Tag: Texas

Katy slugger McFadden changes course, verbally commits to Purdue
Katy High senior third baseman Olivia McFadden has verbally committed to Purdue. (PHOTO BY MARK GOODMAN)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

On the first day of what promises to be a different and adaptive school year for Katy ISD because of drastic accommodations due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Katy High slugger Olivia McFadden showed she’s got no problem with change.

McFadden, the Tigers’ Class of 2021 hard-hitting third baseman and 2019 state champion, decommitted from UTSA and verbally committed to Purdue on Wednesday. On Oct. 12 of last year, McFadden verbally committed to the Roadrunners, noting the coaching staff’s genuine interest in her personal development, on and off the field, as well as the program’s commitment to improving athletic performance through sport science and technology.

But McFadden started entertaining the prospect of playing at Purdue when the coaching staff reached out to her travel ball coach to express interest a couple of weeks ago.

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After Big 10 postpones fall football season, former Katy star Wilder awaits next step
Former Katy High star and Wisconsin senior defensive back Collin Wilder. (COURTESY PHOTO)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

Very weird. Depressing. Tired. Tough. Relief.

Former Katy High star and Wisconsin senior defensive back Collin Wilder ran through a gauntlet of emotions Tuesday evening after it was learned Big 10 conference presidents had voted to postpone the fall 2020 college football season due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

The hope is to play in the spring.

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The most of a minute: Rams coach Randle uplifts through social media videos
Mayde Creek head football coach/campus athletic coordinator Brian Randle. (COURTESY PHOTO)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

Thoughts of frustration crossed Mayde Creek head football coach Brian Randle’s mind one late April afternoon as he sat on a couch in his house, beyond irritated with the day’s earlier events.

As it was, at the time then and now, the world was in a precarious state because of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, that halted schooling and postponed, and then eventually canceled, spring athletics. Mere days into his arrival at Mayde Creek, the new Rams coach needed a way to reach his new kids, for them to get to know him and him to get to know them. Zoom, a popular video conferencing tool, was thought to be the answer.

Thought.

“My first Zoom with my kids got hacked, and it was all kinds of craziness,” Randle recalled. “A guy’s on there cussing … it was awful. After that, I told my guys, ‘Hey, we’re not doing that again. We’re not going to go through that.’”

Randle, who now uses Canvas as another method to do group meetings with his team, called Katy ISD athletic director Debbie Decker and expressed his discomfort.

“I had no control, the screen flipped over, I was trying to exit everything,” he said. “But I still needed to reach the kids. So, I thought I’d jump on social media and just use Twitter. I told the coaches to make sure all the kids are following me, and that way I can give them something positive.”

And so, “The Morning Minute” was born.

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Talkin’ Warriors: Touring Katy ISD’s latest jewel, Jordan High School
Jordan High School, Katy ISD’s ninth high school scheduled to open in August. (PHOTO BY DENNIS SILVA II)

Jordan High School is Katy ISD’s ninth high school. Since 2013, the district has introduced three high schools: Tompkins (2013), Paetow (2017) and now Jordan. The Jordan campus, located in Fulshear, opens in August.

Because Jordan High is opening on an even year (2020) and beginning with freshmen and sophomores, Jordan’s individual sports will go varsity right away, but team sports will wait until the fall of 2021, when the school adds juniors. The only sport that is not able to be placed in realignment on the “middle” year, or halfway between the two-year realignment, is football.

Football for Jordan High won’t be realigned by the UIL until 2022, which will be Jordan’s first varsity football season. Until then, the district will try to mix and match schedules for Jordan to play football, just not under the UIL umbrella. The Warriors, whose colors are black and gold, will play a junior varsity schedule this year, with some varsity and sophomore team opponents mixed in.

The school will have an initial enrollment of almost 1,600.

On Tuesday afternoon, I was invited on a tour of the athletic facilities. Architecturally, the campus is very similar to that of Paetow High.

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‘All things considered, we still get to play:’ St. John XXIII coach Richardson welcomes TAPPS news
St. John XXIII coach Clay Richardson talks to players during a practice in August 2019. (PHOTO BY MARK GOODMAN)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | DENSILVA2@GMAIL.COM

The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) announced on Friday it is delaying the start of its fall sports season.

The season has been pushed back because of a significant and severe rise of cases of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus.

Programs can return to practice on Sept. 8. Volleyball and individual sports, like cross country, can start their respective seasons Sept. 21.

Football teams will have one scrimmage the week of Sept. 21, followed by the start-up of the season on Sept. 28.

“All things considered, we still get to play,” said Clay Richardson, head football coach of St. John XIII, which is in TAPPS Division I-District 2. “Can you imagine being a senior knowing you won’t play college football, but you love the game so much and it’s taken away from you? That would be heartbreaking.”

