Spent 10 years as a college sports journalist, now deep into the car wash marketing field. WKU Alum. Country music snob. Bourbon connoisseur. Beyond blessed.
Arkansas is most certainly one of those teams you don’t want to face in March. Razorbacks have now won 13 of their last 14 and are heading down the stretch with plenty of momentum. What a win for Eric Musselman’s team today over Kentucky.
Auburn basketball is so fun to watch. The Tigers just play so well together and make big-time plays on both ends of the court. I know this is stating the obvious, but they’re a legitimate national championship contender this season. No doubt about it.
Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline) will be on the ESPN broadcast of No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 19 Kentucky on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
WKU coach Rick Stansbury opens his press conference by offering his condolences to Elliott Wells' family and friends. He said he loved having Elliott in press conferences and he always had an intelligent question to ask. Classy, classy stuff from Coach.
I’ve lived in Bowling Green my entire life and this town means more to me than I can even put into words. I don’t even want to see the damages this tornado caused once the sun rises. Please keep BG in your thoughts.
No. 68: QB Hendon Hooker (Detroit)
No. 73: WR Jalin Hyatt (NY Giants)
No. 74: WR Cedric Tillman (Cleveland)
No. 77: EDGE Byron Young (LA Rams)
It’s been a great third round of the
#NFLDraft
for Tennessee. 🍊
Tennessee linebacker Aaron Beasley finished with 12 tackles – including four tackles for loss – and two sacks to lead the
#Vols
' defense tonight.
Solon Page made 10 tackles and Kamal Hadden had nine.
Really dominant performance all-around by Tim Banks' unit.
WKU has announced that linebacker Eli Brown — a former Warren East HS star and Kentucky transfer — has been granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. He’ll suit up for the Hilltoppers this season.
Forever grateful for the relationship Paul Gray and I had. From grabbing lunch together at Rafferty’s to spending time together at sporting events, Paul always had a story to tell me — and I always listened. One of the world’s greatest guys is now resting high on that mountain.
A team that has been outstanding but somehow flown under the radar this college basketball season is Murray State, which is now 23-2 overall, 13-0 in OVC play and ranked No. 23 in the AP Top 25. The Racers are starting to get some love — and they certainly deserve it.
Some Monday night news: This is my final week of covering WKU and working for . I've been offered – and accepted – a position with
@On3Sports
to write on the national news desk. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am. My first day at On3 is Nov. 1.
This is the Bypass in Bowling Green. My good friend owns Total Image Audio right there on the right side of the road. Luckily, it looks like the place is still standing. There are signs down everywhere and the road is covered.
Man … This hurts. Just so tragic.
I was 14 the last time WKU won a conference championship + punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. I was there in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
It was a long 11 years, but I can finally say the Tops have done it again, and I was there in Huntsville, Alabama.
I love this program, man.
It’s going to be an exciting day to be a Hilltopper. WKU football plays App State in the Boca Raton Bowl at 10 AM on ESPN and WKU basketball hosts Louisville at 2 PM on CBS. The WKU brand will be all over national TV today, and that’s awesome. Happy Saturday, y’all.
I’m absolutely shaken by the severe weather that just came through Bowling Green. A guy who never worries, I’ve never felt the way I have over the past hour. I’m still trying to calm down. The tornado touched down so close to where I live. I have friends that have been affected.
Time to make it official: I’m thrilled to announce I’m joining The News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown as a full-time sports reporter covering local high school and community sports. The area offers a great sports scene — and I’m looking forward to chronicling it. I’m beyond pumped.
I can go on and on about the many things Paul Gray did for me. This certain act stands above the rest.
Paul gave this journal to me as a gift last month. He told me to write in it about my journey through my career.
I wrote — yes, sloppy handwriting — my first entry tonight.
It’s been two years, but still doesn’t seem real. I’m remembering my dear friend Paul Gray today. One of the most influential individuals I’ve ever had in my life. I miss our weekly conversations and trips to Rafferty’s. Rest easy, buddy.
