Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Bob Hayes, one of the best facility guys in the business, reminded me in Chapel Hill last week that my last blog was April 8th. I love Bob, actually worked for him at the Radford Recreation Department years ago, and hearing this, I knew it was time for me to get to work and write a new entry.
The school year has ended and we only have a couple of our sports still participating. As I write this I am listening to Patrick Reed call our Big South Tournament Baseball game against Liberty tonight on the radio. Patrick just reinforces my belief that we have so many great and talented people in our department. Patrick is the son of WDBJ 7 Weatherman Robin Reed, one of the most respected television people in Virginia. I will be shocked one day if we don’t see Patrick on ESPN or the media director of a major league baseball team, or NBA team. He has the total package!
I returned from Chapel Hill, NC and the NCAA Softball Regional last Friday. I want all Highlander fans to know that our Big South Championship Softball team played like the champions they are and went toe to toe with the University of Georgia and the University of North Carolina. Mickey Dean’s team has virtually everyone returning and there is no doubt in our mind that this program is poised to do so many great things. I have been so impressed with Kristen Shifflett, Leah Godfrey, Chelsea Kelley, the Beall twins, and all of the other fantastic players on this team. They are the epitome of a team that plays hard, plays smart, and plays together. We had four players named to the all-region team and Kelly Snooks was recently named to the academic all-district team.
While in Chapel Hill, Stephanie Ballein, our Director of Student Services and I, had an opportunity to tour the athletic facilities at UNC with RU graduate John Montgomery. John is the President of the UNC Educational Foundation and was recently named the NACDA University Division Fund Raiser of the Year. John is originally from Giles County and has been extraordinarily successful. We were in awe of the basketball museum, the new baseball stadium, and the football endzone addition, all wonderful facilities with the money raised by John and his team. John and I worked together at UNC Greensboro and SMU and he has been a huge help to our athletic department. His advice has been so valuable and it is very evident how much he loves Radford University and the athletic programs.
Meanwhile, Martin Sayer, the greatest tennis player in Radford and Big South history was competing in the NCAA tournament in College Station, Texas today. Not only is Martin a great tennis player, he is a wonderful young man. We are so proud of his accomplishments the past four years and all of us at Radford University know he is one of a kind. By the way, he has been a fantastic addition to Joey Beeler’s Sports Information Department in addition to his hectic schedule as a student and college athlete! If you are a Fortune 500 Business looking to hire a young future executive look no further than Martin. He is a star!
This has been such an incredible year for our athletics department in so many ways. We have successfully hosted the Big South Men’s Basketball Championships, the Track Championships and the Softball Championships. I can’t say enough about the exceptional administrative staff we have at Radford University. Randy Butt, Stephanie Ballein, Dr. Robbie Davis, Joey Beeler, Ron Downs, Dr. Betty Dore and new additions Greg Herring and Kelly Underwood have all done such a great job putting our teams and coaches in a position to succeed. It is all about TEAM and this group embodies the team concept.
And by the way, we have won four Big South Championships (Women’s Soccer, Men’s Basketball. Men’s Tennis, and Softball) and appeared in four NCAA tournaments this year. What great accomplishments and we are looking forward to more next season! We are so lucky to have great coaches who recruit talented and committed student-athletes!
We had our annual Cording Ceremony during graduation week honoring our outstanding senior class. We were so honored to have President Kyle address this group as they prepared to graduate the next day. Seniors are so special, particularly this class, as they have played a major role in the resurgence of RU athletics. I was thrilled to present each senior with a book by my good friend Bob Beaudine called “The Power of Who.” Bob and I got to know each other during my days at SMU and he is one of the most amazing people that have ever come into my life. He continually motivates and inspires me and the message of his new book is not to be missed. I am excited our seniors have an opportunity to read a book that will have a profound impact on their lives.
I want to close this with a quote from Jenn Everhart, softball player and RU class of 2009. I believe this sums it all up for RU athletics this year and in the future. If you are in business, medicine, education or what ever walk of life, it can’t be said better. Jenn said this to Roanoke Times writer Mark Berman after winning the Big South Championship… “We finally played as a team instead of a group of individuals. We all really, really wanted this and we were determined all year long to do anything we could to win.”
