Eastern Kentucky University head men’s basketball coach Jeff Neubauer announced recently that Austin Newton has been promoted to assistant coach and Ryan Wiersma has been hired as the director of basketball operations.

Newton had spent the previous two years as EKU’s basketball operations assistant. He began his coaching career in 2005 as a staff assistant at Massachusetts under former Eastern Kentucky head coach Travis Ford. The native of Campbellsville, Ky., played collegiate basketball at Eastern (2001-05) and helped the Colonels reach the 2005 NCAA tournament.

“With two years of experience on the staff, Austin is prepared to step on the court and help as an assistant coach,” Neubauer said. “He has a bright future ahead in the coaching profession and I’m very excited for him to help us in his new role.”

Wiersma, another former Colonel, was an assistant coach at Williams College one year ago where he helped the Ephs finish 30-2 overall and advance to the NCAA Division III national championship game. The native of Newark, Ohio played in 99 games during his EKU career (2004-09). As a senior in 2008-09, Wiersma started 24 games at forward and finished second on the team with 71 assists.

“Ryan was a great leader for us during his time on the court,” Neubauer said. “We’re fortunate and pleased he has decided to return to his alma mater as the director of basketball operations.”

Eastern Kentucky completed the 2009-10 campaign 20-13 overall and earned a berth in the 2010 College Basketball Invitational postseason tournament.

Former Kentucky outfielder Keenan Wiley, a native of Richmond, Ky., has signed a minor league free agent deal with the Atlanta Braves, it was announced on Friday afternoon.

Wiley, a graduate of Madison Central High School, was officially signed by the first-place Braves on Friday. A four-year starter, Wiley spent five years in Lexington, redshirting during UK’s 2006 Southeastern Conference Championship campaign. Wiley finished his career on a 97-game consecutive starting streak, ranking among the UK career record holders in nearly every category.

In 2010, Wiley started all 56 games for UK in centerfield, batting .324 (66-for-204) with a career-best four homers and 37 RBI, leading UK with 20 two-out RBI. Wiley was a sparkplug throughout his career to UK’s unprecedented success over the last five seasons and in games UK won in 2010, batted .393 (44-for-112) with seven doubles, one triple, three homers and 26 RBI.

In his sparkling career, Wiley played in the third-most games in UK history (214), starting 189 total games, ranking seventh in school annals. Wiley also ranked fourth in at bats (751), sixth in hits (230), second in sacrifice bunts (28), 12th in stolen bases (36) and 10th in stolen base attempts (49). In 2008, Wiley was named a prestigious Cape Cod League All-Star, the top collegiate summer league in the nation. During the 2008 summer, Wiley batted an impressive .268 (45-for-168) in the pitching-rich Cape with 10 doubles and 11 RBI.

A 5-foot-11, 175-pound left-handed hitter, Wiley was a tremendous defender in centerfield for UK, utilizing excellent range and instincts to lead the UK outfield, registering seven career outfield assists. Wiley burst into the UK lineup in 2007, with UK battling injuries to All-American outfielder Collin Cowgill and a suspension of outfielder Jason Kipnis, a two-time first-team All-American for Arizona State after transferring from UK. Wiley was inserted in the starting lineup for the first time in his career against eventual No. 1 overall pick David Price and No. 1 ranked Vanderbilt in 2007. Price, the starter for the National League in the 2010 MLB All-Star Game, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before a seeing-eye single from Wiley started a six-run UK rally. After that game, Wiley was a fixture in the lineup, batting .327 in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a junior, UK relied upon Wiley, an offensive table setter by nature, more as an RBI producer, with Wiley hitting .251 with four homers and 24 RBI.

Wiley had a slew of highlight-worthy moments during his UK career, most notably a walk-off home run in the 12th inning of a drama-filled win over state-rival Louisville in 2008, part of a four-hit game against the Cardinals that also saw Wiley gun a runner down at the plate from leftfield late in the back-and-forth affair. The homer against UL was a no-doubt jack blasted over the 30-foot-high wall in rightfield, the first career homer for Wiley, coming in his 215th career at bat.

