MTSU Turns Season Around, Earns No. 1 Seed Ahead Of C-USA Tournament

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Donovan Sims. Photo: Courtesy of Middle Tennessee Athletics

MTSU’s men’s basketball team has had a season for the record books. The Blue Raiders turned its season from a losing one to finish 13-5 in conference and 22-9, earning the No. 1 seed in the Conference USA East.

Led by 2022 C-USA Coach of the Year Nick McDevitt, the Blue Raiders started off 9-6 before going on a 13-1 run. The team dropped its final two games in close matchups to Charlotte and Old Dominion.

As the top seed, alongside North Texas, MTSU will have a double-bye, opening the championship in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10. This year’s championship features all 14 teams and begins Tuesday, March 8 at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

North Texas has been predicted to be the C-USA’s autobid to the NCAA Tournament, which means that MTSU will need to win out to make it to the dance.

Josh Jefferson led the Blue Raiders in scoring this season, playing and starting in 29 times and averaging 14.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg and shooting 40% from the field. He was named to the All C-USA Second Team. Another ket player for MTSU is freshman Teafale Lenard Jr. who played in all 31 games this season having 106 rebounds, 27 steals and blocking an outstanding 42 shots. He was named to the All C-USA Freshman team. Along with Lenard Jr., DeAndre Dishman will be extremely important for the Blue Raiders defense. Dishman averaged 4.7 rpg, stole the ball 35 times and blocked 20 shots.

All of these players will need to play their best basketball over the week when facing some of the toughest programs in the nation.

The Blue Raiders will take on the winner between University of Texas El Paso and Old Dominion on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT and can be watched on Stadium.

Belmont Women’s Basketball Team Wins Second Straight OVC Tournament Title

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Pictured: The Belmont Women celebrating its win over Tennessee Tech in OVC Finals. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics.

For the sixth time in seven years, the Belmont women’s basketball team has won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, punching its ticket to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Bruins wiped the floor with Tennessee Tech, winning 51-29 on Saturday, March 5 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

“I can’t be more proud of these young ladies than I am right now,” said head coach Bart Brooks in a postgame press conference. “With the ups and downs of the season, this was a grinding, tough and difficult season. We really challenged these players in our non-conference and got knocked down more than knocked other people down, but we kept getting up, fighting and competing. I think this group just has an unbelievable resiliency and toughness and when they got to the end of the season, they started playing their best basketball.”

Brooks has now led the Bruins to four OVC Tournament wins in his five seasons as coach and was named the 2022 OVC Coach of the Year.

Belmont’s defense paved the way for another OVC title, limiting Tech to shooting 9-of-52 from the field and forcing 17 turnovers. Belmont nearly held Tennessee Tech scoreless the entire final 10 minutes, scoring the first 13 points of the fourth quarter before a Golden Eagles 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.

“Defense wins championships and we all know that. Honestly, I can’t take the charges unless they make those girls drive into the paint. They do all the work on the outside and I’m just waiting for it,” said senior captain Conley Chinn in a postgame press conference. “It’s just incredible to be on the floor playing defense with these girls, especially when we have that fire energy, make them turn it over and steal it from them causing bad shots. Like anything it’s just a great feeling to be out there.”

Sophomore Destinee Wells dropped 22 points and was named the OVC Tournament MVP for a second consecutive year.

The team didn’t miss a beat throughout the game and shot 56% from the field in the second half, with nine players scoring. Wells also scored 20 points and shot for 50% from the field in the Bruins win over Austin Peay in the tournament semifinals.

Wells, along with fellow sophomore Madison Bartley, were named to the OVC All-Tournament team. Bartley averaged 13 points on 57.1% shooting and seven rebounds in the tournament.

“We worked so hard for this all season. To see it pay off with this great group of girls and amazing teammates is amazing,” said Wells in a postgame press conference.

Next up for the Bruins is the NCAA Tournament. On ESPN’s latest bracketology, Belmont is predicted to be a No. 13 seed. The Bruins won its first ever NCAA Tournament game in 2021, taking out No. 5 seed Gonzaga 64-59.

Selection Sunday for the Women’s March Madness is March 13 at 7 p.m. CT and can be watched on ESPN.

MTSU Athletics Receives $1.5 Million From Murfreesboro Businessman

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Photo: Courtesy of MTSU Athletics.

A local Murfreesboro resident and businessman John Floyd has donated $1.5 million to Middle Tennessee State University’s Athletic Department.

The generous donation was made in support of the Blue Raider Athletics Association’s fundraising campaign “Build Blue,” which aims to raise $15 million for the construction of a new athletics facilities on campus.

