by Jeremy Keck | Oct 12, 2010 | Sports
The return of the Bisons’ most-honored player, a deep bench and two freshmen contending for playing time are just some of the reasons Coach Scott Sanderson is excited about the 2010-2011 basketball season. His team received a scare during the off-season, when star post and reigning A-Sun Player of the Year, Adnan Hodzic, initially declared for the NBA draft. Hodzic withdrew, and with him and 10 more players returning from last year’s team, the Bisons look to build on their 17-13 regular season, 14-6 conference records. The coach views the non-conference schedule as “a byproduct of getting us ready for league play.” Highlighting the Bison non-conference schedule this year are games against North Carolina, Memphis, Alabama, and Baylor. “We’re not going to go into any venue in our league that’s going be as tough as North Carolina, Baylor, Alabama or Memphis,” Sanderson said. “I feel like we can compete in those games. The last couple of years we have won a couple of them and have been competitive in all of them.” The Bisons will open their season against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and the game will be televised on Fox Sports South. The Bisons have added three freshmen to the roster this off-season. Carter Sanderson, Coach Sanderson’s son, will be red-shirting this season as he gets familiar with the system. Robert Boyd, a point guard out of Fulton High School in Knoxville, could push for some playing time this season. “He’s a great defender,” Sanderson said. “He’s a pass first, shoot second type of point guard.” Finally Demarius “D.D.” Smith, 6-foot-4 guard from Kenwood High School in Clarksville, might also see playing time this...
by Cecelia Ramsey | Oct 4, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
For the first time, Lipscomb University proudly received the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic Trophy in 2010 with 185 of the 258 Bison student-athletes achieving All-Academic honors. Frank Bennett, now entering his thirty-first season as head coach of the Lady Bisons Basketball team, likes to believe that his players define the term student-athlete. “Some people think it’s one or the other—academics or athletics—but I believe they go hand in hand,” Bennett said. The Lady Bisons are an example of the success that Lipscomb sports teams are having on an individual and team level, competing in the classroom as well as on the court. This past season, the Lady Bisons ranked ninth in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Team Honor Roll with a 3.452 average GPA. The retention rate is also impressive. Every student-athlete who completes their fourth year of eligibility graduates. It’s important to realize that academic success has not been limited to the basketball court. Lipscomb proudly had seven spring teams with at least 70 percent of the student-athletes achieving a 3.0 grade-point average or higher , earning the All-Academic trophy. To what does Lipscomb owe the successes of its sports teams? “It begins with recruiting good students,” Bennett said. “And we try to emphasize an attitude of excellence.” Athletic Director Philip Hutcheson likes to refer to the athletic department as the “front porch” of the University. “There are many people on campus excelling as students and achieving great things without any public recognition,” Hutcheson said. “Whether right or wrong, athletes are the ones receiving public attention.” Hutcheson went on to talk not only about academics,...
by Hunter Patterson | Sep 7, 2010 | Sports
A new program called LU FanScan was introduced to Lipscomb’s campus earlier today. It’s quite simple. Show up to athletic events around campus, get your Lipscomb ID scanned, and win free stuff. There are different levels of prizes, as shown on the flier. With LU FanScan you have even more reasons to come support the Bisons and Lady...
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 Allison Woods | Jun 21, 2010 | Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons soccer team better be in shape and ready to kick this season. There are no breathers in the 2010 schedule which begins on the road at Louisville, a prelude of the difficulty of the remaining games on the schedule. “It’s a pretty tough schedule early on,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “We will be tested early. “The players have to get themselves prepared over the summer. The guys know if they come in and they haven’t been playing and training at a high level they are not going to be in the mix that first weekend. Guys that play well that first weekend are more likely to get some playing time the second weekend.” On Aug. 21, approximately a week after the Bisons return to campus for preseason workouts, they will be on the road at Louisville. The next week, Aug. 28, they will play another exhibition game with a visit to Georgia State in Atlanta. “We played Louisville in an exhibition game last season and the year before we played them in the regular season,” Morrow said. “They are good a team and they are only three hours away. “They enjoy playing us. They get something out of it. We will have only been in preseason for about a week before we play them.” The regular season opens with one of the biggest challenges of the season. The Bisons will be in Dallas, Texas Sept. 4 to play host Southern Methodist, a perennial collegiate power, in the first round of the SMU Invitational. The second round game won’t be any easier as the Bisons will face Tulsa Sept. 6. “That will be a tough opening weekend,” Morrow said. “SMU is a talented team....
