T he S ports L edger
MAY 2023
PAGE 9 www.TheSportsLedger.com
SEC Has 62 Players Selected in 2023 NFL Draft Alabama's Bryce Young Is No. 1 Draft Pick
College Notes
HOMECOMING - The University of Florida football team will host the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, October 7, 2023 for its annual Homecoming Game. The Gators own a 71-26-2 record in Homecoming games all- time, including a 29-5 mark since 1989. Florida downed Missouri last year 24-17 on Homecoming. The last time the Gators hosted Vanderbilt on Homecoming was in 2021. NBA DRAFT IS JUNE 22 - The NBA Draft Combine will take place May 15-21 and the 2023 NBA Draft is scheduled for June 22, 2023. JSU SUMMER CAMP - The Jacksonville State women's basketball program has announced the dates for the program's 2023 team and individual camps. This summer's events will begin with a Team Camp from June 19-23. The camp will provide the opportunity for entire varsity, junior varsity, and travel teams to receive instruction from Jax State's veteran coaching staff before facing off with other teams in attendance. Different packages are offered based on the number of games played, ranging from three to six, as well as whether or not the campers will be staying in dorms and/or eating meals on campus. The 2023 Elite Camp will kick off a week later and will be held June 30-July 1 in Jacksonville. Campers can choose from four different options that include overnight stay or commuting for a two- day camp or single-day participation The Elite Camp will take place at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Camp details can be found at womensbasketball.jsugamecocksportscamps.com SEC MEN'S GOLF CHAMPS - The Florida men's golf team was recently crowned the 2023 SEC Champion The victory marks the first conference title for head coach J.C. Deacon and 16th all-time with the last being in 2011. The Gators have won a total of 260 SEC Championships across all sports and this is the University's fifth title this academic year, which includes gymnastics, men's and women's swimming and volleyball. GATORS OPEN SEASON IN UTAH - The Florida Gators football program will kick off the upcoming 2023 season against Utah on Thursday, August 31. The Gators will be traveling to Salt Lake City for the first time in program history. Florida will then return to Gainesville for the season opener against McNeese State on September 9 followed by hosting its 2023 SEC opener against Tennessee on September 16. SEC GOLF HONORS - Four Auburn women golfers have received postseason honors from the SEC. Megan Schofill has been named first-team All-SEC, Anna Foster was tapped as a second-team All-SEC selection, Casey Weidenfeld received SEC All-Freshman honors and Ashley-Sinclair Curtis was named to the SEC Community Service Team. Schofill has also been selected to represent the United States team in the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup at the Laurel Valley Golf Club outside Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The Ryder Cup-style competition features men’s and women’s collegiate golfers from the United States versus their International counterparts and will be played June 8-10. To read more about college golf check out The Sports Ledger's website at www.thesportsledger.com. BASKETBALL HONORS - Snead State forward John “Tre” Whitehead III capped off his lone season as a Parson with a 24-point performance Tuesday, March 21, in a 75-49 loss to Southeastern Community College (Iowa) in Round One of the NJCAA Division I Men’s Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. In addition to his 24 points, Whitehead also totaled five rebounds, one assist and three steals in the NJCAA Tournament game. Prior to the team’s trip to Kansas, the ACCC announced Whitehead had been named to the 2023 All-NJCAA Region 22 First Team, as well as the 2023 All-ACCC North First Team. Throughout the regular season, Whitehead averaged 17.7 points per game, which was ranked eighth-best in the ACCC, while shooting 45.2% from the field and 34.4% from three-point range – all playing a vital role in the Parsons capturing the 2023 ACCC Tournament Championship. Whitehead came to Snead State by way of transfer from Augusta State University. In the 2021-2022 season, he averaged 5.5 points per game in just an average of 10 minutes of playing time. ACCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Brittany Slaten was selected as the 2023 NJCAA Region 22 Player of the Year and ACCC Player of the Year. Slaten is a freshman from Guntersville and is majoring in Business at Snead State. She posted the second-best batting average in the ACCC (.430) on the year. Additionally, she recorded 43 RBIs, 32 stolen bases and six homeruns. During the season, Slaten has split time at short-stop and the pitcher’s circle. Over 28 innings pitched, she totaled 19 strikeouts and an ERA of 6.00. Slaten also earned First Team All-Region 22 and ACCC All-North Division Team honors. ALL-REGION SECOND TEAM - Snead State's Lydia West, a freshman from Geraldine, was selected to the All-Region 22 Second Team and the ACCC All- North Division Team. Her batting average this season was .374, with a .430 on-base percentage and a .578 slugging percentage. Lydia had 70 hits in 187 at bats with 11 doubles, nine home runs and 42 RBIs. She helped the Lady Parsons finish the season with a 31-33 overall record and an 18-17 record in the ACCC. JSU NAMES VOLLEYBALL COACH - Jax State Athletics Director Greg Seitz has announced the hiring of Derek Schroeder. The new coach will take over the indoor and beach programs for the Gamecocks after serving the past six seasons in the same capacity at Mercer. Schroeder replaces Todd Garvey, who recently stepped down for family reasons after a five-year stint that brought two Ohio Valley and one ASUN Division title to Jax State. Schroeder brings a 250-179 career record with him to Jax State, including 169 wins in eight seasons at Samford from 2008-15 and 81 more in his six seasons at Mercer from 2017-22.
