SMU/Southern Miss preview

[PonyPride]

This Game:

SOUTHERN MISS Golden Eagles (10-3, 0-0 C-USA)
at
SMU Mustangs (11-3, 0-0 C-USA)

Wed. Jan. 10 - 7:00 pm CT
Moody Coliseum (8,998)
Dallas, Texas
Radio: KAAM 770 AM
Internet: Mustang All-Access
www.SMUMustangs.com

The SMU Mustangs (11-3, 0-0 Conference USA) host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (10-3, 0-0 C-USA) at Moody Coliseum in both teams’ Conference USA opener on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. This is the first meeting between SMU’s Matt Doherty and Larry Eustachy of Southern Miss. The two are former Associated Press National Coaches of the year: Doherty earned the honor in 2001 when he was at North Carolina and Eustachy in 2000 while at Iowa State.

At halftime, there will be a ceremony to dedicate the new videoboard and scoreboard and to thank the contributors that made it a reality. The major donors are Suzanne and Bill Hutchison, B.R. and Denny Holman, and Sandy and Chuck Hutchison. President R. Gerald Turner, Vice President of Development and External Affairs Brad Cheves and Director of Athletics Steve Orsini will make the official dedication.

The Mustangs are 7-1 at home this season following the 60-56 overtime win against Brown on Jan. 6. This game concludes a four-game homestand for the Mustangs and a stretch with nine of 12 contests at Moody Coliseum.

The Mustangs last won their conference opener during the 2003-04 season in a 67-58 win against Tulsa at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs dropped the Conference USA opener last season 80-67 against UTEP at home. This begins the second season Conference USA season for SMU.

The Mustangs and Golden Eagles are meeting for the fourth time with every contest in Dallas. The Mustangs hold a 2-1 advantage in the series including a 58-53 win on Feb. 4, 2006. That two previous matchups were a 91-85 loss on Dec. 14, 1975, and a 73-60 victory in the 1950-51 season.

The Mustangs lead Conference USA in 3-point percentage defense (.304) and are second in rebound margin (+9.1), rebounding defense (28.7), and scoring defense (59.1). Individually, Jon Killen is second in the league in assists (5.57) and is second in steals (2.14). Donatas Rackauskas is third in rebounds (7.7) and Ike Ofoegbu is fourth (7.3). Bamba Fall is second in blocked shots (2.43).

Bamba Fall is about to move into fifth in career blocks at SMU. He is currently sixth with 87 blocks. James Gatewood (1990-94) is fifth with 88 career swats. There is a ways to go to fourth where Reggie Franklin had 129 returns from 1977-79.

LAST GAME: DALLAS (AP) - Donatas Rackauskas hit a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining in overtime to help SMU seal a 60-56 victory over Brown on Saturday night. Brown's Marcus Becker tied the game on a free throw with 46 seconds left in regulation, and the Bears had a chance to win when SMU turned the ball over with 10.8 seconds remaining. But Damon Huffman was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer. Becker scored with 37 seconds left in overtime to bring the Bears (5-10) to within a point at 57-56. But Rackauskas' 3-pointer sealed the win for the Mustangs (11-3). Devon Pearson led SMU with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Ike Ofoegbu and Jon Killen had 10 points each. Ofoegbu led the team with 11 rebounds. Mark McAndrew and Huffman scored 13 points each for the Bears. Chris Skrelja came off the bench to add 11 points and Nathan Eads had 10. The Bears trailed 26-21 at the half but built a seven-point lead with 10:30 remaining in regulation.

LAST GAME AGAINST SOUTHERN MISS - Feb. 4, 2006 W, 58-53: DALLAS (AP) -- Bamba Fall scored 14 points, blocked five shots and grabbed five rebounds to lead SMU past Southern Miss 58-53 Saturday night. Derrick Roberts added 13 points and Devon Pearson scored 12 points for the Mustangs (11-9, 3-4 Conference USA). Southern Miss led by 14 points with 11:38 left in the first half, but that was whittled to a 26-22 advantage by halftime. SMU pulled ahead in the second half, boosting its lead to six with 5:49 left and holding on for the win. Mildon Ambres led Southern Miss (7-15, 1-6) with 19 points and three rebounds while Courtney Beasley added 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.

