Gayman brothers re-unite to play for Drury University

Nevada High School alums Clay and Dalton Gayman are transferring to play basketball together at Drury University. Clay is leaving Division I Abilene Christian while Dalton moves on from Arkansas Fort Smith.

The Gayman brothers haven’t shared the basketball court as teammates since 2018 when Clay was a senior in high school and Dalton was a sophomore.

They were offered the opportunity to be teammates once again and couldn’t pass up the chance.

“Not a whole lot of people get to experience that kind of thing with their brother,” Clay says.

They knew Drury was the right fit from the moment they stepped onto the court during their official visit.

“I saw him in the same jersey that I was in and I was like, ‘Dang, I miss this,’” Clay says.

“We just looked at each other and knew this was the right choice for us,” Dalton adds.

Drury offers more than just a chance to reunite the siblings.

“They’re in need of a couple guys like us and everything happened to work out at just the right time,” Clay says.

They both clicked with the coaching staff as well.

“Coach Foster is a really good guy and their assistants are guys that have played in the program before and were a part of the national championship team in 2013,” Dalton says. “They know what it takes to win.”

Clay and Dalton also know what it takes. Both were named Conference Player of the Year in high school.

“I’m going there to win and I wouldn’t even consider Drury if I didn’t think they were ready to win,” Clay says. “We’re ready to win big. We’re trying to knock Northwest off the mountain. That’s the whole plan.”

“I want a ring.” Dalton adds. “I want to win a tournament championship.”

Throughout their careers, Clay and Dalton have pushed each other to be better athletes on the court.

“Growing up he was always kicking my you know what, but as we get a little older, I’ve put on some pounds,” Dalton says. “It’s about 50/50 now.”

“No, not at all,” Clay says in response to Dalton’s claim. “I still win all the time. He’s lying to you.”

As teammates, they have high expectations.

“I think we’re both going to get buckets there and we’re going to win ball games at Drury,” Clay says. “The next two years are going to be a whole lot of fun for me.”

Stevenson, Fitzpatrick turn friendly competition into big numbers for Missouri Southern baseball

JOPLIN, Mo. – It’s a friendly competition between junior Jordan Fitzpatrick and freshman Tommy Stevenson.

“We hang out a lot, and we like to give each other crap all the time and mess with each other,” Fitzpatrick says, “If he does something, I try and do something too. Just trying to one-up each other, it’s pretty fun.”

“It’s great to win and it’s fun to have those little competitions we have,” Stevenson adds.

Stevenson and Fitzpatrick are #2 and #3 in the MIAA in RBI’s for Missouri Southern (22-6).

“Those guys are both really good hitters,” says head coach Bryce Darnell, “They’ve kind of heated up at the same time. It’s fun to watch them.”

Fitzpatrick has driven in 34 runs and leads the league in doubles (14).

Stevenson has driven in 36 this season, but is right behind Fitzpatrick with 13 doubles in his first full season with the Lions.

“Probably a month into fall practice, we were like yeah he’s ready to hit in the middle of the order for us and to be a real good player for us,” Darnell says of his freshman.

“I’m just doing the best I can to help the team win,” Stevenson says, “We just know what we can do and we’re just happy that we’re performing well and doing what we know we can do.”

“I think we feed off each other,” Fitzpatrick says of Stevenson, “It doesn’t matter where we’re hitting in the lineup, everybody wants to get on for the guy behind them. Driving guys in is just what we take pride in doing.”

Both of them have eight home runs on the year.

As a team, Missouri Southern is one of just two teams in the league with more than 50 home runs – hitting 53 in 28 games.

“There are not a lot of holes in our lineup,” Fitzpatrick says, “We all try to be as consistent as possible.”

“We play at a stadium that’s a hitters ballpark,” Stevenson says of playing at Warren Turner Field, “They recruit us to be these…aggressive, great hitters.”

“We know we can drive the gaps and drive the ball over the wall,” Fitzpatrick adds, “I think we can do that one-through-nine for the most part.”

“We got guys that can really crush the ball on this team,” Stevenson adds, “I’m happy to be a part of this team. We have some incredible athletes.”

“There are some hitter-friendly parks in our league, and this is one of them, but you have to be able to make solid contact,” Darnell says about his team, “You can put some numbers up in our park, for sure, as well as some other parks in our league. We’re for sure glad Fitz and Tommy are playing for us.”

