University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior lineman Adam Miller from Northwest Whitfield High School made the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association All Star Team for the second year in a row. The honor presented by KB Sports went to 54 FCS players this year. Each had to have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale and "be a starter or key player with legitimate athletics credentials," according to the announcement release. Miller, a Cohutta resident, has a 3.78 GPA as a construction management major and started 40 games for the Mocs as a right tackle, including the last 29 of his career. He was second-team All-Southern Conference this year. He follows former UTC receiver Joel Bradford (2010, '11) as a back-to-back ADA Academic All-Star.
• Miller was one of 21 UTC fall-semester athletes making the academic all-conference team. Football redshirt freshman Bryn Oliver, sophomore cross country runner Patrick O'Brien and senior volleyball standout Christina Teter -- all from Hamilton County -- were among the 15 SoCon fall athletes with 4.0 cumulative GPAs. Other UTC honorees were football players Nick Pollard, Jacob Huesman, C.J. Murrell and Davis Tull; runners Nathan Wanuch, John Gilpin, Morgan Buchanan, Kathryn Stuart, Mary Cumbee and Keeley Stewart; volleyballers Heather Parman and Bridget Camacho; and soccer players Becca Smith, Crystal Mackezyk, Andria Aurand, Kelsey Swann and Lauren Wilson. Samford runner Lucas Sieb from Scottsboro, Ala., also made the fall academic all-conference team.
Football
• Ridgeland High School senior football star Vonn Bell started in the secondary for Team Highlight and had three pass breakups and two solo tackles in the Under Armour All-American Game held Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla., and his team won 16-3. Bell dropped what could have been a highlight pick-six early on. "He was sick about the drop, but it would've been a great play," said Ridgeland coach Mark Mariakis, who accompanied Bell. "The whole week, and especially the game, was a great experience for him." Mariakis said that Bell met after the game with assistant coaches from all three of the schools he is considering: Alabama, Ohio State and Tennessee.
Golf
• UTC senior golfer Steven Fox shot a 2-over-par 74, one stroke better than USA teammate Chris Williams from the University of Washington, in the second day of the Copa de Las Americas tournament for Western Hemisphere national honors at the Doral Golf Resort in Miami. Fox shot a 75 Thursday, when Williams had a 71, so they are seventh out of 11 teams at 295 midway through the event on the TPC Blue Monster course. Colombia leads the men's standings at 1-under 287, trailed closely by Mexico at 289, Canada at 290 and Argentina at 291. Puerto Rico and Venezuela are at 293. The USA women are third at 302, two shots behind co-leaders Argentina and Canada. The USA is fifth overall.
Basketball
• The Lee University basketball teams resumed play Friday night after their holiday breaks with two Southern States Athletic Conference wins at Belhaven in Jackson, Miss. Lee's Lady Flames, ranked No. 6 in NAIA Division I, won 65-48 before the third-ranked Flames prevailed 77-62 to go to 13-0 for the season. Hollie German and Karley Miller each scored 18 points, German with eight assists and Miller with seven rebounds, while Mary Jackson had four steals for the Lady Flames (12-1, 3-1). ..................
• The Sewanee basketball teams both led at halftime but lost their Southern Athletic Association games Friday in Birmingham, with the Birmingham-Southern women pulling out a 61-58 win behind Elizabeth Bromirski's 22 points that included four 3-point baskets (in 13 tries). The BSC Panthers then won 88-80. Jamie Samociuk and Jamie Chauvin each hit three 3s and scored 13 points for the Sewanee women (5-5, 1-1), while Kayla Sewell had eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Blaise White had 25 points to pace the Panthers (8-3, 2-0). For Sewanee (5-3, 0-2), Valentino Bryant and Tyler Brown scored 15 each and Lewis Affronti and Brett Bouldin added 14 and 13. Keshonn Carter had four steals.
• Colton McGriff scored 13 points and T.J. Cox and Sam Bowman tallied 10 apiece out of 14 scorers for Covenant College in an 84-49 basketball defeat of Johnson University on Friday in Covenant's tournament. Cox was credited with six assists, and Nate Frierson made three steals for the Scots (6-4). Tyler Griffin and Cody Wagner scored 20 and 19 points with four and three 3s for Johnson (1-12), but only two others scored for the Knoxville school.