Basketball Mocs get T.J. Williams, Jonathan Stark

Friday, January 1, 1904

Arkansas-Oklahoma State Live Blog

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman concluded the fall signing period with the additions of 6-foot-7 forward T.J. Williams and 5-10 point guard Jonathan Stark. They join Christian Kennedy, who signed his scholarship papers last week. "He's a skilled, athletic, difference-maker in the post," Shulman said of Williams, who plays at Ashley High Shool in Wilmington, N.C. "He is a strong defender and shot-blocker. I think he will remind a lot of people of Nicchaeus Doaks." Stark plays at Munford High School near Memphis and will join a backcourt already full of underclassmen. "Jonathan is a quick jet out there," Shulman said. "He can handle it, distribute it and has a great mid-range game."

Wrestling

• UTC 125-pounder Nick Soto remains ranked 12th in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association ratings. Soto (11-3) is ranked ninth by Wrestling Report. The Mocs have five wrestlers ranked, including Josh Condon, who will not officially join the team until January. Condon (8-1 as an individual) is the 16th-ranked 165-pounder according to the NWCA and 19th on Wrestling Report. Also among the Wrestling Report top 32 are Niko Brown 21st at 197, Dean Pavlou and Kevin Malone 29th at 141 and 285 and Jake Young 32nd at 174.

Golf

• UTC senior golfer Steven Fox shot even-par 71 Tuesday and tied for 16th at 5-under 208 at the Western Refining College All-American Classic at El Paso (Texas) Country Club. UNLV's Kevin Penner won by a stroke with a 199.

Volleyball

• GPS hitter and setter Sadie Lett has committed to a scholarship offer from the University of Tampa, an NCAA Division II school in the Sunshine State Conference. Lett wanted to play in Florida and said she scouted seven or eight schools throughout the state last spring break. "Tampa was definitely my favorite," Lett said. "I love the climate. I love the size. It's about 6,000, which is about midsize. And they have my major. I want to do something in sports medicine. When they offered, I knew that was definitely where I wanted to go." Lett surpassed 1,000 kills, assists and digs in her Bruisers career. She's anticipating being an outside hitter at Tampa, at least in the beginning. "She's an incredible young lady," GPS coach Paul Brock said. "She's very versatile on the court. She's great at hitting, passing, digging and serving. She worked hard to get successful. It's going to be fun to see her step up to that challenge of playing in college."

Softball

• The University of Tennessee announced Tuesday that Shaliyah Geathers from East Hamilton High School officially had joined three recruits reported Monday for the Lady Vols softball team. Her commitment had been reported previously. "Shaliyah has great speed, and it's something we've always liked to have here at Tennessee -- kids who can create a lot of havoc on the bases," co-head coach Karen Weekly said in the UT release. "The neat thing about Shay is that she's got power, too. She hits away. I've seen her put a lot of balls in the gap. I've even seen her hit balls over the fence. So we're excited about that blend of speed and power ... and we're also excited about her ability to perform in the clutch."

Football

• Washington & Lee senior running back Brett Murray from Lookout Mountain and Baylor School was a first-team all-league football player for the second year in a row in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, after being second-team in 2010, and Hampden-Sydney sophomore Nash Nance from Calhoun, Ga., was the first-team quarterback. Murray gained 1,392 all-purpose yards in 2012, rushing 125 times for 775 yards and nine touchdowns, catching eight passes for 173 yards and a score and totaling 444 yards in returns. His 212 career points are the third most in Generals history, and his 5,135 all-purpose yards and 2,583 rushing yards are fourth and fifth. Nance, who transferred from Tennessee, was 208-of-347 passing this season with 24 touchdown throws and 12 interceptions, and he ran for four scores and averaged 42.6 yards on seven punts.

Soccer

• The UTC soccer team coached by J.D. Kyzer earned a Team Academic Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for its team grade point average of 3.29 last year. This is the Mocs' third such award in four years. The program had 12 dean's list players and five with 4.0 GPAs in the fall and 10 dean's listees and four 4.0s in the spring.