Dalton State College’s Carnilious Simmons is a second-team NAIA Division I All-America basketball player for the 2016-17 season. Simmons, a junior forward from Atlanta, averaged 15 points and 10.4 rebounds a game for the 29-5 Roadrunners, who were ranked third going into the national tournament and reached the quarterfinals, losing to the eventual champions. DSC point guard Isaiah Box received All-America honorable mention.
* University of Tennessee at Chattanooga seniors Justin Tuoyo and Tre’ McLean were selected for National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 22 teams for 2016-17. Tuoyo made the first team and McLean the second team in the district, which comprises the Southern Conference. Other first-teamers were T.J. Cromer of East Tennessee State, Eric Garcia of Wofford and Devin Sibley and Kris Acox of Furman. Tuoyo was the SoCon’s defensive player of the year for the third time, and McLean scored 35 points in one game – the most by a Moc since Z. Mason scored 41 in December 2013.
Tennis
Claire Bartlett* Former Girls Preparatory School tennis standout Claire Bartlett from one of Chattanooga’s royal families in the sport has been hired as the tennis service representative for Tennessee by USTA Southern. The position was created in 2005. “We are extremely pleased to add Claire to our staff, as her successful background in playing and promoting tennis makes her an ideal candidate to help us expand the game in Tennessee,” USTA Southern executive director and COO John Callen said in a Thursday release. The section’s director of programs and player development, Bill Ozaki, said Bartlett “is a special talent who can relate to people throughout the tennis community. Her knowledge and passion for growing the game among young adults is especially important as we work to expand the sports among that population.” After leading GPS to three state team championships and earning three TSSAA titles herself, Bartlett played for Virginia and then transferred to Florida and helped the Gators win SEC and NCAA championships in 2010. She has a master’s degree in sport psychology and motor behavior from Tennessee and has taught tennis at the Knoxville Racquet Club, the Racquet Club of Memphis and GPS. She created the 20&UP Tennis League, a social league for young adults of all ability levels, and started a sport psychology consulting business.
* The second year of the DecoTurf National High School Championships tennis tournament in Chattanooga begins this morning and is scheduled to wrap up late Saturday afternoon. Unlike at its past home in Louisville, Ky., the DecoTurf in Chattanooga includes girls and boys the same weekend, and it will use courts at Baylor, GPS, McCallie, Champions Club, Brainerd and Warner Park. There is no admission charge. The 64 participating teams include GPS and Baylor’s boys and girls in the A Division, the Soddy-Daisy girls in the B and Signal Mountain in the boys-only C.