball, we look at...
by Hunter Patterson | Apr 12, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb women’s basketball head coach Frank Bennett has been named associate athletic director. In accepting this position, Bennett will transition out of his role as women’s basketball head coach, and a national search will begin immediately for his replacement. Athletic Director Phillip Hutcheson made the announcement on Thursday. Bennett recently completed his 32nd year as the head coach of the women’s basketball team and is the 25th winningest women’s basketball coach in NCAA history with a record of 583-438. “Coach Bennett has dedicated the majority of his life to our program and has influenced hundreds of student athletes through his leadership, integrity and walk with God,” Hutcheson said. “I personally appreciate everything he has done for Lipscomb, and I look forward to working with him in this new role.” Bennett’s program was a NAIA national power and, in a history-making feat, appeared in the NCAA Tournament in the program’s first year of eligibility. Bennett was enshrined in the Lipscomb Athletics Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2003. “Our mission has been to try to create an environment where our players and coaches could grow as a total person — spiritually, socially, academically and in basketball,” Bennett said. “I have been privileged to be part of a program that has a positive impact on our players’ lives. I appreciate our assistant coaches for their hard work, friendship and concern and care for our student athletes. I also appreciate the university offering me the opportunity to continue to make an impact in this new role as associate athletic director. I look forward to the new challenges of...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 29, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
Bison basketball players Damarius Smith and Marvin Williams have been suspended from the team and are not present at Wednesday’s Atlantic Sun tournament game versus Mercer. Lumination alluded to the possibility of this on Monday when the two were not at the team’s practice. As of Wednesday night at 7 p.m., Smith and Williams are no longer members of the Bison basketball team. In an official announcement from the athletic department, the two players have been “suspended” from the team permanently. “Damarius Smith and Marvin Williams have been suspended indefinitely and will not participate in postseason play. They are not traveling with the team,” the statement reported. On Monday, Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson said that it was mainly a “disciplinary issue” with Smith. Sanderson did not elaborate on Williams’ status at the time but said he had missed the last four games because he has been “banged up” with a knee injury. Saturday was not the first time Smith had been held out of playing. Earlier this season against Belmont, Smith dressed and warmed up with the team but did not enter the game. “It was just a discipline issue,” Sanderson said of Smith’s status in the Belmont game. “We handled it internally, and we moved forward.” “We’re just trying to learn and do what’s right,” he said. “Sometimes being young is difficult, and we are just trying to learn from day to day and do the right thing.” However, with the suspension of the players, it seems the team, as well as Smith and Williams, had reached their breaking point. This makes for eight players that have either...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 29, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
If Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson is looking for a way to entertain his players on the way to Macon, Ga., he might want to screen the movie “Hoosiers”. The fictional Hickory High team, undersized and outmanned, won the Indiana State Championship in 1954. But it was more than movie magic. The Hickory team stood in for Milan High School which actually did win that championship in 1954, sparking the production of the movie. The Bison can certainly use the motivation. They enter the eight-team General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Tournament at the University Center on the campus of Mercer University as a No. 7 seed with an 8-10 conference record, 13-17 overall. Wednesday night at 7:30 central time they will face No. 2-seeded Mercer, the tournament host with a 13-5 A-Sun record, 21-01 overall. Video Broadcast: ESPN3 (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Sonny Smith, color analyst) Radio: WPRT 102.5 The Game (Jonathan Seamon, play-by-play; Justin Seamon, color analyst) “We have had to shuffle some guys around,” Sanderson said. “Different guys have had to play different roles the last several games. Hopefully, we can maximize our ability. “We are going to have to manage how we play both offensively and defensively. We have to manage playing time. How you play defensively is very, very important.” It is the lowest seed ever for the Bison in the A-Sun Tournament. They have been the No. 1 seed twice (2006, 2010), No. 4 three times (2007, 2009, 2011) and No. 5 twice (2005, 2008). “Tournament play is a lot different,” Sanderson said. “We go into this tournament a lot different than we have the last couple...