Isn’t it amazing what can be accomplished when WE all work together?
This is what it is all about…enough said!
Highlander Pride!
Robert Lineburg
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Spring, my favorite time of the year, has finally arrived in the New River Valley. Well maybe not so much since it was snowing sideways today and the temperature hovered in the low 30’s! Snow or no snow (can a man get some consistent sunshine?) it has certainly been an exciting last couple of months to be a Highlander.
I want to first congratulate our Men’s Basketball team on winning the Big South Regular Season Title, the conference tournament and a berth to the NCAA Tournament, the greatest tournament in the world. We accomplished much and the country had an opportunity to learn so much about our team and Radford University. The players and coaches took the program to a new level, garnered a number of exciting awards, and made everyone in the Highlander Nation so proud. It was amazing to wake up one morning in March to double digit phone calls and text messages from all of the country informing me that there was a huge article on the Highlanders on the front page of the USA Today Sports section! In addition we received tremendous coverage from the Roanoke Times, Richmond Times, WDBJ 7, WSLS 10, and a host of other local, regional and national media outlets. It was truly a fantastic experience.
I want to once again thank our fans and students. The Big South Tournament atmosphere was unreal. I had chills go up and down my spine when our Public Address Announcer, Neal Leahy, did our player introductions and I couldn’t hear him because our crowd was so loud. Winning the tournament over an excellent VMI team and then going to Greensboro to play the North Carolina Tar Heels was a fantastic experience. I am even more proud of our team after watching the Heels blow through the NCAA Tournament and win the championship by beating everyone by double-digit points. Our team competed with the best team in America just about as well as anyone!
We are looking forward to next season as the majority of this outstanding team returns including Big South Player of the Year Art Parakouski, All Big South performer Joey Lynch-Flour, point guard Amir Johnson, and swing man Phillip Martin. A strong group of key reserves also return to give us a team that will be very good. We appreciate our senior’s key contributions and all they have done for the University. Kenny Thomas had a stellar career and is such a first-class young man. We will miss Eric Hall, who provided so many special moments and Jamar Jenkins, who is such a special young man.
This was a TEAM in every sense of the word. Coach Greenberg talks about TEAM constantly and it is obviously how his emphasis translated into an unselfish group of young men who made the extra pass, pursued loose balls, got the big stop, and played with the hustle and enthusiasm that makes a championship team.
Speaking of champions, Mike Anderson and our Men’s Tennis team just wrapped up the regular season title. This is the fourth straight for this tremendous program. The Big South Tournament takes place at Winthrop University April 16-18 and we are hopeful we will take home our third straight tournament championship and head back to the NCAA Tournament. We continually get feedback from fans, professors, and opponents that speak to what a first-class team and group of young men we have in our tennis program. They are winners on the court and go about their business in a first-class way off the court.
We have a lot of very exciting events coming up that I encourage folks to see. Radford University is hosting the Big South Conference Track and Field Championship April 16-18 at Patrick D. Cupp Stadium. This is going to be a great event that we are very much looking forward to. On April 19 our softball team will take on Winthrop University in a Nationally Televised game at the RU Softball Stadium. We will also host the Big South Softball Championships May 7-9. This is going to be a great event and a wonderful opportunity to see some great softball. We have an outstanding team and Coach Mickey Dean continues to do a great job coaching this group of extremely talented young ladies.
In other athletics news, we are thrilled to inform you that Kelly Underwood has joined Radford University and will direct our athletic fundraising.. Kelly, a Radford High School and VMI graduate, brings a strong background to his new role and we are delighted to have him on our team. We have also added Greg Herring to our staff. Greg will be responsible for marketing, promotions, corporate sales, and season ticket sales. Greg was most recently at Southern Mississippi and prior to that he was at the University of Missouri and the University Florida. Like Kelly, he brings a strong skill set and work ethic to the athletic department. We are looking forward to great things from these guys.
We are also sad to announce that volleyball assistant coach Jackie Murphy will be leaving us. However, I am happy to announce that Jackie has been named the Head Coach at her Alma Mater, West Virginia Wesleyan. The Highlander family thanks Jackie for her contributions and we wish her the very best of luck as she takes on the challenge of being a collegiate head coach.
