Wednesday night was a great night for Highlander Basketball! Many thanks to our students for coming out and providing a big lift to our team last night. You guys were great! What a big win over UNCA, a team that has been on top of the Big South all season. Folks, it’s just a matter of time before the Highlanders are sitting in 1st place in the Big South.

Saturday’s game against VMI is huge. TV game people! Let’s be out in force wearing RED. We want this place completely packed. We won at VMI and coming up with a sweep of the Keydets in late February will be a great thing for our program. I cannot emphasize enough how important crowd support is, particularly coming down the stretch run of the season. We are working to get in position for an opening round home game in the Big South Tournament in two weeks.

BE THERE-SATURDAY AT 4:00PM IN THE DEDMON CENTER. Let’s have the most enthused, fired-up crowd of the season and show a television audience what a great venue and tough place to play Dedmon Center is.

GO HIGHLANDERS!

Support RU In the Stretch Run!

This is a big week for Radford University Basketball beginning with a huge game tonight against UNC Asheville. UNCA has been at the top of the Big South for most of the season and tonight is a great opportunity for the Highlanders.

We also have a huge game against VMI Saturday at 4:00pm on TV. We need a huge crowd in the Dedmon Center for this critical conference game. Wear RED and be enthused!

We need your support tonight and Saturday. We are still in position to get a first round home game in the Big South Tournament. Winning at home is a big key to this and I can’t emphasis enough how important student and fan support is.

This is my favorite time of year in sports. We are coming down the stretch run in college basketball as teams solidify spots for conference and NCAA Tournament seeds. Anything can happen in February and March so come out and play a big role in our men’s and women’s basketball teams’ success. We need you!

Go Highlanders!

Building A Winning Tradition

I have some writers block as I begin this installment of my blog. It is not for lack of content as finding material is not hard. What is hard is summing up what was an extraordinary Homecoming weekend. I believe it is appropriate to first say thank you to everyone who participated in our first Homecoming built around the basketball season. It was wonderful to see so many great people come back and participate in an event-filled weekend that culminated with two big wins for our Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams. I also want to thank everyone at Radford University who worked so very hard to make this a success. I would like to single out Laura Turk, Greig Denny, Cathy Greenberg, Sandra Bond, David Horton, and Jackie Snell. These folks worked tirelessly to make this a great event for everyone involved.

Homecoming is obviously a reunion, but even more important it is about establishing tradition. There are no athletic programs, regardless of level, that can be successful without tradition. Tradition evolves in many ways and it starts with WINNING. There is no doubt in my mind our athletic teams at Radford University can win on a national level. We all must remember winning is hard and requires extraordinary effort, determination, attention to detail, intense work ethic, and a commitment to excellence. These are characteristics of winning programs. I know we are on our way to getting there and case in point was Homecoming weekend.

The men have two remaining home games and we need your support as we make the final push towards the Big South Tournament. We need to pack the place from here on out! Put these dates on your calendar, wear RED, and come cheer loudly for the Highlanders-UNCA on Wednesday, February 20th at 7:00pm, and the last regular season home game against VMI on Saturday, February 23rd at 4:00pm. UNCA features 7’-7” Kenny George who is one of the great shot blockers in college basketball and our VMI game will be televised and will be the final game for seniors Colby Trent, Tyler Kleckner, and Duane Ricks.

Our women’s basketball team is also playing well. We had a huge win last Saturday Night at Winthrop and then played 40 minutes of tremendous basketball en route to beating Charleston Southern this past Saturday. The team came together with an exceptional team effort in both of these wins. We have two home games remaining and we MUST have your support. Please get out and see this terrific team play Coastal Carolina on Monday, February 18th at 7:00pm, and then our last home game of the season against Winthrop on Saturday, March 1st at 3:00pm. This will be the last home game for seniors Kelli Darden, Corrie Fertitta, and Serena White. Coach Porter’s team is so fun to watch. They play excellent defensively and they play hard.

Congratulations to Kelli Darden who set the All-Time Shot Block record in Big South History against UNCA on Homecoming weekend. Kelli has had a fantastic career at RU.

Our spring sports are underway as baseball opens at Davidson Friday and softball began last weekend with a 5-1 start, the best-ever in school history. Coach Mickey Dean has an experienced group returning and we are looking for great things from this team. Joe Raccuia is in his first season as head baseball coach. He is very enthusiastic and he is going to do great things with our baseball program.

Track & Field is still in their indoor season and they have had several excellent outings. The outdoor season gets underway on March 14th.

Tennis is in season and Mike Anderson’s defending Big South Champion men’s team is favored to once again win the Big South. We are lead by Martin Sayer who is one of the all-time great tennis players in Radford and Big South history. The men are 3-0 in the early going, including a 2-0 Big South record. Our women’s tennis Team, led by coach Bruce Harrison, has an exciting squad with several promising freshman. They have started the season 2-2.

