RUSTON -- Former Palestine-Wheatley standout and current Louisiana Tech senior guard Erica (Smith) Taylor and husband Jermain became proud parents Tuesday.
Erica Taylor gave birth to Nia Jay Taylor at 5:51 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14 at Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock. Nia weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces.
"I don't think it has hit me yet," Erica said Wednesday morning. "I'm sure that it will when Jermain and I get home alone with her. I'm happy and Jermain's happy. Everything went fine and I feel great. You can't even tell I was pregnant."
Taylor, who was named the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year by the league's coaches, said that she plans to return to Ruston by Jan. 3 for the start of classes after the Christmas break.
Although no timetable has been set, Erica said she hopes to be back on the court with her Lady Techster teammates as soon as physically possible.
"I'm really excited about (playing)," Erica said. "I think Jermain is even more excited then I am about it. That's all we talked about yesterday."
Due to the couple's unique story, Erica said that the birth of her daughter was a media event in Little Rock as local television stations came to the hospital last night to interview the couple and film the newest Taylor "in action."
Jermain, a native of Little Rock, is currently ranked No. 3 in the world after winning his last professional fight Dec. 4 over William Joppy to keep his WBCA Continental Americas belt and remain undefeated.
Erica said that Jermain would remain in Ruston during the next three months and play house mom while the Techsters conclude the season.
The Lady techsters are 4-3 after losing to Tennessee 70-59 Tuesday night. Tennessee freshman guard Alexis Hornbuckle scored seven of her game-high 17 points during a critical second half stretch.
Erica was instrumental in helping lead the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots to the 2001 Class AA state girls basketball title and a 35-1 overall season record.
The state title came on the Lady Patriots third straight appearance
in the Class AA state finals. Before winning the title in 2001,
the Lady Patriots finished runners-up twice to Greenland.
Palestine-Wheatley's Lady Patriots continued their winning ways last Friday with a 25-point win over Gillett.
The conference win has the Lady Patriots at 5-1 for he year and 2-0 in the conference as they head to Humphrey Friday night for a nonconference matchup.
"Humphrey will be a good test for us," said P-W Coach Lanny Allen. "We will be playing on their short court home floor and that will be a different look for our girls."
Following Friday's game, Allen's Lady Patriots along with the P-W Patriots, leave Sunday afternoon for Charleston, where they will play in the two-day tournament Monday and Tuesday.
"That's in the area where I'm from," Allen, who played at Scranton said.
The Lady Patriots will play the host team Charleston Lady Tigers at 7 p.m., Monday.
The Patriots, also winners over Gillett Friday, will hit the floor at 8:30 p.m. Monday to take on the Charleston Tigers.
P-W is 4-2 overall for the year.
The Hughes Blue Devils are also in the Charleston tourney mix and will play Danville, Monday at 5:30 p.m. Hughes plays at Gillett Friday night.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Calvary Christian School went from having three playing dates this week to almost having only one.
After playing at Jonesboro Monday night, the Calvary varsity teams were scheduled to play at Christian Home Educators in Jonesboro. That game was cancelled.
Friday's scheduled game against Pulaski County School in Little Rock has been cancelled as well.
That was scheduled to be a game for the junior high teams.
However, the Calvary Junior Eagles will host the Lord's Ranch Saturday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.
Headed into the holiday break, the senior boys are 5-3 while the senior girls are 4-4. The Junior Eagles and Junior Lady Eagles are 2-2.
by FRED CONLEY
The search for a new Forrest City Mustang football coach begins in earnest Monday.
Friday is the declared deadline for all applications for the position to be submitted for consideration and review.
That means Monday, for sure, the search process shifts to the next gear.
Forrest City Athletic Director Mike Bender wants a quick resolution to filling the vacancy created when Donnie Willis resigned after six seasons as head coach.
Bender would like to have a new coach in place by the start of the second semester -- for off-season purposes as well as keeping to a minimum the amount of rumors and street talk that always accompanies things of this nature.
The list of "rumored" candidates hit the Forrest City streets quicker than the first application crossed Bender's desk.
The longer the search, the more talk circulates. Sometimes, that can be detrimental to the hiring process.
Whether or not getting someone in place that quick is yet to be determined. Bender likes to think where there is a will, there is a way.
While no official statement has been issued by Bender, the "unofficial' list of names circulating throughout the city -- by word of mouth -- is loaded with some interesting possibilities.
The street rumors have already put the usual names in place with former Mustang coach and current Osceola coach Clinton Gore getting a lot of attention on the streets.
Former Searcy Coach Danny Mallett's name has been mentioned as well as Stuttgart's Bobby Bolding and Palestine-Wheatley's Terry Farmer. Other names being thrown around include Junction City's David Carpenter, Dollarway's George Shelton, Star City's Jerry James and Warren's Bo Hembree.
All are proven veterans who have produced winning programs.
And as always, there are those who continue to dredge up the past, namely "the one who Forrest City let get away," none other than former Hughes and Shiloh Christian coach Gus Malzahn, who is currently in place at Springdale.
Many of the city's football faithful are still chomping on that bitter taste when they think back to the district not trying to land Malzahn after he decided to step away from Hughes.
Granted, Malzahn would have been a great catch, but probably would not have been the right coach for a long-range future at Forrest City.
While the football purists in the city are trying to be deadpan serious when talking about the coaching search, there is a comical side to the search.
I was almost taken in when Bender motioned to me from his office while I was at the administrative offices attending to other tasks, saying he was going to let the coaching cat out of the bag and that the new head coach was going to be Leotis Williams, the school district's head of maintenance.
Of course, Tuesday night at the Forrest City-Wynne basketball game, I was told that Larry Gwyn and Michael Boles were going to be co-head coaches.
One of the most off the wall rumors to surface even before Willis made his resignation official, offered speculation that Bender, himself, would be taking over the head coaching duties.
Bender denied that rumor quicker than a New York minute.
All joking aside, Bender would like to bring in a proven coach, a veteran if you will, but he realizes that a lot of things have to fall into place in order to accomplish that goal. He wants someone who will come here for the long term, the long haul. Someone who has the patience and the determination to rebuild the Mustang football program.
That rebuilding process will not be accomplished overnight and it could take as long as an entire season to right the Mustang football ship.
There appears to be a lot that needs fixin'. No doubt it will be a "24-7" job for at least the first year.
All applications will be considered and all of the applicants will be interviewed after which Bender will whittle things down to "3" finalists to form a "short list."
That list may be in place by the time the holidays hit, but in any event, it is a certainty that Bender will not rush the hiring process just for the sake of rushing the hiring process.
There is a lot at stake this time.
The future of Mustang football rests on the right people making the absolute right decision for the good of the school district, its student population, the football programs (at each level) and for Forrest City.
It is certainly not about appeasing those few who feel they have a need to help run the football program from outside the football program.
I don't envy Bender nor do I have any desire to be living in his shoes at the moment.
For the next week or so, Bender has more on his mind than most of us will have on our holiday dinner plates.
It is almost too much for one person to digest, but Bender will and when the time is right, he will let us know -- officially -- who the new Mustang football coach will be.
Until that time, everything else is just street talk. But what would we do without the street rumors?
The Lions captured the Forrest City Youth Flag Football League title this season, finishing undefeated for the third straight year. Team members are: Brice Logan, Wesley Douglas, Justin Booth, Reed Eakin, Chandler Martin, Ryan Jayroe, Delan Parkman, Harrison Devasier, Conner Harbin, Seth Eakin, Brent Carson. Coaches are Tommy Carson and Preston Parkman.