AN SMU WIN MEANS: SMU improves 11-3, which would be the best since starting 12-3 in the 2000-01 season. The Mustangs would also be 7-1 at home, which is the best since a 10-0 home start in 2000-01.

W = 100+: Head coach Matt Doherty has 101 career wins. He got career win 100 when the Mustangs defeated Texas-Pan American 84-71 on Jan. 4. (Doherty wins - 22 at Notre Dame, 53 at North Carolina, 15 at Florida Atlantic, 11 at SMU)

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Mustangs are 7-1 at home this season after defeating Brown 60-56 in overtime on Jan. 6. The Mustangs defeated Dayton 53-48, Louisiana-Monroe 99-66, Paul Quinn 76-54, Texas College 79-63, and Prairie View A&M 68-51 in the season-long five-game homestand from Nov. 18 to Dec. 13. It was the first sweep of a homestand of at least five games since a six-game sweep in 1997-98. The lone loss was 80-76 against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30. (Devon Pearson missed the game with a knee injury).

BY AIR AND BY WEB: The Mustangs are on KAAM 770 AM in Dallas/Fort Worth. Rich Phillips, Allen Stone, and Jay Poerner bring you all the SMU basketball action and news from around Conference USA. All home games can also be seen through Mustangs All-Access at SMUMustangs.com.

OFF THE COURT NEWS:

DEC. 8 - SMU Breaks ground on Crum Basketball Center

The Mustangs broke ground on the Crum Basketball Center on Dec. 8. It is a $13 million, 43,000 sq. ft. training center that will be open in the Fall of 2007. (complete information on page 10 of the game notes)

DEC. 19 - SMU Adds George Lynch To Staff

George Lynch, a 12-year NBA veteran and NCAA Champion, joined the SMU men's basketball staff as the team's administrative assistant/graduate manager. Lynch averaged 22.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 774 games during his 12 NBA seasons. He was selected in the first round (12th overall) by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1993 NBA draft and played for four franchises: Lakers, Vancouver Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. He was named All-Atlantic Coast Conference and All-Final Four Tournament in 1993 after helping lead the North Carolina Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship. Lynch also played in the NBA Finals in 2001 when his 76ers won the NBA Eastern Conference.

DEC. 20 - Inside College oops With Matt Doherty Begins Jan. 8

SMU men's basketball coach Matt Doherty will have a weekly one-hour radio show beginning Jan. 8. Inside College Hoops with Matt Doherty is hosted by Rich Phillips, the voice of the Mustangs, and will be on KAAM 770 AM, the home of Mustangs' basketball. The weekly event will be held at Ten Sports Grill in downtown Dallas. Fans can also listen to the show at SMUMustangs.com. The show runs from Jan. 8 to March 26 beginning at 7 p.m. The first show on Jan. 8 will begin at 6 p.m. due to the BCS Championship game that evening. The show is a partnership of ISP Sports, SMU Basketball, Ten Sports Grill and KAAM 770 AM. (more information and a complete schedule on page 4 of the notes)

DEC. 30 - Mustangs Unveil New Scoreboard and Videoboard in Moody Coliseum

The new $900,000-dollar Daktronics scoreboard is 17 feet high by 25 feet wide with eight-by-12-foot video boards on all four sides. The board was built and raised while both teams played away from Moody Coliseum during the semester break from Dec. 13 until Dec. 30. New corner scoreboards and signage were also put in Moody during the break and are part of arena upgrades that will continue over the summer.

TOUGHNESS: The starting lineup against North Carolina A&T of Brian Epps, Jon Killen, Donatas Rackasukas, Paulius Ritter and Cameron Spencer was decided based on toughness drills conducted by the coaching staff in practice the day before the game. The winners got to start.

IT’S THE RED JERSEYS: The Mustangs have a set of red jerseys in addition to the traidtional home white and road blue. The Mustangs have won both games played in the red jerseys this season.

