The inaugural Achieving Coaching Excellence College Basketball Honor Roll released this week includes Lamont Paris, with his third season in charge of the men's program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga producing a 20-13 record and possibly an appearance in a national invitational tournament for the Mocs before the 2019-20 postseason was suddenly cut short in mid-March by the coronavirus pandemic. According to a release from ACE, the organization's honor roll for the season "recognizes leaders in women's and men's college basketball that demonstrate tenets of coaching excellence that include on and off the court performance, community involvement and serving as champions for college basketball, their coaching peers and the coaching profession." A dozen coaches each in men's and women's basketball were honored, with Florida State's Leonard Hamilton and South Carolina's Dawn Staley each singled out as a "Head of the Class" honoree.
* Cleveland State guard Asjah Harrell is an NJCAA All-America second-team selection for the 2019-20 season, with the 5-foot-6 freshman the school's first All-American since women's basketball player Jamesha Mosley five years ago. Harrell, already the freshman and player of the year for the TCCAA, averaged 20.2 points and 5.6 assists per game to rank third and first, respectively, in the conference this past season. Chattanooga State freshman forward Melisa Carter received All-American honorable mention. Her Lady Tigers were the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII tournament champions.
* With hopes the coronavirus pandemic will have subsided enough to ease social distancing guidelines this summer, the Lee University men's basketball program and Flames coach Bubba Smith have announced dates for their annual camps at Paul Dana Walker Arena in Cleveland. The Bubba Smith Skills and Drills Camp is June 8-11, with discounts available for early birds (by May 1), siblings and employees (one discount per registration); registration is at leeflamesbasketballcamps.com. Team camp for high school varsity, junior varsity and middle school programs is June 11-13, with a reservation fee due by May 31 and registration available by contacting assistant coach Cole Rose at 423-614-8061 or crose@leeuniversity.edu. One-day elite camps for rising sophomores to rising seniors in high school will be held Aug. 8-9. Each session is limited to 60 players; contact Rose to register.
Football
* The UTC athletic department is offering a football fix for anyone in the need with a "Throwback Thursday" watch party. The Facebook Live event, which looks at the history of UTC football through the Chamberlain Field era, starts at 8 p.m. Longtime Chattanooga sportscaster Darrell Patterson will host the documentary "Mocs on the Move," which was originally released in 1997 after the opening of Finley Stadium. The video includes highlights of several UTC legends, including George McCoy (1926-29), Carey Henley (1958-61), Harold Wilkes (1956-58) and Joe Lee Dunn (1965-67).
Golf
* Dalton State senior Ben Rebne from Ringgold is the Southern States Athletic Conference player of the year for men's golf for the second straight spring, and he was joined in All-SSAC recognition by two other Roadrunners: fellow senior Sport Allmond - his former high school teammate at Heritage who also made the SSAC men's golf all-academic team for 2020 - and junior Matthew Cleary, from Dalton and Southeast Whitfield High. Rebne led the SSAC and was fourth in the NAIA in scoring average at 70.89, and he was No. 2 in the NAIA in head-to-head rankings. Dalton State senior Eli Hendrick made the SSAC's "Champions of Character" team.
Compiled by Marty Kirkland and Lindsey Young. Contact Kirkland at mkirkland@timesfreepress.com. Contact Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.