The Buff Facts, with Lady Buff Basketball players Ashley Leven, Ariel Robertson and Aly Sherman

GoBuffsGo.com is proud to bring you, “The Buff Facts” – a brief Q&A session with Buff and Lady Buff players. Throughout the various athletic seasons, the West Texas A&M Athletics Media Relations staff will sit down with coaches and student-athletes for an insight into the their respective programs.

This week we sat down with Lady Buff Basketball Players Ashley Leven, Ariel Robertson and Aly Sherman. Let’s get to know your Lady Buffs!

Ashley Leven
Junior, education major
Forward
Amarillo, Texas

Ariel Robertson
Redshirt Freshman, sports and exercise science major
Guard
Cedar Hill, Texas

Aly Sherman
Junior, sports and exercise science major
Guard/Forward
Mt. Vernon, Texas

What is your all-time favorite movie?
Ashley Leven – “A Walk to Remember”
Ariel Robertson – Pretty much any “chick-flick”.
Aly Sherman – “The Hangover”

What is one meal you could eat for the rest of your life?
AL – Sloppy Joe’s
AR – Steak
AS – Macaroni & cheese, steak, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy.

If you could play another sport for WT, what would it be?
AL – I will have to go with golf also.
AR – Golf… Because you don’t have to run.
AS – Volleyball

What was your favorite subject in high school?
AL – Athletics
AR – Math
AS – Math

If you were stranded on an island, with just one person – who would it be?
AL – Ariel Robertson
AR – Ashley Leven
AS – My boyfriend, Kevin.

What made you choose WT?
AL – I am close to home. I am a homebody and I like being able to go home to my family at anytime. WT is a winning program and I have great teammates and coaches.
AR – WT has a great program.
AS – With the help from God.

In the next 10 years, you will be…?
AL – Teaching second graders and raising a family.
AR – Curing someone’s illness.
AS – A P.E. teacher for fifth and sixth graders.

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

The Buff Basketball team has moved to 4-0 on this very young season. Last night we beat a very good Panhandle State team. I was really proud of our guys for going out on the road and performing at a very high level. If we can continue to get the effort that we got last night, this could be a really fun team to watch. We shot the ball a lot better than we had all year, and our rebounding effort improved from our last game against Wayland.

This is a big week for us in that we will face our first two LSC opponents. We have Cameron on Thursday, and SWOSU on Saturday. Cameron is coming off of a huge win at home against Tarleton and are 5-0 on the year. It is going to be a very tough game for us. Cameron does an excellent job of rebounding the basketball, and are a very well coached team.

Southwestern Oklahoma State is coached by Charlie Schaef. Coach Schaef is a great friend of mine, and worked with me at WT for several years. He is a tremendous coach, and his team has won 5 games in a row. They have good guards, and very good size inside.

We have our work cut out for us this week, but we are going to take it one game at a time. We look forward to seeing all of you at the First United Bank Center on Thursday at 6:00pm for the Lady Buffs home opener against Cameron, and then our game at 8:00pm.

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

With our recent win over Wayland Baptist University, we have improved our record to 3-0 on the year. It was definitely an early November game. Alex Davis led us in scoring with 21 and Lionel Foster led our team in assists with 7. We were very disappointed with our rebounding on the evening. WBU outrebounded us 40-19 for the game. We do think we are improving defensively each game.

Our next game will be against Oklahoma Panhandle State on the 29th. We will be traveling to Goodwell, Oklahoma for the game, and I hope that our returners will remember what happened last year when we traveled up there. We have already begun to prepare for OPSU, but know that we have a lot to improve on as a basketball team.

If you get a chance to come out and watch us play in Goodwell, tip off is at 8:00pm. I hope that everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

It was a great weekend for the Buffs. We came home from Bartlesville, Oklahoma with a 2-0 record. Our team won two very hard fought games over Emporia and Newman. Both teams are very well coached and should have a great year.

