Scott Brown's SportsBytes on WKDZ

Mitch Barnhart: Calipari 'gets it' as 'CEO of Kentucky Basketball'

Mitch Barnhart's job is a little easier these days. 

The questions he gets these days are about rising expectations and the good things his basketball coach is doing.  In just a short time on the job, new UK coach John Calipari seems to be pushing all of the right buttons, which in turn takes some of the heat off Barnhart, who hired Billy Gillispie away from Texas A & M after Tubby Smith left for Minnesota.

We all know how Gillispie's two seasons went in Lexington.

Mitch Barnhart:

"He embraces the opportunity to take on the job and understands what it means.  He is the CEO of basketball at Kentucky, and he understands it."

CLICK HERE for more audio from Mitch Barnhart on John Calipari

Fort Campbell football player dies after collapsing at practice

A Fort Campbell football player that collapsed at practice Tuesday has died at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital in Nashville.

According to the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle newspaper, 16-year-old Timothy Williams became disoriented following practice Tuesday and was hospitalized.  He died Wednesday evening according to the newspaper.

“The entire Fort Campbell family is devastated by the loss of an incredible young man,” Fort Campbell High School principal David Witte told the Leaf Chronicle.  "He was an excellent role model for our school, football program and the community as a whole. He will be greatly missed, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”

Williams, who would have been a junior lineman on Fort Campbell's team, was listed at six-feet tall and 283 pounds as a junior on last year's roster.

The newspaper said a press release from the hospital did not mention the cause of death.

Tim's father Sgt. Bill Williams was a member of the Combined Joint Task Force stationed in Afghanistan for most of last season and got to see him play a couple of games while on leave here.  I got to meet Sgt. Williams before last year's Trigg County/Fort Campbell game and can tell you there were very few, if any fathers, more proud of their son and his accomplishments than Sgt. Williams.

Having returned home from Afghanistan recently, Sgt. Williams told me he was looking forward to getting to see Tim play for most of the season.

Ironically, Tim's death comes just weeks after the Kentucky High School Athletic Association mandated that coaches statewide take a course on heat safety and preparation. 

Prayers to the Williams family and the Fort Campbell football family.

Kentucky and Western Kentucky sign 4-year football deal

The University of the Kentucky and Western Kentucky University have signed a four-year football deal that will begin in the 2010 season.

The details were announced at a press conference today at LP Field in Nashville.

Here are some of the details announced at the press conference:

• Commonwealth Stadium will host the games in 2010 and 2012

• LP Field will host the games on Labor Day Weekend in 2011 and 2013

• Kentucky will pay WKU $500,000 to play at Commonwealth Stadium because of ticket allocation.  UK will get a split of the profits of the games played at LP Field

• WKU A.D. Wood Selig said he has been pursuing a deal with UK for while, even joking about camping out on UK A.D. Mitch Barnhart's door to get the deal done.

• Everyone involved said the deal makes sense.

• Each school will get a 30,000 ticket allotment at LP Field.

• Selig estimates the Nashville area has over 10,000 WKU Alumni

• With the addition of Kentucky to their schedule, WKU head coach David Elson joked that Selig had petitioned WKU for entrance into the SEC.  The Hilltoppers open the 2009 season at Tennessee.  Last year, Kentucky beat WKU 41-3.  The Hilltoppers lost to Florida in 2007, Georgia in 2006, and Auburn in 2003 and 2005.

• Nashville Sports Council president Scott Ramsay said the possibility exists down the road for the city to host a neutral site game involving the UK basketball team and the football series could help make that happen.

CLICK HERE for audio from WKU A.D. Wood Selig

CLICK HERE for audio from WKU head coach David Elson

CLICK HERE for audio from UK A.D. Mitch Barnhart

CLICK HERE for audio from U.K. head coach Rich Brooks

 

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Tomorrow's Saturday Morning Sports Report on WKDZ

Tomorrow's guests on the Saturday Morning Sports Report will be Dayton Jones of Hopkinsville, who is in Pittsburgh to compete in next weekend's National Guard World Fishing Championships.

I'll also get a recap of SEC Football Media Days from Brent Daughtery of 104.5 the Zone out of Nashville.

We'll also have the Budweiser Big Blue Report with Kyle Macy.

