Mocs on NABC Honors Court
The National Association of Basketball Coaches has announced its 2018-19 NABC Honors Court, and it includes University of Tennessee at Chattanooga players Thomas Smallwood and Jonathan Scott. They are among only seven listed from the Southern Conference. The honor requires at least junior academic standing and a 3.2 cumulative grade point average. Smallwood, a graduate transfer from Alabama-Birmingham, was the only men’s basketball player in the SoCon with a 4.0, and he earned a master’s degree in public administration in one year at UTC. Scott started all 32 games last season and led the Mocs with 889 minutes played. Mocs season tickets are on sale at 266-6627, 425-5740 or the McKenzie Arena gate 1 ticket office.
› Dalton State College point guard Sean Cranney was the Southern States Athletic Conference’s Emil S. Liston Scholarship winner for 2018-19 and is among the candidates for the nationwide NAIA honor. Its criteria include a 3.5 cumulative GPA and at least junior academic status, and Cranney has a 3.8 and is a tutor for DSC’s office of student life. Despite “consistent knee and back injuries,” according to coach Alex Ireland, Cranney played in all 31 Roadrunners games and averaged 11.7 points and a leaguehigh 4.84 assists. “He is humble yet seen as a leader both on and off the court,” school president Dr. Margaret Venable said in a DSC release. “Sean is driven to success in basketball and in the classroom. His professors in the Wright School of Business speak very highly of him and have a deep respect for his internal motivation and his academic efforts, ability and success.”
GOLF
› Former Baylor School golfer Chase Roswall of Bristol and Jack Uselton of Tullahoma each won two one-on-one duels Friday in the 2019 Tennessee Match Play Championship at Oak Ridge Country Club, and they play each other in one of the semifinals this morning. The other pits qualifying medalist Nolan Ray of Brentwood, who won 3 and 2 and then 3 and 1, against Knoxville’s Connor McKay, who edged 2018 champion Oliver Simonsen of Ooltewah 2 and 1 and Todd Burgan of Powell 1 up. Uselton, fresh off the State Four-Ball title last week in Knoxville, got into match play in a day-starting six-way playoff for two spots and then went 22 holes to oust qualifying runner-up Hays Moreland of Memphis before defeating Maryville’s Bryce Beeler 2 and 1. Beeler won 2 and 1 over Ringgold’s Ben Rebne in the round of 16. Roswall, the third seed after qualifying, won his matches 8 and 6 over Knoxville’s Cade Russell and 2 and 1 over Hendersonville’s Austin Lancaster.
TENNIS
› Five UTC women’s players and four UTC men were 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Scholar Athletes, requiring at least two semesters of enrollment and a minimum 3.5 GPA for the just-completed school year. The honored Mocs were seniors Delaney Edwards and Caroline Hall; junior Niklas Gerdes; sophomores Emma Van Hee, Bogdana Zaporozhets, Cooper Long and Luke Plaisted; and freshmen Lilly Holmes and Bo Nash. Both UTC rosters were ITA All-Academic Teams for aggregate GPAs of at least 3.2.
GENERAL
› Fourteen of Bryan College’s sports squads earned NAIA Scholar-Team distinction for the 2018-19 school year, and that was the second most in the Appalachian Athletic Conference to Reinhardt’s 17. Tennessee Wesleyan had 11. To qualify, a team’s aggregate GPA for all eligible varsity athletes must be at least 3.0. Bryan was represented by men’s and women’s teams in soccer, cross country, basketball, golf and both indoor and outdoor track and field, plus volleyball and softball. TWU’s Scholar-Teams were led by women’s tennis with a 3.69 and also included men’s tennis, women’s and men’s soccer and golf, women’s cross country and outdoor track, women’s basketball, men’s bowling and softball. Dalton State in the SSAC has only seven sports, and three of the teams made it: women’s cross country, women’s outdoor track and women’s golf.