Atkinson to sign with Barton

There will be another Atkinson playing for the Barton Bulldogs.

I spoke with recent Fike High School graduate Jeremy Atkinson on Friday afternoon and he confirmed that he would continue his basketball career with Barton. The paperwork has yet to be finalized but that should happen in the next week.

I know Jeremy hoped to play NCAA Division I basketball but the truth is that at 6-foot-4 with post skills, he is a "tweener." I have no doubt he can play at the Div. I level but I think that he will find four years playing at Barton more satisfying than possibly spending half that time on the bench at a major university.

I don't know if he will be able to step in and dominate at the Div. II level as he did in high school but I imagine that Bulldogs head coach Ron Lievense will find a spot for him in the rotation.

The Bulldogs won their only NCAA championship in 2007 with Anthony Atkinson, Jeremy's second (or third or fourth) cousin at the helm. I would imagine that Barton opponents will have an uneasy feeling seeing that name across the back of a Bulldogs jersey for another four years. Not to compare Jeremy to Anthony, whose game is completely different, but I have high hopes that with the team Lievense has coming back and the recruiting class he has coming in, Barton will be poised to make another championship run.

Leggett earning a pro check

Thanks to my former colleague and frequent blog reader Nick Livingston, I can happily report that former Barton College star Brian Leggett finished his first season for the Wilmington Sea Dawgs of the Premier Basketball League.

In 24 games, Leggett averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 26.3 minutes per game. He helped the Sea Dawgs to the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Division and a first-round playoff win against the Vermont Frost Heaves (I kid you not, that is their name).

The PBL is a 13-team league mainly in the northeastern and north central United States and Canada. But besides Wilmington, there is a team in Augusta, Ga., along with ones in Manchester, N.H., Battle Creek, Mich. and Montreal among other places. I can't say I recognize any of the other names of players in the league but it's a pro gig and I'm happy for Leggett, one of my favorite Barton players.

Flowers has his own cheering section

Taking in the action at the Fike-Triton 3-A playoff baseball game are former Fike players Robin Rose, center, and Dennis Wilkerson, right, along with Jerry Rose, left.
Following his team's 3-0 defeat of Erwin Triton in the second round of the state 3-A baseball playoffs, Fike head coach Will Flowers called a few of his players over to meet a couple of guys they had probably never heard of.

While current Demons Bentley Massey and Jacob Davis might not have been aware of who they were, the sight of Flowers standing alongside his former teammates Robin Rose and Dennis Wilkerson was a treat for me.

Those names are recognizable to anyone familiar with Fike baseball in the early 1970s. Wilkerson, Rose and Flowers all played for Gilbert Ferrell in 1972.

Wilkerson, now a Wilmington resident, is best known for his feats on the football field. He is one of three Fike players to achieve All-America status, doing so in his senior season in 1971. One of five brothers who left their marks on Wilson sports, Wilkerson was a standout on the basketball court and baseball diamond. He is a member of the Fike High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Rose, graduated in 1973, a year behind Flowers and Wilkerson, Rose's first cousin. He played at Louisburg College and was an NAIA All-American at Atlantic Christian (now Barton) College. Now living in Cary, Rose is a member of the Barton sports hall of fame. Rose and Flowers were teammates at Atlantic Christian.

I grew up reading about them playing for Fike and AC. Rose grew up across the street from me on Thurston Drive, not far from Wilkerson's house on Third Street.They were both physical education student-teachers at Vinson-Bynum Elementary School and me and some of my buddies would go to Fleming Stadium to watch them play way back in the wood-bat era.

There's at least a touch of gray on the heads of all three men but I could easily picture Rose firing a tennis ball at Flowers holding a bat in front of the bricks of the Rose home, as I saw them do so many times way back when Richard Nixon was president.

Barton's No. 1 earns No. 2 ranking

The game that still amazes anyone who sees it got some new legs recently.

Barton College's thrilling 77-75 victory against Winona State in the 2007 NCAA Division II men's basketball championship game was voted second most dramatic finish in NCAA championship history by the NCAA's Champion Magazine.

The Bulldogs' comeback from seven points down with 45 seconds to go ranks ahead of such famous finishes as the buzzer-beater dunk by N.C. State's Lorenzo Charles to beat Houston in the 1983 Div. I men's basketball championship or Warren Morris' walk-off two-run home run to win the 1996 College World Series for Louisiana State.

That's pretty impressive but if you think Barton's feat should have been No. 1, consider the winning moment.

Simpson College wrestler Nick Ackerman won the 2001 Div. III champion in the 174-pound weight class. Not a mindblowing accomplishment unless you understand that Ackerman had both legs amputated below his knees when he was 18-months-old due to bacterial meningitis.

I don't know about you, but I think the Bulldogs are in pretty good company.

NCAA Champion Magazine's top 10 all-time most dramatic finishes

A year later, those 45 seconds are still magical

Three hundred sixty-six days later this clip still gives me goose bumps.

I watch the NCAA Tournament now — the Division I tournament, that is — and exciting as some of the games are, none come close to this. Maybe none will ever come close to this.

Moore, MOC ladies upset Anderson, Barton's NCAA hopes

The flagging hopes of the Barton College women's basketball team to reach the NCAA Division II East Regional were dealt a serious setback Saturday afternoon.

Mount Olive, the No. 3 seed, upset top-seeded and nationally 12th-ranked Anderson 73-63 in the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship. That means the Lady Trojans, who were sparked by North Johnston High product Helen Moore's 20 points, get the conference's automatic bid.

Unlike in men's basketball, Conference Carolinas does not fetch that much respect in women's basketball. With just eight regional spots — and three handed to conference tournament winners — Barton's hopes for an at-large bid grew more distant with MOC's upset. The Lady Bulldogs, who entered the conference tournament as the No. 10 team in the regional rankings, lost in the semifinals to unranked MOC after the teams split their regular-season meetings.

Bulldogs' backs are to the wall

Despite a big win Saturday against Mount Olive and an opening-round triumph against Belmont Abbey, the NCAA Division II national champions are on the ropes.

The Barton College men's basketball dropped out of the NCAA Div. East Region rankings this week, leaving the Bulldogs no choice but to win the Conference Carolinas Tournament to get back in the Div. II tournament. Barton, the league's No. 4 seed, is at No. 1 Mount Olive on Thursday night in the tourney semifinals.

I can't foresee a situation whereby the Bulldogs could get one of the five at-large berths allotted the East Regional tournament. Not when three Conference Carolinas teams (No. 5 Mount Olive, No. 9 Pfeiffer and No. 10 Queens) are ahead of them.

Alderson-Broaddus, which lost to Barton in the 2006 East Regional in Wilson Gym and to West Virginia State here in 2007, is the East's No. 1-ranked team. Other teams from the 2007 East Regional in the top 10 are California (Pa.) at No. 3, Mount Olive, Millersville (Pa.) at No. 6 and West Liberty (W.Va.) State at No. 8.

I stand corrected in my earlier posting that Barton hasn't cracked the women's East Region top 10 rankings.Apparently my post came before the poll had been updated. The Lady Bulldogs are indeed No. 10 in this week's poll, putting them in good position to earn a regional berth if they can reach the conference tournament final. While Conference Carolinas has typically received less respect than the other East conferences in women's basketball, I'd be surprised if the only CC team to get a bid is Anderson. If Barton loses the tourney championship to Anderson, I can't see anyway the Lady Bulldogs wouldn't get a bid, but you never know.

NCAA Division II East Region men's basketball poll

NCAA Division II East Region women's basketball poll

Atkinson a perfect fit with the Globetrotters

Former Bulldog great Ricky Melendez, left, and wife Becky, right, pose with Anthony Atkinson
Alex Melendez, bottom, and T.J. Melendez, left, with Anthony Atkinson at St. Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., recently.
A couple of Bulldog basketball legends got together recently at the St. Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., where the Harlem Globetrotters performed recently.

