Early Friday morning Western Kentucky University Athletics Director Ross Bjork and President Gary Ransdell meet with now former Men’s Basketball head coach Ken McDonald to inform him he had been released from his duties.
Bjork then meet with the remainder of the coaching staff where he named assistant Ray Harper as the team’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
McDonald’s firing comes only a few hours after the Toppers lost at home in bizarre 6 on 5 overtime finish … Continue reading
The WKU football team may have been snubbed by the bowl system but the Toppers efforts did not go unnoticed by the Sun Belt or university administration.
It was announced Wednesday morning that Head Coach Willie Taggart’s contract was extended through 2019 and his annual salary jumped from $225,000 to $475,000. The $250,000 increase makes Taggart the highest paid employee on the Hill.
“I am very humbled by this show of support, and I will earn every bit of it,” said Taggart. … Continue reading
After a spectacular regular season that featured 31 wins and just three losses, the WKU volleyball team finally learned its postseason destination Sunday evening.
Head Coach Travis Hudson was confident his squad had played well enough throughout the season to draw a favorable first round match and WKU did just that. The Tops will square off with Big East foe Marquette (25-10) in Champaign, Illinois this Friday.
In WKU’s previous four trips to the NCAA Tournament they have come away winless but … Continue reading
There’s a saying that floats around the Hill that certainly held true on Saturday… “It’s a great day to be a Hilltopper.”
The WKU football and basketball teams both notched much needed victories and had Topper fans cheering from early afternoon into the late evening.
Highlighted by a season-high of 227 rushing yards from senior Bobby Rainey day, the football squad capped off the biggest single-season turnaround in Sun Belt history with a dominant 41-18 win over traditional conference power Troy. The … Continue reading
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers senior running back Bobby Rainey breaks the school’s all-time rushing record. The record was previous help by back Lerron Moore (2003-2006) at 4,396 yards. Rainey ran for a total of 227 in the Tops victory over Troy. Rainey now sits atop the school’s all-time rushing record with 4,542 rushing yards.
Volleyball coach Travis Hudson has repeatedly raved about the resiliency of his squad.
The Lady Tops showed why on Saturday afternoon, responding from an embarrassing second set loss to MTSU to take the next two sets and the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
WKU took the first set 25-22, nearly trading point for point with the Blue Raiders. MTSU jumped out to a 13-4 start in the second set and cruised to victory to tie the match up at 1-1.
Whatever Hudson’s intermission speech … Continue reading
Another wild week of college sports has come to a conclusion and for the most part it was a massive success for each athletic program on the Hill. In case you were hiding under a rock or maybe only paying attention to that impressive Topper football squad, we’ll give you a quick recap of all the action.
Football
It was pretty ugly for about 59 minutes and 56 seconds but that’s why you play 60. The Tops scraped a 10-9 victory over reigning … Continue reading
In open letter to fans WKU Athletic Director Ross Bjork urges fans to come out and support the Hilltoppers Saturday afternoon. The TOPS will play host to Florida International with kick off set for 3pm.
Head coach Willie Taggart had this to say during Monday’s media luncheon.
November means the over-lapping of the tail end of fall sports and the tip off of winter sports. And all that fun stuff begins this week.
It’s another huge week on the Hill with many winter and fall sports teams in action with the exception of the cross country squads that swept the Sun Belt Championships this weekend.
Let’s take a quick look at the week ahead:
Football (4-4, 4-1)
WKU boasts a four game winning streak for the first time since 2005 and … Continue reading
The story line around WKU football no longer revolves around losing for the first time in nearly four years.
The Tops have won three straight games for the first time since 2007, snapped the 18-game home losing streak, and are looking to improve upon their 3-1 Sun Belt record.
There’s still plenty of football left to be played but this Topper team now enters unfamiliar territory. Sitting at third in the Sun Belt standings, games are no longer being played in hopes … Continue reading