Fort Smith and the "old" 7AW representing at NCAA DII championship game

[OPoraquê]

http://www.drurypanthers.com/index.aspx

Kudos to Fort Smith Northside's Ian Carter and Southside's Cameron Adams in helping lead Drury University (my wife's alma mater) to the NCAA D II championship this next weekend.  Adams is being called Drury's most explosive dunk shot specialist in years.  To get there they had to wade through what appears to have been the toughest (7 number 1 seeds, 1 number 2) Elite 8 in perhaps three decades, and beat the 2009, 2011 (twice) and defending/2012 DII champions to boot.  (Don't worry Baitshop, I won't go "Bennie" on you here.    )

They may not win this weekend but it's been a heckuva season for them regardless.  Had Fayetteville's Cable Hogue (would have been a senior) not gotten hurt and transferred he likely would have been among their main 8-man rotation as he had a great freshman season and would have been a senior this year. 

[OPoraquê]

(Northside's Ian "The haircut" Carter in an emotional moment with a DU assistant coach):



...and in what's one of the most fascinating NCAA tourneys that I can remember in years, Drury wins it all over Metro State (CO, national champs in '00 and '02) 74-73 after being 14 down at one point.

The only out of state guys who were in their main rotation were the two Ft Smith ones...not the leading scorers but boy were they ever critical.  DU was undersized with a pair of Division I point guards...unbelievable end to an unbelievable season.

[Basketball]

(Northside's Ian "The haircut" Carter in an emotional moment with a DU assistant coach):



...and in what's one of the most fascinating NCAA tourneys that I can remember in years, Drury wins it all over Metro State (CO, national champs in '00 and '02) 74-73 after being 14 down at one point.
The only out of state guys who were in their main rotation were the two Ft Smith ones...not the leading scorers but boy were they ever critical.  DU was undersized with a pair of Division I point guards...unbelievable end to an unbelievable season.

Congratulations to two outstanding River Valley players. It is amazing to me that UAFS let these two get out of town. But again, why should it surprise me. 

[OPoraquê]

Southside's Cameron Adams



Well said, Basketball.

Let me add an edit:

On this year's men's NCAA side, I remember analysts saying it had been a long time since they recalled seeing a tournament with no clear favorite and "anybody's guess" to win it like this one.  On the women's side, it was all Baylor and Britney Griner, who indeed may have been the most dominant player ever in NCAA women's basketball, with the Bears expected to claim a second straight championship.

Then came that horrific injury a week ago today.*

And now both U of Ls are in their respective national championship games in what has kind of become the "Kevin Ware Invitational".  And that plus the weird offstory of the former Coach Rice at Rutgers has made this a more memorable elite 8 than I can recall in quite some time.  Add that to the incredible story that Drury had to go through (strength of schedule, postseason) and Messrs. Carter and Adams have memories they'll likely never forget, especially given that the DII championship game was played at Philips Arena, the biggest stage ever for that event.  Gotta be happy that things worked out for them the way they did.

That being said, I hope great things will be on the horizon for UAFS basketball, like they once were for Westark.

*Not trying to sound gruesome, but...it's so strange that the two perhaps defining images of this college athletic school year are ones of a player almost taking his own leg off (Ware, yuck) and another player almost taking a guy's HEAD off (Jadeveon Clowney). 

[OPoraquê]

Well, Drury's basketball team signed another athlete from the 7A West, this time a player from Springdale:

http://drurypanthers.com/news/2013/5/14/MBB_0514132655.aspx

BOY, does their coach love the 7A West (at least from his and the release writers' comments within).

Here was an article in the Fort Smith Southwest Times-Record about the two players from there in this past season's national championship campaign:  http://swtimes.com/sections/sports/basketball-fort-smithians-lead-drury-elite-eight.html

(DU's also recruiting the 7AW for baseball, volleyball and other sports.  The NWA metro has fallen right into the lap of the nearby Springfield and Joplin colleges...Tulsa and Pittsburg, too.)

[beach bum]

I have heard Drury is a great DII atmosphere to watch basketball like Harding.