We want to continue to keep folks updated on Radford University Athletics. To get up to date information, please sign up for Highlander Happenings. This is a great way to get all of the news on our 19 sports and any special announcements.
I once again want to reiterate our appreciation to our students and loyal fans. You have been with us through good times and tough times and we are so grateful for your passion and enthusiasm for Highlander athletics. You play a huge role in our success! We hope to see you at our upcoming events.
Highlander Pride!
Robert
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Monday, February 23, 2009
What a day, what a week, what a month for Highlander Athletics! Saturday in Lexington, VA was one for the ages as the Highlanders played a tremendous basketball game, beat an excellent VMI team and claimed the Big South Regular season title. It was simply amazing to be at this game and be a part of the emotion and enthusiasm of 5,000 passionate fans. This game assured our team at least a bid to the NIT as well as the opportunity to host the Big South Tournament and earn a bid to the Big Dance.
I have been involved in athletics in some way, shape, or form all of my life and one of the greatest things I have witnessed in athletics was Art Parakhouski pointing to the tremendous group of Radford fans in Cameron Hall and thanking them. It was just an incredible gesture by a simply outstanding player and it capped another great road win.
I can’t say enough about Brad Greenberg, his staff and team, the job they have done is remarkable. Nine road wins in row, winning 13 of their last 14 games and earning the right to host the Big South Tournament at Dedmon Center on our campus. Are you excited yet??? You should be, as this is a team every Highlander fan should be so proud of.
We still have two huge games to play before the tournament begins and we are looking forward to returning to the Dedmon Center Wednesday evening for Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. We are thrilled to be honoring the many wonderful people that make this such a tremendous University. Each year the athletic department honors a special faculty and staff member(s) that have done great things. Last year we honored three professors of national acclaim, Dr. Cliff Boyd, Dr. Donna Boyd, and Dr. Betty Dore. This year we are honoring an extremely special member of our staff who has made a huge impact on this campus since the moment he arrived…I intend to keep his name a secret until it is announced Wednesday night!
In addition to this, we will honor the two-time defending Big South Champion Men’s Tennis Team at halftime. Under the direction of Coach Mike Anderson, this has been a stellar team that has excelled at a National level. We are so excited to honor this special group of athletes.
This week is jammed packed with so many exciting events most notably Homecoming. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit with our alumni and show them all of the exciting things going on all over this wonderful university. The athletics department is especially pleased to host the second annual Men’s and Women’s Alumni basketball game Friday evening beginning at 5:30pm in the Dedmon Center. Admission is free and we encourage you to come out and watch many of the best players in RU history lace it up and play in the renovated Dedmon Center for the first time. There are so many other fantastic events this week and we encourage you to visit the Homecoming website and sign up for the all of the offerings
It is a huge weekend for both of our basketball teams as our women take on Presbyterian College at 2:00 pm and our men take on Liberty at 6:00pm. The Liberty game will be televised on MASN. If you have not purchased tickets we encourage you to do so quickly as we expect this game to be a sellout. Go to radfordathletics.com to purchase your tickets online, print it out at home and save yourself lots of time and trouble!
The Men’s Basketball game vs. Liberty is Senior Day and Coach Greenberg will honor our senior class and all of their contributions.
Halftime will feature our Homecoming Court as well as a presentation honoring our National Champion Club Rugby Team.
We need every Radford fan out in full force Wednesday and Saturday to cheer our teams to victory as these are all very important games.
I want to give Radford University and Big South fans some information on the upcoming Big South Tournament that will be hosted in the Dedmon Center. Tickets are available now and they can be purchased at radfordathletics.com or by calling the ticket office at 540-831-6396.
Below is a breakdown of the tournament schedule:
Quarterfinals -- Dedmon Center
Tuesday, March 3
Radford vs. No. 8 Seed, 7:00 PM
Doors open at 6:00 PM
Semifinals - Dedmon Center
Thursday, March 5 - ESPNU
6:00pm Game #1
8:00pm Game #2 (RU will play at 8:00pm should we advance on Tuesday)
Championship - Highest Seed Remaining Hosts
Saturday, March 7 - ESPN2
4:00pm
This is going to be a great tournament and we encourage Radford University fans to purchase tickets now.
