Milestones: Philadelphia University women’s basketball coach Tom Shirley posted his 500th career victory January 5 when the Lady Rams defeated Felician College, 90-81. Shirley, who also serves as athletics director, became the eighth active Division II women’s coach to reach the plateau. After the victory, his career record stood at 500-222 in 25 years of collegiate coaching. “This is a great accomplishment,” Shirley said, “but I am only a small part of the equation. In my 25 years of coaching — beginning at my alma mater Allentown College, where I spent eight years — I have had the fortune of coaching several outstanding student-athletes. They are the real reason for the success that I have had, making the plays on the court” ... Southwest Baptist University women’s basketball coach Jim Middleton won his 200th career game December 17 when the Lady Bearcats defeated Missouri Baptist University, 79-66. Middleton is in his 12th year at Southwest Baptist and has guided his teams to five NCAA tournament appearances.
Conferences: The Gulf South Conference announced January 17 that it is moving three of its postseason championships to Southaven, Mississippi. The next three Gulf South softball championships will be played at the Greenbrook Softball Complex, and the men’s and women’s basketball championships will be played at the DeSoto Civic Center for five years, beginning with the 2007 events. “DeSoto County and the city of Southaven are a great fit for us,” said Commissioner Nate Salant. “The most important thing is that they sought us out and they wanted us.”
Miscellaneous: Florida Gulf Coast University announced January 17 that it will move to reclassify its sports programs in Division I, effective in 2007. The institution plans to ask students to pay an additional $300,000 in athletics fees per school year beginning in 2007-08 — about $60 annually per student ... West Virginia University Institute of Technology has announced that it will leave Division II and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to affiliate next year with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ... The Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, with assistance from its peers in Divisions I and III, raised $1,862 from 2006 NCAA Convention attendees for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Division II SAAC has established $100,000 as its fund-raising goal for 2005-06 ... Philadelphia University’s men’s basketball standout Tayron Thomas became only the third player in Rams history to reach the 2,000-point milestone January 17. The other two are Randy Stover (1988-92) and current coach Herb Magee (1959-63). “This is a tremendous feat for a tremendous player,” Magee said of Thomas, who currently leads Division II in scoring average. “From the moment that he stepped on campus, we knew he was something special. However, to his credit, he never stopped working hard toward becoming a better player.”
— Compiled by David Pickle
