LIBERTY REPORT: Big birthday for Big South

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

The field at the Big South Conference's annual summer golf outing was a bit larger than usual Thursday. The event is generally a precursor to the conference's football rouser, which is set for Friday afternoon. But with the league celebrating its 25th anniversary this upcoming school season, coaches and administrators from the Big South's non-football schools (Radford, High Point, Winthrop and UNC Asheville) teed it up at Birkdale Golf Club in Huntersville alongside the usual bunch from the football schools.

Later in the evening, the conference unveiled its list of the 25 "Best of the Best" moments/athletes in conference history. Liberty and VMI were well represented on the list. With the 25 moments/athletes revealed, the conference will open voting on its Web site (www.bigsouthsports.com) later this month to rank the 25 from No. 1 to 25. The final list will be determined in May 2009.

The Liberty and VMI notables:

* Liberty women's basketball, 1997-2006. The second women's hoops dynasty in the league (Radford was the first) won 10 straight conference tournament titles and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2005, beating Penn State and DePaul before losing to top seed LSU in Chattanooga.

* Katie Feenstra. A three-time Big South women's basketball player of the year who was nominated for the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Naismith Award, Feenstra was a major reason why the Flames made their historic Sweet 16 run. Feenstra was in attendance at Thursday's celebration dinner, but she had to duck out early. That's understandable. A center for the WNBA's Atlanta Dream, Feenstra has a game against Washington Friday to prepare for.

* Danny Gathings, High Point. Gathings earned the NCAA co-sportsman of the year award in 2004 after he awarded his 2004 Big South tournament MVP award to Larry Blair, who led Liberty to a Big South tournament championship, culminating in a title game victory against HPU.

* Reggie Williams. The VMI wing finished his career with more than 2,500 points and set season and career records at VMI and in the Big South. Williams was one of nine players to ever lead the NCAA in scoring in multiple seasons.

* VMI men's basketball, 2006-08. The Keydets brought national attention to the conference by leading the nation in scoring the last two seasons. VMI averaged more than 100 points per game in 2006-07 and broke five NCAA records that year.

* Josh McDougal. Recognized as the Big South's most decorated runner, McDougal finished his career as a 14-time All-American and was the second Flame to win an NCAA individual title, outkicking Oregon's Galen Rupp in November 2007 to claim the NCAA cross country championship. McDougal earned a spot in the pages of Sports Illustrated after the NCAA victory, and he had an outstanding chance of making the 2008 U.S. Olympic roster before a hip injury derailed his bid to compete in the Olympic Trials.

* Liberty's track and field programs. The Flames have won 42 of the 52 Big South indoor and outdoor championships, and Heather Sagan won the 2002 indoor mile national championship, become the first Big South athlete to claim a national title.

******

The coaches and players from the Big South's seven football teams will meet with the media Friday afternoon, and the all-conference teams and preseason predictions will be unveiled. Tailback Rashad Jennings and coach Danny Rocco are here representing Liberty.

Here's my guess at what the preseason poll will look like.

1. Liberty
2. Coastal Carolina
3. Gardner-Webb
4. Stony Brook
5. Charleston Southern
6. VMI

(NOTE: Presbyterian is not included in the poll because the Blue Hose will not play a full conference schedule until 2011.)

Check back here tomorrow afternoon for more notes from the Big South media days.