Written by Russ Gray
With the 2010-2011 regular season nearly complete, senior members of the Bison and Lady Bison basketball teams are starting to reflect on their careers at Harding University.The men’s team (18-3, 8-1) has four seniors on the roster, and the women’s basketball team (14-7, 5-4), has three seniors on its roster.
Senior Stephen Blake said the Bisons look to the seniors for leadership and to help keep the energy high during games.
“It’s very important for us to know that we need to be better than we were the day before,” Blake said. “Teams at this time of the season in divisional play know that they need to improve daily in order to succeed. That’s where the seniors need to help keep the mood of the team high and step up as leaders.”
According to men’s head coach Jeff Morgan, all the senior players on the men’s team have a combined 15 years in the Harding basketball program.
“I’m proud of all these guys,” Morgan said. “Matt Ragsdale has been a great example of a leader, even though he hasn’t gotten to play as much during his senior year. He remains positive and works very hard at every practice.”
Women’s coach Tim Kirby said that having senior leadership helps get the team through this part of the season.
“All three of our seniors do a great job every day leading by example,” Kirby said. “Having these girls who have been through the closing of a season before helps us handle some of the hard times, especially coming off a loss and getting the team ready for the next game.”
Both coaches said they have to take the rest of the season day by day, and that the senior leadership is key to helping the teams become better than the day before.
The four men’s players who are in their senior season are guards Stephen Blake and Sam Brown, forward Kevin Brown, and center Matt Ragsdale.
Stephen Blake, a 5’8″ senior from Greenbrier, Ark., has played in 58 games as a Bison, 15 in which he started. In his Harding career he averaged 8.7 points, two rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Blake is ranked third at Harding in career free-throw percentage, completing 88.5 percent of his free throws. He is sixth in his three-point shooting at 39.7 percent.
Sam Brown, a 6’1″ senior from Little Rock, Ark., has played in 58 games as a Bison. He started in 45 of those games. In his Harding career he averaged 8.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and one assist per game. In his 2009-2010 season, Brown led the team with 37 three-pointers.
Kevin Brown, a 6’4″ senior from Hughes, Ark., has played in 89 games as a Bison. He started 58 of those games. In his career he averaged 12.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Brown ranks second at Harding in career blocked shots with 96, blocking 1.1 shots per game. Brown also ranks sixth in field-goal percentage at 57.5 percent and ninth in free-throw attempts with 475. Brown was recognized in 2010 as 2nd team All-GSC. In 2009 he was recognized as 1st team All-GSC, and in 2008 he was named to the GSC All-Tournament Team.
Matt Ragsdale, 6’6″ senior from Bentonville, Ark., has played in 57 games, 16 as a starter. Ragsdale averaged 5.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Ragsdale redshirted in the 2006-2007 season. In 2009-2010 Ragsdale averaged 6.1 points, 4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.
The three women’s players who are in their senior season are guards Brittany Gottsponer and Bailey St. Clair, and forward Danielle Reiher.
Brittany Gottsponer, a 5’6″ senior from Morrilton, Ark., transferred to Harding during her senior year after a three-year career at Arkansas Tech. In her junior year at Arkansas Tech, she started 22 games and averaged 6.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
Danielle Reiher, a 5’11” senior from Surprise, Ariz., has played in 29 games, 14 in which she started. She averaged 5.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Reiher was ranked fourth on the team in scoring and second on the team for three-point field goal percentages, where she connected on 40.6 percent of her attempts.
Bailey St. Clair a 5’9″ senior from Lubbock, Texas, has played in 29 games as a Bisons, all of which she started. She averaged 13.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. St. Clair was recognized in 2010 for the 2nd Team All-GSC. In the 2009-2010, St. Clair set a Harding record with 90 steals in a season. She also lead Harding in rebounding with 5.9 rebounds per game.
The Bisons and Lady Bisons play their final games Saturday against Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