We are going to have some new faces in the Athletic Department in the near future and the first one I would like to welcome is Randy Butt. Randy is joining the RU family after spending 21 years at Virginia Tech. Randy will serve as the Executive Associate Athletic Director and will oversee all business and finance matters for the department. We are thrilled to get someone of Randy’s experience at Radford University.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the students at Northern Illinois who so tragically and senselessly lost their lives last week. We will honor these people by wearing the NIU colors of black and red at our men’s basketball game Wednesday night. Please join us in doing this.

Go Huskies and Go Highlanders

NCAA Convention, Homecoming and Snow!

I want to welcome back all of our students. It was very enjoyable last Monday to see the campus alive again-- students going to class and getting back into the swing of the new semester. I want to wish them all the best of luck as they begin the spring semester…get off to a great start!

I woke up last Thursday to a beautiful blanket of snow in the New River Valley. I took my dog for her morning walk and I’m pretty sure it was the first time she had ever seen the white stuff. I know it made for some interesting moments during the morning commute if one was brave enough to get out in it

I spent the second weekend in January in Nashville, TN at the NCAA Convention. This is a great event and always a tremendous learning experience for everyone involved. It was my first opportunity to meet the Athletic Directors in the Big South Conference, and I was impressed. There is an incredibly impressive group of people directing Big South athletic programs. I had a nice time visiting with Warren “Moose” Koegel from Coastal Carolina. Moose played football for the legendary Joe Paterno at Penn State and I enjoyed listening to so many great stories about his experiences.

There were three pieces of legislation each institution voted on at the convention. One key measure was a vote to reinstate text messaging in recruiting. This has been a controversial issue among NCAA members. Last year the NCAA Membership voted to prohibit all forms of text messaging during the recruiting process. An “override “of this legislation was proposed and sent to the floor for vote which, if passed, would have reinstated a member coach’s ability to text message recruits. The override did not pass and coaches are still prohibited from text messaging.

I would like to touch on a couple other recent happenings. I am very pleased to announce that we have hired two interns in the athletic department, Griffith Hunter, a 2007 RU graduate and varsity golf athlete and Todd Woods, a 2007 Emory & Henry Graduate. Both of these young men are smart, hardworking and motivated. They will perform a variety of duties as they begin what promises to be a successful career in athletics administration.

I also want to make everyone aware of our Homecoming Activities. Everyone at Radford University is working hard to make this year’s homecoming a wonderful event. We have built this event around our Women’s Basketball game against UNC Ashville and our Men’s Basketball game against Liberty on February 2nd. We are also very excited about our two Basketball Alumni games on Friday, February 1st. Please come out and see our former women play at 6:00pm followed by our Men’s Alumni game at 7:30pm. I can’t wait to see these former players get up and down the floor! And to answer a recent question from Tom Gallaher…no, I will not be playing! I am officially retired from all basketball contests-I like having my Achilles tendons and ACLs firmly in place!

In addition, we will honor our 1994, 1995, and 1996 Women’s NCAA Tournament teams at halftime of the RU vs. UNC Ashville game. At halftime of our Men’s game against Liberty we will honor the 10 year anniversary of 1998 Big South Men’s Championship and NCAA Tournament team.

The cost for events throughout Homecoming Weekend is $25 per person, which includes game tickets, halftime social, most events across campus and the evening in “The Bonnie." Tickets for the NPHC step show are $10.
Please email alumni@radford.edu or call 1-888-478-4723 to reserve your tickets. Registration deadline is Jan. 29, 2008.


Go Highlanders!

December Wrap-Up

It’s certainly been an exciting month in Highlander Athletics because the basketball season is in full swing. I’ve seen a lot of basketball and I have been so impressed with our Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted and apologize for the delay. Get ready, this is going to be a long one covering the month of December and into the New Year.

Sunday, December 16th in Winston Salem, NC was a true highlight for our athletic program. Coach Jeri Porter took her team to Tobacco Road in the heart of ACC country and knocked off Wake Forest. Wake was 9-1 going into the game and the Highlanders came through with a fantastic win on the road at Lawrence Joel Coliseum. It was a lot of fun to see the excitement and enthusiasm of this team.

We were fortunate former Radford University player, coach, and Hall of Famer, Charlene Curtis, was in attendance. Coach Curtis is one of the nicest people I have met and a tremendously successful graduate. My father in law, Dr. George Parish, had Coach Curtis in class while she was a student at Radford and I have heard him say many times that Coach Curtis was one of his top students of music during the 30 years he taught at Radford University and one of his all time favorite students.