Victoria Dunlap, a senior forward for the Kentucky women’s basketball team, was named one of 25 players on the 2010-11 preseason Wade Watch list for the State Farm Wade Trophy, it was announced Wednesday by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The 25-member list is made up of top NCAA Division I student-athletes who best embody the spirit of Lily Margaret Wade, according to the following criteria: game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability.

Dunlap enters her senior season as one of the most decorated players in UK Hoops history. She was named the 2010 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year by The Associated Press and the league’s coaches and was one of the 10 State Farm All-Americans named by the WBCA last year, becoming UK’s first All-American since Valerie Still in 1983.

The 6-foot-1 forward averaged a team-high 18.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per game in helping lead the Wildcats to a 28-8 overall record and the NCAA Elite Eight, the school’s sixth straight postseason appearance. Along the way, Dunlap set single-season school records for blocks (66) and steals (107) and became the 27th member of UK’s prestigious 1,000-point club, climbing up to No. 14 with 1,284 career points.

The Nashville, Tenn., native is one of four players from the SEC. She is joined by Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund, Kelley Cain and Shekinna Stricklen.

The State Farm Wade Trophy, now in its 34th year and named after the late, legendary three-time national champion Delta State University coach, Lily Margaret Wade, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women’s national player of the year award in college basketball. This highly prestigious award, regarded as the “Heisman of Women’s Basketball,” is organized by the WBCA, in conjunction with the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport.

The 2011 State Farm Wade Trophy winner will be announced at the WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four, in Indianapolis.

Morehead State athletics has won the Ohio Valley Conference’s Institutional Academic Achievement Award. It marks a league-record 10^th time in 24 years MSU has been awarded the OVC’s highest academic honor.

The Eagles also had three sports (women’s cross country, women’s track and field, volleyball) honored with the Team Academic Achievement Awards, 17 student-athletes presented with the OVC’s Medal of Honor and 91 student-athletes on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

“This is one of the goals I push our coaches and our staff towards every year,” MSU Director of Athletics Brian Hutchinson said. “I am extremely proud of our student-athletes and what they have accomplished. I also commend [Academic Athletic Coordinator] Valerie Ousley and the work she and her staff do to ensure our student-athletes’ academic success.”

The Institutional Academic Achievement Award is presented annually to the member institution with the greatest percentage of its student-athletes named to the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll for that academic year. Morehead State has won the award in five of the past six years.

The team awards use the same criteria as the institutional award, applying it to each sport. The Medal of Honor is given annually to the student-athlete who achieves the highest grade point average in a Conference-sponsored sport. There were 1,042 student-athletes were named to the 2009-10 OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, the second-highest total in the history of the award (trailing only the 1,044 award winners a season ago). To be listed, recipients must have achieved at least a 3.25 grade point average and have been eligible and on the team throughout the competitive season in their chosen NCAA-sponsored sport or sports.

Morehead State Medal of Honor Winners

Women’s Cross Country: Kate Bomar*, 4.00, Amanda Faust*, 4.00. Men’s Golf: Michael Brown, 4.00. Women’s Golf: Karolina Tunstig, 4.00. Rifle: Shawn Holley, 3.90. Soccer: Erin Adams, 4.00, Jillian Birchmeier, 4.00, Bethany Davidson, 4.00, Lily Meisner, 4.00, Samantha Toepfer, 4.00. Women’s Track and Field: Kate Bomar*, 4.00, Amanda Faust*, 4.00, Jaimie Howard, 4.00. Volleyball: Holly Evans, 4.00, Emma Keough, 4.00, Ellie Roberson, 4.00, Lindsey Ruddell, 4.00.