There was current Globetrotter Anthony Atkinson, who led Barton to the NCAA Division II men's basketball championship last spring, and Barton Athletic Hall-of-Famer Ricky Melendez, who led the Atlantic Christian Bulldogs to the NAIA Tournament in 1987.

Ricky and his wife, Becky, brought their sons Alex and T.J. as part of a group of 12 folks to see the Globetrotters, with Ant providing the tickets. Becky worked with Anthony's mother, Vivian, for many years before the family moved to Florida.

Ant took the Melendezes behind the scenes to meet several of his Globetrotters teammates and then brought nine-year-old Alex onto the floor during the game for a skit in which Alex got to shoot the ball. Alex made the basket and got an autographed jersey after the game.

Becky had this to say about Anthony: "Anthony Atkinson is a perfect fit with the Harlem Globetrotters! He is entertaining, hasmagnificent skills and just has the perfect smile and pizzazz for what he is doing. He absolutely loves it and the kids love him!!! We had a fantastic evening with him and wanted to share with his fans and family in Wilson."

The Globetrotters are headed to North Carolina this month with games in Asheville (March 19, Asheville Civic Center), Winston-Salem (March 21, Lawrence Joel Coliseum) and Charlotte (March 22. Bobcats Arena).

I spoke with Ant on the telephone this morning and he assured me he's been keeping up with Barton basketball as the Bulldogs make a push to get back in the NCAA Tournament.

"Yeah, I think they'll be all right," he said.

After all, they are still unbeaten on national television!

Bulldogs in a precarious position

The bad news for the Barton College men's basketball team is that it fell out of the No. 8 spot in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings Wednesday.

The good news is the Bulldogs only dropped to the ninth spot, despite losing twice since the last poll came out Wednesday, Feb. 21.

What this means for Barton is that it is still in the running to claim one of the eight regional berths and have at least a fighting chance to defend its national title. The problem, as I see it, is that Barton is the fourth Conference Carolinas team in the East top 10. With the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference each with an automatic bid for the respective champions and five teams combined in the top eight of the East poll, you can see it's sort of crowded. An at-large bid for the Bulldogs seems like a very, very long shot right now.

Of course, the Bulldogs could win the Conference Carolinas Tournament, which begins Monday, and get the automatic bid to the NCAA Div. II tournament.

But the 81-78 overtime loss Tuesday night at lowly St. Andrews did two things. First, it reinforced the commonly held belief by long-time league observers that no game should be considered a gimme. Front-running Mount Olive, the No. 2 East team and No. 17 Div. II squad, lost at Limestone on Saturday. Now, the Trojans have to win at Barton on Saturday to assure themselves of the regular-season championship — but more on that in a second.

The second thing the loss to the ninth-place Knights did for the Bulldogs — coupled with Belmont Abbey's defeat of Pfeiffer on Tuesday — was put them in the fifth spot in the standings. That means Barton's only chance of hosting a conference tournament game would be to beat Mount Olive on Saturday in front of a national television audience and win the coin flip for fourth.

(Update: Barton SID John Hackney has advised me that Barton will get the No. 4 seed if it beats MOC.)

If they beat Abbey in the opener, either in Wilson or Belmont, the Bulldogs would most likely go to Mount Olive for the semifinals. That's assuming, of course, MOC is the No. 1 seed and doesn't lose its first-round game.

There are a lot of variables to the equation right now and the Bulldogs could end up back in the regional, where anything can happen. But this team has had chance after chance to separate itself from the pack and it has not capitalized. Based on the history it's shown this season, I can't see Barton making a third straight regional trip, much less going to the Elite Eight for third year in a row.

Rankings and kudos to Bulldogs

Almost everyone has a poll of some sort these days. Maybe I should start one here.