As a reminder to all Radford University students, tickets will be $3.00 each and can be purchased at the ticket office in Dedmon Center or at radfordathletics.com. The first 250 students will get into the first round game FREE!!!
Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our students and fans for their continued support of our teams. Our students have been simply fantastic and we so appreciate the great energy and enthusiasm you gave our team at VMI Saturday. You were tremendous!
Wow! Now that is a lot of information…GO HIGHLANDERS!
Robert Lineburg
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Monday, January 25, 2009
Greeting Highlanders fans! What an amazing week for our country as well as an amazing week for Highlander Athletics. Wednesday and Saturday of last week were certainly historic days for Highlander athletics as our men’s and women’s basketball teams returned to the newly renovated Dedmon Center.
We were delighted to reopen the Dedmon Center last Wednesday night. After months of planning, construction, sacrifice, and hard work by so many people we opened the arena to a near capacity crowd. We want to first thank all of our students who came out to support the Highlanders as we took on an excellent VMI team. It was a fantastic environment and our players are all so thankful for the great emotion and intensity the students provided. This is the beginning of what we believe is going to be a tremendous college basketball atmosphere night in and night out.
Our men’s basketball team got off to a great start against VMI but the Keydets responded and were able to knock us off in our first game back in the Dedmon Center. However, we bounced back Saturday night in great fashion with a huge win over a very talented Liberty University team playing in front of a televised audience. Our team showed tremendous character and resilience as we played so hard and earned a terrific road win. I can tell you from experience, road wins are so tough, particularly in a hostile environment like the Vines Center. We return to the Dedmon Center to host Presbyterian College on Saturday, February 7th and then Coastal Carolina on Monday, February 9th. These are huge conference games that will go a long way toward determining how the league standings shake-out and we need your support. We want to help our team play their very best basketball during the crucial months of February and March and you play a big role in this success!
Our women’s basketball team returned to Dedmon Center Saturday afternoon to take on Coastal Carolina. We have not played at home in some time and we were so impressed with how much this team has improved. Our defense, passing, and execution were at a high level. We returned to Dedmon with another stellar effort beating a hot-shooting Charleston Southern team Monday night. This win pushed our record to 5-2 in the Big South conference. Next week we go on the road for two huge conference games at Liberty and Gardner Webb. We return to the Dedmon Center on Saturday, February 14th to take on conference rival Winthrop followed by a big game on Monday, February 16th against an excellent High Point team. Again, I can’t emphasis enough how important fan support is and what you mean to our teams.
Our men’s tennis team, the two-time defending Big South Champions were back in action. They traveled to College Station, Texas, the home of the Aggies, to take on Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Texas A&M University. Both are very good teams. Coach Anderson’s squad had a big win over #75 Corpus Christi followed by a close but tough loss to the #18 team in the country, the A&M Aggies. We are expecting another great season from our outstanding tennis team.
Radford University offers so many amazing opportunities in the arts, music etc. I was thrilled to be a part of the Dr. Martin Luther King celebration last Thursday. This was an amazing event that featured so many outstanding speakers and performers. President Kyle delivered one of the most moving and eloquent speeches I’ve ever heard setting the stage for former Governor L. Douglas Wilder’s keynote address. Governor Wilder’s speech was a history lesson that was so unbelievably moving. In addition, we were treated to the William Fleming High School Choir which sang two beautiful songs. To close the program, our own Trae Cotton, Dean of Students, gave an amazing rendition of a great Dr. King sermon “The Drum Major Instinct.” Trae is just unbelievably talented. Following this we had a candle light march to the University Fountain capping a wonderful evening.
What a great week to be a Highlander!
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Monday, December 29, 2008
I hope all Highlander fans had a terrific holiday and New Year. The holiday season is always such a wonderful time to be with family and reconnect with old friends. Our house was a whirlwind of activity as all of the family was in town to celebrate.
Radford University athletics had many highlights in 2008 and we look forward to many more as we usher in 2009. We continue to make progress and the future is extremely bright for our 19 teams. Our Men’s and Women’s basketball teams are preparing to embark on the most important part of their schedule, Big South Conference play. Both teams have played extremely challenging schedules.
