Sports Poets Society

"The Butler Way". Alla mitica Hinkle Fieldhouse, quella del film Hoosiers, nello spogliatoio dei Bulldogs c'è un cartello con quella scritta. E' il "sistema", di basket e di vita, creato alla Butler da "Tony Hinkle", leggendario coach a cui l'arena è intitolata. E quale miglior tributo al basket di college che aprire lì, contro i Volunteers di Tennessee, la stagione della NCAA - live in italiano - su Fox Sports. La squadra al secondo anno con coach Chris Holtmann contro i ragazzi alla prima stagione con Rick Barnes, che si è lasciato sbattendo la porta dopo 17 stagioni con Texas, dove per questioni di budget volevano ridurgli lo staff tecnico. Butler è una potenza della Big East conference, e squadra molto interessante. Tennessee, un programma che riparte dal terzo allenatore in tre stagioni e può essere la sorpresa nella SouthEastern Conference. Potrebbe finire tanti a pochi, ma anche no: mai sottovalutare le squadre di coach Barnes, uno ch...

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS BACKCOURT B  FRONTCOURT C  BENCH/DEPTH C  INTANGIBLES B LOCATION   Knoxville, TN  CONFERENCE Southeastern LAST SEASON 16-16 (.500)  CONFERENCE RECORD 7-11 (10th)  STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 4/1  NICKNAME Volunteers  COLORS Orange & White HOMECOURT Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678)  COACH Rick Barnes (Lenoir-Rhyne ’77)  RECORD AT SCHOOL First year  CAREER RECORD 604-313 (28 years)  ASSISTANTS Rob Lanier (St. Bonaventure ’90) Chris Ogden (Texas ’04) Desmond Oliver (Dominican College ’92) WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 19-19-20-24-16 RPI (LAST 5 YRS.) 41-90-66-37-102 2014-15 FINISH Lost in SEC quarter finals. HART-ATTACK Late last March, just as Tennessee basketball fans were steeling themselves for yet another protracted search for a basketball coach, the unthinkable happened. Rick Barnes became available. What do you do if you’re Tenn...

Butler University was founded as North Western Christian by Ovid Butler in 1855 .  He choose "Christians" as the school mascot.  Sometime after the school had been rename in honor of its founder, Butler was suffering a poor football season in 1919 . As losses mounted, people grew wary of the "Christians" nickname. Before a big game against the rival Franklin "Baptists", the Butler Collegian was trying to conceive of a way to fire people up when "Shimmy", a bulldog owned by one of the fraternities, wandered into their office. Shimmy inspired cartoonist George Dickson to draw a bulldog labeled "Butler" taking a bite out of John The Baptist . Butler lost the game, but the nickname "Bulldogs" stuck.  Eventually, the bulldog was selected as the official mascot of the university. For many years, Butler had unofficial live bulldog mascots that kept by various fraternities .  In 2000, Butler Blue became the school'...

Height:                 6-4 Weight:               225 Year:     RS Senior Hometown:       O'Fallon, Ill. High School:       O'Fallon Position:              G/F *Named Second Team All-BIG EAST in 2014-15. Quick Hits: •Named one of 15 finalists for the Julius Erving Award, given to the nation’s best small forward. •Honorable mention preseason All-BIG EAST. •Named to the 2014-15 BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 8, Jan. 19 and Jan. 26. •Sat out the 2013-14 season as a medical red-shirt (wrist injury suffered during team’s summer trip to Australia). •Lone Butler player to start all 36 games in 2012-13. •Named to the 2012-13 Atlantic 10 Conference All-Defensive Team. •Picked to the 2012-...

The famous Smokey mascot was introduced in 1953 by the late Rev. Bill Brooks who entered his prize-winning blue tick coon hound, "Brooks' Blue Smokey," in a contest at halftime of the Mississippi State game that season. The dogs were lined up on the old cheerleaders' ramp at Shields-Watkins Field and each dog was introduced over the loudspeaker and the student body cheered for their favorite, with "Blue Smokey" being the last hound introduced. When his name was called, he barked. The students cheered and Smokey threw his head back and barked again. This kept going until the stadium was in an uproar and UT had found its mascot, Smokey . The widely known and unique tradition of running through the 'T' on game days began in 1965 when Doug Dickey moved the teams' bench to the east side and had the team enter and simply turning around back to their sideline through a giant 'T' performed by the Pride of the Southland Band . Changes came in 1...

What’s a Volunteer?  Not your run of the mill school nickname, the proud legacy of the Volunteer calls Tennessee student-athletes to compete at an elevated standard when the stakes are highest. A Volunteer is the bravest breed of human from the boldest nation on Earth , fiercely proud to call Tennessee home whether the battle lies within its borders or in a land far away. THE FIRST VOLUNTEERS  In the aftermath of the Declaration of Independence, Americans were determined to create a nation that was free of the evils that had required them to resort to revolution . Among these was the fear of a large standing army . Such a force could be used to impose the will of an evil monarch and was therefore a threat to individual liberties. Instead, they would rely upon a volunteer army, citizen soldiers who would be called into service at times of crisis to serve their country.  When the people who would later be known as Tennesseans were first asked to volunteer...

