Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga quarterback B.J. Coleman has a new opportunity in football. Coleman, who prepped at McCallie and started his college career at Tennessee, has been assigned to the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena League. According to a news release from the league, Coleman will compete with recently acquired former Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick for the backup job behind reigning AFL MVP Nick Davila. The Rattlers have won the last three Arena Bowl championships. Coleman was selected in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers and spent that season on the practice squad. While playing three seasons for UTC, Coleman set a school record with 52 touchdown passes and threw for 6,871 yards.
Wrestling
For the second time this season, UTC's Jared Johnson has been named Southern Conference wrestler of the week. The sophomore heavyweight was 2-0 and scored bonus points in SoCon wins over Gardner-Webb and Campbell. He has a team-high 22 victories and is 11-1 in dual competition. Johnson also was the league's wrestler of the week on Dec. 24. The Mocs will host The Citadel at 6 p.m. Friday and remain at home for senior day against VMI on Sunday.
Basketball
UTC women's basketball junior Alicia "Red" Payne was named SoCon student-athlete of the week by the league office Wednesday. The junior from Memphis is a social work major with a 3.83 grade point average, and she has had a 4.0 each of the last two semesters and was named to the dean's list and athetics director's honor roll. On the court, Payne has increased her scoring output recently, reaching double figures in the Mocs' last two games, and she's fifth in the league in assists with 3.1 per game. She leads the SoCon in assist-to-turnover margin at 2.3.
Tennessee Wesleyan split an Appalachian Athletic Conference basketball doubleheader Wednesday at Reinhardt. The Lady Bulldogs, ranked 10th in NAIA Division II, won 63-39, but the TWC men lost 107-102 in overtime. Jenna Adams led the Lady Bulldogs (19-1, 11-1) with 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Shira Buley had five assists with 10 points. Carmen Lockhart led Reinhardt (12-8, 8-3) with 12 points, and former Dade County player Erika Woodfin had eight points and three steals. Reinhardt's men outscored the Bulldogs (9-9, 5-6) 15-10 in the extra period. Stephen Kite Jr. led five TWC players in double figures with 33 points, followed by Charles White and Leland Robinson with 20 and 19 plus seven and six assists and Devante Jenkins with 14 points and eight rebounds. Reinhardt (11-7, 5-5) was led by Justin Zachary's 25 points, while Matt Porter had 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Bryan College swept visiting Tennessee Temple in nonconference basketball Wednesday, 70-54 in the women's game and 75-66 in the men's. Brandon Cole had 35 points and 18 rebounds while Oteriah Lee had five assists with 11 points for the winning Lions (10-8). Megan Billingsby had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Keila Formont had 14 points and eight assists for the Lady Lions (14-5).
LaGrange beat the Covenant men 86-81 and edged the Lady Scots 71-67 in USA South basketball Wednesday on Lookout Mountain. Haley Soles was 6-of-9 on 3s and scored 19 points for the Lady Scots (1-15, 1-7), who got 10 apiece from Morgan Woodward and Jessica Bell, while Shaye Butler led LaGrange (11-5, 6-1) with 23. T.J. Cox scored 19 and Will Portlock and Michael Turner added 12 each for the Scots (4-12, 3-4), who rallied from 15 down to lead by four before falling. The visitors' Mark Wagner had 22 points with six 3s and six steals, and Nick Mitchell had 17 points and five assists.
Dalton State College moved up from 14th to 13th in the NAIA Division I men's basketball poll this week and takes a 15-2 record tonight to Martin Methodist, which is ranked No. 5.
Soccer
Newly hired UTC soccer coach Gavin McKinney will look to get a feel for the local talent level with the Mocs' ID Camp on Feb. 14, with activities at Finley Stadium and on campus. "We are very excited to be hosting our first ID Camp in the new era of UTC soccer," McKinney said in a released statement. "We have been receiving a lot of interest throughout the region, and this is the best way for us to identify and get to know future prospective student-athletes." The camp will from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature training sessions with UTC coaches, question-and-answer sessions on college soccer and games. The cost is $80, and more information can be obtained by emailing McKinney at Gavin-McKinney@utc.edu.