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FULTON, MS – The Itawamba Community College Lady Indians will hold basketball tryouts for the 2012-13 season on Thursday, March 29 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Davis Event Center on the Fulton Campus.

The tryout is open to unsigned high school seniors and students with National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) eligibility. Anyone interested in participating in this year’s tryouts should bring her own practice gear.

The Lady Indians finished 26-3 on the season winning the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) state championship and finished runner-up in the NJCAA Region 23 tournament in March.

For more information on tryouts contact Coach Nanci Gray at 662-862-8420 or Assistant Coach Robin Porter at 662-862-8184.

Jameika Hoskins had a game-high 15 point as four other players scored in double figures as the Lady Indians defeated Coahoma 77-48 to advance to Friday’s semifinals of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

The Lady Indians (25-2) raced out to a 20-2 lead in the opening moments of the first half before cruising to a 45-18 lead at the break.

Coahoma (13-12) battled back in the second half, but couldn’t cut into the 20-plus point deficit as the Lady Indians held on for the 77-48 victory.

LaPrecious Naylon had 14 points and Jasmine Hampton added 11 to go along with 10 points each from Shay Bonner and Ty-Nita Baker.

ICC will take on the winner between Holmes and Pearl River in the semifinal round at 3:00 p.m. on Friday at Mississippi College in Clinton, MS.

For more information on ICC basketball and the eight other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

FULTON, MS – The Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) office announced its 2012 Basketball Championship Tournament brackets on Friday, February 24, with the Itawamba Community College Lady Indians and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs topping the brackets with the No. 1 seeds.

The tournament runs Monday, February 27 through Thursday, March 1 at the Davis Event Center on the Fulton campus of Itawamba Community College.

The Lady Indians completed its 2011-12 regular season schedule Thursday night with a 82-53 win over the Holmes Community College Lady Bulldogs to finish 21-2 and 12-0 in division play to earn the MACJC North title. ICC will open postseason play Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. against South’s No. 4 East Central Community College. The winner will take on the winner between South’s No. 2 Pearl River Community College and North’s No. 3 Coahoma Community College.

The Lady Bulldogs of Holmes earned to the No. 2 seed out of the North and will take on the South’s No. 3 Jones County Junior College Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. while South’s No. 1 Copiah-Lincoln Community College will take the floor at 1:00 p.m. against Northeast Mississippi Community College, who earned the No. 4 seed in the North.

The men will open the tournament on Monday with North’s No. 1 East Mississippi Community College taking on South’s No. 4 Jones County Junior College at 1:00 p.m. and will be followed by South’s No. 2 Pearl River Community College as they take on North’s No. 3 Northwest Mississippi Community College at 3:00 p.m. to close the afternoon session.

North’s No. 4 ICC will open the night session against South’s No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College at 6:00 p.m. with North’s No. 2 Holmes Community College and South’s No. 3 Hinds Community College following at 8:00 p.m.

The semifinals will be Wednesday with a pair of afternoon and night sessions. The championship games are scheduled for Thursday with the women starting at 6:00 p.m. and the men to follow at 8:00 p.m.

For more information on ICC basketball and the MACJC State Tournament visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

Justin Sutton/Special to ICC Athletics

FLOWOOD, MS —Itawamba Community College freshman Lewis Butler received the Mississippi Tennis Association’s 2011 Dorthy Vest Junior Player of the Year Award at the association’s annual awards luncheon.

The award, given to both a male and female player, recognizes outstanding junior players in the 18’s Division for their excellence in state, sectional, and national play.

Butler, who finished 2011 ranked No. 2 in the 18s Division in Mississippi, won the Mississippi Open Junior North State Championship and the Mississippi Junior Closed Claycourt Championship, and he reached the final of two other tournaments.

Butler is a two-time winner of the award, also receiving it in 2010.

For more information on ICC tennis and the eight other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

FULTON, MS – Itawamba Community College head baseball coach Rick Collier announced the Saturday’s doubleheader against John C Calhoun Community College has been postponed to Tuesday due to weather concerns.