Our men’s basketball team has played the likes of Virginia, William & Mary, Navy, Duquesne, James Madison, George Mason, West Virginia and Wake Forest who is ranked #6 in America. In addition we have already played two conference games in December which were capped off with a big win over Big South rival Winthrop.
Our women’s team has played James Madison, Virginia Tech, Towson, Indiana, La Salle, Vanderbilt, Navy, and American. All of these teams are very good. We are confident that the schedules our teams are playing will prepare them well for conference play and have them ready to play their best basketball in February and March when it matters the most.
As we move into the New Year we are in full swing with our preparation to return to the Dedmon Center. I am asked about the status of Dedmon everywhere I go and I am pleased to inform everyone that the project is on time barring any unforeseen circumstance. I can tell you without hesitation that this is going to be a beautiful venue for athletics and other events on our campus. We will be installing a new state of the art portable basketball floor in early January to go with brand new lighting which includes TV lights and theatrical lights as well as two curtains that will be in each end zone. The curtains will close in the facility giving it a much more intimate feel.
In addition to these changes, we extremely proud of our new Learning Enhancement Center, on the second floor of Dedmon Center. We will have 2,800 square feet of space devoted to academics. Our Director of Student Services, Stephanie Ballein, has done a fabulous job adding her touches to what is going to be an extraordinary facility for our student-athletes. Radford University is committed to seeing that our student-athletes have every opportunity to be successful in the classroom. This facility will give them the necessary tools which include 20 computer terminals, a full classroom, private individual study areas, and a library/lounge.
We have also upgraded our conference room in Dedmon which will serve as an excellent place for staff meetings, coaches meetings, and socials. I want to thank Tommy Manning, Jorge Coartney, and their staff for all of their hard work on these two projects.
With all of that said, we will play our first game in Dedmon Center when our men take on VMI January 21st at 7:00pm. We are expecting a huge crowd for this and we encourage our campus community and all of our fans and alumni in the Commonwealth and beyond to come out and see this game and our new and very improved Dedmon Center. Our goal is to make Dedmon one of the great home court advantages in the country. We can only do this with your help!
Please go to our website radfordathletics.com (which is outstanding if you haven’t visited) to get information on our basketball ticket mini plan package. This is a great way to secure seats for the remainder of the men’s and women’s basketball season. With the men’s mini plan you will see Big South Conference games against VMI, Presbyterian, Coastal Carolina, High Point, and a homecoming game against Liberty. The women will open play in Dedmon Center on January 24th against Coastal Carolina and the remainder of their schedule includes Charleston Southern, Winthrop, High Point, Presbyterian (Homecoming), UNC Asheville, and Liberty.
I want to once again wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year and we look forward to seeing you at all of our contests. All the best.
Go Highlanders!
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Tuesday, December 9, 2008
I want to take this opportunity to welcome Highlander Fans to our new and improved website, www.radfordathletics.com. We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring you all of the latest news and happenings in Radford University Athletics.
Radford athletics had a successful fall season that culminated with our Women’s Soccer team winning the Big South Tournament and participating in the NCAA Tournament. Our other fall sports played hard and accomplished many team and individual honors.
Men’s and Women’s basketball is underway in what will be an exciting and interesting season as we undergo a major renovation to our main athletic facility, the Dedmon Center. At this time our basketball teams are playing their games in the cozy confines of Peters Hall, a facility that housed the program until 1981. It is certainly small, intimate and extremely loud and fans get a close up view of all the action. We will play here until we return to the Dedmon Center with a huge Big South Conference game against VMI on January 21st.
The Dedmon Center continues to undergo many exciting changes that begin with a new state of the art roof, new heating and air conditioning, a new playing floor, and new lights. These changes will make the Dedmon Center one of the finest facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia and we eagerly await our return.
Please see the section on our webpage where you can sign up for our newsletter. By signing up for this you will get up to date news about Highlander Athletics. This is a great way to stay connected with all of the exciting things going on with our teams. Additionally, you can sign up to receive information via text message.
We appreciate all of our loyal fans that continue to support the programs and we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming contests. See you soon!
Go Highlanders!
Robert Lineburg
