The winter sports Media Day was broadcast live Dec. 1 in the CECTV studio where players and coaches of the men’s and women’s basketball teams shared their outlooks on the coming season.
The Media Day was hosted by Keric Seegmiller, the assistant coordinator for media relations, and had panels from multiple media news sources to ask questions.
The show started with an overview of the fall sports season and an interview with Athletic Director Jason Boothe.
Overall, Dixie State University’s sports teams increased their wins in the fall. Men’s soccer was one of the two shining stars of the season when they made it to the conference championship and placed second, and women’s volleyball grabbed on to the Pacific West Conference championship—the first one DSU has seen.
Boothe said he thinks the reason for all the success is because of the coaches who train and mold DSU’s athletes. Both Robyn Felder, head coach of women’s volleyball, and Josh Pittman, head coach of men’s soccer, won the PacWest coach of the year award.
“You’re obviously not coach of the year unless you are awesome on the courts or on the field,” Boothe said.
The show continued to the topic of the upcoming winter sports, and three women’s basketball players, as well as their head coach Jenny Thigpin, were interviewed.
It is Thigpin’s second year as head coach, and she said she has learned a lot about her players.
The team has had a slow start and has not been able to win a game yet, but the players said they hope to learn from the tough teams they battle on the court. The team has played some of the best schools in the conference this pre-season.
“If you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best,” Thigpin said.
The players said the team chemistry is increasing, and they are ready for their upcoming road games.
Men’s basketball players were also invited to share some of their views on the upcoming season. The team is currently 3-3 in pre-season play.
Head coach Jon Judkins said the team has been focusing on defensive and offensive rebounds.
The men’s team is in the same boat as the women’s, playing the tough teams at the beginning of the season. Its players said they hope to learn from it. They were Co-PacWest champions last season. Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr., a business administration major from Spring Valley, California, said seeing the banner hang in the Burns Arena is motivation for this season.
“I know we can get another one if we just play it game by game and just stay focused,” Ogden Jr. said.
