Editorial Cartoon
Eastern sophomore volleyball player Shaina Boylan’s father is the interim head coach for the Chicago Bulls.
Jim Boylan, a Bulls assistant the last four years under former coach Scott Skiles, earned the interim tag on Dec. 27.
Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve after leading the Bulls to a 9-16 start.
Pete Myers, father of Eastern men’s basketball player Gino Myers-Kyle, coached the Bulls in a 94-79 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 26.
The Bulls are 13-19 and play Tuesday against New York.
Replay comes to the OVC
Each basketball arena in the Ohio Valley Conference now comes equipped with courtside replay monitors, even if the game is not televised.
This is nothing new for the Eastern basketball program. A replay monitor has been courtside at Lantz Arena since midway through the 2005-2006 season after the Panthers lost to Tennessee Tech on a questionable field goal.
The decision to mandate replay monitors at all OVC venues came a day after Samford beat Murray State 65-64 on Dec. 20 after a controversial last-second 3-pointer with four-tenths of a second remaining on the game clock.
With no replay monitor available, the officials declared the 3-pointer good after a long deliberation.
The OVC plan for the new mandated replay system involves a monitor close to the official timer or on a designated table close to the court. The monitors can only be used to review plays that fall under specific NCAA guidelines such as determining if a fight occurred and if players left the bench area or if a field goal try occurred before time ran off the clock.
Panthers’ basketball loses three players
The Eastern’s men’s basketball team lost three players over the holiday break.
Junior guard Mike Robinson was dismissed from the team on Dec. 17 for an inability to follow team policies.
Sophomore forward Bobby Jolliff left the team and the university and returned home to Hartsville, Ind.
Red-shirt freshman Brandon D’Amico also left the team and plans to transfer to Cardinal Stritch University – an NAIA school in Milwaukee. D’Amico had yet to play in a game for the Panthers this season.
Jackson takes job at Indiana State
Shannon Jackson has returned to his alma mater.
Eastern’s defensive line coach for the last three seasons joined the Indiana State coaching staff as its defensive coordinator on Dec. 11.
Jackson, a 2000 graduate of Indiana State, played four years for the Sycamores on the defensive line. Jackson finished his Sycamore career with 24 sacks-a record that stood for five seasons before Kyle Mitchell (25.5 sacks) broke it.
Jackson spent the next five seasons as an assistant at ISU before coming to Eastern.
Eastern football gets two new players
The Eastern football team will have more depth in the backfield for the 2008 season with the addition of red-shirt freshman running back Chevon Walker, a Florida transfer.
The 5-foot-10, 193 pound running back red-shirted during the 2006 season for head coach Urban Meyer’s team and played in just five games in the 2007 season carrying four times for 14 yards. Walker rushed for 2,027 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior at Riverdale High School in Fort Myers, Fla.
Walker joins a long list of Florida natives on Eastern’s football team. Twenty-six of the 93 players on the Eastern roster are from Florida.
The Panthers also landed Lemont linebacker Gordon Kickels.
Kickels, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker, joins Morris offensive tackle Ben Olson as the second verbal recruit for the Panthers.
Lemont lost the Illinois High School Association 6A championship game to Joliet Catholic 49-7. Kickels led all players in tackles in the championship game with 13 (10 solo). He also led his team in tackles for the season and was a three-year All-Suburban Conference choice at linebacker.
Scott Richey can be reached at 581-7944 or at srrichey@eiu.edu.