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Taylor’s Shorter finds home at West Point
Taylor High senior running back Casey Shorter. (COURTESY PHOTO)

By DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

As soon as Army offered Taylor High’s Casey Shorter on June 5, it didn’t take long for the power running back to commit himself to the black and gold.

The 5-foot-10, 210-pounder had done his research on Army ever since the Black Knights had contacted him on February 4. Then came the official full-ride offer. Fourteen days later, on June 19, Shorter declared the program his future home.

“I know it is an opportunity of a lifetime,” Shorter said. “One of the top academic schools, a guaranteed job when graduating, and I know they have an offense that I fit into perfectly.”

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Star talent Williams to finish career at Tompkins
Three-star guard recruit Demari Williams is transferring from Fulshear High to Tompkins for his senior year. (PHOTO COURTESY OF DEMARI WILLIAMS)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

Tompkins was the pleasant surprise of Katy ISD’s boys basketball last season when it made a surprising run to the Class 6A regional quarterfinals as a relatively young team.

Though the Falcons lost a pair of senior leaders in Hank Sanders and Jonathan Nash for the upcoming season, they return a talented junior class in B.B. Knight, Jason Clark and Carmelo Yakubu. All three have size, length and shooting ability; Knight is regarded as one of the top shooters in the class of 2022.

Tompkins has also added a pair of dynamic transfers: Joshua McMillan II from Cypress Lakes and Demari Williams from Fulshear. The marquee name is the senior combo guard Williams. The 6-foot-6, 210-pounder averaged 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals last season.

Williams, a three-star recruit, scored more than 1,000 points over the last two seasons for the Chargers.

“I’ve been zoned to Tompkins for over a year now,” Williams said. “I was at Fulshear on a district waiver last year because my dad works in the district. Tompkins is a lot closer to my home, so we discussed it as a family, and I decided to give it a try for my senior year.”

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Former Tompkins stars reunite at UTEP
Former Tompkins standout Kristian Sjolund, shown here in white No. 32, will join two former high school teammates at the University of Texas-El Paso. (PHOTO BY MARK GOODMAN)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

Tompkins High basketball players and coaches drooped in their locker room, entrenched deep within the bowels of San Antonio’s Alamodome, with shoulders slumped and heads heavy, fallen and frustrated, on the night of March 11, 2018.

The Falcons had just dropped a heartbreaking 49-47 overtime decision to Allen in the Class 6A state championship game.

Even after a remarkable season that put the still-young program on the high school basketball map in Texas, tears filled eyes. Eventually, however, perspective and optimism filled thoughts and words.

“It was definitely a learning experience,” said Emmanuel White, then a senior wing. “Shortly after the game, we all told each other that we were going to be in a bigger moment. That wasn’t going to be the biggest game we’d ever play in. So, we didn’t really hang our hats on that.

“Now it’s just crazy. We’re all about to have a chance to do it together again.”

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A Katy ISD leader in sports medicine, Stevens set to retire
Katy ISD assistant athletic director over sports medicine Charlie Stevens, middle, was awarded the Logan Award by the Greater Houston Athletic Trainer’s Society in 2015. Stevens is set to retire after 13 years in that role on June 30.

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

Katy ISD is a Houston pioneer in sports medicine.

The district was the first in the Greater Houston area to promote an athletic trainer to the central office 13 years ago. Today, the district is one of only three in the Houston area—Fort Bend and Pasadena being the other two—to have an assistant athletic director over sports medicine.

That job was fulfilled by Charlie Stevens, who furthered the advancement of sports medicine at the high school level for Katy ISD. Stevens officially resigned before spring break in March, but his last day is June 30. Former Katy High athletic trainer Justin Landers will succeed him.

“Some of us have a servant’s heart,” said Stevens, who was the athletic trainer at Mayde Creek High for 23 years before then-Katy ISD athletic director Rusty Dowling promoted him in 2007 to oversee the district’s initiatives in athletic training and sports medicine. “You enjoy helping people. The sports world deals with strength and speed and all those things, so athletic training allowed me to gain knowledge that allowed me to help people.”

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Tulsa commit Shoulders making his mark at Tompkins
Katy, Tx. Sept. 27, 2019: Tompkins Marquis Shoulders (6) gets to the end zone scoring a TD during a conference game between Seven Lakes and Tompkins at Rhodes Stadium. (Photo by Mark Goodman)

BY DENNIS SILVA II | densilva2@gmail.com

Tompkins coach Todd McVey remembers it well to this day.

Then-sophomore Marquis Shoulders, a transfer from Cypress Springs, misread the ball on a kick return in his first junior varsity home game in 2018. Shoulders was clearly frustrated, and McVey approached him to have a quick chat.

“It was his first time out there and he kind of fumbled it a bit,” McVey said. “He got frustrated and I had to give him a talk on the sideline. It was that year of learning for him. That JV year was really good for him. He was our MVP and he got to key in on his craft and it paid off for him.”

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