TROY ATHLETICS Y E A R
I N
R E V I E W
2 0 1 8 - 2 0 1 9
TROY UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Governor of Alabama President, ex-officio
President pro tempore Area 5
Vice President pro tempore Area 2
John D. Harrison
Forrest Latta
Earl Johnson
Allen E. Owen III
Lamar P. Higgins
C. Gibson Vance
Karen Carter
Roy H. Drinkard
Edwards F. Crowell
C. Charles Nailen
Kay Ivey
Area 3
Area 4
Area 1
Area 4
Year in Review
Area 2
Gerald O. Dial
2018-2019
2
Area 6
Area 7
At Large
At Large
DEAR TROJANS: Intercollegiate athletics have been vital to the American college experience for more than 100 years. At Troy University, we have cheered our teams since 1909, when Coach Virgil Parks McKinley led our first football squad into battle. It is my belief that “Great universities stir great emotions” -- and nowhere is this more evident than when our Trojans are competing! This report highlights another good year for Trojan athletics, but it also previews great days to come. Under the leadership of Brent Jones, our new director of athletics; Chip Lindsey, our new football coach, and Scott Cross, our new men’s basketball coach, our athletics program is poised to reach new heights. I hasten to add, however, that athletics success at TROY begins with the alumni, students, and friends who support our programs with their attendance, attention and finances. There is a direct correlation between off-field investment and on-field success. We appreciate our supporters and what they provide TROY University and Trojan athletics. I can promise you our staff—in all sports—is working hard every day to reward your investment and your involvement. Go Trojans! Sincerely,
Jack Hawkins, Jr., Ph.D. Chancellor
2018-2019
4
Year in Review
TROJAN NATION: It has been another incredible year for our Troy Trojans as we have excelled in the community, on the playing field, in the classroom and in the stands! Our outstanding coaches and student-athletes continue to make everyone associated with Troy Athletics proud to be a Trojan! This past athletic year saw many great accomplishments, including our football program winning 10 or more games for a third consecutive season and a road victory at Big 10 foe Nebraska. Additionally, Troy finished first in the Sun Belt in home attendance for the first time in program history due to our great fans and students. Our volleyball program had a top 100 recruiting class for the first time in program history, our women’s basketball team defeated a SEC team and hosted a postseason basketball game for the first time and our softball program defeated a Big 10 opponent. As we look to the future, I am honored and humbled to be the athletic director of Troy University. As everyone knows, in order to be successful you must have a great team and support staff, and I am privileged to work with the best coaches, staff, student-athletes and chancellor in the nation! None of our past or future success would be possible without the great support from our amazing fans. Our momentum is real and contagious, and it truly is a great time to be a Troy Trojan! Sincerely,
Brent Jones Director of Athletics
CONTENTS Board of Trustees
1
Letter from the Chancellor
3
Letter from the Director of Athletics
5
Head Coaches 8-9 Team Highlights Head Coach Announcements
10-12
Soccer & Cross Country
14
Men’s Basketball & Volleyball
15
Men’s & Women’s Golf
16
Men’s & Women’s Tennis
17
Women’s Basketball
18-19
Baseball
20-21
Softball
22-23
Football
24-25
All-Conference Selections
26-27
Individual Accolades
28-31
Trojans Trending Upwards
32-33
Attendance Records
34
Trojans Making a Difference
35
Miracle League Opening Night
36-37
DeMarcus Ware 38-39 Trojan Tour 40-41 Hall of Fame
42-43
TROY ATHLETICS HEAD COACHES
Bart Barnes
Year in Review
Men’s Golf
2018-2019
7
Elliott Blount Cross Country
Men’s Basketball
Scott Cross
Marc Davis
Rawia Elsisi
Randy Keck
Nic Laracuente
Women’s Tennis
Women’s Golf
Track & Field
Cheer
TROY ATHLETICS HEAD COACHES
Josh Lauer
Chip Lindsey
Volleyball
Beth Mullins
Football
Chanda Rigby
Women’s Basketball
Ged O’Connor
Softball
Mark Smartt Baseball
Soccer
Rolando Vargas Men’s Tennis
SCOTT CROSS
HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH Named the seventh head coach in program history Guided UT Arlington to 225 wins over 12 season (19 wins per season), including winning 72 games his final three seasons with the Mavericks Came to Troy from TCU where the Horned Frogs advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship and earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament
Year in Review
Presided over the most successful era of men’s basketball in UTA history with five postseason appearances and five 20-win seasons
2018-2019
10
CHIP LINDSEY HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
The architect of some of the nation’s most electric offenses since moving to the collegiate ranks and comes to Troy with over two decades of coaching experience As Auburn’s offensive coordinator, the Tigers became just the eighth team in SEC history and the first in Auburn history to rush and pass for 3,000 yards in a season. Auburn won the SEC West Division after knocking off a pair of top-ranked teams in Georgia and Alabama over a three-week period During tenure as offensive coordinator at Southern Miss, the Golden Eagle offense ranked fifth in the nation in total touchdowns, seventh in total points, eighth in total passing yards and completions, and 12th in points per game and passing yards per game. Southern Miss was just the second school in FBS history with a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver and two 1,000-yard rushers
BRENT JONES D I R EC TO R O F AT H L E T I CS
Took over as Director of Athletics following two years as Troy’s Deputy AD for External Relations. In that role, Jones had oversight of marketing, communications, advertising, ticket sales, Troy Sports Properties, broadcasting, promotions, fan engagement, fan experience, branding, licensing and trademarks. He served as the sport administrator for the baseball program and was in charge of football scheduling Has secured home-and-home football games with Mississippi State, Memphis, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky while also scheduling guarantee games against Clemson, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kansas State
Year in Review
Troy has set numerous benchmarks during his tenure including record breaking attendance numbers for Troy football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball and baseball. During his tenure, Troy has seen an increase in the number of retailers carrying Troy merchandise while ticket sales and corporate dollars have also climbed
2018-2019
12
TROY ATHLETICS
SOCCER/ CROSS COUNTRY/ TRACK
SOCCER Twelve student-athletes were named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioners List with grade-point-averages of 3.5 or higher Natalie Melillo led the Trojans with four goals and 14 total points, including one game-winning goal Won final two games of the regular season, including a victory at South Alabama in the season finale Twelve different players scored a goal to pace a balanced offensive attack
CROSS COUNTRY / TRACK Women turned in highest-ever finish at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships by placing third A total of 19 athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor East Preliminaries Daniel Glick and Brennan Garriques named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team and Glick was named an Academic All-American Troy set four school records at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships and took home gold medals by Niata Alexander, Jared Hayes, Gemma Finch, the men’s 4x100 meter relay team and the women’s 4x400 meter relay team Matthew Likely finished 19th at the NCAA Outdoor Championship in the 200 meter dash Men’s cross country set a program record at the NCAA South Regional with a team score of 45 Women’s cross country earned NCAA Public Recognition for academics
TROY ATHLETICS
MEN’S BASKETBALL/ VOLLEYBALL
MEN’S BASKETBALL Scott Cross named new men’s basketball head coach after winning 72 games in his final three seasons at UT Arlington Jordon Varnado earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors after he averaged 32.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks in a pair of games Defeated Georgia State, 77-75, to hand the Panthers their first Sun Belt loss of the season ... Georgia State went on to play in the NCAA Tournament Jordon Varnado named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award Watch List by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Men’s basketball team went on a foreign tour to Costa Rica - featured 10 practice days, games and community service