Former Western Kentucky tight end Mik'Quan Deane (
@Mikequandeane
) has signed with the Seattle Seahawks as a UDFA. Deane had 6TDs with 530 receiving yards last season.
Western Kentucky football defeats Southern Miss 28-10 in Hattiesburg to improve to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in Conference USA. Hilltoppers will be playing in a postseason bowl game. Remarkable job by Tyson Helton in Year 1.
Curtis Turley — who compiled a 624-321 overall record in 32 years as a Kentucky high school basketball coach — talks about what it means to be inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.
After going 3-9 a season ago, Western Kentucky finishes the 2019 campaign at 9-4 overall, with a bowl win and a four-game win streak. Incredible turnaround for first-year head coach Tyson Helton and this program.
Sad news: John Oldham — a legendary icon at Western Kentucky having played basketball for the Hilltoppers under Coach E.A. Diddle, serving as head coach after Diddle and also as the school’s athletic director — has passed away at the age of 97. Coach Oldham was one of the best.
Former Warren East star and 2019 Kentucky Miss Softball winner Katie Gardner is no longer headed to Tennessee-Martin. She’s instead staying home and taking her talents to WKU.
After long thoughts and prayers I’m changing my college pathway. I’ve decided to continue my athletic & academic career as a Western Kentucky Hilltopper.❤️
I’ll go ahead and say this: WKU will be ranked in the AP Top 25 at some point this season. Rick Stansbury has his best WKU team yet, and possibly one of the best of his entire head coaching career. This Topper squad may be the best since 2008.
WKU was 1-4 earlier this season and many people wrote the rest of the year off. I know some of you on this here Twitter that did just that, but I won’t @ you.
The Hilltoppers have won six straight, are now 7-4 + 6-1 in C-USA and No. 1 in the East Division.
Hell of a turnaround.
Heartbreaking late-night news: Former Western Kentucky center Chris Marcus, who played for the Hilltoppers from 1999-2003, has passed away, a source tells
@WKU_Rivals
. Marcus earned All-American honors in both 2001 and 2002. He was 40 years old.
WKU quarterback Bailey Zappe leads the FBS in passing yards per game (438.7), is tied for first in passing TDs (26) and is second in passing yards (2,632).
Wide receiver Jerreth Sterns leads the FBS in both receiving yards (962) and receiving yards per game (160.3).
Some personal news: After nearly four great years, my tenure at The Sporting Times has come to a close. I’ve loved my time helping lead high school sports coverage for the outlet and am forever grateful for the opportunity my friend Doug Thompson gave me in 2015 as a 16-year-old.
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker: “(Georgia) played a great game. Came out and really executed what they wanted to execute. We have to come in on Monday and clean it up and continue to look forward.”
Region 4 ⚾️ players named to the 2018 KHSBCA Preseason All-State Team:
SW: Hunter Evans
GWood: Nate Cunningham
WE: Ryan Hawks
BG: Jackson Haga, Trevor Dennis
Logan: Kaleb Justice, Ethan Smock, Austin Rayno
F-S: Rylan Thomas, Jacob Curtis, Jordan Jones, Zach Sliger
The best Nana in the world left us this morning.
She fought cancer with everything she had until the end. I’m a better person today because of the impact she had on my life.
Nana was the best there was. I’m going to miss her so much, but I’m so happy she’s no longer suffering.
How about those Tops?! Just beat Marshall on the road to clinch the Conference USA East Division and punch a ticket to the C-USA championship game at UTSA. This team has reeled off 7 straight wins after starting 1-4 and is now 8-4. I tried to tell y’all not to count them out.
Some professional news: I’m excited to announce that I’ve launched , an all-new digital news outlet covering high school sports in and around Bowling Green. My primary goal — and promise — is to deliver quality, top-notch content. Let’s roll. 👊🏼
Continuity and stability are the only ways for the WKU basketball program to grow into what everyone wants it to be.