Dec. 3 Texas College W, 79-63 50th anniversary of opening Moody Coliseum

Dec. 21 at TCU W, 64-62 Defeat rival on Dez Willingham’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer

EYE ON THE POWER RANKINGS - RPI & SAGARIN: Jan 8 - RPI No. 90, Sagarin No. 97

The RPI is one of the principal components the NCAA selection committee uses to determine the field for the NCAA Men's Tournament. It has three primary components. It does not include non-Division I opponents in SMU’s record (Paul Quinn and Texas College). The Mustangs finished the 2005-06 season at No. 269 in the RPI and No. 198 in the Sagarin ratings.

Part I (25% of the formula): Team winning percentage.

Part II (50%): Average opponents' winning percentage.

Part III (25%): Average opponents' opponents' winning percentage.

The Mustangs reached No. 7 in the RPI on Dec. 8

1-50 51-100 101-200 201+ Non Conference L10 R/N

Rnk Conf W-L SOS W-L W-L W-L W-L W-L RPI SOS W-L W-L

90 SMU CUSA 9-3 223 0-1 1-1 3-0 5-1 9-3 93 232 7-3 4-2

20 Florida St. ACC 12-4 L, 59-52 at FSU on 11/14/06

56 Dayton A-10 11-4 W, 53-48 at SMU on 11/18/06

84 Oklahoma B12 7-5 L, 69-42 at Oklahoma on 12/28/06

JON “SHOOTER” KILLEN: Coach Matt Doherty called Jon Killen “shooter” during the summer to help him think more aggressively on offense. The mindset is showing.

2004-05 Fr. 46 points in 28 games (1.6 avg)

2005-06 So. 57 points in 29 games (2.0 avg)

2006-07 Jr. 117 points in 14 games (8.4 avg)

MASTERS OF THE CLUTCH: Fifth-year senior Donatas Rackauskas will have his masters in accounting in May 2007 and has a strong grasp on hitting bigtime shots. He finished his bachelor’s in accounting in December 2005 (3.5 years). He is in his fifth season because he missed the 2004-05 season due a preseason knee injury.

- Nov. 14 at Florida State - hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining to pull SMU within 54-52 before falling 59-52.

- Jan. 6 against Brown - hit a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining in overtime to seal the 60-56 victory

OPENING ACT IS A WINNER: Matt Doherty is off to an impressive start at SMU. Here is how he compares with othercoaches in their first year of running the men’s basketball team on the Hilltop. The Most wins by SMU under a first-season coach is 16 by Sonny Allen in 1975-76.

COACH W-L PCT SEASON LEAGUE W-L PCT FINISH

Dale Morrison 12-2 .857 1916-17 N/A

John Shumate 13-16 .813 1988-89 SWC 7-9 .438 7th of 9

Matt Doherty 11-3 .786 2005-06 C-USA 0-0 .000 ___ of 12

F.C. Baccus 14-8 .636 1938-39 SWC 8-4 .667 3rd of 7

Sonny Allen 16-12 .571 1975-76 SWC 10-6 .625 3rd of 9

E.O. “Doc” Hayes 13-10 .565 1947-48 SWC 5-7 .417 5th of 7

James Stewart 10-8 .556 1942-43 SWC 4-8 .333 T-5th of 7

Burton Rix 5-4 .555 1917-18 N/A

Roy D. Baccus 11-10 .524 1944-45 SWC 7-5 .583 T-3rd of 7

Jimmy Tubbs 14-14 .500 2004-05 WAC 9-9 .500 T-4th of 10

H.A. Faulkner 10-11 .476 1922-23 SWC 4-10 .286 6th of 6

R.N. Blackwell 8-14 .363 1921-22 SWC 4-11 .267 4th of 6

J.W. St. Clair 5-11 .313 1924-25 SWC 4-10 .286 6th of 8

Mike Dement 8-20 .286 1995-96 SWC 3-11 .214 T-7th of 8

Dave Bliss 7-20 .259 1980-81 SWC 3-13 .188 9th of 9

Bob Prewitt 6-18 .250 1967-68 SWC 5-9 .357 T-7th of 8

OUR FTM IS MORE THAN YOUR FTA: Head coach Matt Doherty sets a goal for the Mustangs to make more free throws than the opponent attempts. Here is a look at the season to date.

