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We are excited to announce that Town Camp and a variety of summer programs will be available for Summer 2025!

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We can’t wait for another great summer!

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Silver Valley Volleyball Club teams play in Hawaii tournament.

Football
6/26/2025 9:01:00 AM

Evan Nemec

Abilene Christian University (ACU) is pleased to welcome five full-time members to its conference, which will rebrand from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) to the United Athletic Conference (UAC), beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.

Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, West Georgia and Central Arkansas will officially join the UAC on July 1, 2026, alongside ACU, Tarleton State and UT Arlington. The rebranding of the WAC to the UAC will also take place in the summer of 2026.

The UAC and Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) are forming a groundbreaking, strategic alliance that will strengthen and provide long-term stability for both conferences. The alliance allows two similarly situated conferences to resolve many challenges at once: better aligning membership; reducing expenses; collectively leveraging assets such as media rights; providing members of both leagues with nonconference games against regional opponents; and situating both conferences for streamlined decision making.

The UAC and ASUN will remain separate conferences, maintain independent governance structures and offices, and have their own automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA postseason for conference champions. Each will consider limited expansion opportunities in the future.

ASUN commissioner Jeff Bacon will serve as the executive director of the alliance between the UAC and ASUN. Bacon has served as executive director of the current UAC, a football-only conference consisting of nine teams from the WAC and ASUN. WAC commissioner Rebekah Ray will also assume a leadership role in the alliance.

All of ACU’s 15 athletic programs will be housed in the UAC. In football, ACU will continue to compete with Tarleton State, Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Central Arkansas and West Georgia. All seven teams are current members of the football-only UAC, and competed against each other during the 2024 season. Football-playing members of the WAC and ASUN have competed in a formal partnership since 2021.

“This is a strong move for ACU, greatly benefiting the university, our fans and all of our student-athletes, coaches and athletics administration,” said Dr. Phil Schubert, ACU president. “The United Athletic Conference and alliance with the ASUN reflect a commitment to excellence and innovation in an ever-changing college athletics landscape. Most importantly, this positions us well to continue developing student-athletes for lives of Christian service and leadership and competitive success.”

“I want to extend my deepest thanks to President Schubert for his outstanding leadership and steady guidance through the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics,” said Zack Lassiter, ACU vice president for athletics. “We are confident this new path best positions us for long-term success at the Division I level.

“The eight UAC members beginning in the 2026-27 athletic season are like-minded institutions, including two fellow Texas schools, reducing travel demands for our student-athletes during regular season play and maintaining our access to NCAA Championships in all sports. Our existing football partnership with these schools has already built strong relationships with these new conference peers, and we are excited to expand our competition to all our athletic programs.”

ACU has been a member of the WAC since July 2021 and of the football-only UAC since its inception in 2023.

Click here to read the official announcement from the WAC and ASUN.

 

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What They’re Saying

“We are extremely excited about our transition to be a member of the UAC! This bold move positions our team to compete at a high level while aligning with dynamic institutions that share our competitive spirit and commitment to excellence. The geographic footprint of the UAC will provide a strong platform for recruiting, growth, postseason opportunities, and long term success for our student athletes.” – Julie Goodenough, ACU women’s basketball head coach

“We are excited about the next chapter for our athletic department and the opportunities to compete against some old rivals while establishing some new ones. We have a lot of momentum on campus and throughout our department. I’m grateful for our administration’s commitment to athletics and we feel like we are positioned for success across the board.” – Rick McCarty, ACU baseball head coach

“We are incredibly excited for the rebrand, and future membership of the UAC starting in 2026-27! This move represents a bold and strategic decision for our program, as it puts us in a competitive, forward-thinking conference. The UAC is a great fit for our vision and the culture we’re building. This will not just have a positive impact for our team, but for our university and student-athletes. I’m grateful for our continued upward trajectory and can’t wait to see what we accomplish next!” – Stephen Salas, ACU women’s soccer head coach

 

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WAC Membership, 2025-26

Abilene Christian	Abilene, TX
California Baptist	Riverside, CA
Southern Utah	Cedar City, UT
Tarleton State	Stephenville, TX
UT Arlington	Arlington, TX
Utah Tech	St. George, UT
Utah Valley	Orem, UT

 

Football-Only UAC Membership, 2025-26

Abilene Christian	Abilene, TX
Austin Peay	Clarksville, TN
Central Arkansas	Conway, AR
Eastern Kentucky	Richmond, KY
North Alabama	Florence, AL
Southern Utah	Cedar City, UT
Tarleton State	Stephenville, TX
Utah Tech	St. George, UT
West Georgia	Carrollton, GA

 

All-Sports UAC Membership, beginning 2026-27

Abilene Christian	Abilene, TX
Austin Peay	Clarksville, TN
Central Arkansas	Conway, AR
Eastern Kentucky	Richmond, KY
North Alabama	Florence, AL
Tarleton State	Stephenville, TX
UT Arlington (non-football)	Arlington, TX
West Georgia	Carrollton, GA

MARTIN, Tenn. – Second-year University of Tennessee at Martin head men’s basketball coach Jeremy Shulman has announced the signing of freshman Matas Deniusas from Vilnius, Lithuania.
              
