Mocs’ report: men’s golf, basketball add to roster
Rising sophomore Luke Long was looking for a new home. The Fayetteville, Ark., native found it joining the Chattanooga Mocs after an impressive collegiate golf debut.
The 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year led the Cougars with a 73.5 stroke average. He was an All-OVC selection and placed fourth in the OVC Championships shooting even-par 216.
Long had one top five, three top 10s and eight top 20s in his 11 outings. His top finishes came at the OVC, ASU Red Wolf Intercollegiate (T8) and Loyola Intercollegiate (T10). A 69 was his low card turned in the second 18 at Loyola and again to open OVC play.
He was the 2015 Arkansas 7A State Champion and was a part of three state title teams at Fayetteville High School. Long posted three wins in 2016 in ASGA Junior play capturing the Arkansas Junior Match Play along with the Southern Bancorp Alliance Insurance and Shadow Valley Junior Championships.
Long joins a trio of incoming freshmen: A.J. Lintunen, Connor Nolan and Dominic Jones. Lintunen and Nolan signed in November, while Jones, who will enroll in January, inked this spring.
Mocs add Moss to men’s hoop roster
The 2017-18 Chattanooga Mocs men’s basketball roster is coming into focus as head coach Lamont Paris recently announced the signing of South Carolina prep standout Duane Moss.
Moss originally signed with Youngstown State in the fall but was released from his national letter of intent (NLI) when former head coach Jerry Slocum retired following the season. He is immediately eligible and is an exciting addition to the frontcourt averaging 13.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a senior.
The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder fits well into the Mocs scheme at the four position. He has the ability to stretch the defense along well as getting to the basket off the bounce and is a willing rebounder. Moss is a 2-star prospect per verbalcommits.com.
The roster for 2017- 18 roster includes five newcomers with seven returnees. The breakdown by class is one senior, four juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen along with one four-year transfer sitting out with two years remaining beginning in 2018-19.
Joyner earns state award
Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball standout Jasmine Joyner has been named Tennessee’s 201617 Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.
Joyner earned Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors and garnered Most Outstanding Player accolades at the conference tournament, helping the Mocs to the league championship.
She finished third nationally in blocked shots per game (3.8) and was the only player in the SoCon to average a double-double with 13.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game for UTC, which finished 2111 overall in 2016-17.
She earned First Team All-SoCon honors and posted 15 doubledoubles during the season, including 10 of the final 13 contests of the year. Joyner closed her collegiate career ranked eighth all-time in NCAA DI blocked shots with 436 and 14th with 3.57 blocks per game.
Garcia steps down as tennis coach
Chattanooga men’s tennis head coach Carlos Garcia has submitted his letter of resignation after recently completed his 16th season with the Mocs.
Garcia came to UTC in 2002 as head coach of both the men’s and women’s tennis programs. He coached both teams for two years, but has been solely on the men’s side for the last 14 seasons.
Garcia led the Mocs to the championship match of the Southern Conference Tournament in 2005 and 2006. His career record stands at 154-208, including fourconsecutive winning seasons from 2005-08. The Mocs were 5-17 and 0-7 in the SoCon in 201617.
A search for Garcia’s replacement will begin immediately.