Signing Day
The biggest news this week was the signing of 14 athletes to national letter of intents to play football. We covered the day’s events in much detail with our Signing Day Live Blog, Links & Tweets, special edition of the FlamesNation Podcast, and Signing Day recap. This is a great looking class on paper, can’t wait to see them on the field for Liberty! Coach Gill and company continue to focus their recruiting efforts in the southeast, here’s a map of where the signees came from:
Men’s hoops update
Different week but the same results for Liberty’s men’s basketball team. This week the Flames lost to Charleston Southern and Winthrop to fall to 0-11 in Big South play. It’s the first time in school history Liberty has opened conference play 0-11. LU hasn’t held a 2nd half lead in any of their 11 conference games. A couple of winnable games on the docket this week though, with Liberty at Presbyterian Friday night and hosting Campbell Tuesday night.
Women’s hoops update
The Lady Flames are on a 5 game winning streak after taking care of High Point, Radford, and Gardner-Webb this week. Liberty now has a 2 game lead in 1st place in the Big South standings with a mark of 12-1. In 2nd place is 10-3 High Point. Liberty swept the season series with the Panthers, and therefore own the tiebreaker should it come to that. The Lady Flames raced out to an early 32-7 lead over Radford, and held the Highlanders to 26% shooting from the field en route to the 75-39 win. Coastal Carolina pays a visit to the Vines Center on Saturday.
Baseball update
The Big South released the 2015 preseason baseball poll and all-conference teams on Thursday. For the 2nd straight season, Liberty was selected as the preseason favorite. Alex Close was selected as the Big South Preseason Player of the Year. The Flames received 8 of 11 first-place votes with High Point receiving 2 and Radford 1. Liberty opens the 2015 season as part of the Atlanta Challenge against Kennesaw State on February 13th. If you haven’t checked out the Baseball America Liberty 2015 preview capsule, you should.
Other sports
- The women’s lacrosse team opens their season Friday afternoon against Virginia Tech.
- The softball team opens their 2nd season under head coach Dot Richardson this weekend at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 4 games will be played against South Alabama, Lamar, Houston Baptist, and Houston.
FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is Past Seasons Success = Stadium Expansion? In this thread, discussions have evolved around Williams Stadium expansion phase 2 and the new turf and video board which will be added in time for the 2015 season.