We opened up Friday against Emporia State. They are very tough to defend with what they run offensively. I was very pleased with our defensive effort on the night. We had to overcome a 12 point deficit to give ourselves a chance to win the game. With the game tied, Lionel Foster found Rod Little on the perimeter for a 3 pointer to win the game. I was very proud of the team for fighting back from being down and putting themselves in position to win the game. It was a typical November basketball game with lots of mistakes.

On Saturday we played Newman University. Coach Potter does an excellent job with his kids. They have two of the nations best 3 point shooters. I knew it would be a tough game for both teams, especially having to play back to back nights so early in the year. I really thought we came together as a team defensively towards the end of the game and the overtime. We strung some key defensive stops together to give ourselves a chance in overtime. I was really proud of our rebounding effort on the night, and our ability to hit free throws late in the game. We went 13-15 from the free throw line in the overtime.

We are going to work right away to work on several things from this weekend. We as a staff and a basketball team know in order to keep improving as a team, we must begin eliminating our mistakes and capitalizing on our opponents mistakes. With that being said, I am still extremely proud of the effort this team displayed this weekend. We will be playing Wayland Baptist on Friday for our home opener, and then we have 10 days until we play at Oklahoma Panhandle State.

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

I am very pleased with the effort our team has shown through our first several practices. We hosted our annual Coaching Clinic on October 17th, and once again it was very successful! There were over 100 high school coaches in attendance to listen to our speakers and watch us and the Lady Buffs practice. I felt that all of the speakers did a great job! One of the speakers was a former player and assistant coach of mine, Tim Thomas.

Yesterday we had our first scrimmage. I was very proud of their effort, but we have a lot of things to improve on. We use our scrimmages as a teaching opportunity. This gives us a chance to sit our players down and point out certain aspects of the game we feel they can improve on, and also aspects that they were very successful on. We use film for not just a teaching tool, but also for our game preparation. Our staff does a tremendous job of using film to improve our team.

We have two more scrimmages before our first game against Emporia. We are working to continue to eliminate errors, and improve our intensity as a basketball team. If this team continues to put in the effort that they have up to this point, I will be very happy as a basketball coach.

Another big weekend ahead of us

Another weekend here in Canyon is upon us. And surprise, surprise... It's another big one.

The WT Lady Buff volleyball team will kick things off tonight with an LSC match against Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. at The Box. The Lady Buffs remain tied with ACU having posted an 8-0 mark in conference matches.

Not only would a win tonight keep the Lady Buffs undefeated in conference play, it would extend their consecutive winning streak over an LSC opponent to 75 straight matches. WT is currently at 74 consecutive wins going into tonight's match which is tied for the second longest streak in NCAA Division II history, seventh longest streak among both DI and DII schools. Hawai'i owns the NCAA's all-time record with 134 consecutive matches won against Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opponents.

WT owns the all-time mark in DII history with a run of 77 straight wins from Sept. 18, 1999-Oct. 10, 2003. A victory tonight would give WT sole possession the top two streaks.

Saturday will be "Senior Saturday" for the Lady Buffs as they will host the Javelinas for the team's final regular-season home match. Lauren Thedford, Teresa Dunn and student assistant coach Amanda Stucky will each be honored for their dedication towards the Lady Buff volleyball program. Check out the article on Thedford and Dunn about all their accomplishments as Lady Buffs.

Football dropped a tough one on Saturday and the Buffaloes will be looking to get back on track when Midwestern State comes into Kimbrough Memorial on Saturday at 6 p.m. The loss dropped WT to No. 17 in this week's AFCA DII Poll, so this weekend's game pits two top 20 teams against each other as MSU comes in at No. 13.

Many, many, many implications in this weekend's game... First off, WT needs a win just to keep pace in a very crowded LSC South. MSU and WT are each 2-1 in south division play and a loss this weekend for either team most likely diminishes all hopes of winning the division.

