Afternoon Update

Oliver taking second chance to come to Eastern
As an assistant under Harold “Bud” Elliott, Kenneth Oliver had a chance to come to Eastern New Mexico University in 1994 as an assistant football coach. But he was doing master’s courses at Northwest Missouri State, and the timing wasn’t right.

Now, 15 years later, a more seasoned Oliver comes back with his sights on the top sports job at ENMU — athletic director.

“The timing is almost perfect for us,” Oliver said. “I think Eastern’s a situation where good things can happen.”

The current athletic director, dean of students and vice president of campus life at Central Methodist University in Defiance, Mo., was the first of four finalists to interview for the position.


Orange stops White, 20-13
Saturday’s Orange and White Game marked the end of spring camp for East Central University’s football team and, for the most part, ECU athletics for the 2008-2009 school year.

For “new” Tiger head coach Tim McCarty, though, the last month — capped by the Orange team’s 20-13 victory in Saturday’s fast-paced, 110-minute scrimmage — was just the beginning of what he believes will be a renaissance for the ECU football program.

“I don’t know if the foundation is in, but this spring I think we got the forms up so we can pour the foundation,” said McCarty, who was ECU’s head coach in 2004 and 2005 and returned in December after three years as assistant head coach at Kansas State.



A&M-Commerce Men's Basketball sign three newcomers
The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball coaching staff announced the signing of three high school standouts - Andrew Davis, Kyle Sandlin and Preston Whitley on Thursday.

Davis, a 6-9 forward who spent last year at St. Thomas More Prep, comes back to East Texas after a standout high school career at Garland Christian Academy.

At Garland Christian Academy, he was a first team all-state, all-region and all-district selection. Davis was ranked No. 36 in the state in 2008 by Texashoops, and played on the Team Texas Swoosh AAU team along Sandlin and Whitley. They were coached by Ray Forset and Wes Grandstaff.

Sandlin is a 6-1 guard from Rockwall, where he was named co-offensive player of the year, first team all-district and all-region by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. He was the district leader in 3-point field goals made and second in scoring, and was fourth in 3-point field goals made per game and 10th in scoring in the area.

Sandlin averaged 18.1 points and 2.4 assists per game, in addition, he also made 85 3-pointers and connected on 120 of 144 free throws at an 83 percent clip. Sandlin was recently selected to play in the North Texas Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game.

Whitley, a 6-3 guard from Frisco Wakeland High School, earned all-region honors by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. He also was an all-district selection, where he led the district and was third in the area in scoring (22.0 ppg). He also averaged a district-leading 7.8 rebounds to go along with 1.7 assists and 1.3 3-point field goals made per game. Whitley is ranked No. 44 in the latest 2009 rankings by Texashoops.

All three high school standouts were recruited by Division I programs including the likes of Centenary, Southeast Missouri State and SMU before settling on the A&M-Commerce campus.