by Hunter Patterson | Jul 29, 2010 | Sports
A week ago I posted an excerpt from Rivals.com writer David Fox who declared Lipscomb’s Adnan Hodzic the nation’s most underrated player. Today, the story that Fox hinted about became public. The story in its entirety can be viewed after the jump. It is a magnificent piece about the struggles that Hodzic dealt with as a child in Bosnia and his journey to Lipscomb. From David Fox, Rivals.com college basketball staff writer NASHVILLE — Some memories of Adnan Hodzic‘s early childhood come to him only in flashes. Hodzic, a forward at Lipscomb who is the top returning scorer in the nation, never had a plastic basketball hoop or an orange foam basketball growing up. He rarely even went outside to play. Instead, Hodzic remembers running through the streets of Sarajevo with his mother with bullets flying. Lipscomb’s Adnan Hodzic is the nation’s top returning scorer. “It’s really hard to remember, man,” Hodzic says. “I remember a lot of war stuff. You know — bombs, gun shots, hiding. I also remember a loving family. Beautiful country. Granted, a lot of stuff I remember is bad.” Hodzic, who averaged 22.7 points per game last season and won Atlantic Sun player of the year honors, was the first in his family to touch a basketball. For a time, neither Hodzic nor his family knew if he’d have the opportunity to do even that, much less that his mother, father and older sister Amina one day would be able to drive a few hours to watch him play college basketball. Hodzic is 21. He was 3 when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from the...
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 Allison Woods | Jun 30, 2010 | Sports
Vanderbilt left-hander Richie Goodenow has decided to take the mound for Lipscomb University during his final year of college eligibility. Goodenow, a former standout at Nashville’s John Overton High School, is transferring and will enroll in graduate school at Lipscomb, according to Bisons’ baseball coach Jeff Forehand. “Lipscomb was one of my top choices,” Goodenow said. “It is a real good school. It is close to home. It has a good baseball program. It is a good opportunity for me to come here.” Used primarily as a reliever in his career with the Commodores, Goodenow will be given a chance to earn a spot in the weekend pitching rotation as a starter, according to Forehand. “I’m excited about the opportunity,” Goodenow said. “It is something I will work for. I just want to help out the team any way I can. “I think I am a real good teammate. I am going to compete in any circumstances. My best pitch is my slider.” Goodenow, 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, started one time in 31 appearances for the Commodores last season. But that lone start, only the second of his college career, was against Louisville in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Expected to give the Commodores three or four innings of pitching, Goodenow threw a complete game, allowing only two hits on the way to a 7-0 shutout. It was his longest outing of the season eclipsing his 4.2 innings of relief work against Oklahoma State Feb. 28. The win kept the Commodores postseason drive alive for another day. They would beat Louisville one more time and advance to the Super Regional. Based on...
