Tag: Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Oklahoma Sooners survive Florida Gulf Coast upset bid to advance in NCAA Tournament

After trailing for all of the entirety of the first half, the Oklahoma Sooners rallied to beat Florida Gulf Coast 73-70 to advance.

In their opening-round matchup, the Oklahoma Sooners were put to the test by No. 12 seed and ASun champion Florida Gulf Coast.

Oklahoma fell behind in the first quarter by as much as 12 points and were down 10 after the first 10 minutes. But [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag]’s squad responded with a big second quarter to trail by just two at halftime.

The Sooners shot it well in the first, but Florida Gulf Coast forced them into four turnovers, and the Eagles earned four offensive rebounds to keep the pressure on the No. 5 seed Oklahoma.

In the second quarter, the Sooners turned up the defensive pressure, holding the Eagles to just 26.7% shooting after they shot 47% in the first quarter. That defensive effort allowed Oklahoma to cut into the deficit.

Oklahoma’s dynamic forward duo [autotag]Skylar Vann[/autotag] and [autotag]Sahara Williams[/autotag] led the way with 10 points apiece.

The second half featured a back-and-forth affair with each team taking leads throughout the final 20 minutes.

Battling an injury, Vann continued her dynamic NCAA Tournament performance with 14 second-half points, including six fourth-quarter points and a free throw that gave OU a three-point lead in the final seconds of the game. [autotag]Payton Verhulst[/autotag] came up clutch with seven of her 11 points in the fourth, including what turned out to be the game-winner with under a minute to play.

For the game, Vann scored 24 points on 9 of 18 shooting to lead the way for the Sooners who had just three players in double figures in the win.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Emani Jefferson had a fantastic game, with 22 points and 12 rebounds to give the Sooners fits.

For the game, Oklahoma held Florida Gulf Coast to just 37% shooting and the Sooners only led for a total of 7:57 of game time.

The Sooners survived and now will take on the host Indiana Hoosiers in the round of 32 on Monday. Gametime is currently to be determined.

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Oklahoma Sooners are a No. 5 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament

The Oklahoma Sooners are heading to Bloomington, Indiana as the No. 5 seed and will take on ASun Conference champion Florida Gulf Coast in the first round.

The Oklahoma Sooners are heading to Bloomington, Indiana, as a No. 5 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Sooners have made the tournament in each of head coach [autotag]Jennie Baranczyk[/autotag]’s three seasons in Norman.

The Sooners will face No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles won both the regular-season and Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament titles and are 29-4.

They have notable wins over North Carolina and Kentucky, but they were blown out by Iowa and Duke. They also went undefeated in conference play, which is a pretty remarkable feat.

The Sooners come into the NCAA Tournament on the heels of a disappointing loss to Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament after winning the conference regular-season title.

The Sooners hope to make their first Sweet 16 appearance under Baranczyk. The Sooners bowed out in the second round in each of the last two seasons.

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Former Penn State basketball coach Pat Chambers has a new job

Former Penn State basketball coach Pat Chambers has landed a new job as a head coach

For some, this is the best time of the year in college basketball with the NCAA Tournament kicking off this week. For others, the coaching carousel has officially begun around the country with a number of coaches losing their jobs, and others quickly finding new job opportunities.

Among those latching on to a new job as the spinning coaching carousel hits its stride is Pat Chambers, who was relieved of his coaching duties at Penn State prior to the 2020-21 season. Chambers has officially been introduced as the new head coach of Florida Gulf Coast University. Chambers, who accumulated a head coaching record of 148-150 in nine seasons as Penn State’s head coach, reflected on the opportunity to be a head coach again after previously being relieved of his duties at Penn State two years ago. Chambers was removed as head coach following an investigation into allegations of mishandling his treatment of players.

“The last 18 months I’ve been continuing to grow and educate and self-reflect,” Chambers said at his introductory press conference on Tuesday, according to a release from the school. “I’m confident that you, my next team, my players, my future players, you’ll be getting the best leader, best teacher and best coach because I’ve learned a lot from my past. I promise you that. I’m confident in that.”

Chambers served as an assistant at LaSalle for the 2021-22 season. Chambers previously had two seasons of head coaching experience at Boston and he served on the Villanova coaching staff under Jay Wright.

While Chambers does have a losing record at Penn State, it is unfair to neglect the results Penn State had on the court in his final season as the head coach. Penn State put together a 21-10 record in 2019-20 and were on track for a spot in the NCAA Tournament for just the fourth time since joining the Big Ten in 1993. But that season was cut short prematurely as the NCAA shut down the tournament before it even got started amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s earlier days impacting the world of sports. Chambers also coached Penn State to an NIT title two seasons before that.

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Florida Gulf Coast football program, which is club not varsity, sent out 100 fake scholarship offers

Someone affiliated with the club football program at Florida Gulf Coast University allegedly sent out fake scholarship offers to more than 100 prospective football players.

A scandal is brewing on campus at Florida Gulf Coast University, where someone affiliated with the school’s club football team sent out 100 fake scholarship offers to high school football players, giving the false impression that the teens in question could come play at FGCU on the school’s dime.

RELATED: Players take to social media to announce offers to play college football at FGCU, but FGCU doesn’t have a team

If you haven’t ever heard of FGCU football before, you’re not alone. The Eagles athletics department is best known for its basketball program, which rode Dunk City pandemonium to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, eliminating the likes of Georgetown and San Diego State in the process. While they haven’t captured quite as much success since, the Eagles still reached the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2017.

Some also associate FGCU with its baseball program, which has produced more than 100 major and minor leaguers, most notable Red Sox ace Chris Sale.

But those aren’t the programs that were soliciting talented teenagers. Rather, it was the school’s club football team, which just finished its second-ever season with a 6-2 record, per our Gannett partners at the Naples Daily News.

So, how did a club program extend more than 100 “scholarship” offers to prospective student athletes? According to a statement from FGCU officials, the scholarship notices were sent out by a “non-employee, volunteer” with the sport club.

“There’s just been a large amount of social media chatter, young people congratulating each other on offers to play football at FGCU,” FGCU Vice President and Chief of Staff Susan Evans told the Daily News. “We just wanted to clear up a few things in case there was some confusion. First off, these offers aren’t being made by anyone in the athletic program as the football club isn’t affiliated with our athletic program. Second, any of these players getting so-called offers would have to apply for admission to the school just like anyone else. And third, there are no plans for football to be added as an NCAA sport.”

Van Duser told the Daily News that some local businesses had stepped forward to offer $2,000 scholarships to players on the team for the forthcoming four years, but none of those have allegedly been received or assigned to existing or incoming players in 2020. All of which leaves the players who received notices of an offer from FGCU exactly where they were before they received that offer … without a scholarship offer from a school in Fort Myers, Fla.