What a March for UTA Athletics!
Exciting games and accomplishments filled the calendar as our presence was felt in the WAC and nationwide across the spectrum of Maverick Sports!
MAV VEGAS
Basketball had a strong week of great play during the WAC Tournament, with each team winning two games before losing to the eventual tournament champions.
Our women's basketball team posted a fifth-place regular season finish in the WAC Standings before an impressive run in the tournament, advancing to the semifinal round.
A pair of Mavericks earned regular All-WAC honors, with Gia Adams landing on the first team and Avery Brittingham being selected to the second team. Brittingham led the Lady Mavs' play in Vegas in earning WAC All-Tournament honors.
Men's basketball finished third in the regular season standings and were the number three seed entering the tournament, advancing to the WAC Tournament championship game.
We had a total of four players collect a league-high seven all-conference awards.Â
DaJuan Gordon earned First Team All-WAC and All-Defensive Team honors, whileÂ
Shemar Wilson earned Second-Team honors and All-Defensive Team honors.
Phillip Russell was named the league's Sixth Player of the Year as the top reserve in the conference, and Makaih Williams earned a spot on the All-Freshman team and was selected WAC Freshman of the Year. Both Wilson and Russell were also named to the WAC All-Tournament team.
With UTA playing in nationally televised games on ESPNU (Friday) and ESPN2 (Saturday), there was an estimated $1.7 million in earned advertising for the UTA Athletics brand.
The honors didn't stop with the players. Head Women's Basketball Coach Shereka Wright was recognized as one of the top coaches in the country by WSlam Magazine, while assistant coach Kaelynn Boyd was named as one of the nation's top assistant coaches under 30 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association for the second straight year.
On the men's side, Head Coach K. T. Turner was named a finalist for two national awards – the Joe B. Hall Award given to the nation's top first-year head coach, and the Ben Jobe Award given to the nation's top minority coach. Assistant Coach Jeremy Pope was named a Mid-Major Assistant Coach Rising Star by Silver Wave Media.
SPRING SPORTS UPDATES
Outdoor Track - Entering April, UTA has 20 Top 3 rankings in the Western Athletic Conference, including the top marks in the women's 100 meters (Madison Pippins), women's 800 meters (Winnie Kapsang), and women's 4 X 100 meters. For the men, the Mavs have the top marks in the high jump (Calen Jones) and decathlon (Brady Shadrick).
Baseball - The Mavs played several close games in March against Power 5 and / or nationally ranked opponents (Arizona State, Oklahoma, #18 TCU, #15 Dallas Baptist) to strengthen us for WAC play. UTA has won three of four WAC series this season, including an impressive series win at first-place Cal Baptist this past weekend. The Mavericks are currently tied for second in the standings and will host TCU and Baylor among the April schedule of games.
Softball - The Lady Mavs have played a challenging non-conference schedule, with five games against ranked opponents, including three against the top teams in the nation at the time of the contest (No. 2 Tennessee, No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 1 Texas) as they prepare for the heart of WAC play. UTA enters April off a home series sweep over Southern Utah and will play arguably its most important stretch of the season with eight conference games in nine days beginning April 5 at defending champion Grand Canyon.
Golf – Championship season is just around the corner for the Mavs on the links, with both teams having only two competitions remaining before the WAC Championships later this month. Both teams have carded Top 10 finishes heading into the final month of the regular season.
The UTA men finished tied for seventh in its last event at Grand Canyon and will compete at events at Wyoming and North Texas before the conference tournament. The Lady Mavs finished sixth at Houston Christian in its last tourney and will compete at Louisiana Monroe and Oral Roberts for the WAC Championship.
Tennis - The defending regular season and WAC Tournament Champion Men's tennis team opened conference play with a home win over Grand Canyon. The defending regular season champion Lady Mavs posted big wins over Oral Roberts, North Texas, and nationally ranked UTSA and ended the month with impressive conference road wins at Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV.
NAME, IMAGE, AND LIKENESS
As I discussed in this space last month, student-athletes receiving compensation for their name, image, and likeness is the new era of collegiate athletics. Here at UTA, we embrace and are fully supportive of NIL.
In support of our men's basketball program, a new NIL collective called Arlington Advantage has launched. In reaching 20 wins in his first season, interest and awareness is high for Coach Turner and his program, which was only a few plays away from playing in the NCAA Tournament. We will relentlessly strive to be great, and NIL opportunities are an integral part of that pursuit of greatness.
Your support of Arlington Advantage (arlingtonadvantage.org), in addition to Dream City Sports (dreamcitysports.com) which provides NIL based opportunities for our other 14 sports, will help provide a pathway to elevate UTA Athletics to championship contender in every athletics program.
Holland Sutton, our Director of Name, Image, and Likeness (
holland.sutton@uta.edu), can assist you with ways you can directly impact our student-athletes and enhance their UTA experience.
NEW ONLINE MERCHANDISE STORE IS OPEN
Visit
utagear.com to buy gear to support our student-athletes and university. The site features more than 1,800 items for purchase, with shipping directly to your door. From infants to adults, we have something for every UTA Maverick. Shop now and get 20 percent off all merchandise at utagear.com.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON / MAV SUPPORTÂ
WAC Championship Season is here, as over the next two months titles will be contested in women's and men's tennis, women's and men's golf, women's and men's outdoor track, softball, and baseball.
Currently, we are fourth in the Commissioner's Cup Standings as the best all-around program in the WAC. Standings are based on regular season finishes for soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, softball and baseball, the WAC Championship results for cross country, indoor and outdoor track, and golf. Â
As we hit the final stretch of the 2023-24 season, every competition for our teams takes on added importance as most contests will be WAC games. Your support can make the difference in helping our student-athletes find that extra boost to help them to victory.
See a game in person. Watch online. Bring your family to a contest. Your time, talent and treasure will help elevate our teams to championship success.
Visit utamavs.com/calendar for the full schedule of games and download the UTA Athletics app to have Maverick news delivered straight to your mobile device.
