Football recruiting update

  • It’s been a busy week for the Flames’ coaching staff as they have been on the road recruiting. Liberty has picked up commitments this week from Michael Anderson and Korell Evans.
  • Anderson is a 6’3”, 220-pound defensive end from Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. Liberty is his lone reported offer.
  • Korell Evans is a 6’2”, 225 pound linebacker from Hallandale High in Florida. Liberty is his lone reported offer.
  • Ethan Crawford and Aquinas lost to Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in the state championship game in the Georgia Dome last weekend. They finished the season 12-2.
  • Kicker Alex Probert is now a 3-star prospect according to ESPN. He joins Stephen Calvert as the two 3-star commits the Flames have in the class.
  • Brandon Tillmon became River Bluff’s first ever Shrine Bowl participant. He has been working at linebacker this week at the Shrine Bowl after playing quarterback all season. 

Big South conference football schedule released
The Big South announced the 2016 football conference schedule this week. Only one change from what we already had as the Flames’ 2016 conference slate, the Monmouth and Kennesaw State dates have been flipped. Liberty will open conference play October 15th at Kennesaw State, followed by home games against Monmouth and Gardner-Webb. On November 5th, the Flames travel to Presbyterian before finalizing the conference schedule by hosting Charleston Southern on November 12th.

FlamesNation POY 2015
Voting for 2015 FlamesNation Player of the Year finalist is now underway. Based on your votes, you have selected Alex Close, Chima Uzowihe, and Ashley Rininger. Voting runs from now through December 31st! So, be sure to get your vote in!

burgessAll-American honors received
Jonathan Burgess and Chima Uzowihe have been named FCS 2nd team All-Americans by STATS and the AP. Meanwhile, John Lunsford was named 2nd team All-American by STATS as well. The Flames have had a player selected to an AP All-American team 7 of the last 8 seasons. The last time Liberty had multiple AP All-Americans in the same year was in 2010 when Matt Bevins and Chris Summers were slected.

maxwell1Flames have lost 8 straight, Dawson impressive in debut
The Flames have now lost 8 straight games after falling to Lamar and Princeton this week. Entering Thursday night’s game at Princeton, Evan Maxwell was 2nd in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 72.7% from the field. He was 9/13 from the field Thursday night, bringing his shooting percentage to 72.3%. The school record for field goal percentage for a season is 63.9% set by Rod Martin in 1980. Marquette transfer John Dawson made his debut against Princeton. Dawson finished the night with 15 points on 6/9 shooting from the field, but he did have 5 turnovers in 24 minutes. Liberty returns to action Sunday afternoon at St Francis Brooklyn.

Basketball commits update

  • Entering his game Thursday night, Liberty signee Brock Gardner is averaging 26.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 62% from the field and 52% from 3-point range.
  • Signee Xzavier Barmore is averaging 25 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 6 steals per game through his team’s first 4 games this season.
  • Josiah Talbert is still missing time with a torn ligament in his toe and is expected to miss a couple of weeks.
  • Defending state champs Poca and Liberty commit Elijah Cuffee have won 29 straight games dating back to last season. Cuffee had 18 points in his team’s season opener.

FCS playoffs update
Charleston Southern’s season ended last week when they lost to #1 Jacksonville State in the FCS quarterfinals. The Bucs will now wait and see if head coach Jamey Chadwell sticks around. Several schools are reportedly looking at him, including Georgia Southern. Danny Rocco and the Richmond Spiders beat #2 Illinois State to advance to the FCS Semifinals. The Spiders face 4-time defending champ North Dakota State tonight on ESPN2.

Flames in the NFL update
Rashad Jennings and Walt Aikens faced off against each other on Monday night. Jennings and the Giants got the win, 31-24, in Miami over the Dolphins. Rashad had one of his best games of the season finishing with 22 carries for 81 yards and 2 catches for 21 yards. Walt Aikens did not record any stats.

Women’s basketball update
The Lady Flames lost to Seton Hall and Duke this week to fall to 3-7 on the season. Liberty faces Shepherd on Saturday in their final non-conference matchup of the regular season.

FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is Virginia Beach News.