Catching up on some news

MBB:
The season is over for the men and our first-year head coach. It was a long one. Everyone knew is was probably going to be. Now, with six seniors leaving (and only five underclassmen on the roster), it’s officially rebuilding time. We know about Darius Singleton (avg 16.7pts and 7reb this season) and Malcolm Canada (18.1pts, 5.1ast, 5 reb, 2.7stl). That still leaves four others. More on the two we know about soon.

WBB:
The good news is that the season is not over for the Sugar Bears. They play Stephen F Austin tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 in hopes of winning their next three for their first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. While in Katy, Texas, waiting for tomorrow, the team found out that Megan Herbert was named the conference player of the year. Nakeia Guiden was named honorable mention.

Former Players:
Today is the Pro Day for last year’s seniors. We all know that no UCA player was invited to the combine. Here’s a list of “Non-Combine invitees fun facts” that mentions former Bear/current Jaguar Larry Hart:

Central Arkansas’ Larry Hart (fifth round – Jacksonville) led all drafted non-Combine invitees in sacks with 1.5.

Jacob Ford was set to become a free agent this offseason, and last Wednesday the Titans tendered a qualifying offer at a second-round level. If that confused you as much as me, let me quote the explanation from the same story:

Under the rules of the current collective bargaining agreement, the Titans would be able to either match any offer the players received from another team or would receive a draft pick for compensation in some instances…
[However,] players with at least four years of experience — Tulloch, Ford, Harris and Hall — are expected to become unrestricted free agents in the next CBA. Still, the Titans are covering their bases with those players just in case the next CBA keeps them restricted free agents..

Weather Update

With the snow already falling in central Arkansas, both the men’s and women’s games schedule to be played on Saturday have been postponed. There is no word yet on a makeup date – if any. The women will play in Conway at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The men won’t be able to play in Arlington until Monday at 4 p.m. (think Super Bowl).

The men were scheduled to leave around 11 this morning, but with the condition of the roads from here to Arlington a problem, the decision has already been made.

Farris Center Floor Renovation

UCASports.com has updated the Facebook gallery with what looks like photos of the finished product.

What do you think of the new floor?

Before:

After:

More photos here at the official ucasports facebook page.

SB Bball offseason begins

It’s been just three days since the end of the season, but DMc is already shedding some light on the future of Sugar Bear basketball.

Daniel said he plans to sign one to three new recruits, including a junior college transfer or two to “add some maturity to our roster.” He will add one assistant coach and possibly two.

Signee Courtney Duever was spotted at the game Saturday along with what appeared to be one or two other possible additions to the roster next season. And, for the record, she does have some pink hair.

Herbert somehow NOT POTY

So, it wasn’t all that unexpected, but it still doesn’t mean that it makes sense. Somehow Megan Herbert was passed over for player of the year. Let’s just see what the numbers say, shall we?

Things to remember:

• Herbert is a freshman. Plumley is a junior.
• Herbert played one fewer game this season.
• Herbert is a 5-11 forward. Plumley is a 5-4 guard.
• Lamar is elligible to compete in conference tournament and won the West Division. The Sugar Bears are obviously not elligible and came in second in the East.

The week that is (3.2.10)

Baseball finally takes a real road trip this week. Basketball finishes up the season. Softball plays Ole Miss and finally gets out of Mississippi. Tennis is still at home, looking for its first win against a D1 opponent.

1. Baseball - Tuesday @3 at Oral Roberts; Weekend Series at Nevada

   After picking up a series win over Saint Louis last weekend, the Bears head to Tulsa today to take on a winless ORU team. This is only the fourth game of the season for the Golden Eagles, and it will be their first home game. They were swept last weekend by Florida International, twice with late inning collapses. And when I say late, I mean 9th and 10th inning losses. They are sure to be upset about the start to their season after being picked to win the Summit League yet again. The weekend series with Nevada will get its own post later in the week.

2. Softball - Wednesday @6 at Ole Miss; Saturday and Sunday at Corpus Christi

   The softball team will play its 6th straight game in Mississippi on Wednesday night. So far, they are just 2-3 and winning against the Rebels (10-5) would be a nice one heading into the first conference weekend. Not that pre-season polls are a good judge, but Corpus was picked a couple spots ahead by the coaches and one spot behind by the SIDs. Last season the team started off SLC play with a 2-1 series win at home against UTA. Winning the opening series would be a great way to start again this year.

3. Women’s Basketball – Wednesday night @7 at SFA; Saturday @2 against McNeese

   The SBs look to bounce back after an ugly 27-point loss. Problem is that their next opponent is one game ahead of them in the East Division, so having to face SFA next will make the challenge much more difficult. The win might give the Sugar Bears a leg up in the race for the East as SFA has to play at UTSA on Saturday while 3-11 McNeese comes to Conway to close out the season. The Sugar Bears lost by 11 at home in the first matchup with SFA. That was a long time ago though.

4. Men’s Basketball – Wednesday @7 against SFA; Saturday @3 at McNeese

   If the Bears hope to get to match last year’s SLC win total of three, it’s not likely to happen until Saturday. SFA is 20-7 on the season and leads the East with a 10-4 record. The beat the Bears by 15 at their place. McNeese is one of three East Division teams sitting at 5-9 right now. The good news is that they are just 3-12 on the road. The bad news is that they also beat the Bears by 15 – on the road – earlier in the season.

5. Women’s Tennis – Saturday @10 against Sam Houston

   So far it looks like the Southland has one set of teams that are just better than the other set. Five teams are a perfect 2-0, but on the other side are four teams that are 0-2 or worse. That, of course, includes the Sugar Bears at 0-3 so far. And you guess it. Sam Houston is one of the 2-0 teams.

6. Women’s Soccer has an alumni game @3 on Saturday
7. Men’s Soccer will be in Tulsa for a 2:00 start.