By Brandon K. Pierce The Sports Ledger University of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young was the number one overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft and the standout quarterback is headed to the Carolina Panthers. Young finished his college career at Alabama as one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in program history. He ranked second for career passing yards (8,356) and passing touchdowns (80) and was also the only Alabama signal-caller to throw for 3,000-plus yards in two seasons. In his junior season in Tuscaloosa, Young amassed 3,328 yards passing on the way to second team All-America accolades from Pro Football Focus and USA Today. Two other Alabama players were selected in the 2023 first round, including Will Anderson and Jahmyr Gibbs. Anderson was selected as the third overall pick by the Houston Texans. The Detroit Lions selected Gibbs as the 12th overall first round selection. Anderson was a two- time permanent team captain at the Capstone and he left Alabama ranked second in program history for both career sacks (34.5, -201 yards) and tackles for loss with (62, -272 yards), trailing only Derrick Thomas. Additionally, he is the Crimson Tide’s lone two-time unanimous All- American, earning back-to- back SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022. Gibbs was an explosive playmaker for the Crimson Tide's offense in 2022. According to program stats, he finished second in program history for receptions by a running back in a single season while contributing a team- high 926 rushing yards. He had 1,628 all-purpose yards to pace the Crimson Tide's offense and he rank third in the SEC. Two other college programs also had three players drafted in the opening round including the University of Georgia and Ohio State. Georgia's Jalen Carter was selected as the ninth overall pick by Philadelphia. Broderick Jones landed in Pittsburgh with the No. 14 overall pick. Teammate Nolan Smith was also drafted by the Eagles with the 30th overall pick. Ohio's State's C.J. Stroud was the second overall pick by Houston. He was joined by teammates Paris Johnson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Arizona selected Paris with the sixth overall pick, while Jaxon was the 20th overall selection by the Seattle Seahawks. Overall the SEC had nine players selected in the 2023 opening round. In addition to the three players from Alabama and Georgia, the other 2023 SEC first round draft picks were: Florida's Anthony Richardson, Mississippi State's Emmanuel Forbes, and Tennessee's Darnell Wright. Richardson was the fourth overall pick by Indianapolis, Forbes was selected by Washington as
the 16th overall first round pick, and Wright was the 10 overall pick by Chicago. In the second round five additional University of Alabama football players were drafted including one second round pick and four third round selections. Former UA Crimson Tide defensive back Brian Branch (No. 45, Detroit Lions) came off the board first as the lone second round selection, while offensive lineman Tyler Steen (No. 65, Philadelphia Eagles), defensive lineman Byron Young (No. 70, Las Vegas Raiders), safety Jordan Battle (No. 95, Cincinnati Bengals) and tight end Cameron Latu (No. 101, San Francisco 49ers) heard their names called in round three. Alabama's Henry To'oTo'o was a fifth round pick by the Houston Texans and Demarco Hellams was drafted in the seventh round by the Atlanta Falcons. Auburn will be also represented in the NFL after five Tigers were selected in the 2023 draft. These players include Derick Hall (Seattle), Tank Bigsby (Jacksonville), Colby Wooden (Green Bay) Owen Pappoe (Arizona), and Anders Carlson (Green Bay). Overall, a total of 62 SEC players were drafted, including ten players from both Alabama and Georgia, six from both Florida and LSU, and five each from Tennessee, Auburn and South Carolina. Ole Miss had four players drafted, Kentucky and Texas A&M had three each, Arkansas and Mississippi State had two each, and Missouri had one player drafted. Tennessee's draft picks include: Darnell Wright (Chicago), Hendon Hooker (Detroit), Jalin Hyatt (New York Giants), Cedric Tillman (Cleveland) and Byron Young, (Los Angeles Rams). Mississippi State's draft selections include Emmanuel Fobes by Washington and Cameron Young by Las Vegas. The Big 12 conference had a total of 55 players selected, the Athletic Coast Conference (ACC) had 32 players drafted, the BIG 12 had 30 players drafted, and the PAC 12 had 27 players earn spots on NFL rosters. Houston led the AAC with four selections and overall the conference had ten players drafted. The Sun Belt conference had nine total players drafted, including South Alabama's Darell Luter Jr. by San Francisco and Troy's Jake Andrew's by New England. The Independent colleges were led Notre Dame and BYU with three players each, while Liberty had one player drafted for a total of seven selected. The MAC (Mountain Atlantic Conference) had seven players drafted, while the MWC had five players selected. Conference USA had three players drafted, including UAB's DeWayne McBride by the Minnesota Vikings. The FCS (Division II) programs had 12 players drafted from 12 different schools.
