The Big News
Unless you just crawled out from under a rock this morning, you’ve heard that Bob Stoops has retired as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, effective immediately. Lincoln Riley, the Sooners 33 year-old offensive coordinator was simultaneously named Head Coach, making Riley the youngest head football coach in the Big 12.
At BotC Yesterday
Aside from the big football news, some other things happened at Bring on the Cats yesterday. Jon Morse kept up his look into the early history of K-State athletics, reviewing the 1896-97, 1897-98, and 1898-99 seasons.
Wildcat00 brought us a look at one of the K-State track stars comepeting in Eugene, OR at the NCAA national event, profiling heptathlon sensation Nina Schultz.
BracketCat continued our countdown to the next football season with #87 Nick Lenners, a redshirt freshman tight end extra blocker out of Lincoln, NE.
Greg Woods popped up to report the news that BatCats Will Brennan and Cameron Thompson were both named the the Freshman All-American team by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. This is the second post-season honor for both, as both were named to the Freshman All-Big 12 team earlier this summer.
Last but certainly not least, KSUEMAW! reports that K-State soccer has picked up a commitment from Kearney, MO forward/mid-fielder Lily Hollis. She is a class of 2020 commit, so it will be a few years before she dons the K-State purple kit.
Basketball
The State of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday that former Wildcat star Priscilla Gary-Sweeney has been selected as a member of the 56th Anniversary Class of 2017. Gary-Sweeney started for the Cats from 1981-1983, and became the first Wildcat women’s basketball All-American in program history. Gary-Sweeney joins Royals HoF member George Brett (who is a native of Mission Hills, KS), and former Wildcat assistant, Southwestern (KS) and Pitt State head coach Dennis Franchione (a native of Girard, KS) (yes, Franchione also coached Alabama, TCU, Texas A&M, and New Mexico...but who cares about those schools...).
Track & Field
Day one of the NCAA Championships was Wednesday, and the men’s throwers were first up for the Wildcats. However, it was not a great day for them, as the three Wildcat hammer-throwers Mitch Dixon, Brady Grunder, and Kyle Smith finished 20th, 21st, and 22nd, respectively, in the event and behind their K-State 1-2-3 record marks set at the NCAA regional event. Shot-putter Brett Nelly was also in competition, and finished in 18th.
Today, women’s hammer-throwers Janee' Kassanavoid and Helene Ingvaldsen will be competing for the Cats. Good luck ladies!