WKU doesn’t need some outsider taking over the team. Instead, Phil Cunningham needs to be promoted and lead the Tops moving forward.
📝:
I'm pretty excited to say that I'll be in West Point, N.Y. on Saturday for WKU's game at Army.
I really enjoy covering road games, and I've always wanted to check out West Point. Being there on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 will make it pretty surreal.
Plenty of coverage coming.
You can usually find JoJo Stacker as the
@SouthWarrenBBK
team manager, but tonight? Tonight’s different. Not only did he dress for the first time, he started the game, and he’s now 1-1 in his career. Congrats JoJo!
I’m so proud of this
@WKUFootball
team. The Tops didn’t give up — not one bit. They fought their butts off until the end and now have their third-straight bowl win, and fourth in the past five season, under
@Coach_Helton
.
Just like Coach says: “HOW BOUT THOSE TOPS, BABY?” 👊🏼
BREAKING: Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey has been selected 53rd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft.
He's the first Hilltopper to get drafted since center Jeremy Evans went 55th overall to the Utah Jazz in 2010.
One of the proudest moments of my life was hearing my name called during commencement at the school I grew up loving. It’s hard to believe that my college days are over, but man what a ride it was.
After Western Kentucky finished the 2018 season 3-9 overall and 2-6 in Conference USA, first-year head coach Tyson Helton has led the Hilltoppers to an 8-4, 6-2 regular season in 2019 with a bowl game still to come. Pretty remarkable turnaround for this program.
After starting the season 1-4, Western Kentucky football finishes 9-5 with a Boca Raton Bowl trophy. An incredible season all-around for Tyson Helton and the team. Certainly a year by
@ZKittley
,
@baileyzappe04
and the offense we’ll never forget. Hats off to the Hilltoppers.
Game Story: South Warren did more than just beat Bowling Green on Friday night. The Spartans recorded the important Class 5A, District 2 win, evened the all-time series at 3-3 and captured their 100th all-time victory in program history.
WKU quarterback Bailey Zappe leads the FBS in passing yards per game (428.57), is tied for first in passing TDs (29) and is second in passing yards (3,000).
Wide receiver Jerreth Sterns leads the FBS in both receiving yards (1,081) and receiving yards per game (154.4).
I love how every school in Region 4 turned on the lights at their outdoor athletic facilities tonight for 20 minutes and 20 seconds to honor the spring sport senior student-athletes.
I stopped by Warren East tonight, and the place was full of love and support. I love this area.
Clinton County (
@ClintonBulldogs
) head boys’ basketball coach Todd Messer is one of my favorites in Region 4. This is how he ended the Bulldogs’ postgame press conference tonight after a loss.
My overall thought on COVID-19 + sports: I completely understand not playing anything for the time being, but why CANCEL everything and not just POSTPONE to later this year? It’s March 13 — there’s a lot of 2020 left.
Postpone, take the time to see what happens & go from there.
All I’ve got to say is it’s a damn good day to be a Hilltopper. WKU football starts the day off with a bowl win to finish off a nine-win season, now WKU basketball caps it with a huge win over Louisville in Diddle. Bowling Green needed a day like this. Go Tops, baby.
Western Kentucky football ranks first nationally in passing offense with 478 yards per game, fourth in scoring offense with 59 points per game and seventh in total offense with 587 yards per game.
How about former Western Kentucky quarterback Mike White in his first NFL start today for the Jets against the Bengals? He’s 37-of-45 for 405 yards and three TDs compared to two INTs, and has even caught a pass on a two-point conversion attempt. That’ll do.
A loyal listener of The Paul Finebaum Show recently passed away. Before she passed, she had written a letter to Finebaum – and her son-in-law recently read it on the show.
"I’m looking down right now with a big smile looking at you.”
All the feels. 😢
Football: Bowling Green 14, South Warren 3, FINAL.
