SPRING PRACTICE CONTINUES
The Flames have officially moved past the halfway point in spring practice with just 5 practice sessions and the spring game remaining. are about one-third of the way through the 2016 spring football season. The spring game is set for Saturday, April 16th at 4pm. It’s the only time any of us will be able to watch spring practice in person, so you will want to make a plan to be there. Be sure to stay up to date with all of the spring practice updates, including this week’s spring practice notebook, photo gallery, and The Search: Spring Practice Update.
6 PREFERRED WALK-ONS ADDED TO ROSTER
Coach Gill announced the addition of 6 preferred walk-ons to the 2016 roster this week. All of these additions will join the team in August as part of fall camp. The 6 newcomers are:
CB Benjamin Alexander 6’2”, 170 lbs Spring Mills, PA, Penns Valley High
OL Joshua Carolin 6’3”, 270 lbs Forest, VA, Jefferson Forest High
K Cole Gibson 6’1”, 215 lbs Chesapeake, VA, Grassfield High
QB/WR Spencer Jones 6’3”, 180 lbs, Nashville, TN, Franklin Road Academy
FB Connor Maitland 5’11”, 230 lbs, Matthews, NC, Charlotte Christian School
OL Thomas Sargeant 6’3”, 260 lbs, Mechanicsville, VA, Atlee High
CONSTRUCTION ON INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY BEGINS
As President Falwell announced at halftime of the November 2015 game against Coastal Carolina, construction has begun on the indoor football practice facility. The facility will be approximately 90,000 square feet and will feature a 70-foot high ceiling. This facility is expected to cost more than $20 million.
LU PROSPECTS’ NFL DRAFT UPDATE
Liberty quarterback Josh Woodrum had a private workout with Arizona Cardinals QB coach Brian Callahan on March 31. He’s also scheduled to have a private workout with the Falcons on April 11. One scouting service states, “Woodrum should be considered a possible late Day 3 prospect at best.” Woodrum’s name was also mentioned in a Sports Illustrated article this week on small school sleepers for the 2016 draft. The article states, “if (Woodrum) doesn’t come off the board on the third day, he should have multiple shots at sticking on an NFL depth chart this summer.”
NFL Media senior Gil Brandt stated wide receiver Darrin Peterson “did a good job catching the football (on Pro Day) and could be a rookie free-agent pickup for an NFL team.” Peterson recorded 40-yard dash times of 4.57 seconds (against the wind) and 4.40 seconds (with the wind) while recorded a 35 inch vertical and 10-foot-2 broad jump. Petey finished his career as the Big South all-time leader with 3,170 receiving yards. He also rewrote the Liberty receiving record books and owns all single season and career marks.
YACYK’S WALK-OFF HALTS 4 GAME SKID
Andrew Yacyk’s walk-off double helped the Flames to a 5-4 win over Maryland on Tuesday night. The win ended a 4 game losing streak, including a 3 game sweep at Winthrop last weekend. Liberty enters a 3 game home series this weekend against Charleston Southern at 3-3 in Big South play which is tied for 5th. The Bucs are in last place at 1-5.
PACHECO PART OF THE PUERTO RICO NATIONAL TEAM
Liberty basketball commit Georgie Pacheco announced via twitter this week that he will be part of the Puerto Rico under-18 national team. Pacheco, a 6’2” guard, committed to Liberty last month. He is originally from Puerto Rico, but played his high school basketball at Deep Run High School in Richmond. Pacheco can sign his NLI with the Flames beginning April 13th.
SAMFORD TRANSFER ROSE TO VISIT LU
Samford freshman forward Matt Rose is scheduled to visit Liberty this weekend, according to Evan Daniels of Scout. He would have to sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and would then have 3 seasons of eligibility remaining. As a freshman at Samford, Rose played in 33 games while averaging 25 minutes per game. The 6’7” forward averaged 9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 41% from 3-point range. Rose is originally from Lexington, Kentucky where he attended Lexington Christian Academy. He averaged 22.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a senior at LCA.
BIG SOUTH BASKETBALL TRANSFERS
Liberty is not the only team to be getting hit by the transfer wave following the 2015-16 basketball season. As we all know, the Flames will be losing Evan Maxwell and Hansel Atencia, who will both be transferring. Other big names around the conference who have announced their intention to transfer include Desean Murray (Presbyterian), Dwyane Sutton (UNCA), Troy Harper (Campbell), Kanayo Obi-Rapu, Jr (Longwood), and Jorge Perez-Laham (High Point).
Murray was the 2015 Big South Freshman of the Year and led the conference in scoring this past season, averaging over 20 points per game.
Sutton was the Big South Tournament MVP following his 25 points and 18 rebound performance in Asheville’s championship game win over Winthrop. He started all 34 games while averaging 12 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
Harper is a rising junior who played in 30 games for the Camels while averaging 13.5 points per game. Obi-Rapu started 27 games and averaged 12 points per game for Longwood.
Perez-Laham is a rising senior who has seen his contributions diminish over his career at High Point. This past season he averaged 2.9 points per game in 24 games played.
SOFTBALL DROPS 2 OF 3 AT LONGWOOD
The Lady Flames had a first-place showdown this week with defending Big South champ and preseason favorite Longwood. Liberty won the first contest, 2-1, but fell in the final 2 meetings. The Lady Flames entered the bottom half of the final inning in game 3 with a 3-0 lead, but surrendered 6 runs falling to the Lancers 6-3. Liberty drops to 2nd place in Big South at 6-3 in conference, just behind Longwood at 9-3. Dot Richardson’s squad travels to Clinton, South Carolina this weekend for a 3-game set with the 6-4 Blue Hose.
WOMEN’S TENNIS CLINCHES SHARE OF BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
The Lady Flames tennis squad clinched a share of the Big South regular-season title after finishing the regular season at 8-1 in Big South play. The regular season title is the first one for the program since 2011 and 2nd in program history. For the first time ever, Liberty will be the #1 seed in the upcoming Big South Tournament held April 15-18 in Lynchburg.
FLAMEFANS THREAD OF THE WEEK
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is New Practice Facility.
