Topic: Athletics

Current New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry and recently-hired Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks give Appalachian an impressive distinction.

Appalachian State University notes in a press release that its Kidd Brewer Stadium had higher average home attendance in 2017 than the Los Angeles Chargers did in the StubHub Center.

This is Dollar General Bowl week and weekend in Mobile. But before the big game Saturday, players and coaches from both Appalachian State University and the University of Toledo visited children at the University of South Alabama's Children's and Women's Hospital.

Appalachian’s $38.2 million north end zone project is moving down the field with approval by the university’s board of trustees on Friday. The trustees unanimously voted to endorse the 87,400-square-foot mixed-use development that will replace the Owens Field House, which was built in 1972 and which leaders say has “significant deferred maintenance issues.”

Armanti Edwards led Appalachian State to two national titles, as well as the biggest upset in school history with a 34-32 win over Michigan in 2007. But this past weekend, the former Carolina Panther achieved a bigger career milestone in Canada, when he helped the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts beat the Calgary Stampeders for the Grey Cup. That’s Canada’s version of the Super Bowl.

Mark Ricks does not seek the spotlight. Ricks, who donated a $10 million gift to his alma mater Appalachian State on Nov. 9 at the Holmes Center, would rather just stay in the background instead of be the center of attention.

Crowds in excess of 30,000 are heading to the High Country to watch Appalachian State’s first-place team compete on a home field surrounded by visible stadium enhancements that have made the gameday experience in Boone even better.

Senior Emily Stinson, junior Savanna Wood, and freshman Melany Chong were all recognized by the WGCA landing on the 2016-2017 WGCA All-American Scholar Team. The trio led a remarkable year for App State women's golf in the classroom which included a team GPA of 3.41, the third-highest among App's 18 programs and a perfect single-year and four-year APR score of 1,000.

Appalachian State University baseball senior right-hand pitcher Matt Brill was selected in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 12th round (No. 352 overall) on Wednesday afternoon.