Floyd, the founder and owner of Ole South Properties Inc., Tennessee’s local, independent home builder, launched his own real estate career at the age of 23 in 1986. Today, his company is recognized among the Top 100 Home Builders in the nation.

“I’m just reinvesting in the community,” says Floyd. “I’ve done extremely well in this community, and MTSU in many ways represents a lot of my success.”

“This investment by John Floyd and Ole South Properties in our Build Blue campaign is a game changer in our efforts to transform our Athletics facilities and bring substantial change to the look and feel of our campus,” shares University President Sidney A. McPhee. “We deeply value John’s continued friendship and commitment to our university and greatly appreciate the ongoing support of Ole South Properties in both athletics and academics.”

Floyd has a long history of providing financial support to MT Athletics, the University, and the Murfreesboro community as a whole. Just a few highlights of his philanthropy include:

  • Ole South is the Official Home Builder of MT Athletics, which allows it to partner with local charities, such as the Second Harvest Food Bank for a free-throw promotion during MT men’s basketball games, donating thousands of meals to help struggling Middle Tennessee families
  • Ole South is a proud supporter of Raider Realty, a student realty company that operates a privately held, for-profit business providing the complete gamut of commercial and residential real estate services in Middle Tennessee
  • Floyd previously pledged another seven-figure financial gift to boost the professional prospects of students preparing to graduate from MTSU. That $1 million pledge helped launch the Center for Student Coaching and Success at MTSU, which focuses on helping soon-to-be graduates make a successful transition from college classes to gainful employment
  • Each year Ole South donates more than $1 million to area non-profit organizations that continue to provide vital programs and services throughout Middle Tennessee.
  • Ole South is also a major financial supporter of K-12 education in Rutherford County.

“John is a great friend to our University and is one of the leading business people in our city, region, and state,” says Director of Athletics Chris Massaro. “We are extremely humbled that John has made this type of investment and commitment to our athletic facility plan. This is a giant step forward in our Build Blue campaign.”

MTSU Athletics announced a $66 million project in November to build a new student-athlete performance center behind the north end zone of Floyd Stadium, as well as to make stadium improvements–the first of a three-phase, $100 million-plus plan to be funded by private support to upgrade athletics facilities.

Blue Raider fans can visit BuildBlueNow.com to learn more about the Blue Raider Athletic Complex plans, see concept art, and join Floyd in donating.

SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview: Can Vandy Make Something Happen?

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Pictured: Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball team celebrating its win over ranked Florida. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

The SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament is set to begin today (March 2) with Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team taking on Texas A&M at 11 a.m. at Bridgestone Arena.

The highly anticipated tournament will feature some of the country’s best teams and programs from across the nation, such as No. 1 and SEC favorite South Carolina, No. 18 Tennessee, No. 23 Florida and No. 24 Georgia.

Though the Commodores are the 12th seed out of 14, they aren’t the same Vandy team from recent years. Behind first year head coach Shea Ralph, the team has been able to pick up a few key wins against Auburn, Kentucky and ranked Florida just last week on Feb. 24.

Vanderbilt holds a record of 13-17 and had one of the worst SEC records, but lost five conference games by less than 10 points. This team has played excellent at home, finishing the season with a record of 11-5 at Memorial Gym.

Though they won’t be playing at Memorial, they will be playing right down the street at Bridgestone. If they can carry that home game energy and momentum into the tournament, they could win a few games and make some noise.

The squad currently has three All-SEC players–Jordyn Cambridge, Iyana Moore and Sacha Washington–that will be vital to any success Vanderbilt may have in the conference tournament.

Cambridge was named to the All-Defensive Team for the second time in her career for her defensive prowess. She is currently 10th in program history for career steals (214) and fourth for single-season steals (109). The Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list honoree is second in steals and third in steals per game nationally in addition to leading the SEC in steals. Cambridge led the Commodores in minutes played per game (33.5), defensive rebounds (105), assists (122) and steals. On Feb. 20, she became the only Division men’s or women’s player to reach 100 steals and 100 assists this season.

Both Moore and Washington were named to the All-SEC Freshman team as Moore averaged 11.8 points per game and Washington averaged 6.2 rebounds per game.

Moore leads the team in made 3-pointers and free throw percentage and is ranked inside the top-100 nationally for minutes played, 3-pointers made and 3-point field goal percentage. In the SEC, Moore is ranked in the top 25 for scoring, points per game and 3-pointers made.

Washington had back-to-back double-doubles which were instrumental in Vanderbilt’s win over No. 15 Florida and aided the Commodores down the stretch in the regular-season finale against Alabama.

Along with these three players, senior Brinae Alexander will need to come up huge against the Aggies. She leads the Dores in scoring at 14.8 points per game due to her shooting precision from behind the arc. She leads the team in points per game, 3-point percentage (36%).

