"Courtside" with Effran Bryant

Tarleton State University Basketball continues to strive for excellence by being the only school with Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams to still be undefeated in the Lone Star Conference…

It is a great feeling going into our game tonight against the University of Central Oklahoma, who has become a great rival to Tarleton State University since I have been a Texan. We spent this last week together as a team. Many other teams around the national got to go home and spend time with the family. We spent the week of Thanksgiving as an extended family getting back to the basics. We used the week to add and fine tune our offense and defense getting ready to go into crossover play in the LSC. I felt really well about us getting together on Thanksgiving and just sitting around and thinking about the things we are thankful for as a team and individuals.

Later that night, we all got together and went to see “The Blind Side”. This inspiration gives us the extra push to come in on Saturday and play very well against Wiley College who had been playing very well in the last couple of games before ours. Now with the 4-0 start and us playing extremely well, I think we are ready to take on our rival UCO.

Over my three years, UCO has knocked us out of postseason play every year. I feel very good about the emphasis of how big this game is to our very young season. We have met some very worthy opponents. This will be an early test of how good we can be in this conference. Coach Reisman, the coaching staff, and the returners have expressed the strong feeling that we have towards UCO. I think the new faces to our team have bought in strong additions to the Tarleton attitude and demeanor.

I hope to see everyone tonight at 6 p.m. to support the girls and immediately following stay and cheer for our game.

"Courtside" with Sonya Sundberg

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! I know I thought it was nice to get a day off and spend some time with family and friends. But we are back at school, getting ready to head to Austin tomorrow, Saturday 28th to play St. Edwards.

We have had three games since my last entry and we won all three moving us to 4-0 on the season. Our tournament in Denton was a success, winning both games by a decent margin. I was especially proud of our performance against Pittsburg State. We all played such a great game and that was a good indicator of how good our team can be.

Earlier this week we faced Concordia University and we got everyone on the team to contribute. This game was an indicator of just how deep our bench is, with people like Brittany Coleman scoring 15 off the bench.

We have been successful thus far, but we know the road ahead is tough and long so we just need to keep working hard in practice and games to improve. This weekend’s game in Austin is going to be tough, but if we play like we are capable of, I think we are a very tough team to beat. After Austin we are back at home Tuesday starting off our first crossover conference game against UCO, the team that knocked us out of the conference tournament last year. We look forward to seeing you there!!
Go TexAnns!!

"Going the Distance" with Jared McNeil

So the National championships are finally here and I couldn't be more excited! My training has gone great going into this week and now i'm just relaxing trying to get mentally and pysically ready for the race on Saturday.

Coach Ponder and I left Stephenville Thursday morning for Evansville Indiana; now we are settled into the hotel and going to some activities that the NCAA are holding. On Friday, I will wake up and run the course and get a feel for the start and finish. Top forty runners get All-American and thats what i'm hoping for.

"Courtside" with Sonya Sundberg

We played our first game Tuesday night against UTPB!! It was a blast! We won, but our competition is just going to get tougher from here on out. Things are really starting to shape together for the season. We are learning what our strengths and weaknesses are and focusing on those daily in practice.

I was really proud of Brittnie Haley in this game. You wouldn’t have known that she was out for a season and a half. She didn’t miss a beat! I am really excited to see her continue to grow.

We only have a two-day break and then we are at it again this weekend as we travel to Denton to play two very strong division II teams, Pittsburg State and Western New Mexico. I am really excited for this opportunity, as it will give us a perspective on where we stand as a team. Another positive note is that we still have not played anywhere close to our full potential and still have been winning by a decent margin. However, we will truly be tested this weekend, but I am excited and I know the team and coaches are as well. Hopefully , we will be able to listen to some of the football game Saturday after our game. We are so happy for them and wish them all the best!!

Go Texans!!!

"Going the Distance" - with Jared McNeil

With high hopes for making it to the National meet, on Saturday we fell 11 points short from doing just that. The team trained so hard this year, with all seven guys coming in confident and in shape. Going into the regional meet we all thought that if we had two guys in the top ten and the next three in the top thirty we would be in. Everyone did their job and ran to the best of their ability. Unfortunately there were three teams that were better than us that day. I was able to make it on my own by getting in the top five. Coach Ponder and I will leave for Evansville, Indiana next Thursday and I will be running that Saturday. The rest of the team is taking a week off and then will start getting ready for the outdoor track season.

"Courtside" with Effran Bryant

The first two weeks of practice has come and gone. Last weekend, we traveled to University of Texas-San Antonio where for the first time as a team we scrimmaged against someone else. This was a very important start for us as a team. This scrimmage pointed out some things that we haven’t been seeing going against each other in practice and need to work on. We took the film from the scrimmage and went back to work to continue to improve for this season’s opener.

There were a lot of bright spots in the scrimmage. Our transfer point guard from Ranger Junior College, Corin Henry, really stepped up and led the team as a point guard should.

Our post play was very impressive from the three headed monster led by senior Jeremiah Wilson, junior Donta Smith and junior Wale Ogunoye. They combined to shoot over 50 percent and lead us in scoring. We got minutes from Darrion Washington and Devon Hills, who shot the ball well from the guard position.

Coach Reisman and the coaching staff explained to us to stay focus on improving every day because this game was filed in column three. The game isn’t a win or loss. It doesn’t count towards what our true focus is ­- and that’s a national championship. We must continue to work hard so we can make the steps to become an elite team.

"Courtside" with Sonya Sundberg

Well we had our first scrimmage last night!!! It was so great to get to play against someone other than ourselves for once! Overall I think we did pretty well in the scrimmage, but it also opened our eyes as to how much work we still have to do. There are many things we will be focusing on in practice this next week to get prepared for our first exhibition game on Tuesday. It is hard to believe that the season is starting full-swing, but we couldn’t be more excited about it. Our coaches are working hard to get us mentally and physically ready for this upcoming season. We know that we are going to have to fight hard until the end of every game.

We found out last week that we were picked to get second in conference this year. And while that is great and most people are happy about it, we believe that if we truly utilize all our strengths and build up our weaknesses we can get first in conference. I know this is a tough goal but like I have said before, I think this team is really something special this year. We have our Texan Club luncheon next Tuesday at noon in the TSC Ballrooms if you are a Texan Club member and would like to come out and hear a little about our team along with the men’s team, we would really appreciate it. You will also be introduced to all the players on both teams. We are looking forward to seeing you out there next Tuesday night for our exhibition game against UT Dallas at 6:00 pm in Wisdom Gym!!!