AB grad Jeff Burkhamer Lands Head Coaching Job at University of West Florida

Alderson Broaddus grad and former Battler point guard Jeff Burkhamer has accepted the head men's basketball coaching position at the University of West Florida. Jeff was previously the head men's basketball coach at Lander University where he had a 19-8 record this past season. He spent the past six seasons at Lander Prior to Lander, Burkhamer was the head men's basketball coach at Armstrong Atlantic State University where he compiled a record of 134-75 in 7 seasons. Coach Burkhamer has 19 years of head coaching experience. He has compiled a career head coaching record of 373-194.

Jeff Burkhamer also spent 12 seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach at the following schools: Winthrop University, Charleston Southern University, Morehead State University, Marshall University and Grand Rapids of the CBA. He earned his degree from Alderson Broaddus in 1984. He is the school's all-time assist leader with a career total of 646. He was inducted into the Battler Hall of Fame in 2001.

Coach Burkhamer has a rebuilding job on his hands at West Florida. The Argos finished last season with an overall record of 7-21 and a 3-19 record in the Gulf South Conference. West Florida has finished with three consecutive losing seasons.  UWF is located in Pensacola, FL. Battler Beat wishes Coach Burkhamer well in this endeavor. We hope to have an interview with Jeff this summer on MixLR.

Coach Zimmerman's Persistence Lands First 2015 Recruit

Battler Beat has found out that Alderson Broaddus has landed player Malik Bocook (6'4") from Zanesville, Ohio. Bocook was a second-team All-Ohio selection in divison two. Bocook averaged 19.6 points per game this past season along with 7.6 rebounds per game. He led the team in field goal percentage (54%) along with three-point goal percentage (38.4%). Zanesville finished this past season with a record of 19-5.

Head coach Greg Zimmerman saw Bocook and Zanesville in person several times this past season. He also attended the all-star games that Bocook played in. Bocook played most of his career in the post. But this past season, he showed an ability to step out and play on the perimeter as well. It is projected that Bocook will play on the wing/forward for the Battlers.

Battler Beat plans to try and contact Malik and his coach, Scott Aronhalt, in due time. Stay tune to Battler Beat for more news on Malik and other recruits that sign with the Battlers. Battler Beat plans to do a podcast on MixLR once the recruiting class is complete.

Fun Fact Friday: Which former AB player was drafted in both the ABA and NBA?

The answer is former Battler Andy Jennings. After graduating from AB in 1970, Jennings was drafted in the ABA by the Virginia Squires. That same year he was also drafted by the Cincinnati Royals of the NBA.

Jennings started his career at AB playing for the legendary coach Rex Pyles. He finished his final years at AB playing for Jack Funk. During his freshman season, he scored 485 points and pulled down an incredible 604 rebounds. Jennings had two games, one against Davis & Elkins and one against WV Wesleyan, where he pulled down 36 rebounds in each game. He continued his rebounding prowess throughout his career at AB finishing with a career total of 2188. Jennings was a first-team all-WVIAC selection in 1969 and 1970. Jennings finished as the WVIACs all-time leading rebounder in the history of the conference.

Jennings would later become a police officer in Philadelphia. He served for 18 years before he lost a battle to cancer. Andy Jennings was a native of War, WV. Later we will feature another Battler who was drafted by a NBA franchise.

Keeping an eye on a few D-I transfers

It was reported earlier this week that freshman backup point guard Malcolm Walters will be leaving the University of Akron's men's basketball team after this semester. Walters is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. He played his high school basketball at St. Edward High School in Cleveland. During his senior year, he helped lead St. Edward to a Division I Ohio state championship.

Alderson Broaddus has not offered Walters to any one's knowledge here at BattlerBeat. But there is a connection from AB to St. Edward. Head coach Greg Zimmerman was once the head coach at St. Edward. Assistant coach Samario Clancy was also a former player at St. Edward. We post this as something to keep an eye on. We have not seen any mutual interest or any thing like that. His name was one of the D-I transfers that caught our eye as someone to keep an eye on.

Another D-1 player that has left his school is Jermaine Davis. He is a 6'9/280 pound post player from Garland Heights, Ohio. He was a redshirt freshman this past season for the Explorers. Davis led his high school basketball team to an Ohio state championship as a junior.

These are just players from D-I schools that are transferring. We are just posting these two names as players to keep an eye on. There have been no official offers from AB at this point.

2015-16 Men's Basketball Games on the Schedule

Men's Games as of Today:

Saturday, January 9th -- Davis & Elkins (H)

Tuesday, January 12th -- Ohio Valley (H)

Thursday, January 14th -- Kentucky Wesleyan (H)

Saturday, January 16th -- Trevecca Nazarene (H)

Thursday, January 21st -- Salem International (A)

Saturday, January 23rd -- Ohio Valley (A)

Saturday, January 30th -- Cedarville (A)

Tuesday, February 2nd -- Salem International (H)

Saturday, February 13th -- Davis & Elkins (A)

Thursday, February 18th -- Trevecca Nazarene (A)

Saturday, February 20th -- Kentucky Wesleyan (A)

Thursday, February 25th -- Cedarville (H)

Battler Beat Good Friday Fun Facts

Here are some fun facts for you concerning Alderson Broaddus Men's Basketball:

Did you know that Alderson Broaddus men's basketball has three alumni that are currently head coaches in men's basketball at the NCAA Division II level?

