Hello from Coach T

Greetings all you Highlander fans and hopefuls! My name is Corey Thomaston and I am one of the other assistant coaches. I am heading into my fifth season as an assistant here at RU and my seventh season overall with Coach Porter. We have been together since she was at the University of North Alabama.
I completed both my graduate work (’02) and my undergraduate work (’99) at the University of North Alabama. I originally went to school to become a sports broadcaster and received my B.S. in Communication. The opportunity to coach came along and that is how I ended up here after receiving my M.A. in Health and Physical Education.
My wife Bevin and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary on May 31st. We currently have two dogs and are expecting our first child (a boy) in early September! We are very excited about that. We had another doctor’s appointment today and everything looks good so far. We are now to the point where we are meeting with the doc every two weeks. We have another appointment in two weeks and should get to do an ultrasound there to weigh him and all that fun stuff.
I have been involved with a lot of different aspects here over the past four seasons. I worked with the guards for three seasons and will now be working with post players for a second straight season.
We are really excited about July and getting out on the road. We will be traveling as far west as Oregon, south to Louisiana, and north to Pennsylvania. We will see a lot of talented young ballplayers. This is one of the best times of the summer and we look forward to it each year.
If any of you need anything, do not hesitate to give us a call or shoot me an email cmthomast@radford.edu.

Take care,

Coach T

Q & A with Corrie Fertitta

Two down, two to go. Junior post player Corrie Fertitta is half way through her college career and we feel like the best is yet to come. Corrie sets a great example for her teammates in the offseason by always going hard in pre/post season workouts and coming back from her summer break looking game ready. Coach Porter often says that Corrie doesn't smile until October every year because Corrie has gained a reputation of being the player on our team who dislikes preseason workouts and early morning practices more than anyone. Corrie has been at home in Roanoke since finals in May and we wish she'd visit us but we know she loves her family and loves being at home. We'll catch up with her in August and I know she'll be ready to go for her junior season in hopes of taking RU Women's Hoops to the next level. Corrie recently emailed me and answered a few questions:

1. Tell us about yourself. My name is Corrie Fertitta, from Roanoke, VA. I am a Junior forward, majoring in Exercise Sports and Health Education. I plan to use my degree to teach and coach at the high school level or try and work with youth either as a counselor or at a youth center.

2. What are you doing this summer? This summer I'm working as a softball umpire for the Roanoke Rec. Club. For workouts I've been going to my sisters aau practices and working out with the team. Also I'm going to start playing pick up with the Virginia Western and Roanoke College teams as soon as they start up.

3. What do you do for fun outside of basketball? During the summer I love going to the pool and getting a tan. Also I like getting to hang out with my brother, sister and friends that i haven't seen during the school year.

4. What is your favorite thing about Radford? About campus? About our team? I like Radford because its such as beautiful place. The campus grounds are kept so nice and its just beautiful all year round. About the team, I love'em!! Everybody gets along and we have such great times!! Also, its like having a family away from home.

5. What are the best parts about road trips? I'd have to say We Eat Great! We go to some awesome places to eat! Also we get to miss class so thats always a plus to me!

6. Tell a funny story or something interesting about one of your teammates. I can't really think of one right now but i'll get back to you on that one.

Watch the 2005-06 Highlight Tape Online!

It's finally here. Click the Play Button twice to view the full length 2005-06 Highlight Tape online. We hope you enjoy it and you'll choose to catch a game starting next November to be a part of the moments that will be next season's highlights! We didn't lose a single member of this year's team and we look forward to this group of young ladies finally reaching their potential and contending for a Big South Championship. We hope to have alot of support in the stands as we work hard to reach our goals next Fall.

For now, it's camp time. I've got to get back to my duties as camp counselor in the dorms and put these kids to bed. Gotta love the life of an assistant coach...

Coach P

Hey everyone!

Summer has officially begun (or at least it has if you have a six year old who got out of school last week!)! Thus far, the highlight for the Porter family has been a quick trip to Kings Dominion! We met up with several of my coaching buddies and their families and had a great day in the park. My husband Mike and I are trying to put together a summer schedule that will be fun for our son EJ, but won't kill us in the process! The life of the college coach is quite interesting. We spend most of the summer months juggling camps and recruiting trips and vacations with family. We love it!!

Saturday kicks off our 4th annual Next Level Summer Camp! Our enrollment is as large as it has ever been and we are looking forward to the best camp that we have ever had! It's always fun when you get a chance to see something begin to take shape. That is what being here at RU over the past 4 years has been like. Watching this program grow and come together has been very rewarding. Hang on Highlander fans - RU Women's Basketball is about to take off!

Have a great summer!

Coach Porter

Hello Highlander Fans. It's now the beginning of June and activities are slowing down a little bit on the campus of RU. For those of you that think that basketball coaches only work from October to March, think again. We do have a little more free time these days (I went on vacation last week to Boise, ID and Coach T went to visit family in Alabama) but we are still working every day towards our goals of being more successful next year on and off the court. We are all busy making recruiting calls and planning for the July recruiting period in hopes of securing the best possible 07' class of future Lady Highlanders.

We had a recent addition to the Highlander family on Monday when Davida Dodson verbally committed to join us next year. Davida is a 5'6" shooting guard from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Silver Spring, MD. We had a great time getting to know her on her official visit and I know that she will fit in well with the crazy mixture of personalities we already have.

We are a little less than 2 weeks away from our annual Next Level Summer Basketball Camp that starts on June 17th. It is not too late to register so if you know anyone who would like to attend, let me know. We hope to have a good number of campers and some great competition.

Question and Answer with Johnette Walker

For those of you who saw freshman point guard Johnette Walker play last season, you can understand how excited we are to have her in a Radford uniform for 3 more years. Johnette is around Radford this summer getting ahead on her academics, but everytime we look up, JW is in the gym working on her game. It is very encouraging for us to have such a talented player who is as devoted to improving herself as Johnette is. Yesterday, I caught up with Johnette and convinced her to answer a few questions for me. I will most likely owe her dinner for helping me out!

1. Describe yourself on the court.
I'm really not good at describing myself, but I would say that on the court I am determined
and hard working.

2. Describe your coaches.
good motivator, personable, helpful, persistent, dependable, honest, relates well with us

3. What is your favorite thing about Radford?
My favorite thing about Radford is the people. The people are very unique and very
interesting.

4. What are you doing this summer outside of basketball?
I work at the Dedmon Center and I am currently attending summer school. I will also be
back later this summer for one more session of summer school.

5. How are your workouts going this summer?
My workouts are coming along pretty good. My new slogan is "Champions are made
when no one is looking." I'm officially a gym rat and proud of it.

6. What do you do for fun with your teammates?
My teammates are very fun too be around and they have made my first year in college
great. I enjoy hanging out with my teammates. We go bowling, play pick up, and mainly I
just enjoy laughing with my teammates.

7. Have you decided on a major yet? What will you do with your degree after
your days at RU?
ESHE major (exercise sports and health education) with a minor in coaching and teaching.
With my degree, I hope too one day become a GREAT Coach.

Keep checking in for more postings by current RU players. I promise to do a better job updating this more often now that I'm back from my vacation.

JRA