Tubby Smith

Georgetown, KY – Tubby Smith – a man with a reputation for character-building and a coach appreciated by Kentucky basketball fans of almost every stripe – will tip-off Year 2 of Billy Reed’s “Conversations with Champions” as a slam-dunk to pack John L. Hill Chapel. This free, “fireside chat” event with the former UK basketball coach and current University of Minnesota head man will begin at 7:30 p.m., September 26.

“Tubby Smith is one of the finest gentlemen and best basketball coaches I’ve ever been around,” said Reed, who took on a role as a Georgetown College Executive Scholar-in-Residence a year ago to crusade for bringing character, ethics and integrity back to collegiate athletics. “He’s living proof that it’s possible to do things the right way and still win championships.”

Former UK coach Tubby Smith has guided the Minnesota Golden Gophers since 2007-08.

Smith left the University of Georgia to return to UK for the 1997-98 season when Rick Pitino left for the NBA and he coached the Cats to a second NCAA crown in three years. He was an assistant at UK (1989-91) when Pitino had the challenge of resurrecting a Wildcat program that was reeling from NCAA probation and player defections.

He left UK in 2007 for the challenge of turning the struggling Minnesota program around. His Golden Gophers have won at least 20 games the past three seasons and made the NCAA tournament two of those years.

Reed, who this summer begins his second year as the College’s second Executive Scholar-in- Residence (former Kentucky Gov. Martha Layne Collins, who is still in residence, was the first), nearly has the 2011-12 “Conversations with Champions” booked. So far, other expected guests are horseman Seth Hancock, who syndicated Secretariat for a record $6 million in ’72; multi Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor John Carroll, whose Lexington Herald-Leader won the ’86 award for its investigation of UK basketball transgressions; UK football coach Joker Phillips; and author and adventurer Tori Murden-McClure, the first woman to row alone across the Atlantic and now Vice President for External Relations, Enrollment Management, and Student Affairs at Spalding University in Louisville.

All of Reed’s “Conversations with Champions” in 2010-11 were filmed for airing on Kentucky Educational Television. His guests were former University of Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton, who once chaired the NCAA rules committee; former University of Louisville and NBA basketball star Junior Bridgeman, now a successful businessman and member of the PGA board of directors; “Madame Butterfly” Mary T. Meagher, the swimming star of the 1984 Olympics; sports marketing legend Jim Host, current chairman of the Louisville Arena Authority; NBC sportscaster Tom Hammond, host of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown and the network’s coverage of Olympic track and field, and ice skating; and Hall of Fame jockeys Pat Day and Chris McCarron.

Reed heads up the College’s new Academy for Character in Sport, which will be seeking public involvement to be truly successful in changing the culture. An acclaimed sports journalist formerly with the Louisville Courier-Journal and senior writer for Sports Illustrated, he will also hold a Sports Journalism Workshop for high school juniors and seniors August 8-10. Follow Reed’s blog and more at http://acs.georgetowncollege.edu

Georgetown, KY – The latest team to put Georgetown College “on the map” doesn’t kick, shoot or spike a ball. Rather, it’s all about reeling ‘em in.

The 2011 GC Bass Fishing Team, from left: Clay Elliott, Mike Huff, John Hunter, Lauren Kelly, Vincent Timperio, Logan Kincer and Nick Huff. All of the men are members of Kappa Alpha fraternity. Clay and Nick are proudly pointing to the “GC Wall” with their Duckett Fishing Rods.

On June 19, GC’s Bass Fishing Team placed 10^th among 40 collegiate squads in the National Guard College Fishing Tournament at the Wolf River Chain of Lakes in Wisconsin. The other 39 duos represented universities; Georgetown was the only college!

Club president Clay Elliott, a rising junior from Pikeville, and Vincent Timperio, a junior from Corbin, represented GC and caught the limit of five fish – the largest a 9-pound, 13-oz bass. Eastern Kentucky University (12 lbs/10oz) and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (12 lbs/1oz) finished one-two.

Elliott, who is leaning toward a marketing career after college, said he went up with his father about two weeks prior to pre-fish the tourney area. “After that I was totally comfortable,” he said. “A local fisherman we went out with said he’d throw me in the lake if we didn’t finish in the top 10!”

The Bass Fishing Team is hoping to be declared an official “club sport” under the supervision of Georgetown College Athletics sometime in July. Volunteer coach Rex Huff, a semi-professional bass fisherman and father of team member Mike Huff – a junior from Corbin – would be the coach.

To say the team is “family” is not a stretch. Mike Huff, Nick Huff (who lives on the same Corbin street as Mike) and Clay Elliott are all first cousins. (Incidentally, Nick’s father, Dave, is an ’83 GC grad; both of Clay’s parents – John and Shanna (Huff) Elliott – are ’80 grads.)

Cousins Mike and Nick will represent the College at the next National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Division tournament July 16 at the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich. And, Clay has organized a “Battle of the Border” tournament between colleges from Kentucky and Tennessee at Lake Cherokee, TN, July 23-24.

The other members of the team are Logan Kincer, a junior from Mount Vernon; John Hunter, a sophomore from Shelbyville; and Shelby County High graduate Lauren Kelly, a sophomore now of Morehead City, NC.

Elliott said these Tiger fishermen love to show off their “GC” jerseys at regional and national competitions. “We’re a human billboard,” he said.

GC Executive Scholar-in-Residence Billy Reed went one-on-one with Gale Sayers at our Thomas & King Conference Center.