Greg Zimmerman ('78), Jeff Burkhamer ('84) and Stephen Dye ('06) are head basketball coaches. Coach Zimmerman is the head coach of the Alderson Broaddus Battlers. Coach Burkhamer is the head coach at Lander University in Greenwood, SC. Coach Dye is the head coach of Glenville State College in Glenville, WV.

Did you know that all three coaches led their teams to a combined record of 63-27 this past season? That is correct. Those coaches led their teams to a outstanding winning percentage of 70% for the 2014-15 basketball season.

Coach Zimmerman led the Battlers to a record of 22-7 this past season. The team was also crowned the G-MAC regular season and G-MAC tournament champions.

Coach Burkhamer led his Lander Bearcats to an impressive 19-9 record despite fielding a starting lineup with only one senior.

Coach Dye led the Glenville State Pioneers to a record of 22-11. His team also won the Mountain East Tournament Title winning four games to claim their first conference title in over four decades. The team also earned a NCAA tournament bid for the second-year in a row.

Battler Beat congratulates all the coaches for their fine accomplishments this past season. It was quite a year for Alderson Broaddus Basketball alumni.

Happy Good Friday every one from Battler Beat! "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him." -- Colossians 2:6

                                                               Greg Zimmerman

Jeff Burkhamer

Stephen Dye

Battler Beat Podcast #1 Available at MixLR

Our first edition of the Battler Beat Podcast is now available at MixLR. You can listen to our podcast from your laptop. You can also download the MixLR app for free to any smartphone, android, iphone, etc. Once you have downloaded the app, you can find us under a search of "battlerbeat". Feel free to follow us on our MixLR page.

In this podcast: we review the 2014-15 men's basketball season in depth, we talk about the seniors on the team, we discuss team and individuals awards, a look at a possible recruit, touch base with some other teams at Alderson Broaddus, discuss conference situations.

If you are going to listen to the podcast on your mobile device, we strongly urge you to download the MixLR app for a better listening experience that goes without interruption. Feel free to leave us any feedback.

Here is the link to the first podcast:

http://mixlr.com/battlerbeat/showreel/

Honoring AB grad ('41) Ralph Tasker

Recently Ralph Tasker was inducted into the West Virginia Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Tasker was only one of two people inducted to this year's Hall of Fame class. Tasker is a native of Moundsville, WV. He graduated from Alderson-Broaddus College in 1941 with a degree in social studies education. He would later be inducted to the AB Hall of Fame in 1992. He was also the commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies that same year at AB. Tasker was a four-year letterman for the Battlers under legendary head coach Rex Pyles. He was a guard on the team and led AB to two WVIAC basketball titles.

Tasker started his coaching career at Sulpher Springs, Ohio. He was head coach during the 1940-41 season. He would leave after one season to join the military and serve the country during World War II.

After the war ended, Tasker returned to coaching taking the head job at Lovington High School in Lovington, New Mexico. At Lovington, Tasker compiled a 52-22 record. His 1948-49 team won the New Mexico State Basketball Championship. In those days, there were no separate classifications for schools. Lovington lost out on Tasker's services as a teacher/coach when the school refused to give him a key to the gym. Tasker then left in disgust over the gym key issue and took the job at Hobbs High School in Hobbs, New Mexico.

At Hobbs High School, Tasker would win 11 state championships stretching over a course of decades. Tasker's championships ranged from 1956 to 1988. He was twice named national high school coach of the year. He was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame. Tasker's teams were known for their high-scoring squads that were known for a tenacious full-court press. His 1969-70 team averaged 114.6 points per game and recorded 14 consecutive 100-point games. Both of these accomplishments are national records.

On January 29, 1993, Tasker won game 1027 which moved him into first place on the all-time wins list nationally for high school basketball coaches. Tasker would retire following the 1997-98 season and finished with a 1122-291 record. That is a winning percentage of .794%. His total wins still ranks third all-time in wins nationally.

Tasker's teams employed a full-court man-to-man pressure defense that was witnessed by a young head coach at Bowie High School in El Paso, TX. The coach's name was Nolan Richardson who saw Hobbs High School play in a tournament in El Paso at the time. Nolan Richardson would adopt Tasker's style of play and tabbed it "40 minutes of hell". Richardson would later lead the Arkansas Razorbacks to a National Championship using this style of play. In an interview on CBS, Richardson credited Tasker for his coaching philosophy.

Hobbs was also named Teacher of the Year at Hobbs High School three separate school years. The arena at Hobbs is named Ralph Tasker Arena in his honor. Tasker would die in 1999. We at Battler Beat congratulate Ralph Tasker and his family for his latest honor!