Nick Ross is keeping his considerable basketball skills in the area. The former Red Bank High School Lions star now is moving across town in Cleveland from Cleveland State Community College to Lee University, which is losing another former high-scoring Cougar, Ryan Westbrooks. Ross still has three years of eligibility. "We've known him for a long time, being a Chattanooga guy, and there is a definite void, scoring-wise, with Westbrooks gone," Lee coach Tommy Brown said in a school release. "He has a fierceness and competitiveness with the game on the line that we really like." Ross, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists a game and was the TCCAA freshman of the year and a third-team NJCAA All-American. "He has a special ability to put the ball in the basket, he's strong and athletic, and he can even post up guards if he needs to."
Football
• McCallie School quarterback Trent Lusk signed a letter-of-intent Tuesday to play football at Centre College in Danville, Ky. Centre reached the NCAA Division III national semifinals with a graduating quarterback, and the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Lusk said the competition for the key position "is wide open." Before shoulder surgery as a junior that cost him a chance to attend camps and combines in the summer before his senior season, he was attracting interest from several Division I universities, including Virginia and Middle Tennessee State, and he was about to commit to Samford when the Birmingham school announced a coaching change. "But I'm happy where I'm going," Lusk said. "It has extremely strong academics and it obviously has a strong football program. Centre has a great coaching staff and I feel at home there." Lusk completed 90 of 161 passes for 1,145 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior, with four interceptions. He was 115-of-216 for 1,718 yards in 2010.
Soccer
• Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe senior Courtney Born signed scholarship papers Tuesday morning to continue her soccer career at Tennessee Temple University. The 5-foot-3 offensive star was the first signee for Emmanuel Awotula since he was promoted to head coach at Temple, and he said she has been a prime target since he first saw her play. "She's very aggressive, and one thing I want to do is increase the physical nature of our team," he said. "We also struggled to score last year, and she knows how to do that." Born has 19 goals and 11 assists as the 14-3 Lady Warriors prepare for the state playoffs, and she had 15 goals and 20 assists last year. "Courtney leaves it all on the field, and she's worked extremely hard in the classroom as well," said LFO coach Jonathan Schneider. "She's a senior captain and tries to lead by example. She's definitely the epitome of a warrior." Born said she likes that Temple "is a Christian school, and it's not very big and it's close to home. I really get along with the girls on the team, and I'll have the opportunity to start as a freshman."
• McCallie soccer defenders Sylar Holmes and Seth Phillips have committed to NCAA Division III programs, Holmes to Sewanee and Phillips to Emory & Henry. Holmes, the center back and a captain this year after two seasons starting at outside back, said he "thought heavily" about Wofford and Furman in the Southern Conference and also liked Wake Forest, but he got a prestigious Chancellor's Scholarship to Sewanee. "The great academics is what lured me to Sewanee, and I can do a lot of things with that," he said. The 5-foot-6, 148-pound Phillips also considered Sewanee and passed up a soccer scholarship to Tennessee Wesleyan for a good academic offer from Emory & Henry. "It was just the better choice for me," he said. "Seth is tenacious. He keeps going and going, and he's got a nice-size vertical jump," McCallie coach Tony Meyers said. "Sylar is a three-year starter and understands defensively what takes place, and he has proven he can man-mark very good players. Both guys are extremely coachable, and they work hard."
Baseball
• Sewanee senior left fielder Ryne Sullivan from Metairie, La., made the All-SCAC baseball team, and fellow Tigers outfielders Alan Komorowski and Wilson Nealy and second baseman Jack Whaley received honorable mention. Sullivan had the SCAC's fifth-best batting average this season, .396, and drove in 30 runs.