On Thursday, December 19th, our women were back in action against a tough ETSU team. Kelli Darden and Corrie Fertitta both had “double/doubles” leading the Highlanders to a key non-conference win. We had a tremendous cheering section on hand for the ETSU game. President Kyle, Dr. Wil Stanton and his wife Angie, Vice President for Communications, John Hachtel, Dr. Norleen Pomerantz, Dr. Jack Call, and Kathleen Harshberger all pulled together to form a loud cheering section that helped encourage the Highlanders for 40 minutes.

Congratulations to Johnette Walker on being named Big South Player of the Week as well Taleia Moton who was named Big South Freshman of the Week for the week of December 16-22.

Our Women continued their great play by defeating a good American University team on December 22nd and then coming back after Christmas to win the RU Highlanders Holiday Classic at the Dedmon Center. We closed out the classic by beating Colonial Conference member, UNC Wilmington, 77-46. Once again our defense and rebounding were sensational. Congratulations are in order for Corrie Fertitta who scored her 1,000 point at American and then was awarded Big South Player of the Week for December 17-30. The Women’s team also picked up a trio of wins in six days, running away with victories over USC Upstate and Virginia Intermont and fighting out a win down a future Big South member Presbyterian.

Our Men’s team continues to play one of the toughest schedules in the country. A particularly tough stretch started on December 15th when we traveled to Washington, DC to play arguably the best team in the country, the Georgetown Hoyas. McDonough Arena was sold out and it was a great atmosphere. The Hoyas are like Noah’s Ark-they have two of everything! It is one of the best collections of talent I have seen in a long time. There is no doubt in my mind we will see Georgetown in the Final 4 the first weekend in April.

We had a very nice alumni social prior to the Georgetown game. David Horton, Tom Lillard, Sherri Mylott, and Cathy Greenberg did a wonderful job hosting this outstanding event. It was great for our alums in the DC area to see the Highlanders in action close to their homes and to be able to meet with the coaches and players after the game.

The schedule did not get any easier for the Highlanders as we left Washington, DC for Harrisonburg, VA for a Monday night contest with the JMU Dukes. JMU is a much improved basketball team and we stayed even for almost the entire game. Unfortunately the Dukes had a couple of key runs and pulled away down the stretch. However, I could see our team getting better despite losing a tough, hard fought road game.

Two days later we were back home to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in a sold out contest at the Dedmon Center. It was a fantastic atmosphere and wonderful to see over 4,200 people pack the place. WVU has a tremendous team but our guys played hard and executed very well before going in at the half down 9 points. WVU, which is a great 3-point shooting team, got hot the second half and finished the game with 18 three pointers. That is incredible and it shows what a great perimeter game they have. I am confident that as this program continues to get better we are going to have many more BIG TIME atmospheres like the WVU game.

It was great to see so many former players on hand at the WVU game. Ron Shelburn, Stephon Barber, David Smith, Mike Burton, Tim Blassingame, and Tom Gallaher were all in attendance. These guys are all first class people who have gone onto very successful careers.

The Men’s Team took a short break for the holidays returning to Radford for several days of practice before busing to Columbia, SC to play another very tough opponent, SEC member, South Carolina. On Monday, January 7th we returned home to play Emory & Henry, setting several team records, including the Dedmon Center record for points scored by RU in a 124-109 win. Our Highlanders ran with Emory & Henry’s up-tempo style offense, and several players had career highs.

Many thanks to Radford University Track Athlete Whitney King for singing the National Anthem at the ETSU game. She had short notice and stepped in and did a wonderful job. I also want to thank Sarah Ragsdale for singing the National Anthem at the WVU game Wednesday night. Sarah whose stage name is “Zahra” is a Radford University graduate who has just signed with Arusa Entertainment. She has released the song “Drop” and has a new song called “Lock Me Up” coming out in February. Zahra graduated with a triple major in Music, Spanish, and Economics! Follow her career as she is going to be a star.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and a great New Year. 2008 will be an exciting year in Highlander Athletics. Please come out and support our teams. I see more and more people wearing RED and I want that to become a ritual. Our Women have a three game road swing that starts January 17th at Longwood at 7:00 pm. The Women then open Big South play at Coastal Carolina on January 19th at 2:00 pm and Charleston Southern on January 21st at 7:00 pm. The Men open up Big South Conference play this weekend with a pair of road games. Radford plays at Coastal Carolina Saturday at 2:00 pm before traveling to play at Charleston Southern Monday at 7:30 pm. Don’t forget to bookmark the men’s team’s return to the Dedmon Center on Saturday, January 19th at 2:00 pm. It’s a televised game against Winthrop. Let’s pack the Dedmon Center in RED! I hope to see there!


Go Highlanders!


Robert

Big Basketball Wins!

Monday night was a big night for our Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams. Both teams were on the road playing important games. Our men were in Boiling Springs, NC playing Gardner Webb University while our women were playing Southern Conference member Appalachian State in Boone, NC.