Both men's and women's soccer will play at "The Pitch" this weekend as well. Both teams will host Northeastern State on Friday, then the Lady Buffs will host East Central on Sunday in their final home contest of the regular-season as well. Seniors Nadia James, Samantha Garland, Kendal Kitchens, Taylor Cromeens and Kelly Skehan will all be honored before the game as they get set to play in their final home game as a Lady Buff.

Let's get out there and support all of our Buffs and Lady Buffs teams this weekend. Their success begins with you.

Go Buffs!

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

The 2010-2011 Buff Basketball team officially begins practice tomorrow. We had our last day of individuals yesterday, and we feel that our team is just as excited to start as we are. I am extremely proud of our team for the effort that they put in the preseason this fall. It takes really mature teams to understand that working hard this time of the year leads to championships in March.

As a staff we have been working hard to figure out what we want to do offensively and defensively this year to help this team achieve its maximum potential. We feel like this could be one of the most athletic teams we have had at West Texas A&M in a very long time. We will have a few scrimmages as we prepare for our opening game, but have less than a month until we play Emporia & Newman in Bartlesville. We hope to efficiently use the time we have from now until then to improve as a basketball team. Our focus as a team is to improve each day!

I have had tremendous support from our entire coaching staff. Vinay Patel is going on his 6 ^th year with me on the coaching staff. He truly believes in what we do as a program and has a strong loyalty to me and this University. K.C. Beard is in his 2^nd year as a graduate assistant. He will complete his MBA in May here at West Texas A&M University. K.C. is beyond his years as a coach, and has a bright future ahead of him! Chris Tucker is in his first year on our bench as a coach! He is making the difficult transition from being a player to a coach. Wayne Parker and Austin Dunham are also in their second year as student assistants. They are a vital asset to the success of our program! I would like to personally thank all of my staff for the hard work and time they have put into this program. I have always said, “a coach is only as good as the people he puts around him,” and I feel like we have one of the top staffs in the country.

The Buff Facts - Lady Buff Report (Volleyball, 3.0)

In this week's edition of The Lady Buff Report, we sat down with Lady Buff Volleyball Players Kelsey Mangum, Halie Harton and Stormi Lancaster for an exclusive Q&A session.

Kelsey Mangum
Sophomore, biology/pre-med major
Defensive Specialist
San Antonio, Texas

Halie Harton
Freshman, undecided on major
Outside Hitter
Roswell, N.M.

Stormi Lancaster
Sophomore, sports and exercise science major
Outside Hitter
Mobeetie, Texas

What is your favorite kind of pizza?
KM - Supreme
HH - Thin Crust Supreme
SL - Italian Sausage

What is your favorite drink?
KM - Diet Dr. Pepper
HH - Gatorade
SL - Blue Powerade

What is the last movie you saw in the theater?
KM - "Devil"
HH - "Inception"
SL - "Inception"

Do you have a TV show that you like to watch, but hate to admit?
KM - "Make It, Or Break It" on ABC Family
HH - "I will admit to all of the TV shows I watch"
SL - UFC Fights

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
KM - Australia
HH - Jerusalem
SL - Bahamas

Do have a favorite sports moment?
KM - Last year in the regional final against UCM, I caught a dig that [Lauren] Thedford eventually scored a point on.
HH - Winning a state championship in high school.
SL - Being named the state MVP

Do you have a favorite place to visit?
KM - The Beach
HH - Colorado
SL - My grandparents house

Do you have any nicknames on the team?
KM - Not that I know of
HH - Harton
SL - Sprinkles, Lightening

Do you have any pet peeves?
KM - I don't like it when people bite their nails.
HH - Not that I can think of.
SL - I don't like it when people smack their gum.