Armani Moore Class: Senior Hometown: Kennesaw, Ga. High School: Mount Paran Christian School Height / Weight: 6-4 / 217 Position: F Experience: 3L Follow @Moe_Money42 PERSONAL Born March 25, 1994, in Swainsboro, Ga. Full name is Armani T'Bori Moore Parents are Claudette Moore and Elvin Clark Academic major: Communication Studies Recipient of The C&C Millwright Athletic Scholarship and The Richard & Melba Jackson Athletic Scholarship Endowment CAREER HIGHS Points: 29 // vs. Army, 11/24/15* Rebounds: 16 // vs. Gardner-Webb, 11/22/15 Assists: 7 // vs. ETSU, 12/31/14 Steals: 4 twice // last at Georgia Tech, 11/16/15 Blocks: 5 // vs. Kansas State, 12/6/14 Field Goals: 11 // last vs. Army, 11/24/15* 3-Pointers: 3 // vs. Army, 11/24/15* Free Throws: 10 // vs. Santa Clara, 11/27/14 Minutes: 38 // vs. Arkansas, 3/13/15 * Indicates most recent high HONORS 2016 NABC Good Works Team Nominee SEC Player of the Week (Jan. 19, 2015...

Class: Sophomore Hometown: Decatur, Ala. High School: La Lumiere School (Ind). Height / Weight: 6-1 / 175 Position: G Experience: 1L Prep School: Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) Follow @Teek3015 PERSONAL      Full name is Detrick Samon Mostella     Name pronounced: DEE-trick moss-TELL-uh     Born: Oct. 12, 1993, in Decatur, Ala.     Son of Dyra and Ricky Mostella     Academic major: Sport Management     Recipient of The Estep Athletic Scholarship CAREER HIGHS     Points: 17 // vs. VCU, 11/14/14     Rebounds: 6 // at Georgia Tech, 11/16/15     Assists: 4 // vs. Nebraska, 11/28/15*     Steals: 2 (2x) // last vs. LSU, 2/14/15     Blocks: 1 // vs. Mercer, 12/22/14     Field Goals: 5 // vs. VCU, 11/14/14     3-Pointers: 4 // vs. Kansas, 11/28/14     Free Throws: ...

Class: Freshman Hometown: Atlanta, Ga. High School: Wheeler HS     Height / Weight: 6-2 / 190 Position: G Experience: HS Follow @IDunkOnU23 PERSONAL     Full name is Shembari Anthony Phillips     First name pronounced: shem-BAR-ee     Born: March 21, 1997, in Atlanta, Ga.     Son of Loxola Phillips     Academic major: Journalism & Electronic Media     Recipient of The Holland Family Athletic Scholarship CAREER HIGHS     Points: 5 // vs. Army West Point, 11/24/15     Rebounds: 1 (2x) // last vs. Gardner-Webb, 11/22/15     Assists: 1 // vs. Marshall, 11/19/15     Steals: 1 (2x) // last vs. Army, 11/24/15     Blocks: 1 // vs. UNC Asheville, 11/13/15     Field Goals: 2 // vs. Army, 11/24/15*     3-Pointers:1 // vs. Army West Point, 11/24/15- ...

Class: Freshman Hometown: Milton, Ontario, Canada High School: Orangeville Prep Height / Weight: 6-9 / 215 Position: F Experience: HS Follow @KyleJamal4 PERSONAL     Full name is Kyle John Solomon Alexander     Born: Oct. 21, 1996, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada     Son of Joseph and Audrey Alexander     His father, Joseph, played college basketball at Niagara and scored more than 1,200 points from 1982-86.     Has two older sisters, Kayla and Kesia.    His oldest sister, 6-4 center Kayla Alexander, played collegiately at Syracuse from 2009-13 and is the school's all-time leading scorer (2,024) and shot-blocker (350); she now plays for the WNBA's San Antonio Stars, who selected her with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft.     Kesia Alexander graduated from Ottawa University with a double major in Political Science and Communications.   ...

Class: Junior Hometown: Newbern, Tenn. High School: Dyer County HS Height / Weight: 6-4 / 207 Position: G Experience: 1L Follow @datkiddRobert PERSONAL     Full name is Robert Lee Hubbs III     Academic major: Communications     Born Aug. 19, 1995, in Union City, Tenn.     Parents are Robert Jr. and Lesia Hubbs     Recipient of The Larry Pratt Athletic Scholarship Endowment CAREER HIGHS     Points: 19 // vs. Marshall, 11/19/15     Rebounds: 8 // at Missouri, 1/17/15     Assists: 4 (2x) // last vs. Gardner-Webb, 11/22/15*     Steals: 3 // vs. LSU, 2/14/15     Blocks: 2 // vs. NC State, 12/18/13     Field Goals: 8 (2x) // last vs. Gardner-Webb, 11/22/15*     3-Pointers: 3 (3x) // last vs. UNC Asheville, 11/13/15     Free Throws: 4 // vs. Marshall, 11/19/15  ...

Height:                 6-8 Weight:               246 Year:     Sophomore Hometown:       Schererville, Ind. High School:       Lake Central Position:              F Quick Hits: • First recruit signed by Butler head coach Brandon Miller. •Member of the 2014 Indiana All-Star Team. •Northwest Indiana Times Player of the Year •2014 First Team All-State. 2014-15 Highlights:  Played in all 34 games, including five as a starter...scored eight points in 14 minutes against Maine in his first collegiate game...had four rebounds and career-highs of two blocked shots and two steals against Loyola Maryland...came off the bench with six points and three rebounds in seven minutes against Georgetow...