TigerNation Weekly: Recent Episodes
Campbellsville University Athletics
John Chewning, a 2019 spring semester graduate of Campbellsville University, played on the Tiger football team and was a member of two championships. He now is teaching at his alma mater in high school, Taylor County, and is also coaching football for the Cardinals.
Casey Young played for Campbellsville from 2006-2009 and helped lead the Tigers to its only Top 15 ranking in history - the Tigers are now ranked No. 10 by GolfStat and Young is the only person to be a part of both rankings now as a player and coach. As a player, he worked his way into the Top 5 for CU his freshman year and was a mainstay there for the rest of his career. The Tigers won the MSC championship in 2006, finished second in 2007 and won again in 2008, qualifying for the NAIA Tournament. He played for the late Coach PJ Throckmorton. He passed away in April 2018 and Casey wrote a great feature that dove deep into The Life Unashamed. Read the story - https://bit.ly/35R3zkU
Benji Kelly, the second all-time leading scorer in Tiger Basketball history, joins the show for the final episode before the new year. Benji finished his career with 2,121 points and returned to Campbellsville after a few years away. He's held the title of Admissions Counselor, Director of Alumni Relations and Planned Giving and now is the Vice President for Development.
He still gets his basketball fix during the season as he fills the role of color analyst for Tiger and Lady Tiger Basketball on the CU Sports Network.
The very first quarterback in Fighting Tiger Football, Mike Mason, returns to the Maple Trail for the first time in many years and the memories came flooding back. He sits down with Jordan Alves to discuss his favorite memories but also how coach Ron Finley and former President Dr. Ken Winters made a lasting impact on his life.
The only person to see all 344 Campbellsville University Fighting Tiger Football games, Kevin Burkhead, joins the podcast this week to discuss his favorite memories over the years. Kevin, a Campbellsville University alumnus, was the first manager for head coaches Ron Finley (football) and Beauford Sanders (baseball) and has spent the previous 33 years writing stats by hand or punching them into a keyboard. Kevin has kept stats for the Tigers in all 344 games CU has played as a junior varsity and varsity program.
The 11th episode of the year will feature the Tigers and Lady Tiger soccer programs as they both compete this week at the NCCAA National Championship in Kissimmee, Florida. Head coaches Adam Preston and Alex Adams sit down with Zach Clements and Jordan Alves from the Grand Orlando Resort in Celebration to breakdown the first few wins and look ahead to the rest of the week.
David Montoya was hired in the summer of 2020 to take over as the full-time assistant coach for Lady Tiger softball. Coach Montoya has made the transition to the game of softball after being a two-time All Mid-South Conference performer at second base for the Tiger baseball team.
After his playing days, Montoya spent a few years working in the CU enrollment office as an enrollment counselor to help students and student-athletes make their way to Campbellsville University. We dive into the coversation focusing on the transition from baseball to softball but also preview the Lady Tigers for 2021!
Rusty Hollingsworth has made the transition from Director of Athletics to Vice President for Student Services and Athletics. Instead of being on the front lines with the coaches, staff and student-athletes, Rusty has now moved up the ladder into the President's Cabinet at CU. His hard work behind the scenes over the last 20 years has helped develop CU into one of the most premiere NAIA athletic departments in the country. But outside of CU athletics, Rusty is a true servant leader in and out of the athletics department. He's traveled with the athletics department on multiple mission trips to spread the gospel and run sport camps in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Tune in and hear Rusty's story before his time at CU and how things have transformed on campus in the last 20 years.
Head Coach Brent Vernon sat down this week with #TigerNationWeekly TV Show host Zach Clements and the two broke down the 2020-21 CU basketball squad. Coach Vernon and the Tigers have three games during the week of Nov. 2 as CU hosts Kentucky Christian, Union and Simmons College to start the 2020-21 campaign.
Rick Wilson has deep roots in Campbellsville and is an avid CU Tiger fan. He was one of the original members of CU's 12th Man Club and has kept the scoreboard at football games since the late 1980s. Currently, Rick is the lead team sales manager at H&W Sport Shop - the official Adidas dealer for Tiger and Lady Tiger Athletics.
In episode #7, Rick discusses his connection with Campbellsville University athletics and how he has seen many games at Finley Stadium and Powell Athletic Center!
Rick Wilson has deep roots in Campbellsville and is an avid CU Tiger fan. He was one of the original members of CU's 12th Man Club and has kept the scoreboard at football games since the late 1980s. Currently, Rick is the lead team sales manager at H&W Sport Shop - the official Adidas dealer for Tiger and Lady Tiger Athletics.
In episode #6, Rick discusses the partnership between Campbellsville and H&W and how the multi-million-dollar company has grown into one of the largest Adidas dealers in the country.
The 2019 Bassmaster College Series Bracket Qualifier Champion, Nick Ratliff, went from an ordinary college angler to a professional in a span of one year and the opportunity was given because he fished at Campbellsville University. He is the only angler from CU to compete in the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing - the Bassmaster Classic. Check out behind the scenes of Nick's upbringing in bass fishing but also how he has transitioned from the college stage to the professional tour.
Jacob Russell was an NAIA All-American, NCCAA Player of the Year, set multiple single-season and career records during his time two-year stint, and led Campbellsville University football to back-to-back Mid-South Conference Regular Season Championships in 2014-15. Jacob transferred to Campbellsville at winter break 2013-14 and started on the CU baseball team. After hitting .330 for the Tigers, Jacob's passion for football took the forefront and he helped transform the CU Fighting Tigers back to prominence in the MSC and NAIA. He led CU two back-to-back NAIA Playoffs and ended his career as arguably the best QB to come through the program.
Jacob has traveled with CU on multiple mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Belize. He also has traveled to Florida prisons with the CU football team to minister to the inmates and play softball.
He is currently the offensive coordinator at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. He's coached at Union as the WR coach and now the OC. He's also coached at Webber International in Babson Park, Florida.
Matt Chewning, or if you're his parents David and Jennifer it's still Matthew, a Taylor County High School product played golf at Campbellsville University from 2012-2015 but also worked inside the athletics department as an intern and work-study. His work ethic is what stood out to administration then and it's standing out now inside a new administration at East Jessamine High School. The 26-year old just become the new head coach for the boy's basketball team at East and is finally getting his chance to lead a squad of his own.
Matt's brother, John, was an offensive linemen for the Fighting Tigers and graduated in the spring of 2019. He also teaches and coaches but has stayed inside the Taylor County School system. The two are very close and this podcast dives into their relationship from Matt's perspective and also how he worked his way to becoming the head coach at East Jessamine.
Dealing with COVID-19 while also pregnant AND trying to recruit for the upcoming cross country season... sounds like a nightmare but head coach Hilary Lakes handled it with flying colors. She and her husband Brandon welcomed their second daughter, Isabelle, into the world this August and they are also in the process of building their first home in Campbellsville. We dive into quarantine, how their family was secluded on campus while it was shutdown, but also preview the upcoming cross country season.
One of the busiest men in all of NAIA intercollegiate athletics premieres as the first episode of #TigerNation Weekly. Mid-South Conference Commissioner Eric Ward sits down with Jordan Alves to discuss how he has built the MSC into a powerhouse conference but also how the MSC Administrative Council made decisions to postpone fall regular season for the spring. Commissioner Ward and Alves sit down for an hour-long discussion and it dives deep into the workings of the Mid-South Conference.