Vandy and Texas A&M met three weeks ago in College Station, Texas, where the Aggies won 76-58. Texas A&M (14-14) has dropped five straight coming into the postseason.

Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. today at Bridgestone Arena and can be watched on SEC Network.

Vanderbilt Athletics Signs Deal With Paciolan For Ticketing, Marketing, More

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Vanderbilt University Athletics has signed a deal with Paciolan, an industry-leader in mobile ticketing features, integrated fundraising, and advanced marketing solutions.

With Vanderbilt, Paciolan will provide services and tools to provide enhanced benefits to season-ticket holders, fans, and donors. This includes various tools to purchase and manage tickets, donations, and priority points through a single, integrated, mobile-centric platform.

“We are looking forward to working with Paciolan to provide elite ticketing services to Commodore Nation. As a leader in their industry, they understand the importance of providing a world-class experience to fans,” says Candice Storey Lee Vice-Chancellor, Athletics and University Affairs and Athletic Director.

With Paciolan’s custom implementation of Salesforce and CRM administrative services, the Vanderbilt athletics staff will gain insights to provide personalized customer interactions. This service, coupled with Paciolan’s integrated marketing automation solution, allows Commodore fans to receive personalized communications based on their affinities, purchase history, attendance, and donor level. In addition, Paciolan’s digital marketing team will work closely with Vanderbilt Athletics marketing department to offer targeted marketing campaigns to engage customers, drive ticket sales and grow revenue.

Vanderbilt will also tap into Fanbase, powered by Learfield, to help understand their fans better and create tailored marketing campaigns. Insights generated through Fanbase can be used to enhance fan communication, improve engagement, and increase ticket sales.

“We are thrilled to partner with Vanderbilt Athletics to help elevate the fan experience with best-in-class technology and services. Candice Storey Lee is a fantastic leader, and we are excited to work with her and her incredible team to usher in a new era of excellence,” shares Kim Damron President and CEO, Paciolan.

Vanderbilt Athletics will continue to partner with Learfield Ticket Solutions to facilitate outbound ticket sales to drive revenue and assist in building relationships with Commodore Club members while continuing to serve Vanderbilt fans. The ticketing experience will be enhanced across the board as Paciolan will offer virtual views of Vanderbilt venues created by Paciolan-owned Ballena Technologies while shopping for tickets. Paciolan’s Seat Relocation Management System will also streamline renewals and upgrades for season ticket holders.

Vanderbilt has a long-standing multimedia rights management relationship with Learfield, Paciolan’s parent company.

OVC Adds Lindenwood University, Partners With Big South Conference

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The Ohio Valley Conference continues to make moves and regrow after the departure of multiple schools last year by adding Lindenwood University and striking up a partnership with the Big South Conference.

Lindenwood, a Division I school based out of St. Charles, Missouri, will become official members on July 1, 2022. They join University of Arkansas at Little Rock as the newest members that the OVC has added in the past six months.

“We are delighted to add Lindenwood University as the 10th member of the OVC for the 2022-23 academic year,” says OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche. “President [John] Porter’s vision for the future of the institution, along with Lindenwood’s commitment to success, its geographic alignment with the OVC and its sports offerings, including football, and our shared philosophy and values make them a great fit for the Conference. We are excited to welcome Lindenwood to our OVC community.”

Lindenwood will begin its reclassification into NCAA DI during the 2022-23 academic year but will not be eligible to earn automatic bids to NCAA Championships until 2026. This will be the school’s first full season of Division I membership.

“Lindenwood is thrilled to join the Ohio Valley Conference as we apply to transition to NCAA Division I. This opportunity will elevate our entire university and provide championship-level experiences our student athletes deserve,” says Porter. “A move to NCAA Division I athletics and membership in the OVC enhances our Lindenwood University community in many ways and aligns with our strategic plan–it will drive enrollment, enhance university visibility, and generate revenue. We are eager to begin competition at this next level and look forward to welcoming OVC member schools to our campus beginning this fall.”

The OVC also announced on Tuesday, Feb. 22, that it has signed a letter of intent with the Big South Conference to create an association of their football member institutions, beginning with the 2023 NCAA Division I football season.

The agreement will combine the two conferences’ football membership to ensure NCAA championship access. It will provide the football member institutions a schedule of games against all the teams in their multisport conference and additional games against schools from the other conference. This new model for FCS football also creates more stability for the multisport conferences.

“The Big South–Ohio Valley Conference football association will strengthen the efforts of both conferences to provide greater opportunities for our student-athletes,” says Dr. J. Bradley Creed, Chair of the Big South Council of Football Members. “This move has the unanimous support of the CEOs of the football schools in the Big South Conference, and we look forward to enlarging and enlivening the field of competition for our teams. I commend President [David] Glassman and his colleagues in the OVC for their role in establishing this collaboration.”

Details of the association’s overall structure and administration have been outlined and are expected to be finalized, along with the 2023 schedule, in the coming months.

Former Predator David Lewand, Five Former Tennessee Vols To Be Inducted In TN Sports Hall Of Fame

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The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame has announced a string of inductees for its 2022 Class, including first Nashville Predators NHL Draft pick David Lewand, as well as five former Tennessee Volunteers.

“We’re thrilled to be able to add David to our Class of 2022,” says Brad Willis, Executive Director of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. “As this full class continues to be announced, we feel like people will be pleased with the amount of different sports and regions of the state that are represented.”

Lewand played 12 seasons in Nashville, during which he set several franchise records. Legwand holds the records for games played (956), most goals scored (210), most assists (356), and most points (566).

“We are proud to honor this great group of athletes with induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame,” adds Willis. “These five athletes from five different programs are a great example of the hard work and dedication required to meet Hall of Fame status.”

Vols being enshrined include Sharrieffa Barksdale (track and field), R.A. Dickey (baseball), Harry Galbreath (football), Nikki-McCray Penson (women’s basketball), and Tony White (men’s basketball).

Barksdale was a standout track star for the Lady Vols, becoming the first female in the history of the women’s 400-meter hurdles to go under 55 seconds. She won the silver medal at the Pan American Games in 1983 and earned a spot on the US Olympic Team in 1984 in Los Angeles.

Nashville native Dickey attended Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. He ultimately decided not to sign with Detroit and attended the University of Tennessee, and was named Academic All-American and Academic All-SEC during his time in Knoxville. Dickey was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 1996 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut in 2001. He went on to play for Texas, Seattle, Minnesota, the New York Mets, Toronto, and Atlanta. In 2012, Dickey posted a 20-6 record and became the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young Award with the Mets.

Galbreath, a Clarksville native, starred as an offensive guard at Tennessee from 1984 to 1987, where he played in every game of his career. He was selected in the 8th round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. Galbreath was named to the All-Rookie team in 1988 and spent five seasons in Miami before going to play for the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets. After his playing career, he served as offensive line coach at Austin Peay, Tennessee State, and Hampton University. Galbreath passed away in July of 2010.

McCray, a native of Collierville, played for legendary Coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee from 1992-1995, playing 127 games and scoring over 1,500 points. She played professionally in the ABL before joining the WNBA’s Washington Mystics in 1998. McCray was named a WNBA All-Star three times and won gold medals with Team USA in 1996 and 2000.

White played at the University of Tennessee from 1983 to 1987. He is the third all-time leading scorer for Tennessee with 2,219 points. White appeared in 127 games averaging 17.5 points per game throughout his career at Tennessee. He also holds the school record for most points scored in a single game with 51. White was a second-round pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 1987 NBA Draft.

This group of athletes join Titans star defensive end Jevon Kearse, Maryville College coaching legend Randy Lambert, and Trevecca basketball legend David Suddeth as members of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

The full 2022 Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class will be released in the coming days as well as information regarding tickets for the induction ceremony, presented by the Tennessee Titans.

2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl Bowl Breaks Attendance, Viewership & Economic Impact Records

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The 2021 TransPerfect Music City Bowl broke records in fan attendance, television viewers and economic impact, according to the Nashville Sports Council.

The Bowl game made $32 million in direct economic impact on Nashville’s economy, the most in its 24-year history. The Music City Bowl has now produced $383 million in total direct economic impact for the city.

A crowd of 69,489 fans packed Nissan Stadium, breaking the 2010 record of 69,143 and making it the third-most attended game during Bowl Season behind the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl.

“After a difficult year following the 2020 bowl cancellation, we could not have asked for a better return of our bowl game and first year for our title sponsor TransPerfect,” says Scott Ramsey, President & CEO of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. “We are proud to continue to generate a positive economic impact for the City of Nashville and our sponsors.”

Viewership also broke records as one of the most watched games during Bowl Season, drawing 5.6 million viewers on ESPN. It was the second-most viewed non-New Years Six game. The game also surpassed 100 million all-time viewers following this year’s broadcast. The thrilling final 15 minutes drew a staggering 8.9 million viewers, according to ESPN.

Most of the Bowl’s attendees were from out-of-town (69%) and occupied 19,640 hotel rooms, according to Scorecard Survey data. Out-of-town attendees spent an average of $377 per day while in-town, and attendees reported daily spending of $284, both of which are Bowl records.