Bear Talk The newsletter for athletics at Southwest Missouri State University Vo lume 18, Number 5 May/June 2000 Lady Bears rack up postseason accolades ong after the end of the 1999-2000 Rachel Johnson basketball season, honors continued (#34, pictured during NCAA play against L to come to Coach Cheryl Burnett's Auburn) and Sarah Lady Bears. Singer were the Lady Star guard Jackie Stiles- the nation's Bears' only seniors top scorer with a 27.8 average- was invit­ during the 1999- ed to tryouts for the U.S . team that will 2000 season. "I wish I was a good enough play in the R. Williams Jones Cup from speaker to really say July 16-20 in Taipei, Taiwan. She was how special these among 44 other top women's players invit­ two have been to ed for the late-May tryouts. u. s," Coach Cheryl Burnett said at the Stiles earned first-team all-Missouri Lady Bears ' annual Valley Conference honors for the third postseason banquet. straight year, and she became only the sec­ ond player in MVC hi story to repeat as Most Valuable Player. Teammate Tara Mitchem also was first-team all-Valley, and Melody Campbell was named to the MVC all-defensive team. Stiles al so was a consensus All-America by being named to every All-America team. She earned All-America honors from Kodak, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, The Associated Press, the Women's Basketball News Service and Women's Bas ketball Journal. Stiles was second team GTA/CoSIDA Academic All-America after earning first­ team all-district honors. Senior Rachel Johnson was a second-team all-district hon­ oree. w Stiles, a junior, and senior Sarah Singer f­ I were co-winners of the Lady Bears' ~ z Prestige Award at the team's annual post­ >w season banquet. >:: In a rollicking night of honors attended SMS' all-time leaders in steals and 3-point­ to us," Burnett said. "Johnson has gotten by more than 600 ardent fans, Stiles also ers. Johnson and Singer were the team's more out of her ability than any player I've received the Fast Break Club's Free Throw only seniors. coached. Singer has never had a down Award and Field Goal Award. "I wish I was a good enough speaker to day." Singer, a defensive standout, is among real ly say how special these two have been See Lady Bears, page 4 Peaks and valleys punctuate baseball Bears' 2000 season obust hitting has long been a trade­ Also batting over or near .300 were mark of the baseball Bears, and the Collier, Ben Margalski, Firlitt, Mike R past season was no exception. Bowen, Matt Gardner, Kays and Lawson. With a team batting average hovering It was a season-long series of peaks and near .300, Bears bats boomed almost from valleys for Coach Keith Guttin's Bears, the get-go. In the fourth game of the year, who saw their fortunes shift abruptly with they banged out 24 hits and scored 25 runs. season-ending injuries to two mainstays. In They also scored lO or more runs on 11 mid-April, pitcher-left fielder John other occasions. Rheinecker and center fielder Dante A typical example of the Bears' batting Brinkley collided while chasing a fly ball. onslaught was the team's final road trip of Both were lost for the year. the season - a four-game se1ies at Wichita At the time, Rheinecker had a staff-lead­ State University. ing 5-2 pitching record with a 2.85 ERA. In After losing the opener 5-3 , the Bears addition, he was batting .339 with 19 hits beat the Shockers 7-6 and 11-10 in a in 56 at-bats, with two homers. Saturday twin bill before dropping the A high spot in the season occurred when Sunday finale 16-13. Howard, a standout performer throughout In the Wichita series, freshman outfield­ the year, was invited to the USA Baseball er Corey Lawson had nine hits in 18 - Camp. He will bid for a spot on the USA at-bats; sophomore outfielder Ryan Howard National Team in tryouts June 16-21 in was 8 for 17 with a pair of home runs; The Baseball Bears have had an outstanding season Tucson, Ariz. He was one of the first group and senior shortstop Dan Firlitt was 7 when it comes to hitting, with the team batting average of 20 college players selected. of 18. hovering near .300 and eight team members batting Another peak has been the team's expe­ over or near .300. At that juncture of the season, Howard rience of playing the final 15 home games had 13 homers, and senior outfielder Nick of the regular season at Price Cutter Park in Kays has 13 . Kays was the team's RBI After the road finale at Wichita, Ozark. It has been a major plus for the pro­ leader with 40, just ahead of Howard and Howard led the team in hitting, with an gram, which has long been recognized as junior third-baseman Mike Collier. average of .369. one of tbe best in the nation. BT 1 Five seniors say farewell; new prospects sign with Hinson fter losing five seniors from last season's 23-11 Bears basketball A team, Coach Barry Hinson indicat­ ed it was time to reload. And that's exactly what he did during the spring recruiting season. Four outstanding prospects signed with the Bears: • Power forward Mike Wallace, 6-6, and point guard Robert Yanders, 5- I 1, both from SMSU-West Plains • Forward Daniel Novak, 6-7, from Weatherford (Texas) Junior College • Guard Luke Dobbins, 6-1, from Tahlequah, Okla., an incoming freshman. Add to this imposing list two top prep prospects who signed letters of intent last fall: 6-2 guard Donnie Williams of Turrell, Ark., and 6-7 forward-center Manwell Randle of Country Club Hills, Ill. Also, 5-11 guard Jason Gilbert will transfer to SMS from Arkansas. Gilbert, a standout three-point shooter from Mountain Seniors Kevin Ault (right) a11d Allen Phillips (second f rom right, shown with Jim Ferguson and Coach Barry Hinson) shared this year's SMS Player of the Year Award. View, Ark., will have two years of eligibili­ ty after sitting out next season. ing leader (2,262 points) in the large school Ron Bruton and William Fontleroy, went Credentials of the incoming players read category. out with great ovations at the team's post­ almost Like a basketball who's who. Meanwhile, serriurs-Kevin-A-ult and season banquet. -- "Once again, we' ve signed a very good Allen Phillips shared this year's top post­ "This is like the final chapter of the player from a very good program," Hinson season honor- the SMS-Coors Player of book," Ault said. "There are just a lot of said after inking Novak, the last of the the Year Award. great memories." signees. He termed Novak "the final piece Another senior, Eric Judd, received the Especially from the past season, as the of the puzzle. I will admit the puzzle looks Guy Thompson Award as outstanding grad­ Bears, picked to finish fourth in the a lot better now that it's finished." uating senior. Missouri Valley Conference, finished sec­ Novak, a former member of the Ault, who had an outstanding four-year ond (a scant game from the top spot), Slovakian Junior National Team, averaged career at SMS, averaged 10.6 points. He advanced to the finals of the MVC tourney 15 .3 points, 8.6 rebounds and five assists made 62 three-pointers, second on the team and beat Southwest Methodist University in last season. to Phi llips' 71. the first round of the NIT before losing at "He's a player we've wanted from start Ault finished as SMS career leader in Mississippi in the second round. to finish," Hinson said, echoing what he games played (123), starts ( 115), minutes Other Bears individual postseason awards: had said about the two West Plains stand­ (3 ,802) and steals (243). He was second in • Most Improved Player: Scott Brakebill outs, Wallace and Yanders. career three-pointers (254) and eighth in (No. 2 scorer at 11. I and rebounder at Yanders has the potential to be the scoring (1 ,508). 5.8) team's floor leader, and Hinson said, "I Phillips led SMS in scoring last season, • Co-Newcomers: Travis Walk and Charles don 't believe I've seen very many players with a 13-point average, earning second­ Gaines with the explosiveness of Mike Wallace." team all-Missouri Valley Conference • Hardest Worker: Matt Reuter As for the incoming freshmen, Williams honors. • Defensive Player of the Year: Bruton was "Mr. Basketball" in Arkansas. Randle Judd as a senior had 33 three-pointers • Leadership Award: Judd was a key player on a power-laden Illinois and made 87 percent of his free-throw • Offensive Player of the Year: Phillips prep quint, and Dobbins ended his high shots. • Steals Award: Ault school career as Oklahoma's all-time scor- These three, along with fellow seniors • Personality Award: Fontleroy. BT Despite disappointments, softball Bears looking forward to 2001 ven though they fell short of their preseason goals, the soft­ ball Bears ended the year upbeat and eagerly looking toward E the next season. No, they d.iC!n 'tcapture theMissourtVa11ey Conrerence title (tying for fourth at 10-8). And no, they didn't qualify for the NCAA postseason tourna­ ment. And yes, they were ousted from the MVC tournament in two games (for only the second time in school history).