[OPoraquê]

Day late and a dollar short, but Drury actually led Duke by 4 points at the half a week ago.  Duke annually plays the NCAA DII champion.

http://drurypanthers.com/news/2013/11/2/MBB_1102131051.aspx?path=mbball

The two FSM guys plus the kid from Springdale got in some points against Dook.  That's pretty much the capstone to their incredible national championship season.  Now Drury's ranked #8 in the nation.  I'll be surprised if they can stay that high after losing two great guards from last year (one the all time 3-point leader, the other the all-time steals leader) but 7A West is still representing in Springfield.  (As it is in football, where former Springdale QB Ashton Glaser has led crosstown rival Missouri State to a winning streak of four games, which hasn't been done since stegosauruses and triceratops roamed where the southwest Missouri ozarks now sit, but that's for a different board.  )

[OPoraquê]

Shout out to Southside's Cameron Adams.  He just got named Great Lakes Valley Conference (one of the best in NCAA DII) "Player of the week" for his performance in helping Drury sweep a tournament in Florida a few days ago.

He, Northside's Ian Carter and Springdale's DeShaun Stark have helped Drury forge a 32 game winning streak (dating back to last year's championship season which ended with 23 straight wins) and a #3 current ranking for the men's basketball team.  Remains to be seen whether this year's team can match last year's (they're deeper, but the record-setting guard play from two guys who are playing professionally overseas may or may not be replaced) but nonetheless they're still undefeated so far.  Adams and Carter in particular will have some stories to tell their kids and grandkids.

[OPoraquê]

Any Ft. Smith/7A West fans who want to see some "favorite sons" in action can watch Drury basketball this Saturday at 11:00 am CST on CBS.  DU is currently 14-1, leading the toughest DII conference in the nation.  They had a 35 game win streak (which had been the longest current one in any NCAA level) snapped a week ago, but are still ranked #7 in the nation.  The two Ft. Smith guys have been the top 2 rebounders over the past two seasons.  They're tough...watch 'em while you can.

[OPoraquê]

Tonight, Ian Carter (FSM Northside) became the all time career shot blocker at Springfield, MO's Drury University (with two national championships in men's bball to its name), as that school finished their regular season at 24-2, outright west division champions and #1 seed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference postseason tournament.  The GLVC is said to be the nation's toughest basketball conference right now in DII.  DU is to date a combined 55-6 the past two years including last year's nc team.

Also interesting:  Arkies now hold two of DU's "big six" career records (scoring, rebounding, assists, 3-pointers, steals, blocks) as Little Rock Central's Lonnie Holmes set the DU career scoring mark with over 2,400 points back in the early 90s.

[OPoraquê]

Drury University to the Elite 8 in NCAA Division II tonight after winning it all last year.

Northside's Ian Carter scored his 1,000 th career point tonight.  Southside's Cameron Adams (with one year of eligibility left after this) scored his 1,000th point two games ago...they're two of 42 DU players to score one thousand or more, career.  Adams has so far made the all-Midwest tournament team, the Daktronics all-Midwest second team (he and a sophomore DU guard were the only underclassmen out of 10 named), the Great Lakes Valley Conference all-tournament team and the Great Lakes Valley Conference second-team (top vote getter, just missed the first team).

DU now 28-3 on the season, 59-7 the past two seasons.  (Just like these other two Arkies on DU's incredible swim team.)  Looks like this year as last Adams and Carter will be DU's top two rebounders on the season.  Carter keeps adding to his DU career block total.  It'll be tough to repeat a championship, but what a ride these former 7AW kids have had.

[OPoraquê]

Wow...I think this thread is worth dredging up one more time.

Cameron Adams (senior from Fort Smith Southside) and DeShaun Stark (sophomore from Springdale) just had to knock off the #8 team (yesterday) and #2 team (this afternoon) in the nation to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship.  Adams had a back injury and didn't even play 2-3 games late in the season, most of which DU lost.  He came back to earn first-team all conference honors, but had Drury lost in this tournament they wouldn't have made the playoffs.  As it is, here's what Mr. Adams has been part of this past three years:

2013 - GLVC regular season champs, GLVC tourney champs, Midwest Region Champs, National Champions.
2014 - GLVC west region champs, Midwest Region champs
2015 - GLVC west region champs, GLVC tourney champs, ...?

I'll be honest...I'll be surprised if this team can get as deep as the others but stranger things have happened.  These guys have HEART (a cliche, but appropriate), and 7AW's/Southside's Mr. Adams has been a key part all three years (he's right now on the school's top 16 in both career scoring and career rebounds).  Stark's improved greatly too this season.  The 7AW keeps representing...