SMU Opp Goal Result

11/12 18-25 7-9 vs. Illinois State Yes W, 57-55

11/13 10-17 3-4 vs. McNeese State Yes W, 70-54

11/14 7-9 13-18 at Florida State No L, 59-52

11/18 27-40 12-24 Dayton Yes W, 53-48

11/22 15-22 15-19 Louisiana-Monroe No W, 99-66

11/27 20-24 12-19 Paul Quinn Yes W, 76-54

12/3 13-22 9-10 Texas College Yes W, 79-63

12/13 10-19 2-4 Prairie View A&M Yes W, 68-51

12/16 12-15 7-12 at Centenary No W, 68-40

12/21 16-23 12-19 at TCU No W, 64-62

12/28 7-11 11-17 at Oklahoma No L, 69-42

12/30 24-32 22-30 North Carolina A&T No L, 80-76

1/4 19-25 10-18 Texas-Pan American Yes W, 84-71

1/6 3-6 11-16 Brown No W (ot), 60-56

Season 201-290 146-219 NO Yes 7-0 / No 4-3

DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Devon Pearson entered the season with 11 career double-doubles, which was the most by an active player in C-USA. He was the only current Mustang with any entering 2006-07. Pearson had nine in 2005-06.

2006-07 Double-Doubles

Player Stats Opponent Season Career

Ike Ofoegbu 26 pts, 10 rebs La-Monroe 11/22 1st 1st

Devon Pearson 19 pts, 10 rebs Texas College 12/3 1st 12th

Ike Ofoegbu 14 pts, 10 rebs Prairie View A&M 12/10 2nd 2nd

Ike Ofoegbu 13 pts, 11 rebs at Centenary 12/16 3rd 3rd

Ike Ofoegbu 10 pts, 11 rebs Brown 1/6 4th 4th

Devon Pearson 13 pts, 10 rebs Brown 1/6 2nd 13th

BUZZER BEATERS:

11/12 vs. Illinois State - W, 57-55 - Devon Pearson gave the Mustangs an opening-night victory against Illinois State as he tipped in a miss from Derrick Roberts as time expired for the 57-55 triumph. Pearson tipped it in from the right side of the basket after Roberts’ 12-foot jumper from the left baseline skipped across the rim.

12/21 at TCU - W, 64-62 - Dez Willingham hit a running 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to give SMU the 64-62 win. The play started when Derrick Roberts received the inbounds pass and threw it to Donatas Rackauskas at mid-court. Rackauskas took two dribbles and fed Willingham on the left wing for the game-winner. The lead changed hands four times in the final 17 seconds. Brent Hackett gave TCU a 60-59 lead on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining. Jon Killen was fouled by Kevin Langford three seconds later and hit both free throws. Killen was then called for a blocking foul against Ryan Wall with 8.9 seconds to go. Wall hit both free throws to give TCU a 62-61 edge that set up the final play.

WHERE THERE IS A “WILL”INGHAM, THERE IS A WAY: Dez Willingham has beat the buzzer with a running 3-pointer twice to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat:

Dec. 21, 2006 - W, 64-62 at TCU - Willingham hit a running 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to give SMU the 64-62 win. He received a pass from Donatas Rackauskas as the Mustangs went the length of the court for the winner in the final 8.9 seconds. The lead changed hands four times in the final 17 seconds.

Jan. 21, 2006 - Rice W, 80-69 (ot) - The Mustangs forced overtime after Willingham hit a 25-foot three-pointer to tie the game at 64-64 with a half a second left in regulation. That concluded an SMU rally from seven points down with 1:37 remaining in the second half.

HONORS:

Colonial Classic All-Tournament (SMU went 2-1)

Jon Killen (10.7 points, 5.4 assists, 3.3 steals)

Ike Ofoegbu (14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds)



I LIKE IKE: Ike Ofoegbu has become a force for the Mustangs this season. In just six games, he has almost matched his totals from last season in scoring, free throws, and field goals while drastically increasing his averages

Points Avg. Rebs Avg. FG 3FG FT

2005-06 102 3.8 82 3.0 35-62 0-1 32-50

2006-07 180 12.9 102 7.3 57-104 9-23 57-78

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Devon Pearson became the 29th player at SMU with 500 career rebounds when he passed the mar against Louisiana-Monroe 11/22.