Trinity standout pitcher and Kentucky signee Corey Littrell has been named the Kentucky Louisville Slugger High School Player of the Year, it was announced by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association, on Wednesday during a special presentation at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

Littrell was honored as one of 48 state winners nationwide. A Louisville Slugger player of the year was selected in 47 participating states and the District of Columbia by coaches who are members of the Baseball Coaches Association. Littrell was presented with a specially engraved black and silver Louisville Slugger bat and a framed certificate honoring him as the top player in the state.

While playing both ways for the powerhouse Trinity Shamrocks in Louisville, Littrell posted an 8-3 record and a 1.90 ERA on the mound. A 6-foot-2, 185-pound left-hander, Littrell hurled seven complete games and struck out 101 in 77.1 innings, allowing only 21 walks. At the plate, Littrell hit .333 (33-for-99) and stole 12-of-12 bases. Littrell was a 43rd round pick in the 2010 MLB Draft.

Fellow UK signee J.T. Riddle, a two-way star out of Frankfort’s Western Hills High School was named the Kentucky High School Mr. Baseball in a voting of the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association earlier in the summer. Riddle edged Littrell for the award, with Riddle becoming the second consecutive UK signee to win Mr. Baseball (Luke Maile – C). Riddle, a middle infielder and right-handed pitcher, was a 35th round selection in the 2010 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox.

Former University of Kentucky softball shortstop Molly Johnson and the United States of America Futures team are slated to play Team USA at 11 a.m. ET Saturday, in the World Cup of Softball. The game will be shown live on ESPN from the Amateur Softball Association of America’s Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Johnson previously represented her country as a key member of Team USA in the 2009 Japan Cup. During Johnson’s first national team experience, she finished with a batting average of .600, hit a grand slam and led the team with six RBI. Alongside softball superstar Jennie Finch, Team USA captured the gold medal.

Johnson, a four-year starter and four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection was a star in the field and at the plate during her time at UK. The former All-American owns multiple school records, including career home runs (33) and batting average (.392), in addition to ranking in the top 10 in nearly every offensive category.

The World Cup of Softball features a field of four squads including the Canadian and Japanese National teams joining America’s best players. The tournament features a round-robin style of action with each team matching up against one another in pool play. Seeding will be determined following those contests, and the championship games will take place on Monday, July 26.

Should Johnson and the USA Futures team make it to the championship game, they would again play on television. That game would air live on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET

For complete information regarding the USA National teams and the 2010 World Cup of Softball, visit www.usasoftball.com.

Scout.com did an interview with former Georgia coach and athletic director Vince Dooley.  His son is the new coach at Tennessee and his replacement at UGA was just fired for that ugly drinking and driving arrest.  They asked Dooley about Damon Evans and eventually John Calipari’s name came up.

Here is the excerpt of the interview.

What are your personal feelings about Damon Evans?

Dooley: I am just disappointed. It’s a tragedy, just a tragedy really. Here’s a guy with so much going for him. He’s smart; a good-looking fellow; he’s got charisma; he did a great job for me in finance. For that to happen, it’s going to take him a while (to bounce back). I feel for him. I really do feel for him. I feel for his family, too. It’ll take him a while, but he’ll come back. He’s got a lot going for him, but he’s going through a tough time right now and rightfully so.

Have you spoken to him and how would you characterize that conversation?

Dooley: I have. I was just trying to let him know that I support him, and he’s just going to have to grin and bear it for a while. He’ll eventually come out of it, but it’s going to take a while.

So you do think a guy like him, with his credentials, can come back?

Dooley: I don’t know if anytime soon he’ll come back in a position like he was. This is right at the top of the list for jobs in college. You know, coaches, you tend to gamble on them. I mean, (John) Calipari (at Kentucky). There is always this controversy, but he’s a winner coach in what he can bring. Administrators, it’s a little bit different. I mean Bobby Knight goes out to Texas Tech. Calipari gets somebody on probation and then he goes to Memphis and he gets them on probation, and he’s still getting hired by the best. It’s not quite the same in administration. You don’t have that kind of impact.

Eastern Kentucky University football player Jeremy Caldwell was one of 20 Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) players named to the initial Buck Buchanan Award watch list today. The award, which is presented by The Sports Network, is handed out annually to the nation’s top FCS defensive player.

Caldwell, a junior defensive back from Chattanooga, Tenn., led the Ohio Valley Conference and tied for fourth nationally in the FCS last year with seven interceptions. In the 2009 season opener at Indiana, Caldwell tallied two interceptions. He repeated the feat a month later at Eastern Illinois. Caldwell returned his second interception against EIU for a fourth quarter touchdown to give the Colonels a 36-24 lead.

Besides posting seven interceptions, Caldwell also led the Colonels with six pass break-ups and finished sixth on the team with 48 tackles.

Caldwell was the lone OVC player to make the initial watch list. The Buchanan Award watch list can undergo revision during the 2010 season, when updated lists are announced on Oct. 4 and 25. Ballots will be sent to a panel of approximately 200 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries following the conclusion of the regular season on Nov. 22.

The Buck Buchanan award is named for Junious “Buck” Buchanan, the NAIA All-American and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman who played for Grambling State University from 1959 through 1962. As a freshman, Buchanan came to Grambling on an “if” scholarship, to receive financial help if he played well. After a season of playing both varsity basketball and football, Buchanan decided to concentrate solely on football. By the time he finished four years at Grambling, his coach, Eddie Robinson, asserted that Buchanan was “… the finest tackle I have ever seen.”

The Buck Buchanan Award has been handed out annually since 1995. Some of the past winners include Minnesota Vikings’ Jared Allen (Idaho State – 2003), Jacksonville Jaguars’ Rashean Mathis (Bethune-Cookman – 2002) and Dexter Coakley (Appalachian State – 1995, 1996), who played 10 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams.

No OVC player has ever won the Buck Buchanan Award.

The Buchanan Award will be presented to the FCS national defensive player of the year on Thursday, Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas – the night before the national championship game.

RICHMOND, Ky. – Join third-year head coach Dean Hood for the 2010 EKU Football Rallies. In addition to Richmond on Aug. 3, the football rallies return to Louisville on Aug. 2, just weeks before the Colonels face the Cardinals.

Listen to Coach Hood preview the 2010 season less than 48 hours before the Colonels return to campus for preseason camp.

Door prizes and promotional materials will be given out at the rallies.

Call 859-622-2046 for more details on the 2010 EKU Football Rallies.

Monday, August 2 – 6 p.m.

Joe’s Crab Shack

131 River Rd.

Louisville, KY 40202

502-568-1171

Tuesday, August 3 – 6 p.m.

Gillum’s Sports Lounge

830 Eastern Bypass

Richmond, KY 40475

859-623-2335

Gillum’s will also serve as the home to Coach Hood’s weekly radio show this fall. The radio show will be held Thursday nights at 7 p.m. The first radio will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 31 due to the Thursday night season opener at Missouri State.

This fall, the EKU football team will be looking to capture its third Ohio Valley Conference crown in the last four years and 21st league title overall.

MOREHEAD, Ky.— Morehead State junior guard Ty Proffitt has earned a prestigious award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, securing spot on the organization’s Honors Court.

“Ty is a model student-athlete for our program,” said MSU coach Donnie Tyndall. “He is a positive influence for our younger players on the court and more importantly in the classroom. Ty represents our program in a first-class manner and he is very deserving of this recognition from the NABC”

The NABC Honors Court recognizes those collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the 2009-10 season. In order to be named to the Honors Court, an athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria. The qualifications are as follows:

1. Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player.
2. Cumulative G.P.A. of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2009-10 academic year.
3. Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.
4. Member of an NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Institution.

Proffitt, a finance major who started seven games at point guard and played in 23 for the Eagles, is just one of three Ohio Valley Conference players to make the national list. Eastern Kentucky’s Robin Mestdagh, and Tennessee Tech’s Frank Gore were also honored.