Spring practice begins
Liberty opened up Spring football practice on Wednesday, 1 day after their scheduled start on Tuesday due to weather. The Flames practiced Wednesday and Thursday and are scheduled to practice again on Saturday. The Spring game is scheduled for April 12th.

In case you missed it, here’s our Spring practice preview. We will also be providing periodic updates throughout spring practice.

Sun Belt conference meetings
As Liberty continues to hope for an invitation to the FBS, the Sun Belt met while in New Orleans last week for their basketball tournament. Karl Benson said the schools did not vote on extending a membership invitation to any expansion candidates during their meeting. The Sun Belt commissioner went further by stating he isn’t sure if a vote will happen when they meet again in mid-May. If Liberty wants to compete in the FBS for the 2015 football season, they must accept an invitation by June 1st. The Flames would need to garner approval from 75% of Sun Belt member schools to be accepted.

Pat Kelly participates in VT’s pro day
Recently graduated wide receiver Pat Kelly worked out at Virginia Tech’s pro day on Wednesday. He ran routes and caught passes from Logan Thomas.

 

 

Baseball wins series from Campbell
The FlameTrain continues their strong play as they took 2 of 3 in their Big South opening series against Campbell. The Flames beat Campbell 17-1 and 5-1 before losing the series finale 6-5 in 13 innings. With Liberty’s 1-0 win in 16 innings over ODU on Wednesday, the Flames have now won 9 out of their past 10 games (and 12 out of 14) to improve their record to 15-7 on the season. WarrenNolan.com has the Flames ranked #51 in the country, the highest ranked team in the Big South.

Basketball recruits’ season’s are over
All 5 of Liberty’s 2014 basketball signees have now officially ended their high school basketball careers. Braxton Bonds and his CPA team lost in the state semifinals to eventual champion Jackson South Side, 59-57. Bonds & CPA conclude their season at 34-3. Ezra Talbert’s Olathe East High lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament 44-43 to conclude their season at 18-5. Finally, Evan Maxwell and Abington Heights lost to Archbishop Carroll, 59-55, in the state tournament to conclude their season.

Swimming receives national rankings
Liberty’s swimming & diving team received two national rankings this week when they were ranked #48 in the Endless Pools/CollegeSwimming.com National Rankings and #13 in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Ranking. This ties the young program’s highest ever mid-major ranking as the Flames were also #13 in November 2013. Four swimmers will compete in the 2014 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships this weekend – Kendall Hough, Emilie Kaufman, Jess Reinhardt, and Meghan Babcock. Congratulations swimming & diving and head coach Jake Shellenberger!

FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is 2014 outlook-Big year? where FlamesNation has begun discussing the 2014 football season and its prognosis.