LSC Roundup 6-17

We have requested comments from the three schools reported to have plans of becoming part of a new conference with the Arkansas-based Gulf South Conference schools.

So far we have received the following...




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Football players discover yoga world
By Alexx Reger

“At first I thought we would stretch for 30 minutes and then get out of there. I thought it was kind of a joke. After the first five minutes of class I’m dripping with sweat and thinking what did I get myself into?”

That’s Tucker Cason, a 212-pound linebacker on the University of Central Oklahoma football team. He is not talking about football practice.

He is talking about yoga.

Father's Day: Juan and Greg Castillo
EACH MORNING, he'd leave his house no later than 3:15 a.m. and think nothing of it. Juan Castillo realized this was the only way he could spend time with his son. By starting work at the NovaCare Complex this early, the Eagles' offensive line coach could leave by 4:30 p.m.  At which point, he would hustle home to a football field at Lenape High School and the fun began.

"He'd be waiting there and we'd work out," Castillo said.


For years, this was how Juan and Greg Castillo bonded. Under Dad's daily training sessions, Greg matured into the sophomore cornerback he is today at the University of Iowa. If his assistant coaches came to work early during the offseason, head coach Andy Reid lets them leave early. For Castillo, this simple luxury allowed him and his son to be together.  Every day, they convened for one-on-one practices. This was what Dad knew best, so this was their relationship.


"Football is what he grew up with, that's what he knows," said Greg, who starred at St. Joseph's Prep in high school. "So that's the way we spent time together. That's the way we bonded. We went and worked out."


Juan does have a defensive background that comes in handy with his son. At Texas A & M-Kingsville and with the USFL's San Antonio Gunslingers, he played linebacker. And considering Juan's wife, Zaida, was a gymnast, Greg naturally evolved into a prototypical cornerback.

'76 Team Headed to Hall

KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – What many have called one of the greatest college football teams in history, at any level, will be inducted into the Javelina Hall of Fame on September 18 at Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Memorial Student Union Building. The 1976 Javelina squad is the most celebrated in school history.

The 1976 team accomplished a number of outstanding feats throughout the year. They went 13-0-0 winning their third straight Lone Star Conference and NAIA National Championships and extended their winning streak to 39 games. During the season they defeated the University of Hawaii in Aloha Stadium in Honolulu and Texas Southern in the Astrodome in Houston.

The Javelinas were invited, along with Henderson State, to participate in a three-week exhibition tour in Europe in May and June to introduce American-style football to the European continent. They played games in Berlin, West Germany; Vienna, Austria; Paris, France; Mannheim, West Germany and Nuremburg, West Germany. The Hoggies swept the series.

The Javelinas opened the regular season with a 36-20 win over Texas Southern in the Astrodome. In the home opener, the Javelinas hosted Slippery Rock University, a team that received a lot of national attention because of its name. The University of Texas public address announcer gave the Slippery Rock score each week during Longhorn games. The Javelinas defeated The Rock, 58-7.

In the third game, the Javelinas returned to Hawaii for a second consecutive year and beat the Rainbow Warriors, 56-21. The squad rolled through the remainder of the regular season racking up scores like 77-7 against Stephen F. Austin, 63-2 against Western New Mexico and 44-6 against Southwest Texas in the finale.

The Javelinas finished the regular season No. 1 in the NAIA poll and then had little trouble in the playoffs beating Western State, 57-14, in the semifinals and Central Arkansas, 26-0, in the championship game.

The Javelinas were led by legendary head coach Gil Steinke and Associated Press Little All-America first team picks Richard Ritchie at quarterback and Larry Grunewald at linebacker. They also boasted a 1,000-yard rusher in Larry Collins and 1,000-yard receiver in Glenn Starks, the only time in school history. Overall, the team set numerous records with many still standing.

The 1976 team becomes the second football squad to be inducted in the Javelina Hall of Fame joining the 1959 national championships team that was inducted last fall. The 1969 golf team will also be inducted at the September 18 event. Individual inductees will be announced at a later date.

ECU men's basketball inks Avant

ADA - New East Central University men's basketball coach Joe Redmond has announced the signing of 6-foot, 4-inch, 190-pound guard Eric Avant to a national letter of intent for the 2010-11 season.  Avant, who will be a junior, transfers in from theUniversity of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kan., where he averaged 20 points and nine rebounds while picking up a unanimous First Team All-Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference honor this past season.

He also earned an NAIA Division II All-American honorable mention award as well as being named KCAC Newcomer of the Year this past season after transferring to Saint Mary fromNeosho Community College (Kan.). Avant averaged six points and five rebounds as a freshman atNeosho.  Avant was once named NAIA Division II National Player of the Week on Feb. 10 after averaging 30 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the floor in three games for the Spires.

                 

He played his high school basketball at Olathe South (Kan.) where he was a third team all-conference pick after averaging 13 points and eight boards.  Avant played nine years of AAU basketball, several of which came under the direction of his father Vernon Avant, who served as head coach. Avant's mother is Julie Avant.

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