OU's Bader named Capital One Impact Player of the Week

Oakland's Travis Bader

Oakland's Travis Bader was named Capital One Impact Player of the Week for his 37-point effort against South Dakota State last Thursday (Jan. 26) to become the first-ever Oakland player to earn that distinction. Bader went 10-for-14 from behind the arc against the second-place Jackrabbits to lead the Golden Grizzlies to a 92-87 victory. He finished with an NCAA-best 37 points off the bench and was named Summit League Player of the Week on Monday. The 10 threes made set a new single-game school record and tied for the third-highest total in Summit League history.

Click here to view the video.

NDSU's Anderson to Compete in World University Golf Championships

North Dakota State's Amy Anderson is one of five golfers who will compete for the United States in the 14th World University Golf Championships this July.

Anderson, a junior from Oxbow, N.D., joins Georgia's Emilie Burger, North Carolina's Catherine O'Donnell, Michigan State's Caroline Powers, and Vanderbilt's Lauren Stratton on the team.

The four-round tournament runs July 3-6 at the Ypsilon Golf Resort in Liberec, Czech Republic.  It is a 72-hole stroke play format.

Click here to read the entire release.

Summit League Men's Track and Field Among the Top-10 NCAA DI Conferences

Summit League men’s track and field was ranked the eighth-best Division I conference in the nation in the most recent conference index by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association.  On the men’s side alone, six league athlete’s are ranked in the nation’s top-20, including two national-leaders, ORU’s Jack Whitt in the pole vault and SUU’s Cameron Levins in the 3,000 meters.

Former Oakland Star Benson Returns to Sioux Falls

Keith Benson

Former Oakland standout Keith Benson, a two-time Summit League Player of the Year and 2010 Lou Henson Award winner as the nation's top mid-major player, is returning to the city where he helped lead the Golden Grizzlies to back-to-back Summit League Championships. The Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA's D-League acquired Benson, who is expected to be in uniform for tonight's game. A second round draft choice of the Atlanta Hawks in June, Benson was named as one of The Summit League's Top 30 Distinguished Contributors. Click on the links to read more from the Skyforce and Oakland.

OU's Carnago Invited to ProHoops Free Agent Camp

After being identified as one of the top senior players in the country, Brittany Carnago was invited to participate in the 2012 ProHoops Free Agent. Carnago, who ranks seventh in the nation in blocked shots per game was invited to the camp, which will showcase the talents of some of the top players in country in front of scouts, coaches and General Managers from the WNBA ahead of the draft in April.

Carnago is known across the nation for her shot-blocking abilities, which included 11 in one game this season against UIC. She has already had 60 blocks this season and is on pace to become Oakland’s all-time leader in blocked shots. Carnago has already set the school record with 89 blocks in a season and last year posted 80 rejections. 

Click here to read the full story.

IPFW's Touloute Signs with Wichita Wings

Former IPFW men's soccer standout Max Touloute has signed a three-year deal with the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Touloute becomes the fourth IPFW men's soccer player to sign a professional contract, joining head coach Mike Harper (two years, ESL), assistant coach Bronn Pfeiffer (nine years, NPSL/MISL) and Jeff Richey (seven years, NPSL/MISL).

Touloute will team up with Fort Wayne native Jamar Beasley on the 17-man Wing roster.

A four-year player for the Mastodons, Touloute solidified his name in the IPFW history book with 32 goals, 14 assists, 218 shots and five game-winning goals. He competed in 67 career games for the Royal Blue and White. 

Click here to read the entire article.

Former Centenary Baseball Star Becomes Youngest Division I Head Coach

Michael Tompkins

Michael Tompkins, the second-year assistant coach at Alabama A&M, had his career plan all figured out. He'd get a few years under his belt as an assistant coach, move around some and, with any luck, a he'd get his shot at head coaching position right about the time he turned 29 or 30 years old. On Jan. 5, those plans went out the window.

It was then that Tompkins was told by A&M head coach Ed McCann that he was thinking about resigning for health reasons. Tompkins was concerned about McCann's health ... then was worried about who would lead the baseball program. It was the man in the mirror, all of 24 years old -- a designation that makes him the youngest baseball coach in Division I.

Click here to read the full release on NCAA.com.

College Sports Madness Selects Baseball 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 baseball season.

Oral Roberts took three of the four league’s individual awards.  Southern Utah's Bo Cuthbertson was named Player of the Year and also received College Sports Madness Preseason All-America First Team honors.  ORU's Alex Gonzalez earned Pitcher of the Year, while Nate Goro was selected as Freshman of the Year and Rob Walton was named Coach of the Year.

 

The site’s first team all-league selections included Cutherbertson (IF) along with fellow Thunderbirds Taylor Shaw (IF), Tyson Weber (OF) and Mitchell Kauweloa (UTL). The Golden Eagles had a league-high five on the first team. Joining Gonzalez (P) were Drew Bowen (P), Joe Spring (P), Cam Schiller (IF) and Brandon King (OF).  Rounding out the team were South Dakota State's Eric Cain (IF) and Beau Hanowski (OF) and Western Illinois' Tom Lilja (IF).

 

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

Oakland Head Coach Pete Hovland Earns 300th Career Win

Oakland head men's and women's swimming and diving coach Pete Hovland earned his 300^th career victory at OU as the men's and women's swimming and diving teams earned wins over both Cleveland State and Xavier Saturday, Jan. 14 at the OU Aquatic Center.   The women beat Cleveland State with a score of 142-101 and earned a victory over Xavier with a score of 186-51.  The men beat Xavier with a final score of 163-42 and beat Cleveland State 134-103.

ORU's Bell-Holter's Buzzer Beater Nominated for Geico Play of the Year

Oral Roberts’ junior center/forward Damen Bell-Holter’s full-court buzzer beater vs. UA-Little Rock on Dec. 12 was nominated for the GEICO Play of the Year, announced by Intersport. Each week for eight weeks, four incredible college basketball plays will be nominated as the GEICO Play of the Year. Each week’s winner will be determined by fan voting through the official Facebook page (facebook.com/BestofCollegeBasketball). The eight finalists will compete in a week-long competition to determine the GEICO Play of the Year. The winner will be announced during the GEICO Best of College Basketball special which airs March 25 at 1 p.m. ET. on CBS.

In addition to recognizing the season’s top plays, the one-hour CBS special will relive the season’s greatest moments, players and traditions. The show reviews the GEICO Best of 2012 Basketball Tour, an interactive fan experience that visits 10 marquee games throughout the basketball season.

With only seconds left in the game and both teams assuming overtime, Bell-Holter caught an inbound pass from UA-Little Rock.  He took a few steps and tossed the ball towards his basket just as time was about to run out. The ball went in as the buzzer sounded and the team went wild. Oral Roberts beat UA-Little Rock in the last second of the game 58-55. Bell-Holter’s full-court buzzer beater is competing against three other plays from week three, including a follow-up dunk by Kansas’ Thomas Robinson, a buzzer-beater from behind the hoop by Wagner’s Kenneth Ortiz and inside-out dribble play by Michigan State’s Keith Appling.

To watch or support Bell-Holter or any of the other highlight plays, visit www.facebook.com/BestofCollegeBasketball. Fans can even share their vote with their Facebook friends. Week three voting opened today, Tuesday, Jan. 17 and ends Monday, Jan. 23, at 11:59 a.m. ET.

Indiana’s Christian Watford won week one with his game-winning 3-pointer against Kentucky, and Purdue’s Robbie Hummel won week two with his buzzer-beating tip-dunk against IPFW.