“We are thrilled to welcome Matas to the Skyhawk family,” Shulman said. “Matas is a tall, long, skilled, versatile forward who follows in a long line of productive forwards I’ve coached over the last few years. His skill and versatility make him a perfect fit in our system.”
              
Deniusas competed in the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup event held in Turkey, averaging 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds over the course of the seven-game tournament. He saved his best performance for last with 16 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting in the fifth-place game against Puerto Rico, helping Lithuania to victory. He previously added nine points and a tournament-best seven rebounds in the group phase against the same Puerto Rico squad while swatting away a pair of blocks to go with seven points and five rebounds in the tournament opener against the Philippines.
              
During the 2024-25 season, Deniusas suited up for the BC Rytas Vilnius II organization in the NKL National Basketball League and the Youth Basketball Champions League. Overall, he saw playing time in 41 contests, helping the team to a postseason berth after averaging 7.0 points per game. He scored in double figures eight times, tossing in a season-best 21 points against Alytaus Alytus on March 1. He also had 19 points and a season-high nine rebounds on Jan. 4 against Delikatesas while producing 17 points in his playoff finale at Suduva on March 10. For the season, he shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from three-point land and swished 84.6 percent (44-for-52) of his free throw tries.
              
Deniusas especially thrived in the Youth Basketball Champions play, averaging 19.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.2 blocks per game in the U18 league.              
              
A 6-8, 220-pound forward, Deniusas spent the 2023-24 season with the same BC Rytas Vilnius II squad, averaging 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 54.5 percent from the floor over five games at the age of 16.
              
Deniusas also boasts extensive experience at the club level, averaging 10.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in a pair of outings in the inaugural FIBA Next Gen Hoops Invitational earlier this month. He helped his team to a first-place finish, defeating The Grind Session program out of the United States over the two-day tournament held in Lithuania. He also played in the Youth Basketball Champions League event in each of the past two seasons, posting 10.5 points and 8.3 rebounds over four games in the 2025 event. He helped his squad to a first-place finish in April after securing a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) in the finals against BC Telenet Oostende. He tallied 9.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in five games at the 2024 tournament.
              
Deniusas is the eighth newcomer to the 2025-26 UT Martin roster, joining a class that includes freshman Ama Sow (Dakar, Senegal), freshman James Bass (Banjul, Gambia), freshman Ty Price (Morgantown, Ky.), freshman Damien King (Anderson, Ind.), redshirt sophomore Dragos Lungu (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), senior Luca Colceag (Bucharest, Romania) and freshman Filip Petkovski (Kranj, Slovenia).
 

A community in South Carolina is mourning the loss of a longtime youth sports umpire who died amid a record-setting heatwave.

Mitchell Huggins, 61, died on Saturday, June 21 after collapsing on the field while he was officiating a softball tournament at a park in Sumter County, S.C., according to NBC affiliates WIS-TV and KARE-TV and Fox affiliate WACH-TV.

Huggins was pronounced dead at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumter at approximately 6 p.m.

The Sumter County Coroner’s Office told WACH-TV that Huggins’ cause of death was due to heat stroke and that an underlying heart condition played a role. The coroner’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment.

On Saturday afternoon, Huggins passed out while he was working a game, his sister Pamela Rufus told WIS-TV. Onlookers tried to resuscitate him before first responders arrived and transported him to the hospital, she said.

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“He said he was hot,” Christy Pittman, who was at the game with her husband, told KARE-TV. “They tried to cool him down and got him some water. They finally called the ambulance, put him in a wheelchair, and rolled him down to the entrance of the ball field. He just slumped over.”

Temperatures at the time were in the 90s, but in photos taken by Pittman’s husband, a thermometer on the artificial turf field registered 182.5 degrees.

Known as “Mr. Mitch” and “Uncle Mitch,” the family man spent much of his time with youth sports. But according to a GoFundMe for Huggins, he was more than an official.

“Mitch was not just an umpire; he was a prominent figure in our community, recognized for his contagious smile and unwavering commitment,” organizer Wendy Walsh wrote. “His passion for the game of softball and the people involved was always evident.”