“With it being this early in the season, there is really no reason to take the chance of getting any of the players sick or hurt for either team with the weather conditions as harsh as they are suppose to be,” said Collier.

Opening pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the newly renamed Cresap Field in Fulton.

For more information on ICC baseball and the nine other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

Coach Marty Cooper announced his intentions to step down as ICC Indians head basketball at the end of the season. (Lee Adams/ICC Public Relations)

FULTON, MS — Itawamba Community College Athletics Director Carrie Ball-Williamson announced that college basketball’s only husband-wife coaching tandem, Marty and Jennifer Cooper, will be stepping down at the end of the season.

“This is something we’ve been thinking about for a couple of years and more seriously before the season,” said Coach Marty Cooper. “Family time with our daughter McKenzie (11) is very important for both Jen and I and that’s something we as a family are really looking forward to being a bigger part of our lives.”

Marty will be assuming responsibilities in the college’s graduation initative while Jennifer will remain an instructor in the Natural Science Division at ICC.

During his 14 years at ICC, Cooper has won four MACJC North Division titles (2002, 07, 08), one MACJC championship (08), three NJCAA Region 23 champions (02, 07, 08) and three NJCAA tournament appearances (02, 07, 08). He has a career record of 250-134 while at ICC and coming into this season his program had won the most Region 23 games (110), the best Region 23 winning percentage of .728 (110-41) and has the most wins in the North Division (45) in the past five seasons.

“After being a head coach for the past 21 years, I’ve reached the point in my life where I’m ready for a new challenge and hopefully with my new position I’ll have a larger impact on our students than just the basketball team,” Cooper said.

After six seasons as a collegiate assitant coach, the Jackson, Ohio native earned his first collegiate head coaching job at East Central Community College, where he led the Warriors to two South DIvision championships, two South State championships and three-straight MACJC championship games, winning the 1993 title. He left Decatur for Fulton with an overall record 116-81.

“I am extremely thankful for all the players that have come through our program, Carrie Ball-Williamson, Mike Eaton and of course, Dr. David Cole,” said Cooper. “I also want to say a couple of special thanks to the guy who hired me here at ICC, Roy Cresap, and for all of the help I received over the years from the legendary coach Buster Davis.”

Ball-Williamson says the search for the next men’s basketball coach will start immediately.

“Coach Cooper had a great run during his 14 years as our basketball coach,” said Ball-Williamson. “Although he will be serving the college in a different capacity, he will certainly be missed on the court.”

For more informtion on ICC basketball and the eight other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

FULTON, MS – Itawamba Community College has announced its cheerleading clinic and tryout dates for 2012-2013 athletic seasons.

The first of two tryout clinic will be held March 28^th and 29^th from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the ICC Fitness Center located next to the Davis Event Center on the Fulton campus. The second clinic will be a mandatory clinic for those interested in trying out and will be help April 11^th and 12^th from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the ICC Fitness Center. The cost is $35 for one clinic or $50 for both clinics.

The official tryout date is set for Friday, April 13^th at 4:00 p.m. at the ICC Fitness Center.

Tryout registration forms are available on the college website and anyone under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian signature. For more information contact Cathy McCarthy at 662-862-8173.  

For more information on ICC cheerleading and the 10 other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

ICC to host Pink Zone games Thursday night

FULTON, MS – The Itawamba Community College basketball teams will participate in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “Pink Zone” initiative when they play host to Mississippi Delta Community College at the Davis Event Center on Thursday.

The Lady Indians (16-2, 7-0) will tip the MACJC North Division match-up at 6:00 while the Indians (7-11, 3-4) follow at 8:00 p.m.

Fans wearing pink to the game will be admitted free of charge.

THE WBCA began the WBCA “Pink Zone,” formerly known as “Think Pink,” in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women’s basketball, on campuses and in communities. Overall, “Pink Zone” events have raised nearly $3.3 million, have reached almost 2.7 million fans and have unified over 4,700 participants in only four years.