VOLLEYBALL Qualified for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the second straight season after the Trojans missed out on the tournament in two of the prior three years Sophomore Cheyenne Hayes named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team after ranking among the nation’s leaders in kills, attacks and points Cheyenne Hayes finished the season with 497.5 points, which ranked as the seventh most in school history and third most in the rally scoring era Amara Anderson earned a pair of Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week honors while Cheyenne Hayes was named the Player of the Week Amara Anderson broke the Troy freshman record with 1,217 assists on the season, 88 more than the previous record
TROY ATHLETICS GOLF
MEN’S GOLF Connor Futrell named to the All-Sun Belt Team after leading the team with six top-25 finishes Troy golfers shot under par 20 times over the course of the season, up from nine the previous year Jake Tiffin turned in a pair of top-10 finishes Connor Futrell led Troy in four of the Trojans’ nine events, including a 15th-place finish at the Sun Belt Championship
WOMEN’S GOLF Recorded a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the academic year and received Public Recognition from the NCAA Nicole Lorup was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and to the All-Sun Belt First Team; she led Troy with a 74.17 stroke average over 29 rounds in her rookie campaign. Her average was the fifth best in the Sun Belt this season, fourth lowest in school history and the lowest by a freshman in school history. Senior Bianca Lohbauer named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team and finished her career with the second-best scoring average in school history Troy finished fourth or better in five of its 11 tournaments Trojan golfers fired 10 rounds under par led by five from Lorup and three from Lohbauer
TROY ATHLETICS TENNIS
MEN’S TENNIS Pelayo Antuna was tabbed to the All-Sun Belt First Team in singles, while Oskar Michalek earned All-Sun Belt Second Team honors - Antuna finished the year 20-4 in singles Rolando Vargas began his first season as the head coach of the Trojans Troy finished the season 17-8 and opened the spring with 10 straight victories Ended the regular season with a win over rival UAB Five different Trojans finished the season with individual winning records in singles, all posting 10 or more wins
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Two of Troy’s doubles teams earned All-Sun Belt honors -- Pei Ju Hsieh and Chunxi Guo were named to the first team, while Matea Mihaljevic and Tingting Pei took home second team honors Freshman Chunxi Guo earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors after clinching a pair of Troy wins over New Orleans and Nicholls State Celia Estevan led the Trojans with 17 victories while Maria Casas Blas finished the year with 15 wins Sanae Ohta was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award
TROY ATHLETICS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Sky’Lynn Holmes was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year after she finished the regular season second in the league averaging 9.4 rebounds per game, fifth with 1.0 blocks per game and seventh with 1.8 steals per game. Holmes finished her career ranked second in Troy’s DI history with 8.9 rebounds per game For the second time in three seasons, Troy knocked off a major conference foe as the Trojans dominated Ole Miss, 71-54, after defeating Villanova out of the Big East during the 2016-17 campaign The win over Ole Miss propelled Troy to an 8-2 start at the time, the best in school history; the Trojans would go on to win six more games to reach 14-2 Troy’s 22 regular season wins during the 2018-19 season were the most in program history and second-most overall behind only the 1996-97 team The Trojans led the Sun Belt in scoring for the seventh consecutive season Troy finished in the NCAA Top 10 in scoring for the fourth consecutive season The Trojans hosted a postseason game for the first time in Troy’s Division I history with a WNIT contest against UAB Troy led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring average (82.3) and rebounding average (50.5) The Trojans led the nation in offensive rebounds per game (22.0) and rebounds per game (50.48). Troy also ranked fifth nationally in scoring (82.3) and rebounding margin (10.3). The Trojans ranked 20th nationally averaging 20.52 turnovers forced per game The Trojans have now won 102 games over the last five seasons with four postseason appearances, including two NCAA Tournament berths
