January 12, 2012

Vote for Oakland for the Naismith Student Section of the Year Award

The Oakland Golden Grizzlies student section was named one of nearly 80 schools for the Naismith Student Section of the Year Award.

Who has the best student section in college basketball? College basketball fans everywhere will have a say in determining the most deserving school by voting now for the Naismith Student Section of the
Year Award.

By visiting www.facebook.com/ILoveCollegeHoops, fans can vote for one of the nearly 80 Division I basketball schools that submitted a nomination. The Naismith Student Section of the Year Award, which is presented through a partnership of The Collegiate Licensing Company
(CLC), a division of IMG College, and the Atlanta Tipoff Club, administrators of the Naismith
Awards, is dedicated to celebrating fans that love college hoops and provide support to their
college basketball team with devotion and passion.

The Naismith Student Section of the Year Award will be determined through two rounds of
public votes, combined with a scoring of finalists by the Naismith Awards Board of Selectors,
which will review criteria such as the student section’s name and attendance, as well as photos,
video, and a write‐up submitted by the nominating school. Complete details on the selection
process can be found at facebook.com/ilovecollegehoops.

College Sports Madness Picks Its Preseason All-Summit Teams


College Sports Madness (collegesportsmadness.com) has selected its preseason all-league teams for The Summit League as the site continues the countdown to the 2012 softball season.

UMKC swept the league’s individual awards as Kaelene Curry was tabbed the league’s player of the year and Deanna Friese was picked as the league’s pitcher of the year.  Kaley Patterson was selected the freshman of the year and Meredith Smith was named coach of the year.

The site’s first team all-league selections were Curry (IF), Friese (P), along with teammates Kelly Fischer (IF), Megan Ussary (IF) and Anna Sokolik (OF), IPFW’s Ashleigh Bousquet (IF), North Dakota State’s Whitney Johnson (P) and Taylor Mortensen (OF), Oakland’s Shelby Gott (OF) and Erika Polidori (UTL), Southern Utah’s Heather Black (P) and Western Illinois’ Jamie Goss (IF).

The second team can be viewed on the College Sports Madness website by clicking here.

January 10, 2012

ORU's Morrison Name Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week

With 20 points in three Summit League contests, including 38 points and seven rebounds against South Dakota State in a game that put ORU in sole possession of first place in the league, senior Dominique Morrison has been named the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week. 

The 6-foot-6 senior averaged 27 points per game in leading ORU to three conference wins. Morrison began the week scoring 20 points on 6-for-8 from 3-point range in a win over Oakland. Two nights later he had 24 points and 5 rebounds. On Saturday he scored a career-high 38 points, connecting on 5-of-8 3-point attempts, in a win over South Dakota State.

For the week Morrison shot 60% (24-for-40) from the field, 71% (15-for-21) from 3-point range and 100% (19-for-19) from the free throw line.

The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the top Mid-Major player in Division I college basketball. The award is named in honor of Lou Henson who retired after a spectacular coaching career that lasted 41 years. When he left the game in 2005 he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.

Click here to view the Lou Henson Award Player of the Week release.

ORU Men's Basketball Named CollegeHoops.Net Team of the Week

The Golden Eagles took on their top three Summit League challengers and defeated them all last week.

ORU opened the week with 89-80 wins at Oakland and at home against North Dakota State on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

The Eagles then improved to 6-0 in the league with Saturday’s 97-75 win over South Dakota State, which was also 5-0 in the Summit heading into the showdown. Dominique Morrison had a career-high 38 points in the win over the Jackrabbits.

Oral Roberts is 14-4 overall. 

Click here to view CollegeHoops.Net weekly awards.