- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Basketball has taken Lon Kruger all over the world, but Silver Lake and the Topeka area will always be home.
Hall of Fame basketball coach Lon Kruger returned to his local roots Monday, giving the keynote address to open the KSHSAA Coaching School. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
On Monday the member of the 2022 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class returned to his roots, serving as keynote speaker to open the 88th annual Kansas State High School Activities Association Coaching School at the Hotel Topeka at City Center.
"I appreciate the opportunity to come back home,'' said Kruger, who retired in 2021 at Oklahoma after 45 seasons in coaching. "Obviously I grew up in Silver Lake and the Topeka area and spent the first 18 years of my life here, so when Fran (Martin of the KSHSAA) called last fall to invite me to come back, I quickly said yes because any excuse I have to get back in this area I always look forward to it.
"Driving in last night I saw Stormont Vail on the building next door and I was born just down the road here in Stormont Vail Hospital in 1952.''
The former star point guard at Silver Lake and Kansas State had college coaching stints at Texas Pan-American, K-State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma and Kruger was the first coach to lead five schools to NCAA Tournament wins, finishing with an overall record of 674-432.
And Kruger, who also had a stint in the NBA as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, is quick to credit his upbringing for starting him on the path to success.
"It was the best of all circumstances,'' Kruger said. "It was the best environment. I didn't fully realize it at the time, but when I look back I could not imagine a better, more idyllic situation growing up. I had a family that was all about family, parents that were all about their kids, a community that was huge in athletics at Silver Lake. Mom and dad were all about other people and doing things for others and relationships so I think that gave me the foundation, the core that I've really tried to take advantage of throughout life.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Emporia State standout linebacker Dawson Hammes probably won't follow his father, five-time Rossville state champion Derick, into the coaching profession after he wraps up his college career this fall.
Former Rossville standout Dawson Hammes, making a tackle against Washburn, will return for his final season with Emporia State this fall, serving as a Hornet captain for the second straight season. [Emporia State Athletics]
But both Hammes and Emporia State head coach Garin Higgins agree that being a coach's son definitely helped get Dawson to where he is today.
"I've thought about (coaching), but I've seen the work my dad puts in and I know it's tough, so I think I may go down a different path,'' Hammes said during last week's MIAA Media Day. "But I respect the heck out of coaches and I'll definitely be around to make sure he's doing good and he's still loving what he does. I'm proud of him.''
Dawson Hammes helped Derick, who also played at Emporia State, win his first three state titles with the Bulldawgs and the 6-foot, 212-pounder has gone on to earn All-MIAA honorable mention the past two seasons, posting a team-high 97 total tackles last fall for the 6-6 Hornets.
Higgins said he has coached a lot of coach's sons in his long career and welcomes them into his program.
"I don't know the exact number I've had, but it's a bunch,'' Higgins said. "I was a coach's son growing up and I'm not going to say I was the perfect coach's son by any means, but the've grown up around football. You've got to find guys that love the game of football and you know a coach's son is going to cross that off your list. You know he's going to love the game of football.
"I think the thing I think about a lot is how they were raised as a coach's son and the difficulty there is in being a coach's son. And if you happen to go through some tough losses, well, you're the coach's son and you may hear things that might upset you. So I think they've been tested a lot in a lot of different areas, not only on the field.''
Hammes is starting his second season as a Hornet team captain and said he embraces the role and trying to be a leader for the younger Hornets.
"I had to come a long way as a young player so anyone can do it, I know that for a fact, but I just want to lead by example, pick up those younger guys and make sure everyone's ready to go, hold everyone accountable and just make sure we're ready to fly around and have some fun,'' Hammes said.
"Dawson's one of those guys that there's never any doubt how hard he's going to work in anything you ask him to do,'' Higgins said. "In the weight room, on the field, he's going to win by how he works.''
Hammes can't wait to get the season started and thinks the Hornets could be poised for a big year.
"It's year six, so I can't be more happy to get another opportunity, more time with my guys,'' Hammes said. "I want to take full advantage, make sure we're ready to go and lead the best we can. I'm ready to get after it.
"Five of those six losses (last season) were by a combined 19 points, so we were right there. We've just got to figure out how to set a new standard and just finish those games. We know we're close so we know we've got to do but we've got to do to make sure we do the right things to finish those.''
Emporia State will open the 2022 season at home Sept. 1 against Northeastern State.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kevin Neal Jr. will no doubt have some tough decisions to make over the coming years.
Washburn senior defensive back Kevin Neal Jr. received All-MIAA honorable mention last season for the 9-3 Ichabods. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But deciding to return for his sixth and final year in the Washburn University football program wasn't one of them.
"It was a relatively easy decision,'' Neal said during this week's MIAA Media Day at Kansas City, Mo. "I love football so much and not playing the COVID year and then still having that extra year left I really wanted to utilize that last year because I love my teammates so much.''
The fact that the Ichabods are coming off a breakthrough 9-3 campaign that ended with a trip to the NCAA Playoffs also made the decision to come back a no-brainer for the 6-foot-1, 200-pound defensive back, who earned All-MIAA honorable mention last season.
