College notebook: Henry Clay HS star Warrick commits to NKU; Norse women picked sixth in poll

By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter

Northern Kentucky University has received a commitment from one of the top basketball players in the state, landing Henry Clay High School’s Marques Warrick.

The Lexington native announced his decision earlier this week and is expected to sign with NKU in November. A 6-foot-3 guard, Warrick averaged 21.1 points per game last season. He also drained 91 shots from 3-point range as Henry Clay posted a 28-6 record.

A sharp-shooting lefty, Warrick converted 52.4 percent of his field goals and made 111 free throws in 143 attempts (77.6 percent). He scored 719 points as a junior and also averaged 4.1 rebounds per game.

Warrick enters his senior season with 1,188 career points. He earned third-team All-State honors as a junior and was named an 11th Region all-star. Henry Clay is expected to contend for the 11th Region championship this season.

Warrick also had offers from Eastern Kentucky, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Bellarmine, which will begin transitioning to NCAA Division I after this season.

LEXINGTON RECRUITING COUP: Warrick’s announcement is a big boost for NKU recruiting and first-year head coach Darrin Horn. How important are Lexington high schools as far as recruiting? NKU emerged as a national power at the NCAA Division II level in the 1990s by landing several talented players from Lexington.

LaRon Moore and Reggie Talbert were both Bryan Station standouts, while Demond Lane was a Henry Clay star. That trio helped NKU advance to a pair of national championship games (1996 and 1997) in Division II. Moore and Talbert were keys as the Norse won their first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season title in 1994-95.

NKU nearly added a third Bryan Station standout for the 1995-96 season when star forward Tony Davis — then at Southwestern Illinois Community College — signed a non-binding agreement to continue his career in Highland Heights. Davis, a 6-foot-5 forward and powerful rebounder, would have joined Moore and Talbert as an all-Bryan Station frontcourt at NKU.

But in early August of 1995, after earning his associate degree and becoming eligible to sign with a Division I program, Davis backed out of his commitment to NKU and instead chose to attend Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) and play for then-head coach Steve Alford. It turned out to be a mistake, as Davis scored just 115 points (2.7 ppg) and grabbed only 148 rebounds (3.6 rpg) in two seasons with the Bears.

Former NKU head coach Ken Shields often said Davis would have been the perfect complement to the 6-foot-6 Moore as a power forward, with the 6-foot-7 Talbert patrolling the middle. Nevertheless, NKU won the regional title in 1995-96 and defeated both Cal State Bakersfield and Virginia Union to reach the NCAA Division II national championship game.

Fort Hays State then capped an unbeaten season (34-0) by knocking off NKU, 70-63, in front of a national television audience on CBS.

NKU WOMEN TABBED SIXTH: The NKU women’s basketball team is picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll. Norse senior guard Molly Glick was named to the Horizon League’s preseason second team.

NKU posted an 11-18 overall record last season, but the Norse compiled a 10-8 mark in the Horizon League to tie for fifth place. NKU returns all five starters from that team and adds four newcomers in Carissa Garcia, Tayah Irvin, Janna Lewis and Ivy Turner.
 
NKU plays host to Davis & Elkins on Oct. 31 in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. The Norse begin regular-season play on Nov. 6 with a 7 p.m. road game at Eastern Kentucky.

2019-20 Horizon League women’s basketball preseason poll

Pl. School (1st-place) – points
T1. Green Bay – 91 (4)
T1. Wright State – 91 (4)
3. IUPUI – 85 (2)
4. Youngstown State – 71
5. Milwaukee -57
6. Northern Kentucky – 51
7. Cleveland State – 37
8. Oakland – 31
9. Detroit Mercy – 19
10. Illinois-Chicago – 17

2019-20 Horizon League preseason first team
Frankie Wurtz, Green Bay
Macee Williams, IUPUI (preseason Player of the Year)
Megan Walstad, Milwaukee
Michal Miller, Wright State
Mary Dunn, Youngstown State
 
2019-20 Horizon League preseason second team
Savanna Crockett, Cleveland State
Mariah Miller, Cleveland State
Molly Glick, Northern Kentucky
Angel Baker, Wright State
Chelsea Olson, Youngstown State

THOMAS MORE BLANKS PIKEVILLE: The Thomas More women’s soccer team recorded its eighth shutout of the season with a 4-0 win against Pikeville on Wednesday night at BB&T Field. The Saints improved to 9-6 overall, 2-3 in the Mid-South Conference.

Thomas More senior goalkeeper Aleyna Heyman earned the shutout by playing 90 minutes and recording two saves. The Saints finished with a 37-2 advantage in shots and remained unbeaten (9-0) at home this season.

Thomas More plays host to Shawnee State at 5 p.m. Saturday in a Mid-South Conference game at BB&T Field. That contest will also be Senior Day for Thomas More. The Saints are 2-3 in the Mid-South Conference.

NKU VOLLEYBALL ON THE ROAD: The NKU volleyball team faces a tough weekend road trip, beginning with a Friday night match at Illinois-Chicago. NKU is 10-8 overall, 3-3 in the Horizon League. UIC — which ended Wright State’s winning streak at 16 last week — is 14-6 overall, 3-3 in the Horizon League.

The Norse conclude the two-day trip Saturday with a contest against defending Horizon League champion Green Bay (12-6 overall, 4-2 Horizon League).

Norse senior Shelby Olsen is on pace to become just the third setter in NKU history to record at least 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs. Olsen currently has 2,515 career assists, good for 10th all-time, along with 986 digs.

With 14 more digs, she will join Molly Donovan (1995-98, 4,971 assists/1,005 digs) and Taylor Snyder (2013-16, 4,535 assists/1,116 digs) in the exclusive club.

NKU junior libero Ashton Terrill currently has 1,341 digs and is 163 scoops away from tying Mel Stewart (2012-15) for fifth place in Norse history.

Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport