Q and A with Courtland Fuller

July 02, 2009

By Drew Champlin

Courtland Fuller (18) has waited four years for this opportunity - to be a starter for Troy’s football team. I did this Q and A with Fuller. It’s the centerpiece in Friday’s paper.

OF NOTE, I’m headed out of town for the next few days. I’ll have some pre-loaded blog stuff over the next few days, but might not be able to answer questions until the middle of next week. Hope everyone has a happy 4th of July weekend.

Look ahead/look back Thursday, Part 4

By Drew Champlin

This is the fourth in a 12-part series leading up to the Thursday

LOOKING AHEAD: Arkansas State, in Jonesboro, Sept. 26

The Red Wolves should have another quality team in the Sun Belt this year, and will likely be picked to finish either second or third in the preseason Sun Belt poll. An in-depth report can be found HERE from the NY Times Quad blog (of which, Troy is ranked ahead of at least two SEC teams, maybe more). ASU used to have Troy’s number, winning games in odd ways over the course of several years until Troy reversed the trend in 2007 with a shutout win in Jonesboro and a blowout win to close the regular season last year. Strange things do happen in Jonesboro. ASU is led by senior QB Corey Leonard and RB Reggie Arnold, both of whom seem like they’ve been there forever, and reigning Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Alex Carrington, a defensive end. Leonard is a dual-threat QB who led ASU to an upset win over Troy in 2006, and he’s poised for a big senior season. Arnold has a chance to break the Sun Belt’s career rushing record this year.

What do I think? This game will be the biggest game of the season for ASU and could be the biggest game of the season for Troy, since more teams will be gunning for Troy. The schedule sets up perfect for ASU, with a bye week before the game as Troy will have had an emotional in-state rivalry game with UAB the week before and a game at Florida two weeks prior. Troy will have to be on its A-game, but the Trojans should be able to escape with a win unless they turn it over too many times.

Read about the Red Wolves: Go to The Den for chatter. The Jonesboro Sun provides day-to-day coverage during the season and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette gives a little love, too.

Looking back: Oklahoma State 55, Troy 24

Not much to say about that one, except road games at Big 12 opponents aren’t much fun for the Trojans. Troy’s offense, still in the growing stages last year with new personnel leading the charges, moved the ball fine. The defense just couldn’t stop anyone. READ my game story, and a notebook. I’ll just post a couple of video clips that TrojanVision provided for me last year (thanks, Trojanvision!)

Here’s a good play….

And here’s the play that summed up the night…

Thursday link

July 01, 2009

By Drew Champlin

Here’s the basketball story I wrote about today with Troy selecting an architect. Bear in mind that it’s still in the very early stage, so no designs/plans are in place, but the money’s there and they’re ready to get going.

UALR was the prime school mentioned by Steve Dennis as schools they want to take a trip to. He didn’t mention other schools, but said the trips to other arenas would be a short one. Nearby schools to UALR are Arkansas State and Memphis (which plays in the FedEx Forum downtown), but I think UALR is the facility they really like. Hot Springs, Ark., where the Sun Belt Tournament is held, is also nearby. No idea how their facilities compare.

I’ve got a Q and A with Courtland Fuller coming up Friday. It was supposed to run earlier this week, but I wrote about baseball and basketball gyms instead.

Also later today will be the fourth installment of Look ahead/look back Thursdays, as we look back at the debacle that was Oklahoma State, and look ahead to Arkansas State, a very pivotal game early in the season.

Some football dates to remember…

By Drew Champlin

Courtesy of Troy media relations.
View their channel on youtube at youtube.com/troyathletics. View my channel on youtube at youtube.com/dothaneagletroy. View Micah Grimes’ channel at youtube.com/bigcrazymikey

Reporting Day - July 30
Media training - July 31
Picture day - Aug 1
First practice - Aug 2
First scrimmage, plus media day - Aug 8
Second scrimmage - Aug. 15
Third scrimmage - Aug. 22
Fan Day - Aug. 23
First Trojan Talk - Aug. 25

I wonder if that third scrimmage is a full-go scrimmage. Usually that’s been a walk-through or a walk-on scrimmage. Also, there will be no two-a-day practices this preseason.

Architect selected for Troy basketball arena

By Drew Champlin

Just spoke with Bill Wallace of Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood. He’s the Executive Vice President and Secretary there.

That firm, based out of Montgomery, will be the lead archtectural firm in the design for Troy’s new multipurpose arena. They will be partnered with Populous, formerly known as HOK Sport. Wallace, who has been with GMC since 1986, is the Principal on this project.

GMC has done a great deal around the state and region. Wallace listed the Ross Bridge Resort, new Montgomery Hotel & Convention Center, new Colonial Bank headquarters, the Pharmacy Building at Auburn, and a few other projects. Check out GMC’s portfolio for what all they’ve done.

What will really push this project over the edge, Wallace feels, is the involvement of Populous, which has an impressive list of projects (just go there and look at the arenas, facilities, etc).

Unfortunately I don’t have any sketches for you. That’s because they’re still in the very early planning stages. There isn’t even a prime location set for this project, not to mention costs, designs, etc. GMC was just awarded this project about two weeks ago. Wallace said there will be trips to other arenas soon to check out aspects, etc., and see how they would fit in at Troy. Though it’s still in the infant stages, this should be a fast-paced project.

I’ll have more tomorrow, but Wallace has become a big Troy fan through dealings with the University.

“Troy is a great university with great leadership,“ Wallace said. “I’ve come to find that out over the last several months. I’m a real huge Troy fan.“