Until that happens, here are some recent rankings of interest to Barton College fans.

The men's basketball team — make that the NCAA Division II men's basketball team — stayed at No. 8 in the Div. II East Region rankings. The Bulldogs remain on the bubble for one of the eight regional berths but a win tonight at Queens would likely put them a little higher up should a team above them stumble.

By the way, Mount Olive, the No. 1 team in Conference Carolinas and the East rankings, climbed from 16th to No. 11 in the Div. II national coaches poll this week.

NCAA Division II men's basketball regional rankings
NCAA Div. II coaches poll

The Barton golf team grabbed a spot in the national rankings per the Golf World/Nike Div. II coaches poll. The Bulldogs of head coach John Hackney tied for the 25th and final spot with Rollins (Fla.) College and St. Cloud (Minn.) State University.

Barton tied for third at the Johnny Palmer/Pfeiffer Intercollegiate tournament earlier this week.

Golf World/Nike college golf polls

Finally, a word of praise for the Barton baseball team, which started the season 0-4 but has won 7-of-9 including four wins against No. 30 Kutztown (Pa.) and Wednesday's 7-5 defeat of No. 9 Francis Marion.

Conference Carolinas Tournament may be coming to Wilson Gym

Here's a quick heads-up for Barton College basketball fans. The Conference Carolinas has changed the format for both the men's and women's basketball tournaments.

Instead of having the top five regular-season finishers get a bye while the bottom six teams go at it in the first round, the league has opted to allow just the top eight teams into the tournament.

Furthermore, the tournament will not be held at a common site but instead on the floor of the higher seed for each round. The down side to this is that the men's and women's championships are now, probably, split up.

The men's and women's tournaments begin on March 3 with the semifinals scheduled for March 6 and the finals set for March 8.

This is potentially good news for both Barton squads, which still have outside shots to win their respective conference races. Wilson Gym could be the site of either tournament final — or both.

Just a reminder that a week from Saturday on March 1, the Bulldogs will host conference leader Mount Olive at noon in a nationally televised game on CSTV and FSN (Fox Sports Network) South.

Bulldogs inch up to No. 8 in regional rankings

Despite losing at Pfeiffer last week, the Barton College men's basketball team moved up a notch in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings to No. 8, released Wednesday.

Eight is a magic number because there will be eight teams invited to the East Regional — the three conference champions (Carolinas Conference, Pennsylvania State Athletic Association and West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association) and five at-large teams. The Div. II defending champion Bulldogs still have a chance to win the Conference Carolinas' top seed but more likely will hope to be an at-large entry.

Their chance to host the regional for the third straight year is pretty slim but I think a winning streak through the conference tournament could do it.


NCAA Division II men's basketball regional rankings

Bulldogs have to protect leads with arms, gloves — and bats

As was pointed out to me during Barton College's 12-11 loss to Wingate in the Bulldogs' 2008 baseball home opener Tuesday, there are still a lot of games left in the season.

Forty-nine to be exact, which is a comforting thought given the Bulldogs are 0-4.

But the nature of three of those defeats is what is troubling.

Barton entered the season with 26 pitchers which might be too many — or not enough. Bulldogs starters have done a credible job, working 17 1/3 innings while yielding just 11 earned runs. But the bullpen hasn't done its job, giving up 19 earned runs in 10 2/3 innings while blowing three leads, including an 11-2 bulge Tuesday.

That means Barton starters have a respectable 5.71 earned run average by my calculations, even though they are a bit skewed due to the seven-inning games in Saturday's doubleheader loss at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. The formula for ERA here is based on nine-inning games so, technically, I'm a little off but close enough.

The relievers' ERA is 16.03 and the team ERA comes in a 8.71. Now, to be fair, the three blown leads haven't all been due to poor pitching as erratic defense has played a role.

