Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Eagles hope late run carries over
CLARKSVILLE — University of the Ozarks men’s head coach Travis Carruthers knows well that it’s not how you start but how you finish in a basketball season.
The Eagles didn’t have the start they hoped for, as they lost 10 of their initial 12 games a season ago with a new core of players. Ozarks was able to turn it around after the calendar year ended, though with more continuity. They closed the season finishing 5-8 after that for a 7-18 season with a 6-10 conference record.
“We struggled in the early going to find out who we were last year,” Carruthers said. “We struggled with roles of the team. But once we got to mid-January, it started to unfold in a positive way. It was a learning adjustment. Once we found our groove, we were a pretty good basketball team.”
The improvement in conference play was five more wins than the previous year and it was the most league victories since 2013-14 for the program.
“We try not to focus so much on the big picture,” Carruthers said. “But we’ve made progress you can see on paper. But more importantly, we’ve grown as people and as basketball players. We want to have an even bigger growth spurt in year three.”
Ozarks returns 13 players from last year’s roster and now hopes to get off to a quicker start than a season ago. Junior point guard Bryson Johnson is back to lead the way after finishing with a teamhigh 12.5 points scored per game a year ago.
Junior forward Ethan Bowman from Ozark (8 points per game), junior guard Jacobe Davis (8 ppg), senior guard Cordy Winston (6 ppg), senior forward Kelvin Knight (6 ppg) and sophomore forward Darnel Renelique (4 ppg) will be key contributors as well.
“A big strength for us will be our continuity,” Carruthers said. “We’ve really put an emphasis on who we bring in and what we are going to be about. Our togetherness should be stronger this year. Johnson will lead the way for us. But we are excited about everybody getting better.”
Ozarks brings in a recruiting class that is headlined by transfer junior guard Seth Duke from Gravette, transfer junior forward James Helzer and freshman forward Coleman Wheeler from Cave Springs.
With the combination of an established core of players and some new
“We went into last season without many expectations because we finished 4-21 the year before. We just wanted to get better. ... We put ourselves in a good position at the end of the season.”
— Ozarks women’s head coach Kourtni Williams
additions to the program, Carruthers and his team feel optimistic about the season ahead. The team just missed making the American Southwest Conference tournament last year and want to breakthrough this time around.
“We couldn’t be more excited to get this season started,” Carruthers said. “The first goal we can meet is to make the conference tournament. We were literally a game away from that last year. From there, we want to just survive and advantage. We feel we have the talent to meet those goals. It’s about how we come together and how hard we are going to work. We want to make it to the NCAA Tournament. These guys are hungry to get there.”
LADY EAGLES
Expectations are much different this season than they were a year ago for the University of the Ozarks women’s head coach Kourtni Williams and the Lady Eagles.
That’s what happens when you have a bounce-back season. Williams, in her first season as head coach after three years as an assistant at the program, was able to guide Ozarks to a 13-13 overall and a 9-7 record in American Southwest Conference play.
That allowed the Eagles to make the conference tournament for the first time since the 201415 season. It marked the first winning conference record since the 2010-11 season and the highest finish in the conference since 2002-03.
“We went into last season without many expectations because we finished 4-21 the year before,” Williams said. “We just wanted to get better. We wanted to keep it basic. We wanted to not only improve our record but our culture. We put ourselves in a good position at the end of the season.”
Williams knows a thing or two about winning basketball games in the state of Arkansas. She played for Fayetteville and closed out her 2009 senior year by helping the team win the state championship in an undefeated season.
The Lady Eagles will look to keep the momentum going without their three leading scorers from a season ago. Returning to lead the way will be junior guard Kamryn McKinney, sophomore guard Kerigan Bradshaw from Harrison and sophomore forward Hannah Weatherford.
McKinney started all but one game last year, averaging six points scored per game. Bradshaw, who made the conference all-freshman team, also scored six points per game. Weatherford chipped in four points per game.
“We are glad to have three players back who played significant minutes for us,” Williams said. “But we lost a lot of talent from last year. There will be plenty of opportunities for people to step up and score. It’s exciting and also scary because we don’t know who that will be right now. We do know we’ll get that job done.”
The team brings back eight returners and nine newcomers heading into this season. The recruiting class is headlined by sophomore guard Carly Grace Dougan from Clarksville, transfer junior forward Maegan Bandimere from Fort Smith and freshman guard Faith Curry who went to Providence Academy.
“We are excited for everybody this season because there is a lot of opportunity at playing time,” Williams said. “We lack overall experience. The players know the possibilities are there to make an impact for us.”
Despite the lack of returning starters, Williams and the Lady Eagles are confident in their ability to take the next step this year after breaking through a season ago with great success.
“We have set some goals, but I feel that putting too much pressure on yourself you lose the joy of playing the sport,” Williams said. “We just want to be better than last year. We want to make it back to the conference tournament and make a run. We were a little shell shocked and lost. Now we want to win the first game and go from there.”