Year in Review
Head coach Chanda Rigby signed a pair of JUCO All-Americans for the upcoming signing class in addition to adding a transfer from Ole Miss
2018-2019
18
Sky’Lynn Holmes finished the season 16th nationally averaging 4.0 offensive rebounds per game and 53rd with 9.4 rebounds per game
TROY ATHLETICS BASEBALL
Chase Smartt was named to the Collegiate Baseball All-America Third Team becoming the 55th All-American in school history Chase Smartt posted a .343/.406/.523 slash line with 21 doubles, six home runs and 41 RBIs during the 2019 season. His double total ranked as the ninth most in a season in school history Logan Cerney was named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America Team after batting .267 with 12 doubles, four triples, nine home runs and 42 RBIs - his home run total was the most by a Trojan freshman since 1997 Chase Smartt was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team, while Rigsby Mosley, Cory Gill, Sadler Goodwin and Rigsby Mosley were all named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team Rigsby Mosley finished the season batting .356 to earn the title of Sun Belt Conference Batting Champion ... he added 19 doubles, two triples and seven home runs Troy advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with victories over Louisiana and Little Rock The Trojans knocked off in-state foe Alabama in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2007 with an 8-4 victory over the Crimson Tide The trio of Chase Smartt, Drew Frederic and Rigsby Mosley were named to the ABCA All-Region Team
Year in Review
Head coach Mark Smartt won his 300th career game as a head coach and participated in his 1,000th game as an assistant coach and head coach
2018-2019
20
Chase Smartt, who finished as the toughest player in the Sun Belt to strikeout, was named the Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and the NCBWA National Hitter of the Week after batting .632 with six doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs in four games Drew Frederic and Lance Johnson were named to the Sun Belt All-Tournament Team; Johnson finished with 36 appearances on the season out of the bullpen, which ranked as the second most in school history
TROY ATHLETICS SOFTBALL
Leanna Johnson was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year -- Troy’s second in a row -- and was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team and NFCA All-Region Second Team. She ended the season with 231 strikeouts, 25 victories and seven shutouts ranking her in Troy’s top ten single season records in all three categories Troy earned the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and earned a double-bye in the tournament The Trojans posted a 19-8 record in the Sun Belt Conference to set a program record for conference victories Troy won 37 games during the 2019 season; the most by a Trojan team since 2009 and a 17-win improvement from 2017 First baseman Katie Webb joined Leanna Johnson on the All-Sun Belt First Team, while Bailey Taylor was named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team Troy softball posted six walk-off victories of the year The Trojans secured the regular season finale over South Alabama with the season sweep over the Jaguar Signee Libby Baker was tabbed as Alabama’s Miss Softball
Year in Review
The Trojans also added JUCO National Player of the Year in Candela Figueroa
2018-2019
22
Troy’s schedule featured games against Alabama, LSU, Florida State, Missouri, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Auburn
TROY ATHLETICS FOOTBALL
Troy finished the season 10-3 to record three consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time in school history; the Trojans’ 31 wins over the previous three seasons tied for the most in school history Troy finished 7-1 in Sun Belt Conference play to tie for first place in the Sun Belt East Division Third consecutive year of setting a single-season attendance record with an average of 24,527 fans per game Football attendance ranked first in the Sun Belt - First time in school history Home opener vs. Boise State established a Veterans Memorial Stadium record crowd of 29,612 - the second straight year the home opener set the single-game record. Five of the top-20 single-game crowds occurred during the 2018 season Tyler Sumpter set the Troy single-season punting average record with a 45.12 average ... the previous record was 44.54 by Will Scott in 2013 Troy ranked third nationally in turnovers forced (31), fourth in net punting (42.36), fifth in passes intercepted (18), fifth in fumbles recovered (13), ninth in kickoff returns (25.0), 10th in sacks per game (3.0), 12th in completion percentage (66.7) and 16th in tackles for loss per game (7.6) Chip Lindsey took over as head coach for the Trojans
Year in Review
Linebacker Carlton Martial was named to the USA Today, The Athletic and Football Writers Association Freshman All-America Teams after he led all freshmen in the league in tackles and tackles for loss and finished second in sacks
2018-2019
24
Troy’s 42-32 victory over Buffalo in the Dollar General Bowl was the Trojans’ third bowl win in as many seasons and fourth straight overall The Trojans are 22-5 in their last 27 games Troy’s 31 wins over the past three seasons are the most among ALL Group of Five programs nationally Troy defeated Nebraska, 24-19, marking the second straight year that the Trojans have defeated a Power Five opponent (LSU, 2017)
TROY ATHLETICS ALL-CONFERENCE
Niata Alexander
Pelayo Antuna
Tiara Bailey
Antione Barker
Quintest Bishop
Blace Brown
Daquan Coleman
Tristan Crowder
Deontae Crumitie
Sidney Davis
Deondre Douglas
Terence Dunlap
Gemmma Finch
Tron Folsom
Connor Futrell
Alexis Garrett
Brennan Garriques
J.L. Gaston
Cory Gill
Sadler Goodwin
Tanner Guest
Chunxi Guo
Cheyenne Hayes
Jarvis Hayes
Track and Field
Football
Men’s Golf
Men’s Tennis
Football
Track and Field
Women’s Tennis
Track and Field
Football
Cross Country
Volleyball
Football
Football
Football
Football
Track and Field
Football
Baseball
Football
Track and Field
Baseball
Gabrielle Henderson Sky’Lynn Holmes Track and Field
Women’s Basketball
Track and Field
Football
Cross Country
Pei Ju Hsieh
Marcus Jones
Leanna Johnson
Kirk Kelley
Maya Kelly
Madison Kennedy
Matthew Likely
Bianca Lohbauer
Nicole Lorup
Kaleb Allen-McDuffie
Tyler Murray
Rigsby Mosley
Matea Mahaljevic
Oskar Michalek
Samara Nelson
Precious Ogba
Tingting Pei
Hunter Reese
Cedarius Rookard
Trevon Sanders
Titus Sizemore
Chase Smartt
B.J. Smith
Austin Snyder
Sawyer Sprung
Tyler Sumpter
Casimir Taswiah
Bailey Taylor
Melvin Tyus
Katie Webb
Marcus Webb
Damion Willis
Sydney Wright
Women’s Tennis
Women’s Golf
Track and Field
Baseball
Football
Women’s Golf
Track and Field
Football
Football
Softball
Track and Field
Women’s Tennis
Track and Field
Softball
Football
Football
Football
Cross Country
Football
Track and Field
Baseball
Football
Football
Football
Track and Field
Women’s Tennis
Football
Track and Field
Track and Field
Track and Field
Men’s Tennis
Track and Field
Softball
TROY ATHLETICS
Year in Review
INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES
2018-2019
28
Mark Smartt 300th career win as a head coach / 1,000th game as a coach (head or assistant) at Troy
Chanda Rigby 100th career win at Troy
Chase Smartt Collegiate Baseball All-American
Alexis Garrett NCAA SAAC Representative
Matthew Likely NCAA Track & Field Participant 19th place overall (200m)
Rigsby Mosley Sun Belt Conference Batting Champion
Year in Review
Logan Cerny Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American
2018-2019
30
Leanna Johnson Sun Belt Conference Freshmen of the Year
Sky’Lynn Holmes Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Carlton Martial Freshman All-American (FWAA, The Athletic, USA Today)
Daniel Glick Academic All-American
TROY ATHLETICS TRENDING UPWARDS
153 Licensees
Since switching to Affinity Licensing in October 2018
8% Increase in football season tickets
1.79 Million viewers
watched the Dollar General Bowl. Second highest rated bowl between two Group of Five programs
95% Retention
Year in Review
For all existing sponsors with Troy Sports Properties
2018-2019
32
37% Increase
Increase in stores selling Troy Merchandise
400% Increase Women’s basketball student attendance
25% Increase
Men’s Basketball student attendance
9% Increase In Twitter followers
31% Increase In Instagram followers
10% Increase Increase in followers on Facebook
34% Increase In licensing revenue in 2018
TROY ATHLETICS ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Football attendance ranked first in the Sun Belt - First time in school history Averaged 4,342 students per game for football in 2018 400% increase in women’s basketball student attendance as a direct result of the Greek Life Challenge Women’s basketball averaged 1,464 fans per game; first in the Sun Belt for the first time Baseball averaged 1,645 fans per game- 40th nationally Veterans Memorial Stadium had a 81.52% capacity in 2018; Top 60 nationally and top six in Group of 5 schools Set the all-time highest per game average in football: 24,527 Four of the Top 20 highest attend games in stadium history occurred in 2018: #1 - 29, 612 (vs. Boise State) #9 - 25,767 (vs. FAMU) #11 - 24,631 ( vs. Louisiana) #17 - 23,810 (vs. Coastal Carolina) Men’s basketball had a 25% increase in student attendance as a direct result of Greek Life Challenge
Year in Review
Men’s basketball averaged 2,368 fans per game; fourth in the Sun Belt, up from 2,087 last year
2018-2019
34
TROY ATHLETICS
TROJANS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Giving back to the community that supports us is one of Troy’s fundamental values. Troy student-athletes make a point to donate their time and give back to the local community. Troy Athletics participates in various community service projects throughout the year including: Miracle League Habitat for Humanity Adopt A- Mile Troy Elementary SERVE Project Salvation Army Empty Bowls Extra Yard for Teachers Trunk or Treat Youth Camps
TROY ATHLETICS
MIRACLE LEAGUE OPENING NIGHT
For the second consecutive year, the Troy baseball team had the opportunity to host the Troy Miracle League for a night of baseball at Riddle-Pace Field. This year’s edition coincided with Opening Night for the Miracle League as the Angels, Cubs and Braves took the field for the first time in 2019. Members of the Troy baseball team served as “buddies” who helped their new friends bat and field throughout the game.
Year in Review
Several student-athletes from various Troy teams were in attendance to cheer on the members of the Miracle League as part of this game. There were smiles a plenty throughout the entire facility throughout the night as every player recorded a hit throughout the course of the game. In sports, you typically have a winner and a loser at the end of a game. For one night at least, everyone was a winner as part of Miracle League Opening Night at Riddle-Pace Field.
2018-2019
36
2016-2017 2018-2019
41 38
Year Review Year inin Review
TROY ATHLETICS DEMARCUS WARE
DeMarcus Ware returned to Troy on the three-year anniversary of DeMarcus Ware Day to celebrate T-Day and give back to the local community. The Troy legend and NFL superstar spent his time back in Troy collecting supplies for tornado victims, interacting with children at the Future Trojans Kids Camp and serving as an honorary coach for T-Day.
Eleven-City Tour
Trojan Tour ‘19 visited nine stops over the state of Alabama and into the Panhandle of FloridaBirmingham, Montgomery, Phenix City, Troy, Pensacola, Ft. Walton, Mobile, Dothan, Enterprise, Greenville and Montgomery
1,200 Miles as part of the tour
Fan Support
Year in Review
More than 1,200 Trojan fans attended eleven stops and had the opportunity to purchase new Troy Merchandise at the stops from Barnes & Noble Bookstore
2018-2019
40
Program
Fans who attended Trojan Tour ‘19 had the opportunity to hear from head football coach Chip Lindsey, head men’s basketball coach Scott Cross, head women’s basketball coach Chanda Rigby, head baseball coach Mark Smartt and head women’s golf coach Randy Keck
2018-2019
42
Year in Review
Troy University inducted six former student-athletes, coaches, supporters and administrators into the 2019 Troy University Sports Hall of Fame. The induction class was the eighth all-time into the exclusive group of Trojan greats. John Faircloth - Football Tamra Howren - Softball Mitzi McLendon Hasty - Softball Brock Nutter - Football Garrick Pimienta - Football Darryl Thomas - Men’s Basketball
ONE TROY TROY ATHLETICS
Year in Review
5000 VETERANS STADIUM DRIVE TROY, AL 36082
2018-2019
44
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