REBOUNDING (CAREER)

1. 1169 - Jon Koncak - 1981-85

2. 1077 - Ira Terrell - 1972-76

3. 976 - Jeryl Sasser - 1997-01

4. 889 - Larry Davis - 1981-85

5. 840 - Jim Krebs - 1954-57

6. 790 - Willie Davis - 1997-01

7. 785 - Jeff Swanson - 1974-78

8. 759 - Patrick Simpson - 2001-05

9. 745 - Joel Krog - 1953-56

10. 690 - Tim Mason - 1989-93

11. 687 - Carroll Hooser - 1963-66

12. 669 - Lynn Phillips - 1966-69

13. 650 - Quinton Ross - 1999-03

14. 634 - Eric Castro - 2001-05

15. 621 - Terry Williams - 1983-87

16. 619 - Steve Strange - 1958-61

17. 615 - Jan Loudermilk - 1959-62

18. 609 - Greg Kinzer - 1989-93

19. 580 - Bill Voight - 1966-69

20. 574 - John Colborne - 1985-90

21. 562 - Mike Wilson - 1990-93

22. 559 - Devon Pearson - 2003-06

FAMILIAR FOE: The Mustangs have met seven opponents more than 100 times.

Rice 182 111-71 Feb. 10@SMU, Feb. 24@RU

TCU 182 100-82 W, 64-62 - Dec. 21@TCU

Baylor 175 100-75

Texas A&M 175 90-85

Texas 174 71-103

Arkansas 153 59-94

Texas Tech 104 47-57

BLOCK PARTY: Bamba Fall’s 2.43 blocks per game are second Conference USA. He was 11th in the Dec. 17 NCAA statistics. In 2005-06, Bamba Fall set the SMU freshman record with 53 blocks last season in just 18 games. (Passed the previous record of 43 by Ira Terrell in 1972-73). He also led C-USA with 3.36 per league contest.

Bamba Fall - Blocks GP 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+

2005-06 Fr. 18 15 10 8 3 1

2006-07 So. 14 10 5 3 2 1

Total 32 25 15 11 5 2

BLOCKED SHOTS (CAREER)

1. 278 - Jon Koncak - 1981-85

2. 169 - Ira Terrell - 1972-76

3. 151 - Patrick Simpson - 2001-05

4. 129 - Reggie Franklin - 1977-79

5. 88 - James Gatewood - 1990-94

6. 87 - Bamba Fall - 2005-07

7. 81 - Quinton Ross - 1999-03

8. 78 - Brad Branson - 1978-80

9. 69 - Bobby Dimson - 1994-98

10. 67 - Thines Robinson II - 1974-78

67 - Jeryl Sasser - 1997-01

12. 65 - Glenn Puddy - 1984-86,87-89

13. 63 - Donatas Rackauskas - 2002-07

MUSTANG HOOPS BLOG: SMU Mustangs’ head coach Matt Doherty has his own blog at www.MustangHoopsBlog.com.

SMU MILESTONES:

- The Mustangs won seven consecutive games (Nov. 18 to Dec. 21) for the first time since winning 10 in a row to start the 1997-98 season

- The Mustangs swept a homestand of five or more games for the first time since a six-game stretch in the 1997-98 season

- The Mustangs won a school-record five games in November, finishing the month 5-1. The Mustangs had previously gone 4-0 in November to start the 1997-98 and 2000-01 seasons.

- SMU had its first 2-0 start against Div. I opponents since a 4-0 start to the 2000-01 season. The 2-0 starts in 2004-05 and 2001-02 included non-Div. I victories. (Savannah St. in 2001-02 and UT-Tyler in 2004-05)

LONG TIME, NO SEE: SMU has had a few numbers in the boxscore that have not seen in a while

- SMU scored 99 points against La.-Monroe 11/22 - last time was 101 at Puerto Rico - Mayaguez 12/20/2000 (W 101-72)

- Jon Killen had 10 assists against La-Monroe 11/22 - last time was Bryan Hopkins with 10 against TCU on 11/24/2002 (W ot, 87-84)

SMU RECORD UPDATES: Additions or changes to the SMU record book during the 2006-07 season.

