By Joe Lofaro, UTM Athletic Communications DirectorMARTIN, Tenn. – Rising senior linebacker Josh Bey was named to Phil Steele's College Football Preview All-Ohio Valley Conference first team. Three other UT Martin players, Kenny Jones, Rodney Irvin and Jeremy Buchanan were named to Steele's All-OVC second team.
Bey (6-0, 220 pounds) led the Skyhawks in total tackles with 107 and was second in the OVC in total tackles. He was ranked among the top 40 in the NCAA FCS in three statistical categories: tackles/game (30th); sacks/game (40th); and tackles for loss/game (10th).
Recently Bey was named to the second team 2010 Consensus Draft Services (CDS) Preseason Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-American team. Bey, a native of Springfield, earned CSN Fabulous 50 Honorable Mention honors and first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference accolades in 2009.
Jones (Jr., 6-0, 235) will make the transition from tight end to fullback this season, after scoring three receiving touchdowns in 2009. Buchanan (Sr., 6-4, 300) moves from tight end to right tackle on the offensive line, while Irvin (R-Jr., 6-3, 290) will anchor the Skyhawks' offensive line from his left tackle position.
Steele's College Football Preview magazine includes 174 pages of Football Championship Subdivision coverage including a full page for every team. The magazine is on sale now at local retail stores.
By Joe Lofaro“I am excited for Wes,” UT Martin head baseball coach Bubba Cates said. “He is a professional although he is not affiliated with a Major League team. This is Wes’ avenue to the big league. He needs to stay healthy and pitch well.”
“Wes is off to a good start, but he must be sharper,” Cates said. “The bottom line is he is putting zeros on the board.”
The 2010 OVC Softball Tournament is locked in and ready to roll but there is one problem... For only the third time this decade Lana Richmond's SEMO Redhawks did not qualify. They failed to make the tournament field in '07, '08 and 2010.
Murray, Ky. --- Murray State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Billy Kennedy announced today that Bret Campbell will join the program and serve as the director of basketball operations.Campbell is no stranger to the Racers and the Ohio Valley Conference after leading the program at UT Martin as head coach for the last 10 seasons.
UT MARTIN FOOTBALL TEAM MOURNS DEATH OF FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK
Wow…Didn’t take the Skyhawks long to fill the vacancy.
UT MARTIN TURNS MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM OVER TO NATION’S SECOND YOUNGEST HEAD COACH
MARTIN, Tenn. – When Jason James came home from church as a 10-year old, he would immediately run in the house, go to the basement and turn on the television and watch basketball. He would immerse himself into the role of a head coach and for four or five minutes he would call all the plays and make all the decisions.
His rabid imagination might have been a premonition. Ever since the St. Louis native was 10, he wanted to be a head basketball coach. And now, almost 22 years after pretending to be a head coach James gets his chance as he leads the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions at The University of Tennessee at Martin. He was named the university’s eighth head coach since 1951 this past Friday when Bret Campbell announced his resignation after 10 seasons. James, who had been an assistant to Campbell for the past seven years, is the nation’s second youngest NCAA Division I head coach at the age of 31.
“I woke up ready to go,” James said. “This has always been my goal, ever since I was 10. My dad introduced me to basketball and he always coached me and my brothers. He had such a joy in coaching that he made me want to coach and influence young men just like he did.”
Fans won’t see a big difference in the style of play that James expects next year. “I like a fast tempo and I like to score a lot of points, but my dad always taught me that it was playing defense and rebounding that made a difference,” James said. “My dad would always say if you score 100 points and the other team scores 101 points you lose by one point.”
The Skyhawks had no problem scoring this past season. The team averaged 78.8 points per game, the 13th best in the nation. North Carolina, the NCAA champions, led the country in scoring with 89.5 points a game. The Skyhawks ran a lot of sets and plays to get open shots. James said he plans to give the team more freedom this season. “Fans will definitely see more motion.”
While the season is about six months away, James said there is plenty to do now. “We have camps and we have been recruiting. I have been working hand-in-hand with Coach Campbell for so long now, it’s like he is out of town. The difference is he’s not coming back this time.”
In addition to camp and recruiting, James will have to hire a fulltime assistant coach to take his place coaching the perimeter players. “I want to have a hand in coaching both the perimeter players and the big men,” James said. “I am going to keep Jay Bowen and Zack Janus, and the plan is to let Coach Bowen continue to work with the big men.”
The Skyhawks return two of five starters, Delrico Lane and Marquis Weddle from this season’s team that advanced to the National Invitation Tournament. While Lane and Weddle are guards, the Skyhawks have a host of big man who gained valuable experience this past year. Among the bigs are senior Eric Massey and senior Dominique Mpondo.
“I don’t think we are going to face a lot of pressure to repeat as league champions,” James said. “I think we will see a different set of pressures. We will feel the pressure to maintain the high-level of play that we have shown over the past two seasons.”
A large part of that outstanding play came from Memphis product Lester Hudson, who is a potential first-round NBA Draft pick. “We have a great bunch of players,” James said. “In my opinion my job is to bring in the best student-athletes possible and get them to play better than they think they can play.”
James came to UT Martin in 2002 from Forest Park Community College in St. Louis where he was an assistant men's basketball coach for two years. The team finished second in the region James' first year, and many FPCC players during James' tenure went on to play Division I and Division II basketball.
Before his stint at FPCC, James taught physical education and health for one year at Ritenour Middle School in St. Louis. He also coached a high school all-star team from the state of Michigan that placed third out of 54 teams at the USA Junior Nationals.
James earned his bachelor's degree in physical education and health with a coaching endorsement from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, in 2000. For two seasons he served as captain of the Graceland University basketball team. He was voted Graceland Freshman Basketball Player of the Year for the 1996-97 season and was named the Most Valuable Team Player during the 1999-2000 season.
Off the court, James has been a scholar of the game. He spends countless hours watching tape, studying other coaches and reading. Most recently James read Rick Pitino’s book, “Rebound Rules: The Art of Success 2.0.” He is currently reading Digger Phelps’ book, “Undertaker’s Son, Life Lessons from A Coach,” but he claims Adrian Wojnarowski’s “The Miracle of St. Anthony” is the best basketball book he has ever read. In fact, James has instilled legendary coach Bob Hurley’s philosophy in the Skyhawks – “It’s not about winning and losing, it is about your performance. If you perform to the best of your ability, winning will take care of itself.”
The NCAA recently released the attendance numbers for the past season for division one men's basketball. If you are a stat geek like me you'll love diving into the report. It's only 7 pages long but filled with interesting information.
