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March 2001

SPRING FOOTBALL STARTS WEDNESDAY, PURPLE/WHITE GAME SET FOR APRIL 28 (March 30, 2001) 

Seventh-year Kentucky Wesleyan College head football coach John Johnson will begin spring football practice on Wednesday, April 4, with 47 letterwinners including 16 starters (five offense and 11 defense) from last season's 4-6 squad.

"I will basically use this spring finding replacements for our five graduating seniors on offense and honing the defense," said Johnson. "Spring ball is also a time for adjustments and experimentation."

Top returnees for the Panthers are All-Americans Corey Jordan (wr), Tony Black (de), Drew Hall (tb) and Frank Wintrich (lb).

Jordan, a 5-foot-7-inch, 152 pound junior from Barnesville, Ga., earned National Receiver of the Year honors by catching a team-best 63 passes for 890 yards and 13 touchdowns for 14.1 yards per catch and 89.0 yards per game last season.

Black, a 5-foot-10-inch, 207 pound junior from College Park, Ga., led the Panthers with a season record 11 sacks and recorded 43 tackles in 2000.

Hall, a 5-foot-10-inch, 214 pound junior from Owensboro, Ky., led KWC with 810 yards rushing on 115 attempts and 12 touchdowns, averaging 7.0 yards per carry and 101.2 yards per game last season.

Wintrich, a 6-foot-3-inch, 225 pound junior from Seminole, Fla., led the Panthers with 94 tackles including 51 solos and 10 tackles for lost yardage in 2000.

Also returning are seniors Bo and Luke Alexander (db's), Jake Colson (ot), Michael Cox (wr), Nic Vasilchek (fb) and Kris Wood (lb).

Ten of the 15 practice days allowed by the NCAA will be contact. This is Kentucky Wesleyan's sixth spring practice since moving up to Division II status. Spring practice will wrap up on Saturday, April 28, with a Purple/White scrimmage at 3:45 p.m. CT on the KWC practice field.

All practice sessions will begin at 3:45 p.m. The dates are as follows: April 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28.

DUNCAN NAMED CONSENSUS FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN (March 30, 2001) 

Kentucky Wesleyan's Lorico Duncan earned consensus first-team All-American honors when Division II Bulletin and the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced their All-America teams today. They join Basketball Times, who selected Duncan on Mar. 13 as first-team All-American.

Duncan, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Memphis, Tennessee, led the Panthers with 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.7 steals enroute to a 31-3 record and KWC's eighth record breaking NCAA championship.

Duncan, a two-time first-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection, also received Most Outstanding Player honors in the NCAA Championship, the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

He becomes the 14th player in Kentucky Wesleyan's 90-year basketball history to be named first-team All-American. The Panthers lead the nation (Div. II) in first-team All-America selection as 14 players have earned the recognition 33 times.

HARPER RECEIVES TWO NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR HONORS (March 27, 2001) 

Kentucky Wesleyan College Head Coach Ray Harper, who led the Panthers to a 31-3 record and their eighth record breaking NCAA Division II National Championship Saturday, received two Division II National Coach of the Year honors today from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and Molten/Division II Bulletin.

Harper also received both honors in 1999. He is the first two-time winner of the Molten/Division II Bulletin award. This marks the third straight season that Harper has received national coach of the year honors.

KWC won the 2001 title by defeating Washburn (Kan.), 72-63, on Saturday, March 24, at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, Calif. It was the Panthers fourth-straight appearance in the championship game.

In five years as Kentucky Wesleyan’s head coach, the 39-year-old Harper has won two NCAA championships, finished national runner-up twice and been named national coach of the year six times by three different organizations. His career collegiate record (all at KWC) is 148-19 for an 88.6 winning percentage or an average of 29.6 wins per season.

His winning percentage makes Harper the winningest active Division II coach. He has won 16 of a possible 21 championships in his coaching tenure.

Harper set the all-time NCAA coaching record this year by leading the Panthers to their fourth consecutive 30-win season by surpassing University of Kentucky Hall of Fame Coach Adolph Rupp. He also holds the NCAA record for fastest to 100 wins (100 in 114 games); most wins in first four seasons (117); and most wins in first five seasons (148).

The native of Bremen, Kentucky became only the second coach in NCAA history (I, II or III) to make four consecutive trips to the NCAA championship game (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001). UCLA Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden is first with seven straight.

His coaching awards also include two-time Great Lakes Region Coach the Year (1998, 1999) and three-time Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1998, 1999, 2000).