Both teams had very impressive outings. Our men beat Gardner Webb in two overtimes. It was great listening to this game on the radio, it was so intense and hard fought. Our team had some outstanding individual efforts such as Amir Johnson’s 26 points and Kenny Thomas’ 24 points -but what I liked most about our win was the total team effort. Coach Greenberg talked about it being “an authentic team effort” and a game that “tested our resiliency, mental toughness and stamina—and we passed.” Keep in mind this is an excellent Gardner Webb team-the same team that beat the University of Kentucky in Rupp Arena last month! Our team is getting better with every practice and every game and a win like this is huge for our confidence. Let’s make sure we have a great turnout for our upcoming game Saturday against Campbell. Tip-off is at 7:00pm in the Dedmon Center.

Our Women’s team also had a very impressive win in the mountains of North Carolina beating Appalachian State by 20 points, 65-45. We once again had two players record “Double-Doubles”. Corrie Ferritta had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Johnette Walker scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. What a night for these two players! Taleia Morton also had a great game scoring 15 points and 8 steals-I would hate to be the point guard that has to bring the ball down the floor against Taleia as she can flat out play defense. What these numbers tell me is that our team plays hard. They pursue the ball and do the little things that lead to wins. We return to action against VCU Saturday at 4:30 in the Segal Center. I am calling out to all Highlanders in the Richmond area…we want you in the stands to support this basketball team! VCU is one of the best teams we have faced and we need your support in this key non-conference road game.

Have you heard former women’s player Sarah Stevens sing the National Anthem at our games? Wow! She is fantastic.

One last thing…a good source in Charlottesville who just happens to be my brother, (UVA Assistant Football Coach, Wayne Lineburg), informed me last night tickets go on sale for the April 30th Bruce Springsteen show at the John Paul Jones Center in Charlottesville this coming Friday. Soccer Coach Spencer Smith and Field Hockey Coach Jeff Woods…hope you are reading my blog!

GO HIGHLANDERS!!!!

A Great Week!

Tuesday was a special day for our athletic staff and me. We were honored to have Jim Copeland spend the day with us. Jim has been the Athletics Director at William & Mary, Utah, University of Virginia, and Southern Methodist University. I had the pleasure of spending 11 years at SMU working under Jim’s leadership. He is a dear friend of mine and I have never made a career decision without speaking with Jim. Jim shared so many great ideas and thoughts about how we can get better as an athletic department at Radford University.

After doing a lot of travelling recently it has been good to be in Radford for a few days. I really enjoyed meeting with four terrific student-athletes Tuesday night. Corin O’Donnell, Paul Caruso, Josie Hanners, and Ashley Carlson are outstanding student leaders in our Student Athlete Advisory Committee. We talked about a number of issues and I am certain I learned a lot more from them than they learned from me. We are so lucky to have students like these four. They are smart and motivated and each has a great influence on our campus community. I am also certain we will see great things from these four as they graduate and embark on what I know will be successful careers.

One of the most exciting games I have seen recently was our women’s basketball game against William & Mary this past Friday. The Highlanders played exceptional basketball and beat a William & Mary team that has been predicted to be among the best in this season’s Colonial Conference race.

The Highlanders returned to the Dedmon Center last night and played an excellent game against Navy, winning 63-51. It was a terrific team effort. Kelli Darden had a fantastic game scoring 21 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. Forward Corrie Feritta had 15 points and 12 rebounds. It is very rare in the game of basketball to have two players finish with "Double/Doubles." Congratulations to Kelli and Corrie! Taleia Morton and Johnette Walker also had excellent games as well as the rest of our team. Our next three games are on the road and I want our alumni and fans in the following areas to come out and support this outstanding basketball team. We play in Boone, NC Monday, December 3rd against Appalachian State, Saturday December 8th at VCU (4:30pm) in Richmond, and Sunday, December 16th against Wake Forest in Winston Salem, NC. These are big road games and our team needs your support.

I want to once again thank our student body for the great turnout for the Men’s game against Southern Virginia last Wednesday. We had a large and enthusiastic group of students come out to cheer on the Highlanders. I want to continue to emphasize to all Highlander Fans that to wear RED at all of our contests. We want to be loud and visible

Our Men’s Basketball Team has a busy week with games at Presbyterian in Clinton, SC Saturday, December 1st, at Gardner Webb Monday, December 3rd, and finally back home to the Dedmon Center Saturday, December 8th when we take on Campbell University.

Best of luck to our Men’s and Women’s Track teams as they open their indoor season at Appalachian State this Saturday in a big invitational meet.

I was thrilled to get a phone call from Chris Hawkins this week. Chris is a Radford University graduate and current Assistant Basketball Coach at Tulane University. Chris and I played together at Radford and he is one of my all time favorite teammates. Chris was a tremendous leader as a player and he has great reputation as a coach and recruiter in college basketball. He has a great love for Radford University.

I hope everyone has a safe weekend.

Go Highlanders!