The Ichabods return 73 lettermen, including 19 starters -- nine offense, seven defense, three special teams -- entering the 2022 season.
"I think we can be better,'' said Neal, a Platte City, Mo. native. "Last year definitely set the tone for what we can do and I feel like this offseason we've been training more as being the hunted and not the hunter and I think that's given us an extra edge to try to get us a conference championship.''
Neal is part of a 20-man group of seniors/graduate students that will be counted on to provide leadership for the Ichabods' underclassmen and newcomers.
"We definitely lost a lot of key pieces from last season,'' Neal said. "That senior class was really big, but overall I think our class will be really good at taking the younger guys and brining them up with us and I feel like we've been pretty good leaders for the team. I think we're going to be really good.''
Neal has played in 33 career games with 24 starts, making 148 tackles, including 5.0 tackles for loss.
A year ago Neal recorded 64 tackles with 49 solo stops and a game-saving interception in a win over MIAA champion Northwest Missouri State.
Neal, who compiled 16 tackles, including two tackles for loss, in Washburn's playoff game against Harding, said that the key now is to end his WU career with a bang this fall.
"I feel like I've put a lot of time in for the program and did a lot of good things for the program,'' Neal said. "With this last year I just want to have everything come to fruition. That's the goal, for sure.''
Washburn will open fall camp on Aug. 8 and will open its season at Yager Stadium on Sept. 1 against Lincoln.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Towards the end of James Letcher Jr.'s monster 2021 football season for Washburn University, the All-American receiver/returner was unsure if he would return for the 2022 campaign.
Washburn star receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. will return for his final season this fall after earning five All-America honors in 2021. [Photo by Phil Anderson/Special to TSN]
Letcher went through Senior Day activities for the Ichabods and hinted after Washburn's NCAA Playoff loss to Harding that his college career may have been over.
But after doing considerable soul-searching, it only took Letcher a matter of weeks to decide he needed to return to Washburn for one last go-around this fall.
"I think it took a couple of weeks,'' Letcher said during Tuesday's MIAA Media Day in Kansas City, Mo. "I wanted to take my time and make the right decision for me and my family. I talked to God, I talked to my parents and I talked to a couple of family members about what they thought.
"It was all up to me at the end of the day, but with the input I got it helped me make the decision to come back.''
The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Letcher, who earned All-America honors from five different organizations last fall, also studied his NFL Draft prospects before deciding that pro football could wait a year.
"I don't know if too many people know, but I'm definitely wanting to go to the NFL,'' Letcher said. "I tell people all the time, 'I'm going to the NFL.' But with COVID a lot of players had another extra year, just like I did, so last year the draft class was super, super deep with a lot of receivers and that was the biggest point that made me come back.''
Last fall Letcher led Washburn with 68 receptions for 927 yards and 10 touchdowns for the 9-3 Ichabods, earning All-MIAA first-team honors as a wide receiver and a returner as well as being named the MIAA Special Teams Player of the Year after returning 24 kickoffs for 685 yards and two touchdowns, tying an Ichabod single-season record, and averaging 13.18 yards per punt return.
Now Letcher, who has already earned his bachelor's degree in law enforcement, is turning all his attention on making sure that he and the Ichabods have another big season this fall.
"If I have as good of a year or better than the year I had last year I think everything with me personally and the NFL will take care of itself,'' the former Piper star said. "I'm not too worried about individual stats. As long as we do good as a team, I feel like that will also take care of me as well and whoever else on the team that would like to go to the NFL.''
Letcher knows that as one of the MIAA's most recognizable stars, opposting teams will be putting even more attention on him this season, and he's fine with that.
"I love it., I love it,'' he said. "Especially coming from Kansas we get overlooked a lot, so I've always had that chip on my shoulder that I've got to prove people wrong, that I've got to do things right and I've got to make the big play.
"I've got a lot of friends around the conference and even last year they talked about me being the guy they talked about, 'We've got to get him, we've got to make sure we have an eye on him at all times.' I kind of got used to it last year and I know they're going to be on me even more this year, but that's fine because if they double me I know Peter (Afful) or Collin (Wilson) or anybody else on the team is going to get open.''
The Ichabods, picked No. 4 in the MIAA preseason polls, will open fall camp on Aug. 8 and will open the 2022 season on Sept. 1 at Yager Stadium against Lincoln.
"I'm looking forward to it,'' Letcher said. "I'm excited for myself and I'm excited for my team and I'm ready to get going.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University volleyball star Faith Rottinghaus is one of the MIAA's two nominees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Former Shawnee Heights and Washburn volleyball star Faith Rottinghaus has been nominated by the MIAA for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. [File photo/TSN]
Rogers State softball pitcher Andrea Morales was also nominated by the MIAA for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Rottinghaus, the MIAA's 2021-22 Female Student-Athlete of the Year, is one of 151 total student-athletes combined between NCAA Division I, II, and III and one of 39 from the Division II ranks to be nominated by conference offices for the prestigious award.
Rottinghaus will now move forward and be considered for Top 30 honors, which will be released in October and consist of 10 nominees from each of the three NCAA divisions.
From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division.
The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2022 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
At January's NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.