LANDRY NAMED CBS SPORTS/CHEVROLET PLAYER OF THE GAME (March 26, 2001)

Kentucky Wesleyan's Chris Landry was named CBS Sports/Chevrolet Player of the Game for his nine point and nine rebound performance in the 2001 NCAA Division II National Championship game on Saturday, March 24 by CBS play-by-play announcers Tim Brando and Bob Wenzel.

Landry helped guide the Panthers to a 31-3 record and its eighth NCAA national championship and second in three seasons by defeating Washburn (Kan.), 72-63, at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, Calif.

The 6-foot 5-inch, 205 pound, junior forward, from White Castle, La./ White Castle HS and Trinity Valley CC, in his first season at Kentucky Wesleyan started 30 of 33 games played where he finished second in scoring (12.1), steals (1.8) and minutes played (26.4). He also was third in assists (2.4) and fourth in rebounds (4.9). Landry shot 49.5 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from three-point territory and 69.8 percent from the free-throw line.

His single game bests in a Purple and White uniform were 20 points against Lees McRae, 10 rebounds versus Hillsdale (NCAA Regional), five assists against three different opponents, one block at Quincy and four steals twice. Landry was voted by the media to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team.

Chevrolet will donate a $1,000 to the general scholarship fund at Kentucky Wesleyan in the name of Chris Landry this summer. He becomes the fourth player in Kentucky Wesleyan's basketball history to be named CBS Sports/Chevrolet Player of the Game.

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN TAKES HOME EIGHTH DIV. II TITLE (March 24, 2001) 

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) - Kentucky Wesleyan won its eighth NCAA Division II basketball championship on Saturday with a 72-63 victory over Washburn of Kansas. 

Gino Bartolone scored 15 points - 12 in the first half - making five of eight 3-pointers for the Panthers in the game at Cal State Bakersfield. Lorico Duncan and Marshall Sanders contributed 13 points each. Duncan also had 11 rebounds. 

Randolph Williams scored a game-high 19 points for Washburn, scoring on 8 of 17 tries from the floor. 

Kentucky Wesleyan (31-3) dominated during the first half and led Washburn 48-32 at the break. 

Washburn regrouped in the second half, scoring the first seven points and closing the gap to three points with 4:44 remaining. But Washburn's shooting went cold, and the Ichabods (29-5) went scoreless until a 3-pointer in the final seconds by Melvin Ware. 

"One of the last things I said to the kids coming out of the locker room before the game is that we want to be the aggressor, not be passive, let's attack, and I thought that's what we did in the first half," said Kentucky Wesleyan coach Ray Harper.

Washburn committed six fouls in the final minute in a desperate attempt to regain possession - but succeeded only in allowing the Panthers to gain six points on eight free throw tries. 

"If we get three straight stops, the game is over," Harper said he told his players entering the final minutes with a six-point lead. 

It was the fourth consecutive season of 30 victories or more for Kentucky Wesleyan, and fourth straight year in the Division II final game. The Panthers won in 1998-99, and lost a year ago to Metropolitan State of Denver and in 1998 to Cal Davis. 

"They've been here before, they did a very good job in the first half, I thought they got our key players in foul trouble," said Washburn coach Bob Chipman. "Then our guys came back like we knew they would. We had two or three shots there to tie it, that didn't go." 

Sanders and Duncan of Kentucky Wesleyan were named to the all-tournament team, along with Ewan Auguste and Ryan Murphy of Washburn, and Sylvere Bryan Jr. of Tampa, which lost to the eventual champion by a single point in overtime in the semifinals Thursday. Auguste had 14 points and Murphy 10 rebounds in the championship game. 

DUNCAN NAMED FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN (March 13, 2001) 

Kentucky Wesleyan's Lorico Duncan was named first-team All-American by Basketball Times today.

Duncan, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Memphis, Tennessee, has led the Panthers with 15.5 points, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals enroute to a 28-3 record and a trip to next week's NCAA Div. II "Elite Eight" National Championship in Bakersfield, Calif.

Duncan, a two-time first-team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection, also received Most Outstanding Player honors in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

This marked the second straight year the magazine chose Duncan to their All-America squad. He was a third-team selection last season.

 

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN WINS RECORD BREAKING 19TH NCAA REGIONAL, 

THE PANTHERS MAKE THEIR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE AND 19TH RECORD BREAKING APPEARANCE IN THE ELITE EIGHT (March 10, 2001)

Kentucky Wesleyan held off No. 14 Northern Kentucky, 59-57, at the Owensboro Sportscenter to win their 19th record breaking NCAA Regional Championship. 

