DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. –  Jose Fernandez of B-CU Baseball has been named Wildcats of the Week for the week of April 28 – May 4, 2025. 

ose Fernandez played a massive part of a three-game series sweep of No. 1 seed Bethune-Cookman over No. 2 seed Alabama State this weekend. In three games, he collected four hits, two runs scored, four RBI, a double, a walk, and his first homer of the season. After coming in as a pinch hitter in game one, Fernandez’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth walked off the Hornets to open the series with a win and erase an Alabama State lead of as much as five. 

Each week, The Bethune-Cookman Office of Athletic Communications recognizes one male and one female student-athlete through the Wildcats of the Week award.

2024-25 Wildcats of the Week

April 28 – May 4

M: Jose Fernandez, Baseball

April 21 – April 27

M: Edwin Sanchez, Baseball

W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field

April 13 – April 20

M: De’Quon King, Track & Field

W: Katie Robinson, Women’s Golf

April 7 – April 13

M: Shanard Walker, Track & Field

W: Alyssa Lopez, Softball

March 31 – April 6

M: Andrey Martinez, Baseball

W: Alyssa Lopez, Softball

March 24 – March 30

M: Joel Core, Baseball

W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field

M: (CO) Xavier Bogan, Track & Field

March 17 – March 23

M: Sytrevion Dyer, Track & Field

W: Kasie Ugeh, Track & Field

March 10 – March 16

M: Edwin Sanchez, Baseball

W: Zahara El-Zein, Tennis

March 3 – March 9

M: Nehemiah Armstrong, Track & Field

W: Zion Harvey, track & Field

February 22 – March 1

M: Armani Newton, Baseball

W: Shanai Owens, Softball

February 17 – February 23

M: Joel Core, Baseball

W: Lauren Johnson, Track & Field

February 10 – February 16

M: Joel Core, Baseball

W: Emma Bradley Tse, Softball

February 3 – February 9

M: De’Quon King, Track & Field

W: Molly Blackwood, Softball

January 27 – February 2

M: Xavier Bogan, Track & Field

W: Keona Burley, Women’s Tennis

January 20 – January 26

M: Victor Kibet, Track & Field

W: Valencia Butler, Track & Field

January 12 – January 19

M: Trey Thomas, Men’s Basketball

W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Basketball

January 6 – January 12

M: Xavier Bogan, Track & Field

W: Alyssa Wiliams, Track & Field

December 30 – January 5

M: Brayon Freeman, Men’s Basketball

W: Janessa Kelley, Women’s Basketball

December 16 – December 22

M: Reggie Ward Jr., Men’s Baskeball

W: Daimoni Dorsey, Women’s Basketball

December 9 – December 15

M: Daniel Rouzan, Men’s Basketball

W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Basketball

December 2 – December 8

M: Victor Kibet, Track & Field

W: Alyssa Williams, Track & Field

November 25 – December 1

M: Brayon Freeman, Men’s Basketball

W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Basketball

November 18 – November 24

M: Dennis Palmer, Football

W: Ktyal Price, Volleyball        `    

November 11 – November 17

M: Brayon Freeman, Men’s Basketball

W: Mecca Freeman, Volleyball

November 4 – November 10

M: Dallaz Corbitt, Football

W: Asianae Nicholson, Women’s Volleyball

October 28 – November 3

M: Joshua Thornhill, Football

W: Mecca Freeman, Volleyball

October 21 – October 27

M: Victor Kibet, Cross Country

W: Valencia Butler, Cross Country

October 14 – October 20

M: Dennis Palmer Jr., Football

W: Elizabeth Philips, Volleyball

October 7 – October 13

M: Victor Kibet, Cross Country

W: Elizabeth Phillips, Volleyball

September 30 – October 6

W: Ashlie Hobbs, Women’s Golf

W: Ktyal Price, Volleyball

September 16 – September 22

M: Victor Kibet, Cross Country

W: Valencia Butler, Cross Country

September 9 – September 15

M: Darnell Deas, Football

W: Jasmine Robinson, Volleyball

September 2 – September 9

M: Raymond Woodie III, Football

W: Elizabeth Phillips, Volleyball

August 26 – September 1

M: Dearis Thomas, Football

W: Niara Hightower, Volleyball

For all the latest Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (@BCUathletics) and www.bcuathletics.com. 

