UALR men’s basketball Coach Steve Shields will spend part of the last month before fall semester classes begin looking for a new assistant coach.
Shields confirmed Thursday that assistant coach Robert Lee has resigned his position and will not be with the Trojans this season. Lee has spent the past three years as one of Shields’ three assistants, serving as a key recruiter. Shields said Lee offered his resignation “a week or 10 days ago,” citing a desire to spend more time with his family.
“He’s a good coach, he’s a good recruiter, he was really good for our staff,” Shields said. “We did not want to lose him, but I respect him for what he’s done.”
Lee was responsible for recruiting a large part of the Trojans’ roster from last season. He was the lead recruiter on Leroy Isler, a two-year starter he found at Lee College in Baytown, Texas; Mareik Isom, of Austin, Texas; Kemy Osse, of Montreal; and J.T. Thomas, who transferred from Chipola College in Marianna, Fla.
Lee came to UALR in 2011 after spending one season as an assistant at Louisiana-Monroe and six seasons as head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Shields said he hopes to have a new assistant in place by Aug. 15. Fall semester classes begin Aug. 18.
“We’ll move on,” Shields said. “These things happen, and we’ve got to get somebody else hired.”
— Troy Schulte
BASEBALL
UALR’s Curry adds assistant
New UALR baseball Coach Chris Curry has made the first hire for his coaching staff. Curry, who was hired to replace Scott Norwood on July 1, hired Russell Raley to be an assistant coach.
Raley joins Curry at UALR after spending one season at Incarnate Word of the Southland Conference, and he’s also coached at Texas Tech and Oklahoma. He’ll be the Trojans’ third base coach and infield coordinator.
“Russell was the first person I thought of to join my staff when I had the opportunity to become the head coach at UALR,” Curry said in a release. “You won’t find a person that will question his work ethic, his loyalty and the professional way he handles his business.”
Raley spent last season working primarily with Incarnate Word’s infielders, while assisting with outfielders and hitters. He spent the 2013 season as Texas Tech’s hitting coach and was at Oklahoma in 2008-2011.
GOLF
UALR on academic list
The UALR women’s golf team was honored by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association after having the seventh-best grade-point average in the NCAA for the 2013-2014 academic year. The Trojans led the Sun Belt Conference with a 3.74 GPA.
Texas-El Paso won the WGCA’s All-Scholar team GPA award with a 3.84. Arkansas was 18th with a 3.66.
Maumelle Classic tees off
A total of 114 golfers from eight states will tee off today in the opening round of the Maumelle Classic at Maumelle Country Club.
Two-time defending champion Matt Mabrey is not included in this year’s field, but 2006 champion Luke Bakke of Seattle is among the entrants. Other contenders include Tyler Reynolds of Little Rock, Trey Schaap of North Little Rock and Lyle Middleton, Austen Moix and Carson Roberts, all of Conway.
Tee times will begin at 7:30 a.m. with the tournament scheduled to conclude Sunday afternoon.
TRACK AND FIELD
Nelvis nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year
Former Arkansas State All-American Sharika Nelvis has been selected as a Sun Belt Conference nominee for the 2014 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, the NCAA announced Thursday.
Nelvis, the 2013-2014 Sun Belt Female Athlete of the Year and a 2014 finalist for the Bowerman Trophy (most outstanding female collegiate track and field athlete) is one of two Sun Belt representatives, joining Natalie Fernandez (softball) of Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Memphis native was the NCAA champion in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and the outdoor 100-meter hurdles.