Lorico Duncan, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, led the Panthers with 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Joining Duncan on the all-tournament team was teammate Chris Landry who had 10 points.

KWC will now play in their fourth consecutive and their 19th record breaking  NCAA Division II "Elite Eight" Championship in Bakersfield, Calif. on Wednesday, March 21 at 2 p.m. CT against North Central Region champion Southwest State (Minn.).

For more information contact Roy Pickerill at 270/852-3143.

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN FINISHES AT NO. 2 (March 5, 2001) 

Kentucky Wesleyan started the season ranked No. 2 for four weeks and now ends the season at No. 2 in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/Division II Bulletin weekly Top 25 men's poll.

KWC (26-3) won their fourth straight Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Championship by defeating then No. 3 Southern Indiana, 91-74, before a record crowd of 9,627 at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind.

Adelphi (NY) remained No. 1 then KWC, Saint Michael's (Vt.), Southern Indiana, Washburn (Kan.), Cal State San Bernardino, Western Washington, Queens (NC), Southwest State (Minn.) and Johnson C. Smith (NC) for the final top 10.

Kentucky Wesleyan will host the NCAA Great Lakes Regional starting Thursday, Mar. 8 through Saturday, Mar. 10.

Here is the final Top 25:

1. Adelphi (NY) 29-0

2. Kentucky Wesleyan 26-3

3. Saint Michael's (Vt.) 26-3 

4. Southern Indiana 26-3 

5. Washburn (Kan.) 25-4 

6. Cal St. San Bernardino 23-3

7. Western Washington 24-3 

8. Queens (NC) 24-5 

9. Southwest State (Minn.) 25-6 

10. Johnson C. Smith (NC) 25-4 

11. Wingate (NC) 24-4 

12. Northeastern State (Okla.) 22-5 

13. Saint Anselm (NH) 21-6 

14. Northern Kentucky 25-6 

15. Catawba (NC) 25-4 

16. Northwest Missouri 24-5 

17. Florida Southern 23-6 

18. Charleston (WVa.) 23-6 

19. St. Cloud (Minn.) 24-5 

20. Salem International (WVa.) 24-6 

21. Longwood (Va.) 22-7 

22. South Dakota State 22-6 

23. Winston Salem (NC) 24-4 

24. Fort Hays (Kan.) 23-5 

25. Massachusetts Lowell 21-5 

 

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN TO HOST NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL (March 4, 2001) 

No. 2 ranked Kentucky Wesleyan will host the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Great Lakes Regional Championship, Thursday, March 8, through Saturday, March 10, at the Owensboro Sportscenter (5,002) for the fourth-straight year.

The Panthers (26-3) are making their 30th record breaking appearance in the NCAA. Kentucky Wesleyan has won the NCAA Championship a record seven times (1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1987, 1990 and 1999) and has won a record 82 of 106 games played in NCAA postseason.

Kentucky Wesleyan won the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship for the fourth-straight year by defeating No. 3 Southern Indiana, 91-74, before a record crowd of 9,627 at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind. on Saturday to receive the league's automatic bid.

The Great Lakes Region Championship begins on Thursday, March 8 with No. 4 seed Gannon University Knights (22-7) from Erie, Pa., facing No. 5 seed Hillsdale College Chargers (22-7) from Hillsdale, Mich., at 6 p.m. CT. No. 3 seed and No. Northern Kentucky University Norse (25-6) from Highland Heights, takes on No. 6 seed Grand Valley State University Lakers (21-8) from Allendale, Mich., at 8:15.

The semifinals are slated for Friday, March 9 with No. 1 seed Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers versus the winner of the Gannon/Hillsdale game at 6 p.m., followed by No. 2 seed and No. 3 ranked University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (26-3) from Evansville, against winner of the Northern Kentucky/Grand Valley matchup at 8:15.

The championship game will be Saturday, March 10, at 7 CT.

Tickets go on sale at the Kentucky Wesleyan Athletic Ticket Office, located in the Health and Recreation Center, Monday at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. KWC season ticket holders have until Tuesday March 5, at noon to pickup their tickets. Any unclaimed season tickets will go on sale to the general public at noon on Tuesday.

Ticket packages are:

3 days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) $30 chairbacks, $21 bench seats, $12 students.

2 days (Friday, Saturday) $20 chairbacks, $14 bench seats, $8 students.

1 day (Thursday) $10 chairbacks, $7 bench seats, $4 students.

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Kentucky Wesleyan College
Office of Sports Information
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07/11/06
pickeril@kwc.edu