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1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Athletics

Transylvania men’s basketball to take on UK in preseason matchup

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Transylvania University men’s basketball team will tip off its 2018-19 campaign against the University of Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Friday, Oct. 26, in a preseason contest. This matchup between the NCAA Division III and Division I neighbors rekindles the crosstown “Battle on Broadway” rivalry for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Rupp Arena is just four blocks down Broadway from Transylvania’s campus. The exhibition game between the Pioneers and Wildcats marks the fourth meeting between the two squads during the 18-year tenure of Transylvania men’s basketball head coach Brian Lane. Transylvania and Kentucky are 7-7 against each other in the regular season dating back to 1903, although Kentucky has won all three of the preseason games. “It was a thrill for our fans, students and alumni to experience all the events surrounding the earlier matchups with UK, and I know this group of student-athletes will share in that excitement,” Lane said. “Coach Calipari’s generosity to the local community never ceases to amaze me, and I appreciate him allowing us to share in the national spotlight in such a historic venue.” This year’s game will also honor the late C.M. Newton, who passed away in June at age 88. A patriarch of the Transylvania men’s basketball program, Newton coached the Pioneers over three stints for 12 seasons and later went on to become athletics director at UK from 1989-2000, guiding Kentucky through one of the

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In Memoriam: Original Transylvania titan C.M. Newton passes away at age 88

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Lexington, Ky. – Legendary coach and administrator C.M. Newton, a Transylvania Athletics Hall-of-Famer, passed away on Monday at the age of 88. Revered as a pioneer and monolith in collegiate athletics, Newton’s career spanned over five decades and began at Transylvania University as the men’s basketball coach in 1951. While he was known by many as an athletic administrator at multiple institutions, including the University of Kentucky, and a fixture in NCAA basketball, Newton’s legacy transcended his title and location. “Newton’s influence as a coach and an administrator was undeniable,” said Transylvania Vice President for Enrollment and Student Life, Dr. Holly Sheilley. “He was instrumental in breaking down racial barriers for players and coaches.” “Coach Newton was one of the classiest men in college sports,” stated 17th-year Transylvania men’s basketball head coach Brian Lane on his predecessor’s passing. “Every day when I sit in my office, I have a picture of Coach Newton behind me on the wall to remind me how important the coach-player relationship is. He started his career at Transylvania but he never forgot his roots. I will always cherish the day he asked if he could come by to talk a little bit.” Newton’s legacy of leadership and service included the recruitment of the first African-American players at both Transylvania and the University of Alabama and later the hiring of the first African-American coaches at the University of Kentucky in Tubby Smith and Bernadette Mattox. In

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RAFYs celebrate Transylvania Pioneers on Sunday

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University celebrated its standout student-athletes Sunday during The RAFYs, the school’s newly renamed sports banquet held at the end of each academic year at the Clive M. Beck Center. The event recognized the achievements of more than 400 Transylvania athletes on 26 varsity teams—not only on their fields of play, but also in the classrooms and community. The RAFYs culminated a successful athletic season at Transylvania, with six teams competing in NCAA Division III national championships. Some of the top honors this year went to the women’s lacrosse and golf teams, which had the most successful seasons in their programs’ history. The awards are named after the Pioneers’ new bat mascot, Raf.   2017-18 winners at The RAFYs Pioneer Team of the Year – Women’s Lacrosse Female Pioneer Athlete of the Year – Renae Morton, Softball Male Pioneer Athlete of the Year – Tyler Joy-Brandon, Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year – Tyrus York, Women’s Golf Female Rookie of the Year – Shelby Wuest, Women’s Lacrosse Male Rookie of the Year – Drew Dodds, Men’s Swimming Team Community Service Award – Men’s Soccer Inspiration Award – Carlee Clemons, Women’s Basketball George Stopp Academic Achievement Award – J.T. Henderson, Men’s Tennis Highest Team GPA – Women’s Golf Female Senior Leadership Award – Katherine Stachowski, Women’s Lacrosse Male Senior Leadership Award – Brandon Heller, Men’s Lacrosse

And the Assist Goes To…

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

Transylvania Women’s Basketball Try to picture a basketball player at the pinnacle of success. Multimillion-dollar shoe contract. Flashy cars. Autographs. Ego. Of course not all successful basketball players are like this. In fact, members of Transylvania’s women’s basketball team strive not for individual glory but for humility and generosity. Coach Juli Fulks drills into her players’ heads this culture of giving, which she sees as necessary to the game as shot blocking and lay-ups. Fulks goes around to every player as they stretch to get ready for each Monday’s practice, and she asks them to talk about how they’ve served others during the past week. And it’s not just the players who are expected to give of themselves. It’s a top down thing—the coaches serve the players just as the seniors are asked to serve their younger teammates, and so on. “We are not the program that expects the freshmen to come in and do the laundry,” Fulks says. “The core fundamental of our team is servant leadership.” This ethic is most evident with the team’s many community engagement efforts—whether they are teaching basketball skills to youth at the YMCA, playing a game with Special Olympics athletes or spending an afternoon at a local retirement home. Perhaps less evident is how being servant-leaders helps them win games. “I think team culture is the number-one factor in being able to win high-level championships,” Fulks says. “And you can’t do that without

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Our Mascot

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

In 2017, Transylvania announced a new Pioneer athletic mascot, Raf, who pays homage to the university’s legendary professor, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, a charismatic naturalist whose tomb is on the first floor of Transylvania’s main administrative building, Old Morrison. The campus also boasts a café bearing his name.  For nearly two decades, Transy was without a Pioneer mascot. Raf was developed through a combination of two years of interviews with current and prospective student-athletes and extensive marketing research. Rafinesque’s passion for bats is the stuff of legend. John James Audubon described hearing a loud commotion one night while Rafinesque was staying at his cottage. Apparently, some bats had fluttered into Rafinesque’s candlelit room through an open window to feed on moths. Raf attacked the bats with the famous ornithologist’s favorite violin, destroying the instrument in the process. While Rafinesque was overjoyed at what he thought was the discovery of a new species, Audubon didn’t share his excitement—both because he doubted it was even a new species, and obviously because of the violin. Today, Transylvania’s mascot is a Rafinesque’s big-eared bat. These Kentucky forest dwellers with freakishly large listeners play an important ecological role by keeping insect populations in check—just as Raf plays an important role at Transy by firing up crowds at Pioneer sporting events and helping recruit new students.