Purples (4-2) defeat Spartans (6-1) to hand them their first loss since Nov. 27, 2017. South’s state-leading 21-game win streak has been snapped.
And, with that last story, I’m signing off from Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro. Thanks to
@WEsoftball
for the fun ride.
Paul told me on Thursday that he expected “top-notch coverage” from me this weekend. I did my best to provide just that.
Area high school 🏈 folks: I’m sure you all know, but if not I’ll remind you ...
It’s Bowling Green-South Warren week.
Friday night. El Donaldson Stadium. See you there.
After 6.5 years of covering Western Kentucky athletics, it’s hard to believe that today’s Homecoming 🏈 game vs. Charlotte marks my finale on the WKU beat.
It’s been an unforgettable ride, and I’ve enjoyed it all.
WKU and Charlotte kickoff at 3 p.m. Let’s do it — one last time.
If one thing's for certain, it's this: Western Kentucky basketball will play anyone, anywhere. Rick Stansbury has made that clear since he arrived in Bowling Green. A top-10 matchup with Houston on national television is exactly what the Hilltoppers want.
We caught up with Bowling Green natives Jamale Carothers (
@jamalec21
) and DeAngelo Wilson (
@D_Wilson11
) after WKU's practice Tuesday.
They're both excited to be back in town and playing for the Hilltoppers - and as teammates again.
Interviews:
NEWS: Western Kentucky football will resume team activities and begin organized practices this weekend in preparation for the 2020 season, per release. All practices will be closed.
Professional news: After a fantastic six months with
@On3Sports
, I’m jumping over to
@Outsider
to be the Sports Managing Editor. I can’t thank
@ShannonTerry
enough for believing in me and giving me this great opportunity. I’m excited to get to work and help build this thing up.
Unless somehow WKU gets an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, which is unlikely, guys like Taveion Hollingsworth, Josh Anderson, Carson Williams and Charles Bassey won't get to play in the Big Dance. That's absolutely brutal for guys who have given so much to WKU.
Through two games in 2021, Western Kentucky football leads the FBS in passing offense with 456.5 yards per game — and quarterback Bailey Zappe leads the FBS in passing yards per game with 429.5.
As a student at Warren East, I watched the girls' basketball program consistently win 4-6 games a season - if that many.
Now, in 2020, the Lady Raiders have 18 wins are headed to their first Region 4 Tournament since 2008.
I'd call that quite the turnaround.
Quote of the night from Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton: "When I first started, they all talked about how it's a rebuilding year. I don't believe in that. It's hard to walk into a room of 95 men and say we're going to rebuild. ...
I've been covering sports – mostly WKU (Conference USA) and high schools – since I was 15. Now 21, I'm covering my first SEC league game tonight. I'm blessed to be able to do what I love for a living.
Made a road trip to Birmingham tonight to watch the Tops in action at UAB. It was an exciting game from start to finish, and WKU came out on top with a hard-fought performance.
I wasn’t a fan of some foul calls (CBS caught me not happy 📸), but it all worked out at the end. 👍🏼
New Story | WKU is honored to play Saturday at Army on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
"The pageantry of college football on a day like that is going to be tremendous," coach Tyson Helton said.
Some humor: My Nana just called me as I’m strolling through Memphis on the way back to BGKY. She’s a nurse, and this is what she said regarding COVID-19:
“Everything is being canceled and closed and here I am working until the day J.C. Kirby comes and gets my body.”
Oh my. 😂
First, it was Jamale Carothers (
@jamalec21
) from Navy. Now, it's DeAngelo Wilson (
@D_Wilson11
) from Austin Peay.
WKU has landed two pretty significant transfers this week from a pair of hometown kids who were both standouts for
@PurplesFootball
.
Gavin Spurrier (football) and Luke Spurrier (cross country/track), brothers, will both sign with Duke on Wednesday to continue their academic and athletic careers. That's pretty cool.