Missouri Southern hosts a three-game series against Northeastern State this weekend. The Lions will play a double-header against the Riverhawks Saturday, before hosting the series finale on Sunday afternoon.

Missouri Southern names Rob Mallory next Athletic Director

Missouri Southern has named Rob Mallory its 6th Athletic Director in school history. Mallory comes to Joplin from Kentucky Wesleyan and will begin serving as AD on July 1st.

FULL RELEASE FROM MISSOURI SOUTHERN ATHLETICS:

Joplin, Mo. – Rob Mallory has been named director of athletics for Missouri Southern State University. Mallory, who will start on July 1, will become Missouri Southern’s sixth athletics director.

Mallory comes from Kentucky Wesleyan, a NCAA Division II Institution that includes 21 varsity sport programs, where he served as vice president of intercollegiate athletics. He was promoted to this position in January 2021 after serving as director of athletics since May of 2015. Prior to that, he served as associate director of athletics at NCAA Division II Quincy University (Illinois) July 2010 through June 2015 where he directed a comprehensive compliance program as the senior compliance officer. Mallory spent three years from 2007-10 at NCAA Division I University of Evansville (Indiana) as the director of marketing and ticket services.

“MSSU has a proud history of success in competition, in the classroom, and in the community,” said Mallory. “I am honored to be chosen to now lead those efforts as its next director of athletics. I want to thank Dr. Van Galen and the search committee for this tremendous opportunity.”

During Mallory’s last five years at Kentucky Wesleyan, he oversaw an overall increase in revenue for his department through the development and streamlining of athletic giving with the Panther Athletic Fund. Updates and renovation plans for all athletic facilities at Kentucky Wesleyan were started with his oversight.

Kentucky Wesleyan athletic programs expanded during his tenure with the addition of four new programs. The Panthers have also flourished in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, winning five conference titles and making six appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In the classroom, 16 programs (of 19) maintain a cumulative GPA above 3.0, while one third of all student-athletes earned Academic All-Conference honors for the 2019-20 academic year.

In 2019, Mallory was appointed to the NCAA Division II National Football Committee for a four-year term, which followed three-year terms serving on the NCAA Division II Regional Advisory Committee for football and baseball.

“I am excited to welcome Rob Mallory to Missouri Southern and Lion Athletics,” said Dr. Dean Van Galen, MSSU president. “Rob brings to MSSU extensive experience and a record of success as an athletics administrator at the NCAA Division II level. He is a thoughtful, principled and collaborative leader who will advance athletes and positively contribute to the university’s future.”
Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Julie Wengert, served as chair of the search committee. Other committee members included Director of Athletic Internal Operations Karesa Burr, Head Baseball Coach Bryce Darnell, Dean of the Plaster College of Business and Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Jeff Zimmerman, Lionbacker Steering Committee President Alan Cook, Director of Annual Giving Elisa Bryant, Volleyball Head Coach Kalie Mader, Softball student-athlete Abby Atkin and men’s basketball student-athlete Christian Bundy. Missouri Southern received 90 official applications and dozens more inquiries about the position.

“We were extremely pleased with the candidate pool,” said Wengert. “Dr. Kurt Patburg, senior vice president of Athletics Staffing Consultants, supported our committee on the front end of this process, which helped us build both a diverse and quality candidate pool of applicants.”

“It was important to establish a diverse search committee with representation from key areas of campus who work directly with the department of athletics. Each member brought a unique and passionate perspective to the table, which produced rich discussion throughout the process. The committee devoted a tremendous amount of time and energy to this process, thoroughly vetting all of the candidates and bringing in a strong group of finalists for on-campus interviews.”

Mallory said he and his family are excited about the move to Joplin.

“I look forward to working with the entire campus community to build an even brighter future for Lions athletics,” he said.

Mallory graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.B.A. in management information systems and served as the head football manager in 2001. He earned a master’s degree in sport administration from Xavier University in 2007.

He and his wife, Holly, have two children, Lilly and Mitchell.

Mallory will be formally introduced at an upcoming press conference. Details will be released at a later time.

Tulsa head coach Frank Haith on adding former Pittsburg standout Gavyn Elkamil

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa men’s basketball announced the rest of its 2021 signing class on Wednesday.

That class includes for Pittsburg High School standout Gavyn Elkamil, who signed back in November to join the program next season.

