Posted: Friday, July 22, 2011 12:02 am

Sports Briefs


Murray State’s Aska
to rep Virgin Islands

Murray State men’s basketball student-athlete Ivan Aska began workouts recently in preparation to play for the Virgin Islands National Team in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championship (July 25-30) in Nassau, Bahamas.
Aska, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will be a senior this fall with the Racers.
Even though he was raised in the United States, Aska has a connection with the Virgin Islands. His mother Shirley is a native of the nation and his father, Ivan Sr., is from Trinidad.
Aska, a former Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2009, has always drawn inspiration from his parents.
Aska is the Racers’ leading rebounder from last season at 5.2 per game, to go with 7.6 points per game. He ended the season with a flurry scoring at a 15.5 clip in MSU’s final two games. He begins his senior season with 933 points, 67 from becoming the 37th member of the MSU 1,000-Point Club. He also has 517 career rebounds.
Aska’s Virgin Island’s team plays four games in pool play that decide seeding for the tournament starting July 28.

Morehead’s Davis
signs deal with Cubs

After three dynamic seasons at and behind the plate for Morehead State, catcher Taylor Davis will pursue his dream of playing professional baseball. Davis signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs as an undrafted free agent Monday evening.
“I’m very excited. It has been my dream to play professional ball my whole life,” said Davis. “I am sad to leave Morehead, but I am very excited to pursue my dream of playing baseball at the next level.”
The next leg of Davis’ journey begins next Monday as he travels to Phoenix, Ariz., for his team physical. He then quickly jets to join the Cubs’ Rookie level affiliate in Mesa, Ariz.
Davis earned numerous accolades during his Eagle career, including First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors this season.
Davis, a Jupiter, Fla., native was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 49th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft out of high school but chose to continue his baseball career in college at MSU.

Volleyball skipper
at Jax. St. revealed

University of Wiscon-sin-Green Bay assistant Joseph Goodson has been named Jacksonville State’s head volleyball coach, Athletics Director Warren Koegel announced on Thursday.
Goodson, who has spent the past four seasons at Green Bay, becomes just the fifth head coach in program history. He replaces Rick Nold, who spent nine seasons at the helm before leaving in the spring to take the head coaching job at Auburn.

Southeast Mo. alum
is Team USA MVP

Former Southeast Missouri running back Henry Harris was named the Most Valuable Player in Team USA’s 50-7 victory over Canada in the IFAF Senior World Championship recently.
Team USA posted an undefeated 4-0 record with wins over Austria, Germany, Mexico and Canada en route to this year’s gold medal.