Northern Kentucky Sports Chronicle

  (This article was originally published on Aug. 12, 2021) The countdown is at eight. To be more precise, eight days until the official start of the 2021 football season in Kentucky. That’s a sweet number for players, coaches and fans around Kentucky, where the campaign kicks off on Aug. 20. But there are plenty of other numbers to keep an eye on as the season approaches. Here’s a look at what’s going on around the state — particularly in Northern Kentucky — when it comes to the numbers game for 2021. (Click link below for entire article) https://online.fliphtml5.com/hfocp/zwka/#p=1

(This column was originally published on March 21, 2020) National television beckoned for the first time in school history. An NCAA championship would be at stake in less than 48 hours. It was March 21, 1996, and Northern Kentucky had just knocked off powerful Virginia Union in the NCAA Division II Final Four. NKU head coach Ken Shields was wrapping up a surreal evening at the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville with a final one-on-one interview with a newspaper reporter. The makeshift basketball site had just provided one of the classic games in Division II history, as LaRon Moore hit a 12-foot turnaround jumper in the closing seconds to give NKU a 68-66 win over Virginia Union. The NKU players — Moore, Andre McClendon and Paul Cluxton — had already done their mandatory interviews at the NCAA postgame press conference. The media, though, wanted plenty of one-on-one interviews with Shields. So did some officials from CBS, which would be televising NKU’s national championship g...

NKU’s Paul Cluxton, LaRon Moore, Andre McClendon and Ken Shields after defeating Virginia Union. ---------------- (This story was originally published in The Kentucky Post on March 22, 1996) By Tom Gamble Kentucky Post sports editor LOUISVILLE — After spending more than three decades on the sideline and winning almost 600 career games, Northern Kentucky University basketball coach Ken Shields can sense when a team has what it takes to win. And Shields has that feeling. One night after sophomore guard Andy Listerman scored a career-high 19 points, including the game-winning layup with 2.8 seconds left to give NKU a 56-55 win over Cal State Bakersfield, the Norse found another way to win. Thursday, it was junior forward LaRon Moore who came up with the big shot — a turnaround jumper with just 3.2 seconds remaining (pictured on right) — that enabled NKU to beat Virginia Union, 68-66, in an NCAA Division II semifinal game before a crowd of 2,596 at the Commonwealth Convention Center. As a ...