For more information on ICC basketball and the eight other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

ICC to host Alumni Night on Thursday

FULTON, MS – The Itawamba Community College Alumni Association will host Alumni Night this Thursday at the Davis Event Center.

The Lady Indians (16-2, 7-0) will tip the MACJC North Division match-up at 6:00 while the Indians (7-11, 3-4) follow at 8:00 p.m. Fans presenting their current Alumni Association membership card will be admitted free to both games.

For more information contact Mark Todd, Director of Alumni Affairs, at 662-862-8176.

For more information on ICC basketball and the eight other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

FULTON, MS — Former ICC Indian standouts Jake Sloan (Hatley) and Ladarrius Cole (Nettleton) have been named to the initial watch list for the 2012 Tino Award for the most outstanding player in DII college baseball.

Sloan, a junior DH from North Alabama, batted .359 with a .605 slugging percentage and .409 on-base percentage. He scored 38 runs and driving in a team-high 51 to go along with his 20 doubles and seven home runs while successfully steal 14 of 17 attempts. He led the team with 16 multiple-hit games and had the longest hit streak of the season recording a hit in seven-straight games.

Cole, a junior outfielder at West Alabama, started in all 41 games last season for the Tigers. He had a team-high 59 hits and 47 runs scored in 166 at-bats. He finished third on the team with a .440 slugging percentage and second with a .432 on-base percentage while successfully stealing 21 bases on 21 attempts.

“We are excited for both these guys,” said ICC head baseball coach Rick Collier. “It’s a great honor for them to be recognized for this award, but it comes as no surprise because of their work ethic and dedication to the game of baseball both on and off the field.”

Nominations for the award were made by baseball sports information contacts and media members.

The list will be updated with a mid-season release in April. Semi-finalists are scheduled to be announced in early May with the finalist to be named later that month. After the finalists are named fans will be invited to vote online to help determine the winner, which will be announced after the conclusion of the DII Baseball Championship.

The annual honor is named after former University of Tampa standout, Olympian and MLB All-State, Tino Martinez.

For more information on ICC baseball and the nine other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.

Front row, from left are Tina Little, Tyler Nelms and Stanley Nelms. Back row, from left are Kossuth head coach Daniel Threadgill and ICC head coach Rick Collier. (Lee Adams/ICC Public Relations)

FULTON, MS – Itawamba Community College head baseball coach Rick Collier announced two of his newest signees during a press conference from the Davis Event Center on Friday.

Kossuth’s Tyler Nelms and Brayden Owen of Tupelo both signed national letters of intent to play baseball for Collier and the Indians next season.

“I feel real good,” said Nelms. “This is what I’ve been working for since I was in ninth grade, trying to play somewhere else.”

“Tyler means the world to me, not just as a player as a person too and he means a lot to the Kossuth baseball program,” said Kossuth head baseball coach Daniel Threadgill. “Coming off the mound he’s done a lot for us in the past two years, and this year being his senior year, we look for him to be even better than the last two years.”

“I’m excited about Tyler coming,” said Collier. “Tyler wants to be an Indian and he was excited about it. He’s a big right hander that has a lot of arm and he sat on 86, 87 when I went and worked him out and we’re just very excited to have him.”

Front row, from left are Kim Owen, Brayden Owen and Curt Owen. Back row is ICC head coach Rick Collier. (Lee Adams/ICC Public Relations)

“I’m pretty excited to be part of ICC baseball,” said Owen. “They have a good past of winning, good coaching and I’ll be surrounded by a good bunch of guys.”

“Brayden is the type of guy that’s a utility type player,” said Collier. “He can play the middle infield, play outfield and he can even come in and give you some innings on the mound if you needed it. He’s just a good all around athlete.”

For more information on ICC baseball and the nine other intercollegiate athletic programs visit the college website at www.iccms.edu.