Tomorrow at 8:10am on WKDZ 106.5 FM and online at www.wkdzradio.com

Trigg County U-10 soccer team wins Bluegrass State Games gold medal

Trigg County's U-10 soccer team the Trigg Thunder won the gold medal at the Bluegrass State Games in Lexington over the weekend.  The team is coached by Kevin Alexander and Eddie DeHart.

The Thunder beat the Winchester Scorpions to win the gold medal.  The team is one of the first, and possibly the first, Trigg County team to win a gold medal at the Bluegrass State Games.

Team members are Benson Stallons, Clay Stevens, Zeb Dehart, Riley Stallons,Troy Alexander, Carter Boyd, Stewart Boyd, Kyle Bleidt and Caleb Davis.

Trigg County 7-8 All-Stars take Lyon County tourney title

 

Members of the Trigg County 7/8 y/o All-Star team are (Back row) Coaches Jeremy Cortner, Mark Butts, Scott Brown, Brian Ahart, Raquel Brown (Second row) Zeb Fox, Nick Ahart, Jamarion Grubbs, Caleb Skinner, Jordan Shemwell, Jase Polley, Ethan Nolcox (Front row) Trevor Cortner, Micah Brown, Darrin Brown, Arlen Butts, Darrin Goodwin, and Kyron Grubbs

Trigg County's 7-8 year-old All-Star baseball team won the Lyon County Invitational Tournament July 16-18 in Eddyville.

Trigg County beat Dawson Springs 17-0 July 16 in the opener, beat Crittenden County 15-8 July 17 in the second round, and beat Caldwell County 18-7 July 18 in the semifinals.

In the championship July 18, Trigg beat Crittenden County again 9-2.

In the four games, Trigg's hitting leaders were Jamarion Grubbs with nine hits, Micah Brown with nine hits and 5 RBIs, Zeb Fox with eight hits and 5 RBIs, and Trevor Cortner, Darrin Brown (right), Jase Polley, Nick Ahart and Ethan Nolcox with seven hits each. Polley led the team with six RBIs.

The All-Star team is coached by Mark Butts, Brian Ahart, Scott Brown, Jeremy Cortner, and Raquel Brown

Christian County adds former Garrard County coach to staff

Christian County head basketball coach Kerry Stovall has added the former head coach at Garrard County to his staff.

The Danville Advocate-Messenger reports that Lee DeForest has resigned as head coach after two years at Garrard County.  DeForest was 36-22 in two seasons as head coach of the Golden Lions, including a 20-9 record last year.

The story also said DeForest will become the assistant athletic director at Christian County.  DeForest serves in the Army National Guard and was not available for comment because he was on a Guard-related activity, the paper said.

UPDATE: Christian County athletic director Kevin Crider said today that DeForest has been hired as an assistant coach and teacher at the school, but not as an assistant athletic director.

Trigg County Youth Football Camp next week

The Trigg County High School Football team will be hosting their second annual youth camp next week, July 20-24 from 8:30-10:00 a.m. each morning.

Registration will be on Monday the 20th at 8:00 am in the TCHS football fieldhouse. Kids entering grades 1-6 are invited to attend.

The cost of the camp is $30 for each camper. Each participant will receive a football and a t-shirt at the end of the week.

For more information, call Trigg County head coach Shannon Burcham @at 522-0107.

Former UHA standout Harold Swanigan named coordinator of basketball operations at Notre Dame

Former University Heights Academy standout and Notre Dame forward Harold Swanigan has been named coordinator of men's basketball operations.  Swanigan, who had been serving as the coordinator of student welfare and development at Notre Dame, fills the position formerly held by Martin Ingelsby, who was promoted to assistant coach.

"I am thrilled to have Harold join our basketball staff in the operations position," Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "I think he will be such a great influence on our players given that he is a Notre Dame man, played in the BIG EAST and played for me.  He already has developed deep relationships with our current players from former position in the Student Welfare and Development Office. He was a great captain and leader for us as a player and always was a guy who put the team first. I am thrilled to have Swanny back with us."

A four-year monogram winner, Swanagan, who served as a tri-captain for the Irish during his senior season in 2001-02, played professionally in Europe for two seasons. His first stint was with ENAD in Nicosia, Cyprus, during the 2002-03 season, followed by a year with Autun in Autun, France, in 2003-04.