Elkamil was an All-State player for the Purple Dragons in 2020. He averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists per game, also adding 2 steals per night. He signed with Link Year Prep out of high school and re-classified to the class of 2021.

“Gavyn is a young man I felt real good about,” says Tulsa head coach Frank Haith, “First of all, his character and who he is as a man, he is terrific. He got hurt this year, tore his ACL. He didn’t play this season. Prior to that, in terms of his talent level, he’s a 6-5 guy that can shoot it and can handle it. He’s got a great body already. He doesn’t look like a freshman normally looks. He’s coming along great with getting back to playing. He’s getting closer, but we don’t want to rush him. In time, he’s going to have an impact with our program, because I think his talent level is really, really high.”

Former Pittsburg standout Taylor Muff to transfer, play basketball for Lane Lord at UTRGV

PITTSBURG, Kan. – A pair of old Pittsburg friends will reunite this summer at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – with former Pittsburg High School standout Taylor Muff joining former Pitt State women’s head coach Lane Lord to finish out her collegiate career playing basketball in Edinburg, Texas.

“I’ve always had such a special place in my heart for coach Lord. He’s just a great guy. He’s hilarious,” Muff says of Lord, “You can tell he really cares about his players. My oldest sister, Alex, got to play her 5th year of basketball for him and had a great experience. Logan (Lord) was my best friend in high school. We’re going to get to spend some time together, so I’m excited about it.”

Lord was the women’s head coach at Pittsburg State at the same time Taylor’s father, Kevin, was the men’s head coach for the Gorillas – while their daughters graduated from Pittsburg High School at the same time.

“We’ve been family friends with coach Muff and his wife for a long time,” Lord says, “Taylor played all four years in high school with my daughter. I’ve been trying to get her dad down here to visit for the last couple years. Now he has a reason to get down here.”

“Coach Lord is pretty high energy, and my dad is a pretty solemn dude,” Taylor says with a laugh, “They balance each other out pretty well and they get along really well. Our families are pretty close and we’re excited to have that connection again. ”

Muff has played volleyball for four years at the University of Northern Colorado.

This year as a senior, she led the Bears with 244 kills in 19 matches. She was also second on the team with 201 digs. Muff helped Northern Colorado claim the Big Sky Conference championship in 2019.

“I could not have asked for a better four years. Between the coaching staff and my teammates, this place is incredible,” Muff says of Northern Colorado, “Getting to win a championship was a huge success for me and the team. I made such great friends here. This place is awesome…It couldn’t have been better.”

Muff was a three-sport standout at Pittsburg High School. She was a multiple time state champion in track, and was an All-State selection in volleyball and basketball.

“We all knew watching her in high school that she was going to be a Division I athlete in whichever sport she chose,” Lord says of Muff, “You saw what she did in track, volleyball and basketball. Her athleticism has only improved, and she was already one of the best athletes in Kansas when she graduated high school.”

Now, after four years of college volleyball, she’ll have to flip the switch and get back in the basketball mindset.

“I am a little nervous. Last time I played a legitimate basketball game was my senior year of high school,” Muff says on making the switch from one Division I sport to another, “I definitely missed basketball. There’s always been a special place in my heart for the sport. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the gym, actually. I’ve been trying to get as much practice as I can. I think I can get there in a few short months, but it’s going to be a little work. I’ll be heading down there in June, so hopefully I can get some one-on-one work with coach Lord.”

“We expect her to come in and play right away,” Lord says, “She’s a competitor, and her athleticism is off the charts. She can play the two through five positions, really. She can shoot the three and she can handle the basketball, but she’s also tough enough to play inside against some of the 6-4 and 6-5 players we play against. Skill-wise, she’s going to be fine, and by the time we get to October I think she’ll be one of the best players in the WAC.”

Muff will graduate from Northern Colorado in May, before heading to Texas in June to begin preparing for the basketball season, and working toward her masters degree in Kinesiology.

Both Taylor and coach Lord are excited to reunite – and get to work.

“It’s going to be all basketball for her this summer, and I don’t think she’ll miss a beat,” Lord says of Muff, “I’ve always said we’re always going to have someone from Kansas on our roster. That’s our roots. It’s awesome to have Taylor come down here and continue that tradition.”

“I just want to bring what I’ve learned here at Northern Colorado to another program,” Muff finishes, “Hopefully I can make a difference.”