Is there something about you that a lot of people do not know?
KM - Probably...
HH - That I have diabetes
SL - I'm sure there is and it will stay that way

Rock, Rap, Country, Something Else?
KM - Rock
HH - Alternative
SL - Alternative

In ten years, I will be...?
KM - Hopefully a doctor
HH - A missionary somewhere
SL - Coaching and teaching

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

October 15^th nears closer and closer as we get ready for our first official practice of the 2010-2011 season. The guys have been working extremely hard in the weight room and in individuals to prepare themselves for the first practice. We have been battling a few minor injuries, but nothing that our athletic trainer Chris Dane cannot handle. Chris is the assistant athletic trainer at WT, and has been great with our team. He works extremely hard to help our players prevent injury, and also assists our players to make a speedy recovery if they do get injured. He has been a tremendous asset to our program over the last couple of years!

Our schedule has been finalized for the 2010-2011 season, and is posted on gobuffsgo.com. We are very excited about opening up our season with the South Central Shootout in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in a conference challenge with teams participating from the Lone Star Conference, MIAA, and the Heartland Conference. We will open the year up against Emporia of the MIAA and Newman of the Heartland Conference. We feel our non-conference schedule will be very challenging, but will help get our team prepared for LSC South competition.

I would also like to congratulate Bijan Dotson who played for us over the past two seasons. He recently signed a contract to continue his career professionally in Germany. It is a great opportunity for him and we wish him the best!

The Buff Facts - Lady Buff Report (Volleyball 2.0)

GoBuffsGo.com is proud to bring you, “The WT Lady Buff Report”. Each week the West Texas A&M Athletics Media Relations staff will sit down with coaches and student-athletes for an insight into the Lady Buffs Volleyball program. This gives you, the fans, a chance to get to know your Lady Buffs.

This week we sat down with Lady Buff Volleyball Players Erika Dupree, Lauren Beville and Teresa Dunn for an exclusive Q&A session.

Erika Dupree
Junior, English education major
Setter/Outside Hitter
Mesquite, Texas

Lauren Beville
Sophomore, sports & exercise sciences major
Libero
Hereford, Texas

Teresa Dunn
Senior, broadcast journalism major
Setter
Arlingon, Texas

What is your favorite food?
ED - Chicken fried rice
LB - Steak
TD - Steak

What is your favorite book?
ED - "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers
LB - "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne
TD - "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks

What is your favorite web site?
ED - yahoo.com
LB - website.com
TD - epicfail.com

What is your favorite sports team?
ED - English National Soccer team
LB - Dallas Cowboys
TD - Boston Red Sox

Who is your favorite athlete?
ED - Christian Ronaldo
LB - Sarah Carthel and Kobe Bryant
TD - Nelson Cruz

If you could date a Hollywood actor, who would it be?
ED - MECHAD BROOKS
LB - Channing Tatum
TD - Brad Pitt

Can you name a poster that you had on your wall when you were growing up?
ED - John Cena
LB - I did not have posters.
TD - N'Sync

If you could play another sport in college, what would it be?
ED - Soccer
LB - Basketball
TD - Golf

How many songs are on your iPod/MP3 player?
ED - over 2000
LB - 450
TD - over 2000

What is your worst habit?
ED - I talk too much
LB - Biting my nails
TD - Biting my nails

What made you choose West Texas A&M?
ED - Because of the girls on the team and it was a winning program.
LB - I like the girls on the team and I felt that it was a sign from God.
TD - I wanted to win.

In ten years, I will be...?
ED - Teaching high school English and coaching.
LB - Teaching and coaching.
TD - A sports broadcaster on ESPN.

VOLLEYBALL UPDATE

Greetings. VB has completed 2 weeks of pre-conference tournaments and 1 conference weekend. Currently, we are 6-4 and, most importantly, 2-0 in conferece.

We have played a very strong schedule which will benefit us the remainder of the Season. We have played 4 nationally ranked opponents, 3 in the top-10. Further, all of our region matches have been against opponents ranked in the top-12 (regionally) last season.

As the season progresses we are learning more about our team. The ability is there. We have flashes of brilliance. We need to become more consistent and eliminate errors. This will come with time. This is what happens when you have multiple players stepping in from a 'sub' role to a 'starter' role. It is a different mentality.

A great positive is that our players are learning to fight for everything. Nothing is coming easy this season. This will harden their resolve as we near the post-season and pay off if we get in a tight situation which happens in the playoffs.

This week we play Wayland Baptist, Southwest OK and UCO. All matches present certain challenges. The UCO match is critical as they are 2-0 in conference and they have beaten the same regional teams as us. The two LSC matches will be away.

The following weekend we will travel to Joplin, MO for very important regional matches: Newman, Pitt State, Ark-Fort Smith and UCM. These matches will be critical for us in our regional rankings that will come out shortly after. Wish us luck!

Big Weekend Ahead for WT Athletics... And It Begins Tonight!

A ton of action going on this weekend around Buff and Lady Buff Athletics.

We have both cross country teams heading to Lubbock tomorrow evening to compete in their first meet of the season. So, good luck to those ladies and the guys. I know both coach Sweetgall and coach Dudley have just been anxiously waiting for this day to get here. Well, it's here! Have a great meet.

Volleyball will host Texas Woman's at 1 p.m. on Saturday. It is Dig Pink weekend and the entire Lady Buff volleyball program will be on hand, proudly showing their support for Breast Cancer awareness. A pretty good high school match will be played before the Lady Buffs take the court, as Canyon High and Randall High will meet each other at "The Box". Should be a great day of volleyball for all to enjoy.

Once you leave the fieldhouse, just head straight towards Kimbrough Memorial and put your tailgating hat on, because a few hours later it will be kickoff time for the Buffs' first home game of the season. Coach Carthel and the entire Buff team are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to play in from of the home crowd - finally. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

But... I know, how could there be more? Well, I did tease the fact that the big weekend actually starts tonight. And it does in a big way as the Lady Buff volleyball team returns home to "The Box" to host Texas A&M-Commerce tonight in the team's first Lone Star Conference match of the season. They will do so with a piece of history on the line - the program's 49 consecutive LSC-match winning streak.

WT has won 49 straight matches against an LSC opponent dating back to Nov. 5, 2005. For those of you whom may not know - the seniors on the team last season went through their entire playing career at WT with an unblemished record in conference play. That is pretty amazing in this day and age - no matter what division you are in.

Now, seniors Lauren Thedford and Teresa Dunn will get their opportunity to do the same thing, and it all starts tonight. 7 p.m. at "The Box". Come out and help the Lady Buffs get win No. 50!

Go Buffs. Go Lady Buffs.

Introducing The Buff Facts - Lady Buff Report

GoBuffsGo.com is proud to bring you, “The WT Lady Buff Report”. Each week the West Texas A&M Athletics Media Relations staff will sit down with coaches and student-athletes for an insight into the Lady Buffs Volleyball program. This gives you, the fans, a chance at getting to know your Lady Buffs.

This week we sat down with Sophie McBride, Lauren Thedford and Haleigh Cearley for an exclusive Q&A session.

SOPHIE McBRIDE

Sophomore, general business major

Defensive Specialist

Minneapolis, Minn.

LAUREN THEDFORD

Senior, political science major

Outside Hitter

Carrollton, Texas

HALEIGH CEARLEY

Red-shirt freshman, psychology major

Outside Hitter/Rightside Hitter

Amarillo, Texas

What is your favorite television show?

SM – “The Nanny”

LT – “Gossip Girl”

HC – “River Monsters”

What is your favorite movie?

SM – “This Christmas”

LT – “10 Things I Hate About You”

HC – “Love and Basketball”

What is your favorite song?

SM – “Take You Down” by Chris Brown

LT – “Son’s Gonna Rise” by Citizen Cope

HC – “Shoe Me A Good Time” by Drake

Is your locker – messy or organized?

SM – Very messy

LT – Organized

HC – Very messy

Which one comes first? Study for an exam, then watch TV or watch TV, then study for an exam?

SM – TV, then study for an exam

LT – Study for an exam, then TV

HC – Both, at the same time

What is the weirdest thing that you have ever eaten?

SM – Spaghetti and raisins

LT – Raw eggs

HC – Octopus

What is your guilty pleasure?

SM – Dr. Pepper

LT – Brownie batter

HC – Oreo Cakesters

Who would play you in a Hollywood movie?

SM – Jessica Alba

LT – Jennifer Garner

HC – Cameron Diaz

What is something that a lot of people may not know about you?

SM – I used to be in the circus.

LT – I speak Spanish, almost fluently.

HC – I want to be a pastry chef.

What made you choose West Texas A&M?

SM – I wanted to get away from home.

LT – I wanted to win.

HC – Volleyball and being able to stay close to home.

What do you want to be doing 10 years from now?

SM – I want to live in a big city and have my own business.

LT – I want to be doing some kind of International Law, all over the world.

HC – I want to be out of Amarillo.

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

We have concluded the first week of classes and the guys are adjusting to having a regular routine to follow each day. This past weekend the Buff Basketball team, along with other programs on campus, helped with the 2010 Buffalo Club Golf Classic. We would like to give a special thanks to everyone that helped sponsor our hole at the Classic. It was a great chance for our program to get to meet and catch up with many familiar faces that are involved with our program.

This week also started our first week of weights and conditioning. Our weights and conditioning workouts are administered by Coach Taylor Strube. Coach Strube is the assistant strength and conditioning coach at WT, and is a great addition to our program and athletic department. He is doing a great job with these young men, and I am excited to watch them improve over the next several weeks.

This next week marks the first week in which we will begin to conduct our individual workouts. We will concentrate on refining and improving individual skills, and also begin teaching our basketball philosophy. Our staff works especially hard to teach what we will be doing offensively and defensively in the upcoming year to make the transition to full practice on October 15^th a lot easier.

I have been very pleased with the excitement and energy that this team has showed up to this point. Our goal is to continue to improve each day. The team that does that usually plays the longest.

GAMEDAY

It's finally here. That day we have all been waiting for... All 271 of them.

West Texas A&M Football kicks off the 2010 campaign in just under nine hours Canyon time. Are you excited?

I think we all are. There is a buzz all around campus and the town as well. Buffalo Football is here.

The Buffs will take on Grand Valley State tonight - The No. 2 team in the nation. The Buffs entered the preseason ranked No. 11 in the nation, and without even playing a game, WT moved up three spots to No. 8 in the latest poll released this week.

Talk about a match-up. Two top-ten programs. Both going at it in Week One. And in front of a nationally televised audience. It doesn't get any better than this.

(Dave Henry of the Amarillo Globe News had a great article this morning about big time DII match-ups early in the season.)

That's right people. Gameday is finally here. Buckle-up your chin straps... It's going to be a great season.

VOLLEYBALL ENDS 2-A-DAYS

I am sure all of our players are excited at the phrase "We are finished with pre-season practices!". After 2 weeks of nothing but volleyball the players will start school this Monday and start gearing up for their first matches of the season this coming Friday.

We have seen great strides with our development this preseason. We still have much to improve if we wish to meet our goals, but we are starting to look like a strong unit.

We ended preseason with a team scrimmage that allowed us to give everybody equal reps to show their 'stuff'. At this point we are still unsure of who 1/2 our starters will be. Currently, it looks like it will be a game-time decision for some of these spots. With our youth comes great opportunities at certain positions and this has created a competitive atmosphere with these players. If we can keep this development up I see us having different options later in the season. Ahhh, a coaches' dream!

At the scrimmage we started to see some fight in certain players and team synergy being displayed on offense and defense. Unity is always important but this will be relied upon heavily until we gain more experience throughout the season.

Seniors Lauren Thedford and Teresa Dunn have shown great strides since last year. They will be at one of the OH and S positions respectively. Junior Erika Dupree will most likely be the other S and serve as a RS hitter when front row. Sophomores Lauren Beville and Kelsey Mangum are battling it out for the libero spot. Junior transfer Keidra Williams is stepping out at the MB position. The other spot at MB is closely contested between sophomore Erin Dougherty redshirt freshman Laura Iwuchukwu. Redshirt freshman Haleigh Cearly and sophomore Stormi Lancaster are fighting for the 2nd RS position with freshman Rosalyn Thorpe close behind. The last OH position is extremely close with freshmen Halie Harton and Ashley Davis. Both bring a great presence with them on the court.

IF we can have a sense of urgency this team has tremendous potential. They are fun to be around and know how to handle the coaches when we get a little 'upset':) This team has a great energy.

I welcome all of you to join us this coming Friday and Saturday for our opening tournament where we will be hosting 10 teams. The tournament schedule will be online soon. The matches we play are extremely important for us in terms of regional seeding: UTPB, St. Ed's and DBU are the top 3 programs in the Heartland Conference. These matches will go a long way in helping us secure a spot in November. Our 4th match will be against rival LCU, a great program just down the road. Please check out times and location at www.gobuffsgo.com. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to the WT Athletics Blog

New for the 2010-11 school year will be the WT Athletics Blog. Members of the WT Athletics Media Relations will make weekly posts throughout the year to keep all WT fans up to date one what is happening with WT Athletics.

We will give you an inside look into what is going on with all of WT's sports teams and it's athletes.

Later on in the year, look for both student-athletes and coaches to give you the scoop of what is going on in their worlds, too.

Feel free to leave comments on any and all blogs and we will do our best to answer any of your questions/comments.

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

We are days away from having the entire 2010-2011 Buff Basketball team back on campus. We will soon begin our preseason workouts and look to quickly come together as a basketball team. Our preseason will consist of weights, conditioning, and individual workouts. An individual workout consists of our staff working with 4 players at a time due to NCAA rules. This helps us and our players focus on little things that we think might help a player before we jump into full team practice on October 15th.

I once saw a quote many years ago that has stuck with me ever since.

“Are you motivated, frustrated or intimidated?”

In order to grow as a player, you need to be motivated. We feel that our players have been very motivated to improve themselves over the summer. We also hope that this motivation continues throughout the entire preseason.

Classes begin August 30th, and our staff is very excited as we get ready for the new academic and athletic school year.

2010 WTAMU VOLLEYBALL IS HERE!

Greetings,

The 2010 WTAMU Volleyball Team is on campus and ready to start drills tomorrow, Monday. The coaching staff is very excited to start working with this group of players.

We lost 5 starters from the 2009 team and return 2! However, we knew this day was coming. Therefore, we brought in 8 players in 2009 whose goal was to be ready for this year. We also brought in a great 2010 class and they will compete immediately for playing time. 75% of our roster are underclassmen.

We are quick and athletic. We just need to show the players our system and get them to gel. This group's energy and excitement level is high so I think we will have a good time showing them the ropes. The only tough part is the shortenned season due to NCAA rules. We have 2 weeks of pre-season and then we host an 11 team tournament. The following weekend we go to the Colorado Premiere and will probably end up playing 4 top-15 programs.

After the Premiere we will start conference play and look forward to defending our title. See you at the games!

A note from the desk of Coach Cooper

Fall individual workouts and conditioning workouts are right around the corner for the 2010-2011 Buff Basketball team. We have 14 young men that will be participating in our program next year. We are really excited about the team we have assembled for this coming year. They have been working hard this summer to build good work habits that will carry us through the 2010-2011 season. Our staff is very anxious to get the team on campus and begin our fall workouts. It is a very fun time for us, and I think a fun time for our players (although you may have to ask them about that). It is obvious to me that we have a sound nucleus of players returning (8) and a solid group of newcomers (6). There is just no substitute for solid leadership. I will put forth no predictions, but we really like this team. We will have to “gel” as a team, but if we continue to work hard, this will be a really fun season.

Jensen and Isaacs Named LSC Scholar Athletes

A pair of West Texas A&M senior athletes were named the Lone Star Conference Scholar Athlete Award winners announced on Wednesday morning from the conference office in Richardson, Texas with 29 student athletes honored by league officials.