 

Sydney deVroedt. Sound familiar?

Perhaps the best athlete in New York City you’ve never heard of.

Don’t believe it?

Try these stats on for size – then we’ll tell you the sport.

How about 132 goals on 230 shots, 57 steals, 34 blocks, 156 points – that’s goals and assists for the uninformed.

The five-foot-five-inch senior from Hollywood, Fla.is a member of the Long Island University women’s water polo team. Make that, she is the water polo team for the Sharks.

But why water polo, of all sports?
“I was always in the pool,” she told the Brooklyn Eagle. “My parents had a pool in our backyard.”

And growing up, deVroedt played on the South Broward (Fla.) High team, as well as with some local clubs, she said. One of those clubs – the Princeton (NJ) Tigers, youth team.

“One of the girls I played with,” deVroedt said, “Committed to St. Francis College. It was Division I water polo; but a big adjustment. The lifestyle was completely different. And it was a different style of water polo.”

deVroedt played defense and was assisting. “The coach turned me into a scorer; more physical and aggressive,” she said.

It sounded almost perfect – until May, 2023 when St. Francis College eliminated their athletic department.

“For a minute, I actually freaked out,” deVroedt admits. “But I knew I wasn’t done. I had an apartment as well as a job in New York City; so, I reached out to LIU. And it was really an easy transition.”

And a super find for the Sharks.

The Sharks won 18 of 30 matches this past season, and deVroedt was named co-Offensive Player of the Year on top of being a unanimous First-Team All-Metro Athletic Conference selection. She was a Second-Team All-MAAC selection in the 2024 season and a 2023 First-Team All-MAAC selection as a member of St. Francis, Brooklyn.

“Huge congratulations to Sydney for being named the MAAC women’s water polo co-Offensive Player of the Year,” LIU women’s Water Polo Head Coach Morgan Allison said. “Her dedication and relentless work over the past four years have truly paid off. Scoring 100 goals and counting this season, this award is well deserved. I couldn’t be prouder of her receiving this..”

That pool isn’t all fun and games, either. “We practice six days,” she said; for two hours in the pool early morning. And two to three days a week we were in the gym for about an hour.”
She started her scoring prowess in college, and said she wanted to be a bigger name, through scoring – she did. As for the sport of water polo, deVroedt, an Exercise and Wellness major, says, “Making a nice play and connecting with teammates is what the sport is all about. There’s something about connecting to teammates.”

As for the Sharks of LIU, and their coach – they’ve connected as well.
Worldwide.

Allison coaches both the women’s and men’s teams at LIU. “We have 16 on the men’s roster and 12 women,” she said. “And not all are on scholarship.”

And not all took the subway to LIU. “We have players from Italy, Australia, Mexico, Germany, South Africa, Canada and Spain,” Allison said.

Allison was a two-sport athlete in the pool, competing for the women’s water polo and swimming and diving teams at St. Francis College, Brooklyn.

The Sharks season ended when they fell to No. 3 seed Mount St. Mary’s 13-11 in the MAAC Championship, held in Poughkeepsie, ten days ago.

LIU finished their fifth consecutive winning season – with a little help from the Terriers of St. Francis College.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR.

CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina women’s basketball head coach Kevin Pederson has announced the signing of Wisconsin transfer D’Yanis Jimenez for the 2025-2026 season. 

“Our staff is excited to welcome D’Yanis and her family to Coastal Carolina!”, Pederson said. We recruited D’Yanis out of high school so we’ve been familiar with her for a while and we see her as a big time addition to our team.  D is a great fit in our motion offense and she will provide a skill set that we believe can establish her as one of the premier guards in this league.”

Jimenez, a 5-8 guard who enters the program as a junior, played at Wisconsin from 2023-2025. The Cape Coral, Florida native is the second player to be signed by the Chants after playing at Wisconsin, following the signing of Tessa Grady for the upcoming season. 

Last season, Jimenez played 26 games with one start for the Badgers. She averaged 9.8 minutes per game, 1.8 points per game, and scored a career high of seven at Oregon on January 4th. 

Her 2022-23 season saw the guard play 29 games with nine starts in her freshman year. Jimenez averaged 20 minutes per game with 6.9 points per game, posting a career-high of 20 against St. Thomas on December 13th, 2023. Jimenez also averaged 2.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game in her first season of collegiate basketball. 

Jimenez was rated a 3-star recruit and 108th nationally by ESPN after her career at Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Florida.  

For complete coverage of CCU women’s basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.

Commentary on Pacific Gives and the gender gap in athletics.

Disclaimer: This is not an attack on our school, faculty, or student body, but a call for change.  This article is based on the writer’s personal experiences and observations, and may not reflect the experiences of all. 

As the only sports writer for The Pacifican, I’ve attended nearly every home game, men’s and women’s, and I can say this with confidence: women’s sports are consistently overlooked, undervalued, and under-supported at the University of the Pacific.

I love covering basketball, a sport I know deeply from both coaching and being a lifelong fan, and Pacific’s recent athletic season revealed the disparity bare. The women’s basketball team opened at home with an impressive crowd of 2,505. But across their remaining 14 home games, attendance dropped dramatically, averaging just 554 fans per game. Their next largest crowd, 819 attendees, only came on faculty and staff appreciation night.

Now let’s compare that to the men’s team. They opened with 3,772 fans, and during their game against Gonzaga late in the season, likely boosted by the buzz around Gonzaga’s departure to the PAC-12, the crowd swelled to 3,178. Over their 15 home games, the men’s team averaged 1,360 fans per game, nearly two and a half times the women’s average.

Here’s the kicker, the women’s team had a better season. They went 15-19 overall, an 8-8 record at home, and made it to the third round of the West Coast Conference Championships held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The men concluded their season with a 5-10 home record, 6-24 overall, and a first-round tournament exit. The women’s team fought through overtime thrillers and showed grit, while the men’s team received the cheers, the crowds, and the clout. 

The same inequality plays out in funding. While the women’s basketball team was the only women’s program to receive more donations than their male counterparts, $7,463 from 58 donors versus the men’s $3,207 from 21, it was still a slim margin. The bigger picture is even more discouraging.

With water polo, the men’s team raised a staggering $126,386 from 83 donors during Pacific Gives. The women’s team raised $21,920, even though they had 126 donors, the most of any team. Additionally, the men’s campaign featured a flashy matching donation, “once the team raises $10,000, they’ll receive an additional $10,000,” while the women’s page had no such offer. It was inevitable that, although the women’s team had more supporters, it was systemically rigged for the men to receive more funding.

More disparities within each sport speak for themselves. 

Softball received just $2,349 from 21 donors, while baseball brought in a significantly higher $24,210 from only 36 donors.

Women’s tennis raised $6,488 from 12 donors, whereas men’s tennis received $27,618 from 44 donors, plus an automatic $15,000 match, giving them an even greater fundraising advantage.

Women’s swimming brought in $5,348 from 57 donors, but men’s swimming more than tripled that amount with $17,838 from a nearly identical 59 donors.

Women’s soccer actually outpaced men’s soccer in the number of donors, 213 compared to 187, yet they still raised less overall. $15,959 versus the men’s $20,056.

For Volleyball, while the team received a generous $15,000 challenge gift, it was contingent on donor numbers, not dollar-for-dollar matching like many of the men’s teams. Thankfully, they garnered support from 40 donors to raise $23,352, with $15,000 of that amount from the successful donor challenge. 

The bias isn’t just in attendance or donations, it’s ingrained into our culture. I’ve written 19 sports articles during my time at The Pacifican, with five focused on men’s teams, nine on women’s, and five on general athletics. I asked the co-editors-in-chief to check the marketing side of the website to see which stories got the most clicks. Even when women outperform, dominate, or show real promise, the interest doesn’t follow, as there is an average of fewer clicks on women’s articles compared to men’s. Strangely, the neutral articles focusing on both men’s and women’s stayed consistent with men’s content. Therefore, further insinuating that if men’s sports aren’t involved, it’s a closed conversation. 

These aren’t coincidental numbers. They’re reflections of what our community values, and what it doesn’t. At Pacific, women’s athletics are fighting an uphill battle not because of a lack of talent, effort, or achievement, but because of a lack of recognition. Ranging from funding, fan turnout, and media engagement, the disparities run deep. It’s not enough to say we support women’s sports, but we have to show it through equitable coverage, consistent attendance, and fair institutional backing.