Notre Dame Quarterback Tyler Buchner finds running room during the 2022 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL. Buchner led the Irish to a thrilling 45-38 victory over South Carolina to close out last season. Buchner has announced that he is transferring to the University of Alabama. The move will reunite him with former Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who was hired by Nick Saban earlier this year to coach the Crimson Tide's offense. Buchner reportedly has three years of eligibility remaining in college football and he has the opportunity to step in to lead the program that produced the 2023 No. 1 NFL draft pick, Bryce Young. Bama Bound Photo by Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger Shannon O'Keefe To Lead JSU Bowling Shannon O'Keefe, one of the most successful collegiate coaches in the country and one of the top bowlers in the world, will lead the building of Jacksonville University's State new bowling program. Jax State announced in January that it would be adding Bowling as its 18th varsity sport and completing its sport additions in preparation for the University's move to Conference USA beginning in July. O'Keefe, one of the top names in professional and international bowling that has won at every level, comes to Jax State after nine stellar seasons as the head bowling coach at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. She led the Bearcats to four National Championships - two NCAA National Championships and two USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships - and was named the National Ten Pin Coaches Association (NTCA) Coach of the Year in seven consecutive seasons. "When looking for a head coach to start our bowling program here at Jax State, Shannon exceeded our expectations," Athletics Director Greg Seitz said. "Her career as a bowler and her career as a coach at the collegiate level are second to none, but she is also a top-notch person. We are excited to see to what heights she can lead Gamecock Bowling, and we welcome her to the Jax State family." She will hit the ground running as the Gamecocks' first bowling coach, with Jax State beginning competition in the upcoming fall of 2023. The Gamecocks will compete in Conference USA immediately after the league announced the inception of bowling as a conference sport on Tuesday. They will be one of nine programs in the first season of C-USA Bowling, joining Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tulane, Valparaiso, Vanderbilt and Youngstown State. "The overall support from the university, both academically and athletically, is something I can't wait for our student-athletes to experience. We feel honored and blessed for this opportunity and look forward to making the community and University proud by building a championship-level program," said O'Keefe. Building a championship-level program is something O'Keefe is familiar with. At McKendree, she took over the Bearcats in 2014 and led them to the NCAA National Championship by 2017. They won it again in 2022 and entered the Championship ranked first in the nation before falling to eventual champion Vanderbilt in the semifinals, but they regrouped to win their second ITC National Title one week later. Under O'Keefe's guidance, McKendree won the first three Great Lakes Valley Conference titles after the league began sponsoring bowling in the 2019-20 season. She was named the inaugural GLVC Coach of the Year following that season. Prior to the GLVC, the Bearcats won back- to-back MidAmerica Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) crowns in 2018 and 2019 and have been ranked No. 1 in the final NTCA Poll multiple times. In just nine seasons at McKendree, O'Keefe coached seven NTCA National Bowlers of the Year and seven conference bowlers of the year. She saw one of her players earn All-America honors over 40 times. There were 15 Bearcats that earned All-GLVC honors and over 40 GLVC All-Academic honorees in the four seasons since the conference started sponsoring bowling as a sport. When not coaching, O'Keefe has put together a world- class career as a bowler. An 18-time member of Team USA and an eight-time World Champion, she also has 15 titles on the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour that include three major championships. She has also been named the PWBA Player of the Year three times - in 2018, 2019 and 2022. She has won seven gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the World Tenpin Bowling Championships and has a gold, silver and two bronze medals at the Pan American Games.
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