Each academic year, the LSC presents a Scholar-Athlete Award to one male and one female student-athlete at each member institution. These student-athletes are selected as representatives of the outstanding accomplishments in athletics, scholarship and leadership that are displayed on each LSC campus during the year.

Jacob Fynboe Jensen, a Horsens, Denmark native, continued leadership for the Buffs this season as a senior midfielder, he tallied two goals and added four assists for a total of eight points. Jensen's 34 career assists is tops in both the WT record books along with in the Lone Star Conference. Jensen was a member of the All-LSC First Team as well as the Academic Player of the Year.

Holly Isaacs, a Brownfield, Texas native, became one of the most feared and consistent point guards in the LSC as a senior this past season. Isaacs moved into the top 5 of the WT Record Books for three pointers in a season and a career for the Lady Buffs who advanced to the South Central Regional Semi-Final game before falling to eventual national champion Emporia State. Isaacs was a member of the All-LSC Honorable Mention Team as well as the LSC All-Academic First Team.

Besides representing each of the league’s 15 member institutions, this year’s recipients represent 10 of the 16 sports that are sponsored by the conference. Basketball, football, soccer and softball had the most Scholar-Athletes with five selections each.

The 2009-2010 Scholar-Athletes led their respective teams to seven conference championships and two LSC divisional titles.

DeLaGarza Joins The Amarillo Dillas for the 2010 Season

Former Buff Adam Delagarza won’t have to travel far to play summer league baseball, he has been named the starting third baseman for the Amarillo Dillas, the two time defending champions of the United League.

DeLaGarza, a Red Oak, Texas native, became the everyday shortsop for the Buffs during his first season at WT, hitting .435 with 11 doubles, two homers, 32 RBI and a team leading six triples. He was a member of the All-Lone Star Conference First Team and was also a member of the Daktronics All-South Central Region First Team.

Last week he was also honored with a spot on the NCAA Division II Daktronics Honorable Mention All-American team for his efforts on the diamond, becoming the second All-American in WT Baseball history.

The Buffs had one of their most successful seasons in years in 2010, recording a 23-20 overall record under second year head coach Matt Vanderburg with a 17-18 record in the LSC, finishing just one spot away from making the postseason conference tournament.

So far this season, the Dillas are 3-2 overall and will be hosting the Colts of San Angelo tonight at The Dilla Villa in Amarillo. Gametime is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game can be heard on AudioSportsOnline by visiting www.myamarillodillas.com.

WT's Dandridge Earns All-America Status With Third Place Finish in Discus

West Texas A&M’s Servell Dandridge, the Lone Star Conference discus champion, placed third in the discus Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships, being held in Charlotte, N.C., at the Irwin Belk Track Complex on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University.

Friday, teammate Eldon Grimslid finished eighth in the men’s decathlon to attain all-American status.

Dandridge, a native of DeSoto, Texas, recorded an effort of 52.36 meters (171-09 feet), placing behind second-place finisher James Coleman of Missouri Southern (52.54m) and winner Derrick Vickers of Findlay (52.77m). Dandridge’s effort was a personal best, topping his 56.83 meter effort at the LSC Championships.

One day after his accomplishments in the decathlon, Holmen, Wis., native, Eldon Grimslid, competed in the javelin throw, placing ninth with an effort of 59.47 meters (195-01 feet).

For more information, including final results, please go to: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/c-otrack/champpage/c-otrack-div2-index.html

LeComte Named Lousiville Slugger/NFCA First Team All-American

West Texas A&M sophomore center-fielder Kimberly LeComte has been named a Louisville Slugger/NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) First Team All-American announced on Thursday morning. LeComte becomes the first ever All-American in Lady Buff program history.

“I’m very proud of Kim for all the recognition she’s receiving for a great season” said WT head coach Kevin Blaskowski “It’s an honor for her to be recognized as one of the top players in all of Division II softball.”