by Kathryn Farris | Jul 31, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Former Lipscomb star and aspiring NBA player Garrison Mathews has made a return to the Lipscomb campus for his “Garrison Mathews Pro Skills Mini-Camp.” The camp takes place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Lipscomb Academy gymnasium. “A lot of professional players will come back to their hometown, and in a way give back and teach to help the younger generation,” said basketball trainer Colin Stevens, who is helping with the camp. “This is all about Garrison connecting with his people in Nashville and making his imprint now that he’s going on to D.C.” The Lipscomb grad’s NBA career kickstarted late June when he signed a two-way deal with the Washington Wizards. “It’s such a blessing…something I’m going to continue to work for and keep trying to stick,” said Mathews. Mathews represented the Wizards in the NBA summer league, where, he said: “There were some ups and downs, it’s a tough grind for sure. It was a long summer, but it was good to work out with guys who are obviously great players.” For Mathews, the “Pro Skills Mini-Camp” gives him the opportunity to return to the campus where he spent the past four years. “They [Lipscomb] did a lot for me on the court and helped me become the player I am today, but they’ve helped me off the court in so many ways that nobody knows. “I’ve grown so much as a person and not just a player, I can’t thank Lipscomb enough.” The camp welcomes players grades six-12 for the two-day event. “Hopefully they [participants] learn a little about basketball and a lot about themselves,” said Stevens. According to Stevens, this...
by Erika Plunkett | Jun 29, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Summer is already over for the Lipscomb basketball teams, which have returned to campus to get acquainted with new faces among players and staff and begin preparations for their 2019-20 campaigns. Although these teams experienced very different stories last year—with the men’s team’s NIT Finals run earning them the ASUN Beam Award and the women experiencing one of the worst seasons in program history—both teams begin this season after tremendous turnover and tumult in their programs. The men’s team’s turnover came as the result of the success of prior coach Casey Alexander, who took the job at his alma mater, Belmont, after legendary coach Rick Byrd retired. In his six years at Lipscomb, Alexander’s teams had a 113-84 record, posting three straight 20-victory seasons, including the 29-8 campaign that took them to the NIT finals last season. The year before, he led the Bisons to their first-ever NCAA March Madness berth. It was a lack of success that shaped the change in the women’s program. In four years, coach Greg Brown posted a 44-164 record. The Lady Bisons finished last season 4-25 in a campaign that included a 19-game losing streak. The school looked for new vigor from a new leader for that program. After a number of player departures, two first-time Division I head coaches, men’s basketball’s Lennie Acuff and women’s basketball’s Lauren Sumski, take over as the new head coaches of Lipscomb’s basketball programs. Joining these two are four new assistants and 12 new players, including eight on the men’s team, bringing a new vibe to Lipscomb basketball. During their battle to the NIT Finals in Madison...
by Grant Ledgister | Jun 21, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Even though he didn’t hear his name called during the draft, the reigning ASUN Player of the Year is still headed to an NBA team. Garrison Mathews signed a two-way deal with the Washington Wizards. This means that, although he takes up one of the 17 roster spots for Washington, Mathews will spend the majority of his time with the Wizard’s G League affiliate (the NBA’s minor league, previously called the D League) this season. He will only be allowed to spend 45 days per season with the Wizards “big league” franchise itself throughout the duration of the contract. The Wizards were one of the four teams Mathews worked out for prior to the NBA Draft June 20. If Mathews does well enough in the G League to make it onto the primary Wizards squad, he would become the first Bison to play in an NBA game. Washington’s G League team is called the Capital City Go-Go. When at home, they play at St. Elizabeth’s East Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. The next step for Mathews is the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which takes place from July 5-15 and will be his first chance to go against competition at the NBA level. If he is still on the roster after the Summer League, Mathews will play in the G League regular season that is 50-games long and begins in the fall. Official schedules for when the league begins have not yet been released. This move comes after Mathews’ record-breaking career at Lipscomb. He is the school’s all-time leading scorer (with 2,478 total points) and three-pointers...
by Grant Ledgister | Jun 18, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The ASUN conference is getting a new challenger in athletics in the Bellarmine University Knights. The Knights will become the 10th school to join the conference, Bellarmine announced Tuesday morning. However, the university will not join the conference until the 2020-2021 school year. Bellarmine, located in Louisville, is a Catholic university with nearly 4,000 total students. It is set to become the only private D-I school in the state. The Knights were formerly competing in Division II athletics as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a conference it helped create in 1978. Out of its 22 varsity teams, Bellarmine will compete in 17 sports sponsored by the ASUN conference, including basketball and soccer. Men’s lacrosse, field hockey and wrestling will all compete at other conferences or with independent D-I status; men’s and women’s swimming will compete in the Coastal College Sports Association. Bellarmine showed it had the ability to compete at the D-II level, reaching the NCAA Division II basketball championship every year for the past 11 years and winning the tournament in 2012 under coach Scott Davenport. Knights baseball received an automatic berth into the D-II Midwest Regionals, and women’s soccer has reached its tournament six out of the past 10 years. “ASUN is a perfect fit for the Knights, because – like Bellarmine – every school in the conference is committed to putting students first,” Bellarmine Athletic Director Scott Wiegandt said in a press release. “Our student-athletes already meet Division I academic standards, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete when we join our new conference next year. The move to Division I...
by Erika Plunkett | May 12, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Power forward Luke Howard, a 2019 Tennessee Mr. Basketball award finalist, Sunday officially signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Lipscomb.Harding Academy’s boys basketball coach Kevin Starks expressed his excitement for Howard’s decision to come to Lipscomb. “I think he is really just scratching the surface of how good he can be,” Starks said. “I am excited for him to be with the coaching staff at Lipscomb, because I think they will help him grow and reach his potential.” The Harding Academy senior also received offers from Lincoln Memorial University, Drake University, the University of Texas at Arlington, Marist College, Campbell University, Kent State University and Troy University. Starks said that Howard’s versatility, athleticism, and hard work will take him far. “I think Luke’s potential is off the charts,” Starks said. “I believe that he has the chance to be an all-league player and to play basketball after college.“ Howard, originally from Vancouver, Canada, moved to Memphis two years ago and began playing basketball under Starks during the 2017-2018 season. Even given his short time at Harding Academy, Starks said that Howard was able to fit right in. He was one of the senior leaders for Harding Academy this year, averaging 23.8 points per game, eight rebounds per game, 62 percent field-goal shooting, 34 percent three-point shooting, 70 percent free-throw shooting, 1.8 assists per game, and 1.3 steals per game. “Luke is a 6-foot-9, athletic four man that can really, really shoot,” Starks said. “Because of his skill level, his upside is just tremendous.” Howard served a number of different roles for the Lions with the ability...