SMU Single-Game - Team

3FGM T-4th - 13 Texas-Pan American 1/4

T-6th - 12 vs. McNeese State 11/13

T-6th - 12 La-Monroe 11/22

3FG PCT 3rd - 61.9% (13-21) Texas-Pan American 1/4

SMU Single-Game - Individual

FTA T-7th - 17 by Ike Ofoegbu vs. Illinois State 11/12

Moody Coliseum Single-Game - Team

3FGM T-4th - 13 by SMU vs. Texas-Pan American 1/4

3FG PCT T-5th - 61.9% (13-21) by SMU vs. Texas-Pan American 1/4

COACHING EXPERIENCE: Head Coach Matt Doherty has assembled a coaching staff of Associate Head Coach Mike Garland, Assistant Coach Lance Irvin, Assistant Coach Steve Lutz, and Director of Operations Malcolm Farmer. The coaching staff entered the season with totals of 49 years of collegiate coaching with 16 conference crowns and 12 conference tournament championships. They have earned 26 postseason appearances, including 18 bids to the NCAA Tournament with 14 trips to the Sweet 16, nine Elite Eights, six Final Fours and two National Championships. The coaching staff has also guided 32 players to the NBA.

SMU RECORD FOR NATIONAL TV EXPOSURE: The SMU Men's Basketball team has a school record five nationally televised games during the 2006-07 regular season. The Mustangs play four games on CSTV and one game, at Memphis, on ESPN. The Mustangs' games on CSTV include TCU, both match-ups with Houston and the home game against Memphis. The Mustangs play the first three televised games on the road before playing the final two at home in Moody Coliseum.

Thu, Dec. 21, at TCU (CSTV) - W, 64-62 on Dez Willingham 3-pointer at buzzer (Tom Hart, Steve Lappas)

Saturday, Jan. 13, at Houston - 5 p.m. (CSTV)

Saturday, Feb. 3, at Memphis - 11 a.m. (ESPN)

Wednesday, Feb. 7, vs. Houston - 7 p.m. (CSTV)

Saturday, March 3, vs. Memphis - 8:30 p.m. (CSTV)

R-T-C: Head Coach Matt Doherty uses the initials RTC to represent his vision for the Mustangs. They are Respect, Trust and Commitment. The red wristbands the players wear have RTC as well as several signs around the Mustangs’ locker room and offices.

QUOTABLE: Quotes by and about SMU from the 2006-07 season.

Jan. 6 - Postgame - Brown (W ot, 65-56)

Matt Doherty (on the meaning of this win)

“This win was big because it showed our guys with all the hard work they have invested, they are not going to give in.”

Matt Doherty (on where he rates the team after the non-conference schedule)

“I gave the guys a grade of A+ for the first semester.”

Matt Doherty (on the Mustangs 40-27 rebounding margin with 18 offensive boards)

“I think we won the game tonight with our offensive rebounding and some key defensive stops.”

Matt Doherty (on the challenge of facing Brown and it style of play)

“We, as a staff, have a great deal of respect for Brown and head coach Craig Robinson. This is like North Carolina A&T, where they come in and you look at their record and you probably don’t give them a whole lot of respect. Well, our staff and our players gave them respect. I told our team yesterday that I would be thrilled with a one-point win. We knew it was going to be a grind. Anybody that plays the Princeton offense, you gotta guard for 35 seconds.”

Donatas Rackauskas (on hitting the game-sealing 3-pointer with six seconds left in overtime)

“That was definitely one of the biggest shots of my career.”

Ike Ofoegbu (on Brown’s offensive patience)

“They’re very patient. We had to play defense for a very long time.”

Devon Pearson (on lessons learned from the Oklahoma and North Carolina A&T losses that have paid dividends)

“We’re mentally tougher and we’re tougher, physically. The toughness practice showed who were the men and who were the boys. We all came out men. Everybody got through it.”

[2112]

thank you, for your great work!

[PonyPride]

Ha -- thanks, but that's not mine. That would be the exhaustive work of the great Herman Hudson in the sports information office.