Today we visit with Josh Schneider, who quarterbacked LaGrange to the 3A semifinals, before falling to eventual state champion Carthage. Along the way, Josh threw for 3,907 yards (second in 3A for Texas) with 38 TDS and just 8 interceptions. He also had 438 yards rushing and 7 more TDs.
Q - Josh, what an outstanding senior season, both individually and as a team. What will you remember most from this year? JS - I think I’ll remember how close our team was this year. Our motto was “Band of Brothers”. We played some great team football. I trusted my teammates and they trusted me.
Q - La Grange plays in possibly the toughest 3-A district in the state, but you not only qualified for the playoffs, you made it to the state semifinals. How much better does facing teams like Sealy, Bellville, and Giddings make your team? and you individually? JS - I think it really helped us in the playoffs. We reached the Semi-finals this year and I think the quality of teams in our district battle tested us for the playoffs. I had some of my best games in the playoffs and vs. Giddings and Sealy. I love to play in big games.
Q - Tell us a little bit about recruiting. When did colleges start coming around? Was it ever a distraction? JS - Recruiting has never been a distraction for me. All levels of schools have come by-Rice, Texas State, UTSA, A&M Kingsville, Midwestern State and a few others. They started to come by during the spring of my junior year.
Q - Who are the schools interested in you? JS - A&M Kingsville has said that I am their top recruit and they’ve been probably the most consistent school in talking to me. UTSA also came by a couple of times to see me and they said some good things. Eastern New Mexico seemed to be really interested in me last year but the coach that was recruiting me left and I haven’t heard much from them. SFA and Lamar have told me that I’m on their short list of QB candidates also.
Q - What schools are you most interested in? Have you decided yet where you will attend college? JS - There is something about A&M Kingsville that I really like. The coaches are great-energetic and honest. Also, the game atmosphere was pretty awesome when I went down for a game vs. Tarleton State. If I was choosing today, it would be A&M-Kingsville. I’m going down for my official visit there this weekend.
Q - How big of a role do academics play in your decision? Have you decided on a major? JS - I want to coach after college so I’ll probably major in Kinesiology. Academics play a big role in my decision and I have researched every school that has shown me interest.
Q - What strengths do you have that will help you be successful at the collegiate level? JS - I have a very strong and accurate arm and I believe that I can lead my team both on and off the field.
Q - Who are your role models, or the people that have helped you get where you are today? JS - My dad has helped me since I was little. He coaches the linemen for La Grange, but during the summers and offseason he has taken me to a ton of camps and worked with me to get better.
Q - Any advice for guys that will be going through this process in the next year or two? JS - Just don’t worry about it. Play your game and schools will come calling.
Q - What teammates do you think have the ability to play at the collegiate level? Are they being recruited? JS - Brandon Wilkerson (WR) led the state in TD catches this year. I think he is good enough to play in the Big 12.
Texas A&M-Commerce forward Ronnie Morgan was suspended for two games for his behavior during a Dec. 21 basketball game against West Texas A&M in the First United Bank Center. Commerce officials reviewed the incident and handed down the suspension, and Lone Star Conference commissioner Stan Wagnon said Monday the two-game punishment satisfied the conference.
"We have reviewed the tape and agree with the way Texas A&M-Commerce officials handled the punishment," Wagnon said.
Baseball News Wildcats begin 2010 at No. 13 The ACU Wildcats will open the 2010 season ranked No. 13 in the nation, according to the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division II pre-season poll, which was released in late December.
Defending regional champion Emporia State (Kan.) enters the season ranked No. 1 in the nation, followed by Florida Southern at No. 2, California-San Diego at No. 3, Southern Arkansas at No. 4 and Mesa State (Colo.) at No. 5. Other teams in the South Central Region who are ranked in the top 30 are Central Missouri at No. 11, ACU at No. 13, Angelo State at No. 21, and Cameron at No. 28.
Football News
We have learned that freshman offensive lineman Connor Wise will be transferring from Texas A&M Commerce to Arizona Western College (Yuma, AZ) to continue his football career.
Knoll Become FB Assistant Head Coach - Mike Knoll, a previous head coach and assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level, has joined the Northeastern State University football staff, according to RiverHawks' head coach Kenny Evans.
Knoll, the former head coach at New Mexico State University and assistant coach on staffs at the University of Tulsa, Iowa State, and the University of Miami, will serve as the RiverHawks assistant head coach, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
"Mike brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our program with a great background," said Evans. "He has been around great programs and coaches all across the country. To lure him to Northeastern State at this point in our program is a very big plus for us.
"We are close to turning the corner and this could be what we need for that to happen as we seek to return to the great football days of the past at Northeastern State."
Knoll has also coached on the Division II level and NAIA level, and comes to Northeastern State after serving as the head football coach at Upper Iowa University (NCAA Division II) for four seasons.
Knoll said he was excited to join the RiverHawks' staff and sees great things ahead for the program.
"A lot of what brought me here to Northeastern State was my previous coaching experience in Northeastern Oklahoma, the area itself and Green Country," said Knoll. "The nine years I spent at the University of Tulsa, I always had a great amount of respect for Northeastern State.
"I knew the program was run well, there were good coaches and they were successful during those times. I see this as an opportunity to help the football program get better, through recruiting as much as anything else. When I was at TU under (John) Cooper he said you look for players that are better than you coach. So, it's all about recruiting and having the opportunity to work with this staff and coach Evans. The timing and opportunity just worked out."
During the lull before the February signing date, I thought I would look at the track and field prospects for the LSC track teams, beginning with the three schools that compete in indoor track and field – ACU, WTAMU, and TAMU-K. Sometime in February prior to the beginning of outdoor track, I will look at the other LSC track schools – Tarleton, Angelo, ENMU, and TAMU-Commerce. By then, the conference predictions will also be like and I will weigh in on the accuracy of those predictions.
Well, I guess it makes sense to start a series of track outlooks with ACU, since the ACU men have won 18 straight conference crowns. The ACU women were battered last year by the strongest AngeloState team in 2 decades. Coach Don D. Hood left ACU after last season to move to Brownwood HS and a huge question mark for ACU for the 2010 season will be seeing how the Wildcats respond to new coach Roosevelt Lofton – who has been a head coach at 2 D-I programs in the past (Grambling and Virginia Tech). There has been some shuffling of assistant coaches and the vaulters will no longer be coached on a part-time basis by Don Hood (the older Don – also a former ACU head coach).
ACU has lost considerable firepower on both the men’s and women’s side. This outlook is based on the roster as it stands going into the holiday break. Knowing ACU, I fully expect to see some midterm additions.
WOMEN
ACU scored 175 points at the conference meet (to 331 for Angelo!) and the returnees only represent 73 individual points from 2009. The losses were many:
WInrose Karunde (won the 5K and 10K – 20 points); Loice Cheboi (won the steeple, and 3rd in the 5K and 10K – 22 points – shetransferred to Texas Tech to run with her twin sister, Caroline, the former NAIA national champ from Wayland Baptist); Kim Prather (won the 400, 2nd in the 200 – she had one more outdoor season left, but graduated last May and has been accepted into several graduate programs around the country and apparently decided to pass up that final season – 18 points); Azraa Rounds (2nd in 400, 5thin 200 – 10 points); Callie Young (won the vault – 10 points) and Allison Fowler (4th in the steeple – 4 points). That represents 84 points lost
There are some strong returnees, particularly Wanda Hutson (won the 100 and 3rd in the 400); Paige Newby (2nd in the Discus, 3rd in the hammer and 5th in the javelin), Destinee Nixon (2nd in the TJ, 4th in the 100H, 5th in the 400H); and national champion javelin thrower Linda Brivule. The only drawback for Brivule is that she competes in only one event – javelin – in a conference where most throwers compete in up to four throwing events. ACU also returns Elizabeth Buyse (3rd in the vault), Amber Brooks (4th in the heptathlon) , Joella Foster (4th in the 100) and Amanda Clemons (5th LJ and 6th TJ). Also key for ACU will the return of two outstanding 2009 redshirts: Jessica Withrow, the former national champ heptathlete and thrower Jessica Sloss, who is a national qualifier in the discus. Those 2 women represent 30-40 or more points at conference all by themselves.
ACU did add some good new talent, including outstanding sprinting twins Lynette and Lauren Atkinson from Missouri. Lynette was probably the top sprint prospect out of Missouri in 2009. Also added were Chloe Susset, the French junior steeplechase champ in 2009; Michelle Ratliff from Amarillo San Jacinto Christian who scored 31 points at the TAPPS state meet in 2009 and who is a terrific heptathlon prospect; Sydney Smith, from Big Lake Reagan County, who was 2nd in the 2009 A 200; and Shelaina Lakey from Hamlin, former 2A state qualifier in the discus and a cousin of the great throwing Lakey sisters who threw for Angelo.
On the women’s side, ACU lost 84 points from 2009. Their 2 redshirts can make up 30-40 of the points if they are totally healthy (Jessica Withrow redshirted due to a injuries requiring surgeries) and the new kids might account for an additional 30-40 points, but that still only makes up 60-80 points total. ACU will be hard-pressed to even score the 175 points they scored in 2009. Angelo should be much weaker than 2009, but they did win the LSC by an astounding 156 points! ACU will have to meet and surpass all of the potential to have any chance of regaining that crown.
MEN
ACU won the men’s title again, by exactly 100 points, scoring 238 points. However, they lost 114 individual event points from that 2009 team, including 3 former national champs.
The losses for ACU include: Jordon Johnson, the former national 400 champ who was 1st in the 200 and 2nd in the 400 in 2009; Raymond Radway, also a former national 400 champ who was the top qualifier in the LSC 400, but who was injured prior to the finals; Idiato Jeremiah, 2nd in the TJ and 3rd in the 100; Camille Vandrendriesche, the 3-time national decathlon champ who won the LSC javelin and was 5th in the 110H and 6th in the LJ; Stephen Toler, won the LSC vault and an All-American, who transferred to McMurry; Gerald Chenyi, 2nd in the LJ and HJ and 3rd in the TJ; Andy Henson, who won the decathlon; Cory Altenberg, 3rd in the vault and an All-American who also transferred to McMurry; and Harold Jackson , who finished 6th in the 400H. 114 points is a LOT of points to lose!
The list of returnees begins with 3 national champions: Nick Jones, the 2-time national discus champ who won both the LSC SP and DT; triple jump national champ Ramon Sparks, who won the LSC LJ and TJ; and Andrew McDowell, the national indoor hurdle champ who won the LSC 110H and narrowly lost that event at outdoor nationals. Other returnees include Desmond Jackson, the conference 100 champ, Amos Sang, the national and conference runnerup in the 10K and 3rd in the 1500 at the LSC meet; Cleophas Tanui, who won the conference 10K and finished 4th at nationals in that event; Aaron Cantrell, the conference runnerup and an All-American in the vault; James Hardin, who was 5th in the conference decathlon and a national qualifier; and football fullback Emery Dudensing, who was third in the LSC HT. Also crucial to conference and national title hopes is the return of redshirt Tyler Fleet who won 2008 conference DT and was 4th in the HT that year. Fleet is capable of winning both of those events at conference, particularly if teammate Nick Jones decides to redshirt this spring.
ACU adds some good new kids, but I simply don’t think this group can make up the 114 points that the Wildcats lost from 2009. The additions include: Colby Delbene, a New York state finalist in the 3200; Jordan Geary, from North Crowley, who missed the state meet by the narrowest of margins as he finished 3rd in both the Region I-5A 100 and 400; Spencer Lynn, the 3A runnerup in both the 1600 and 3200 for White Oak; Bryce Nichols, from Abilene Wylie, who finished 3rd in the 3A discus (and who also is a strong javelin thrower); and Romain Rybicki, a Frenchman who is supposed to be pretty good, but who was injured all of cross country season.
These new kids probably represent 25-35 points, Having Tyler Fleet back from a redshirt could represent 20 more points. However, ACU lost 114 points from 2009 and will probably only be able to make up 50 of those. That should make the conference meet on the men’s side as competitive as any in recent memory.
The Midwestern State Mustangs got their record for the best start in school history, had their second-best scoring night of the season and still managed to please their coach while winning going away.
No. 9-ranked MSU had six players in double figures and they dominated Dallas Christian from the start on the way to a 98-57 win in front of 1,112 fans.
Women's Basketball News Clash with postseason feel - West Texas A&M's Lady Buffs ended Fort Lewis College's 12-game win streak Sunday in a nonconference women's basketball game that had all the earmarks of a Division II postseason matchup.
Thurston, a product of Arroyo Valley High School, recorded 44 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two recovered fumbles. Charles, out of San Gorgonio, had five receptions for 42 yards in four games.
Defensive back Dexter Fowler, out of Silverado, is headed to Western Missouri State, which went 9-3 last season. He chalked up 36 tackles, two interceptions, eight pass breakups and one recovered fumble, earning second- team All-Mountain Conference honors.
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