Barton head coach Todd Wilkinson pointed to defensive lapses on Tuesday as a culprit in the collapse. One such lapse didn't even involve an error, just a near double play the Bulldogs couldn't convert that preceded a seven-run Wingate outburst in the seventh inning.

Baseball is a game of details and Wilkinson, as sharp a baseball mind as one will find in these parts, is well aware.

"That would have been big and it’s something we do in practice every day," Wilkinson said of the missed chance to turn two. "Evidently, (we had) some bad coaching and we’ve got to coach better to pull it off."

Better coaching might not be the Bulldogs' biggest need right now. Certainly some more efficient relief pitching and defense in latter innings would be a start. However, more offense might also help.

Barton grouped all 11 runs over a three-inning stretch and when Wingate reclaimed the lead, the Bulldogs didn't answer.

"We scored 11 runs but we didn’t score after the fifth inning," noted senior center fielder Travis Holloman. "If we’re going to score (like that), we should pace them out."

Or, as Wilkinson said: "You gotta keep scoring."

Bulldogs barely make first East Regional rankings

The defending NCAA Division II men's basketball champion Barton College Bulldogs have their work cut out for a return to the Elite Eight for a third consecutive year.

The first Div. II regional rankings came out today and Barton came in No. 10 in the East Region. While the rankings are merely a barometer of the current situation in the region, keep in mind that only eight teams can make it to the regional. The champions of Conference Carolinas, Pennsylvania State Athletic Association and the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association plus five at-large teams from the region.

Right now, Mount Olive, Barton's Conference Carolinas archrival holds the top spot in the East poll as well as the conference standings by a half-game over Pfeiffer, No. 8. Another CC member, Queens, is ranked No. 2.

The Bulldogs could possibly host the regional if they were to run the table through the conference regular season and tournament. Of course, they can return to Springfield, Mass., and the Elite Eight if they win the East Regional tournament in March. But they'd probably have to do it away from "The Dog House," which has been a house of horrors for the other regional teams the past two years.

In the spirit of the times, to paraphrase a famous political slogan from years gone by, at least now the Bulldogs know where they stand.


NCAA Division II men's basketball regional rankings

From the Hot Stove to the cold field

Did you know the Barton College baseball season is nearly upon us?

Less than two weeks after the annual Wilson Hot Stove League banquet, baseball is back on the field.

The Bulldogs open their 2008 campaign Friday, Feb. 1, in sunny Boca Raton, Fla., as the guest of Lynn University for a three-game set. The home opener will be Tuesday, Feb. 4, against Wingate. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

As usual, Todd Wilkinson has enlisted a sturdy list of non-conference opponents for his Bulldogs, including Kutztown (Pa.), Francis Marion, Catawba, USC-Aiken and UNC-Pembroke.

2008 Barton baseball schedule

Look for a season preview on the Bulldogs in the Wilson Daily Times early next week.

Sticking with the summer game in the dead winter, Fike will be one of high school baseball teams playing the IMPACT Baseball Invitational on March 1 in Cary.

The IMPACT field has doubled since four teams, including eventual N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A champion Charles B. Aycock, played in Fleming Stadium last March.

Joining the Golden Demons at the USA Baseball National Training Complex will be their 3-A NEW 6 Conference rivals Northern Nash and Rocky Mount.

IMPACTBaseball.com has the schedule for the 2008 Invitational.

Bulldogs, Trojans going national

On March 1, the men's basketball teams from Barton College and Mount Olive College are going national.
The game between the defending NCAA Division II national champion Bulldogs and their archrivals will be broadcast live on national television on CSTV (College Sports Television) and FSN (Fox Sports Network). Tip off is scheduled for noon in Wilson Gymnasium.
It will be the first Conference Carolinas regular-season game to be telecast live nationally.
The teams are currently tied atop the league standings. Barton has won the last seven games in the rivalry.
Even with the game being shown on TV, I suspect Wilson Gym will be crowded that day. After all, it's a great chance to get one's face on camera!

Here is the Conference Carolinas' release on the event: