FCS Award Named for Adrian Peterson<\/strong> Two Eagles Drafted by NFL Teams<\/strong> McKinnon\u2019s roommate and teammate at Georgia Southern, Lavelle Westbrooks was also drafted. A seventh round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, Westbrooks drew attention from teams as a hybrid defensive back\u2014one who can play both safety and cornerback. Both McKinnon and Westbrooks admit they miss being around their Eagle teammates, but the opportunities ahead will allow them to draw even more attention to the Georgia Southern football program and the University. \u201cI feel extremely blessed\u2026so many players wish they could be in this same position,\u201d Westbrooks said. \u201cThis is a great time, not just for me, not just for Jerick, but everyone at Georgia Southern, and we are so grateful for all the people who have supported us through this whole journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Purvis No-Hitter Highlights Amazing Season<\/strong> The Georgia Southern All-Girl Cheerleading team brought back a fourth National Title. This young team featuring nine freshmen and no seniors, was led by juniors Chloe Cotter of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and Emily Harwood of Sugar Hill, Georgia. The team began the final day of competition in first place and sealed the win on the second day, thanks to their elite stunts and well-executed routine. The all-girl squad bested teams from East Carolina, Penn State, Charlotte, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio State and Georgia.<\/p>\n In addition, the Co-ed Cheerleading team finished second overall at this year\u2019s NCA National Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida. Led by Senior Carla Metts of Dublin, Georgia, they started the final day in fifth place but moved up to second after a strong final day and a pyramid sequence that featured round-off and full ups, and rewinds to the top. While the University of Michigan won the title, Georgia Southern finished ahead of Middle Tennessee State University, University of Texas at El Paso, Kent State University, and the University of Missouri.<\/p>\n Eagles Enter New League This Fall<\/strong> Boerger Named Goalkeepers Coach<\/strong> Eagle Named Head Coach at Florida Atlantic<\/strong> Chester Webb Inducted into Georgia Sports Hall of Fame<\/strong> Athletic News Roundup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-5101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-spring-2014"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCollege Sporting News has named its NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Offensive Player of the Year award in honor of former Eagle Adrian Peterson. He played four seasons at Georgia Southern from 1998-2001 and remains the all-time leading rusher in NCAA Division I history. Peterson spent eight years with the Chicago Bears and was inducted into the Georgia Southern Hall of Fame in 2012.<\/p>\n
\nAfter a successful career at Georgia Southern, Cobb County native Jerick McKinnon was the 96th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft. Despite playing as an option quarterback for most of his college career, the 5-foot-9, 209-pounder will make the transition to the NFL as a running back. McKinnon, 22, rushed 33 times for 282 yards (8.5 yards a carry) and three touchdowns against noted college programs such as Alabama and Georgia. He also scored the game-winning touchdown in an epic victory over Florida last fall. Taken in the third round, McKinnon said Minnesota liked his versatility. His numbers at the NFL combine \u2014 a 4.41-second 40-yard dash, 32 reps of 225 pounds and a 40.5-inch vertical jump \u2014 suggest he has the skills to play at the next level. But McKinnon said \u201cwaiting for that call\u201d was the toughest part of the process. CBSSports.com had projected McKinnon to go in the fourth round. “I don\u2019t know where to start to explain,\u201d said McKinnon about having a chance to play in the NFL. \u201cI know I\u2019m fortunate to have this opportunity\u2026It really hasn\u2019t hit me yet. I want to go up there, play ball and show them what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\nSOFTBALL<\/h2>\n
\nAfter securing the Southern Conference (SoCon) Regular Season Championship, the Eagles entered the 2014 SoCon Tournament as the top seed. Georgia Southern opened the tourney with an historic 4-0 win over Elon. Senior Sarah Purvis cemented her name in SoCon record books with the first no-hitter in tournament history. \u201cSarah pitched a great game to throw the first no-hitter in the SoCon Tournament, which shows how big of an accomplishment that is. Everybody played a good game today and that is what you\u2019ve got to do in postseason play,\u201d said Head Coach Annie Smith. The no-hitter was the sixth career gem for the Eagle pitcher. The no-hitter is also the first against a SoCon opponent since 1993. Only one day after her historic no-hitter, Purvis delivered her second-straight shutout victory with a 3-0 win over rival Samford. Ultimately, the Eagle\u2019s drive for a third-straight Tournament Championship ended with an 11-2 loss to UNCG. \u201cWe had a great year to win another SoCon Championship, but it hurts to end it this way. I\u2019d like to thank our senior class for everything they have done for this program,\u201d said Smith. Purvis set the school record for wins (61) and also captured the Georgia Southern single season and career strikeout records with 288 and 757, respectively. The Eagles finished the season with a 35-21 record.<\/p>\nCHEERLEADING<\/h2>\n
SOCCER<\/h2>\n
\nGeorgia Southern Men\u2019s Soccer will have a new home this fall with the re-introduction of the sport in the Sun Belt Conference. The Eagles will compete in a six-team league comprised of full-time members Appalachian State, Georgia State, and affiliate members Hartwick, Howard and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, in a single round-robin schedule. The winning school will earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.<\/p>\n
\nPhil Boerger has joined Men\u2019s Soccer as goalkeepers coach, after stints at Syracuse University and the University of Jamestown, in his hometown of Jamestown, North Dakota. He played the first three years of his collegiate career at the University of Evansville before transferring to Syracuse.<\/p>\nBASKETBALL<\/h2>\n
\nFormer NBA coach and player Michael Curry (\u201890) has returned to college as head coach at Florida Atlantic University. Curry was named to the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001 and earned the University\u2019s Alumni of the Year Award in 2005.<\/p>\n
\nChester Webb, a star basketball player for Georgia Teachers College, was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in February. The native of Elberton, Georgia, played between 1952 and 1956, and is the basketball program\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 2,542 career points. As a senior in 1956, Webb scored 883 points, with an average of 30.5 points per game, making his the best season in school history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"