Swanagan returned to Notre Dame in May 2004 and served as an intern with the strength and conditioning program during the 2004-05 school year before being named to his current position the spring of '05.

While playing forward for the Irish, Swanigan appeared in 127 games (fifth all-time) and made 78 starts while averaging 6.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Swanagan also helped Notre Dame to a 78-52 overall record and 37-29 mark in BIG EAST play during his four seasons.

Since returning to the South Bend area, Swanagan played professionally for the Elkhart Express (formerly of the International Basketball League) from 2005-07 and led that franchise to two IBL championship in '06 and '07. He also served as assistant varsity girls' coach at nearby Marion High School during the '04-'05 and '05-'06 campaigns. Swanagan earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters in May 2002 and received a master's degree in education with an emphasis in educational leadership from Indiana University-South Bend in May 2009.

In his role with the student welfare and development department, Swanagan worked directly with assistant athletics director Charmelle Green on the department's award-winning Life Skills and student-athlete development programs. The Student Development program focuses on providing a balanced Notre Dame experience for student-athletes by focusing on five key areas: academic excellence, athletic success, career preparation, community involvement and personal development. Much of Swanagan's job centered around coordinating community service activities for the more than 700 student-athletes on the school's 26 athletics teams and career development.

Swanagan and his wife, Andrea, reside in South Bend. She also is a '02 Notre Dame graduate and currently is the director of worldwide clubs for the University's Alumni Association.

CLICK HERE FOR THE NOTRE DAME PRESS RELEASE

Soccer seasons see game limits increase

The KHSAA has approved changes to the soccer season game limits, increasing the number of games a team can play in the regular season from 17 to 21.  The total includes game-for-game counts for any regular season tournament. 

Trigg County's boys' team has 18 games scheduled, which includes a mid-season tournament at Calloway County.  They could opt to add games to their schedule since they don't compete in the All-A Tournament.

Trigg's girls also have 18 games on their 2009 schedule.

Trigg Catz win second straight tournament

Team members are (back row) Coaches Kevin Allen and Mike Estes; (Middle Row) Hunter Allen, Tyreke Wilson, Reid Kuberski, Tyler Estes, Regan Hyde (Front Row) Wesley Kennedy, Will Allen, Matt Skinner, Zack Colbert, Ethan Dossett, and Gabe Nolcox.

For the second week in a row, Trigg County's U-11 Catz took first place in a weekend tournament.  Trigg rolled through the tournament and beat a second Trigg team, the Renegades, in the championship game.

Hopkinsville GCC hosting the South Central Swimming and Diving competition this weekend

The Hopkinsville Golf and Country Club is hosting their 53rd annual South Central Swimming and Diving Event this weekend.

The diving competition will begin Friday at 9:30am, and the preliminary swimming events will be held Saturday from 9am to 4pm.  The swim finals will be Sunday at 1pm.

Christian County cross country practice begins Monday

The Christian County High School cross country team will begin practice on Monday, July 20 at 6:00 p.m.  They will meet at the small grove of trees between the CCHS softball field and Hopkinsville Community College.

Any student enrolled in the public elementary schools, North Drive Middle School, or Christian County Middle School who will attend CCHS, and any student currently enrolled at CCHS may participate. They must have a physical on file with the athletic director at CCHS to participate.

Jordan Davis shines at Five-Star Camp

Trigg County freshman-to-be Jordan Davis attended the Five-Star Basketball Camp July 6-10 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.  He was chosen the best playmaker along with being named the Most Outstanding player (MOP) in the NCAA Division at the camp which consisted of 291 freshman and sophmores from around the country and world.

Jordan was also a part of teams that won the regular season and playoff championship and was selected to play in the Five-Star Camps Orange and White All-Star Classic Game.

Austin Peay hosting a rules of golf clinic

Austin Peay State University head women’s golf coach Sara Robson will be hosting a “Rules of Golf” class, Saturday, July 18 in the Dunn Center in Clarksville.

The class, which will be held in Room 282 at the Dunn Center, is for “any golf lover who wants to learn or brush up on the USGA rules of golf,” said Robson, who is certified as a class A status in LPGA Teaching ranks and as a club professional.

As a result of last year’s strong response, Robson will host two seminar sessions that day, one running from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and the second from 1-3 p.m.

Cost for the event will be $10 per person, $20 per family.

For more information or to register for the class, contact Robson at 931-221-7008.

Colonel Quarterback Club Golf Scramble is July 25

The Christian County Colonels Quarterback Club will host a golf scramble Saturday, July 25 at Western Hills Golf Course in Hopkinsville.

Registration and lunch will begin at 10:30am.  The shotgun start will begin at 1pm.  Registration is $60 per person and $240 per team.

For more information, contact Steve Lovelace or Kerry Stovall at 887-1100.

Christian County Colonel Cornhole Classic to be Saturday

The Christian County Quarterback Club will be hosting the first Get-In-The-Hole Colonel Cornhole Classic Saturday at the War Memorial Building in Hopkinsville.

Registration and practice begins at 10am, and the tournament begins at noon.

For more information, contact Matt Baker at 270-839-5770

KHSAA Sports Safety Course now available online

Today is the date for the start of fall sports practice in Kentucky and as it approaches, the number of coaches who have completed the KHSAA/KMA Sports Safety Course continues to increase at a rapid rate.

As of midnight, 3,447 coaches from 262 different KHSAA member schools have already completed the course and more than 1,200 others have signed up to take it.

In the past two days alone, more than 1,400 coaches have completed the online course.

“The fall sports of football, soccer, golf, cross country and volleyball can begin practice on July 15 and schools and coaches have already made tremendous progress in completing the course,” said KHSAA Commissioner Brigid DeVries. “According to the language of HB 383, ‘Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, at least one (1) person who has completed the course shall be at every high school athletic practice and competition.’ No KHSAA sanctioned practice or competition will be allowed to take place without someone in attendance that has completed the entire course.” The course was developed in partnership between the KHSAA and physicians from the Kentucky Medical Association in response to the newly implemented House Bill 383 and contains seven separate modules. Subjects covered in the modules include Emergency Planning, Sports First Aid Elements, Recognizing Athletic Emergencies, Heat Illness, Head and Neck Injuries, Facial Injuries and MRSA and Skin Conditions.

To satisfy this requirement, coaches or at least one person who will be present at every practice and competition must complete all seven modules and pass an exam on the material before receiving a certificate of completion for the course. Anyone, including administrators, parents and members of the general public may also take the course.

The sports safety course is available through the KHSAA website at http://www.khsaa.org/safety_course/.

At this time the primary focus for course completion is the fall sports because July 15 is the first day of practice for football, soccer, cross country, golf and volleyball. At least one (1) person who has completed the course must be present at every practice and competition.

Oct. 1 is the start of practice for Swimming and Diving, Oct. 15 for basketball and wrestling, Dec. 1 for Track and Field and Feb. 15, 2010, for baseball, softball and tennis.

Trigg County baseball team holding youth camp next week

The Trigg County baseball team will hold a youth camp July 13 and 14 for players ages five through 12.  The two-day camp will be from 8 to noon at the Trigg County Recreation Complex.

Lunch will be served on Tuesday.

The cost of the camp is $30, which gets the camper a T-shirt and a chance to win individual awards.

Registration forms can be picked up at King's Funeral Home in Cadiz.

For more information, call head coach Jackie Sholar at 235-5788.

Trigg County Diamond Club Golf Scramble set for July 18

The Trigg County Diamond Club will be having a two-person golf scramble Saturday, July 18 at 1pm at Boots Randolph Golf Course.

The entry fee is $15, which does not include green fees and cart, but does include lunch.

There will be prizes on most holes and tee locations will be determined by age.

For more information, call Jackie Sholar at 235-5788 or Jerry Faris at 522-3375.

Former Titan Steve McNair shot and killed

Former Tennessee Titan Steve McNair has been shot and killed at a Nashville apartment complex, according to WTVF- Channel 5 in Nashville.

The shooting happened in Nashville at Second South and Lea Avenue, the station reported on theor website.

Nashville Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron has confirmed a female was also found shot to death in the apartment, but did not identify her.  He said the deaths were reported at 1:35pm but did not say when the actual shootings occurred or whether there was a suspect still at large or in custody.