Georgetown, KY – Although the piggy-back booking of former NFL great Gale Sayers was practically last moment, June 24 will be a lasting memory for those who got to meet and hear the legendary Chicago Bears running back. The Blanton Collier  Sportsmanship Group, which honored the Sixties star with their annual award the night before in Lexington, brought him to campus; Friday evening, Sayers was inducted into The Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.

John Heck ’87 read in this alumni e-newsletter the day before Sayers’ appearance and just “had to bring” his young family of four down from Dayton to hear sports journalist Billy Reed engage him in a special summer “Conversations with Champions” event at Georgetown College’s Thomas & King Conference Center. A longtime fan of Sayers’ fellow Hall-of-Famer Dick Butkus, Heck said his passion for the Bears “just expanded from there.”

Sayers with the Hecks – John and Lori with their children Philip and Ellie. John has the Roger Penske car dealerships account with The Reynolds & Reynolds Company in Dayton.

Reed’s interview delved into Sayers’ brief-but-spectacular football career, the special friendship that he (a black man) had with teammate Brian Piccolo (a white man who died young of cancer) – and the movie “Brian’s Song” that immortalized them both, his thoughts on leadership, his strong views on how the NFL should do more for injured players from the league’s early years, and life-after-football. After this “fireside chat,” several audience members got to ask questions – including Heck’s children, Philip (10) and Ellie (8).

Philip couldn’t have set Sayers up any better with “What do you think was your best year?” The answer: His second season, repeating with more than 1,000 yards gained to again lead the league – the only player to ever accomplish that and made even more special because he was coming back from a bad knee injury.

Then, Sayers was kind enough to to drop by and speak with the 120 young participants in the Bill Cronin Football Camp. He relished telling the boys the same story about his nearly unfathomable feat. But first, the campers (age 8 through high school seniors) oohed and ahh-ed through a highlights reel of Sayers’ best juking runs as a Bear.

When the lights came on, Sayers said “I had a gift. I hope you’re listening to your coaches – your father on the field – because you don’t have that gift – yet.”

The Bill Cronin Football Camp participants hung on the NFL Hall of Famer’s every word.

Cronin, the GC Tigers head football coach, would later say, “His visit was pretty special – everyone, including our coaches, was in awe.”

Billy Reed told the campers, “Rarely do you get to be in the presence of true greatness as you are right now.” He was talking not only about Sayers, the great athlete, but also the successful businessman and an ex-player who knows what it means to give back.

Billy Reed became the College’s second Executive Scholar-in-Residence last summer (former Kentucky Gov. Martha Layne Collins was and still is the first). His role includes heading up GC’s new Academy for Character in Sport, which was established to address the well-documented decline of character, integrity and ethics in sports and the media. And, Friday he suggested that he and Sayers – who is known for his tutoring and mentoring – should talk more about helping each other’s causes. Follow Reed’s blog at acs.georgetowncollege.edu

Georgetown, KY- Graduate students in the new blended Advanced Teacher Leader Rank One cohort program will soon be able to take courses in a mostly online format while receiving the individualized faculty attention and strong peer support network for which Georgetown College is known.

The emphasis of this program is to extend teacher leadership to the school level. This is accomplished through core courses that include advanced, relevant instruction in working with diverse learners through collaboration, literacy, and technology, and through using school data for effective decision making. These core course experiences culminate with a final school leadership project designed to positively impact the school.  

“A number of inquiring teachers have expressed real excitement about the school leadership element,” said Dr. Andrea Peach, Associate Dean of Graduate Education. “For example, many teachers in our master’s program have demonstrated exceptional leadership and have written grants for their schools, developed school literacy plans, and presented at state and national conferences.  The new Rank I program will offer teachers the flexibility to continue to pursue these leadership opportunities.

You may find out how to apply now by going to  http://education.georgetowncollege.edu/ (then click on the Graduate Admission link) or by calling the Graduate Education Office at 502.863.8176. In order to begin in Fall 2011, you must submit your application by July 22.

Students who enroll in the Advanced Teacher Leader Rank One program will also earn an additional endorsement either in English as a Second Language, Gifted and Talented or Instructional Technology, certification in Moderate/Severe Disabilities, or special recognition by completing the English as a Second Language or Autism Spectrum Disorders cognate.

The first Fall Georgetown College blended cohort will provide the option of completing the program as a member of a close-knit blended and online professional community (cohort) with a maximum of 20 students. By taking two courses each semester, students will be complete the 30 hour program in five semesters. However, students may also choose to take one class per semester if desired.

While most of the courses will be online (with one required face-to-face meeting each semester), two or three of the core courses may have a maximum of three additional face to face meetings, primarily on Saturdays. “While many students love the convenience of the online courses, many also desire meaningful face to face contact with each other. Through this first Rank One Advanced Teacher Leadership cohort, we are striving to meet the learning needs of all of our students while maintaining the close relationships that our students crave,”said Dr. Peach.

Students choosing the Fall 2011 Advanced Teacher Leader Rank One cohort option will pre-register and complete a contract to take the required core Rank One cohort classes in a specified order. Additional endorsement online courses will be taken according to student schedules.

Georgetown College is a Christian, liberal arts institution, offering several graduate programs in education. These include Master of Arts degrees in Alternative Certification and Special Education Learning Behavior Disorders as well as Teacher-Leader Master of Arts with specialization in your content area or with endorsements/certification/cognates in English as a Second Language, Gifted & Talented, Instructional Technology, Reading Specialist, Moderate/Severe Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Students may earn their Rank One through various options. For additional questions on these new program options, please contact the Graduate Education Office by calling 502.863.8176 or by emailing grad@georgetowncollege.edu.