by Hunter Patterson | Jul 23, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb’s center Adnan Hodzic took home several awards last season, including the Atlantic-Sun’s Player of the Year title. Last season, Hodzic really showed the nation what he was capable of. This season, though, he hopes to show the rest of the country what he can do. An article broke this morning from Rivals.com asking who the most underrated player in the nation was. One writer thinks that player is none other than Bosnia native, Hodzic. The following is an excerpt from the article which can be read in full here. At the College Basketball Roundtable each week, we ask each member of the coverage staff for his opinion about a current topic in the sport. We have two questions this week, one today and one Sunday. Today’s question: Who is the most underrated player in the nation? David Fox’s answer: I can’t claim I’m fully impartial on my pick of the most underrated player in the nation. This guy plays a few miles from Rivals.com headquarters, and we’ll be writing a story on him in the coming weeks. I’m going to go with Adnan Hodzic of Lipscomb. He’s the nation’s returning leading scorer at 22.7 points per game, and he’s not too far off from averaging a double-double, with 9.1 rebounds. Lipscomb shared the Atlantic Sun regular-season title before being bounced in the conference tournament, so his efforts aren’t for nothing. What’s most impressive to me, though, is his performance out of conference. Often, the top players from low-major leagues dominate their conference competition and get shut down by big-name teams. Not Hodzic. Last season, he scored 18 points...
by Hunter Patterson | Jul 20, 2010 | Sports
During the spring and summer months Lipscomb Lady Bisons basketball players are out of the sight of the coaches for the most part, but they are seldom out of their thoughts. Lady Bisons coach Frank Bennett will return a team that features three seniors, guards Jenna Bartsokas and Miaca Bowman and wing Valerie Bronson. A trio of juniors, guard Anna Bowers, wing Leah McAlister and post player Brittany Duerk, also bring experience. A quartet of sophomores, post players Chelsea McMeans and Kaitie Fritts, and wings Hannah Phillips and Morgan Faulkner, return after seeing a large amount of playing time as freshmen. Newcomers to the team are guard Haley Nelson, post-wing O’Neisha Smith and post player Jess Reece. Bennett is expecting Bartsokas to finish with her strong season ever as a Lady Bisons. Bennett isn’t sure if Bartsokas will play the point or the No. 2 spot. Nelson has shown a knack for being able to find players open everywhere on the court due to her excellent vision. Nelson could get playing time at the point. Bowers and Bowman also will be on the court as well. “We will see how the other girls develop and compete,” Bennett said. “I think that Jenna played a lot of last season at an All-Conference level. With our record not being that good she didn’t get the recognition. In the last five games she played at a very, very high level averaging 17 to 18 points during that stretch. “She is by far the hardest worker we’ve got. She is very self-motivated. She really spends a lot of time working out, shooting and...
by Hunter Patterson | Jul 18, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
Coach Scott Sanderson has proven in his time as the head coach of the Lipscomb Bisons that he is not afraid of assembling a challenging schedule. He may have outdone himself this year as the Bisons are scheduled to play North Carolina, Baylor, Alabama and Memphis. Rounding out the non-conference opponents are Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech, Stillman College and Tennessee-Martin. Only two of the non-conference games will be played at home. The other seven are on the road. “I thought last year when we played Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati and Arizona was the toughest schedule we had ever played,” Sanderson said. “This one is tougher than that one. There are no easy games on our schedule. “It’s not even close. It is even more demanding than last year. But I have always tried to schedule according to our talent level that we have coming back. You can bury a team with this type of schedule. It should be very challenging for us.” The Bisons will open the regular season in Chapel Hill Nov. 12. They will play Baylor, expected to be a top 5 to top 10 team, in Waco, Texas Nov. 22. “North Carolina had a down year last year based on their standards as a top five to top 10 team year in and year out,” Sanderson said. “There will be a lot of publicity on that game.” The final game before Christmas break will be Dec. 21 at Tuscaloosa against Alabama. The Bisons will be in Memphis Dec. 30 to take on the Tigers. “All these games give you notoriety that you can’t buy,” Sanderson said....
by Hunter Patterson | Apr 21, 2010 | Sports
Lady Bison coach Frank Bennett and his staff signed three new players last week, forward O’Neisha Smith, center Jessica Reece and guard Haley Nelson. Smith, a 5’11 forward out of Georgia is described as a defensive player who can finish underneath the basket and grab rebounds. She is from the same high school as Lipscomb men’s basketball player Brandon Barnes. In high school Smith was the captain of her team, and was twice selected to the All-Region team. Smith has also competed in the high jump in high school, reaching 5-foot-6 in 2009. She plans to also compete on the track team for the Lady Bisons. “O’Neisha is a very good athlete,” Bennett said. “She was state runner up the last two years in the high jump, and hopes to jump 5-8 or more this year.” “She is developing her skills as a player,” Bennett said of her basketball skills. “She is a left-hander, more of a rebounder or a slasher, or someone that can finish and gets fouled a lot. She adds a lot of quickness and jumping ability that will help us. “In her high school career the team progressed each year, eventually reaching the state tournament in 5A,” Bennett said. “Her team had a lot of firsts during her career. “With her athletic ability we feel that she has a chance to make a lot of improvement when it comes to working on her shooting technique and little things to help her with her game. I feel that she is the type that is very coachable and will develop quickly.” Jessica Reece, a 6-3 center from Fletcher, N.C., was...
by Hunter Patterson | Mar 2, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
Bison center Adnan Hodzic was named the Atlantic Sun Conference’s player of the year for the 2009-2010 season. Hodzic, a junior, ended the regular season averaging 22.4 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game. His 22.4 points per is good enough for sixth in the nation among NCAA schools. The Sarajevo, Bosnia, native has scored 20 plus points in 11 straight games, and has scored 10 or more in 56 consecutive. That 56-game streak is best in the nation as well. Hodzic’s last two games definitely did not hurt his chances in being named player of the year. In the last two games the center averaged 30.85 points and 18.5 rebounds per game. Both games were wins for the Bisons. “I don’t think it was those performances that pushed him over the top,” Head Coach Scott Sanderson said. “It all played out really well, [Adnan] played well all year long. He was really solid and did not have very many bad games. Those last two games, though, definitely did not hurt his chances.” Hodzic’s 37 point game last Thursday against Mercer was the most scored by any Bison since 2002 when Jeff Dancy scored 38 against TSU. Lipscomb guard Josh Slater was named to A-Sun First Team as well. Slater, a junior, averaged 17.2 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game. Slater joins Belmont’s Alex Renfroe as the two only players in the last 10 years of the A-sun to average 15 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds over a season’s time. “I think Adnan and Josh both had years that were warranted to win the award,”...
