There are a lot of good things to like about Tulane University, not just the fact it’s in the city of New Orleans.

“Tulane has really good academics, and their basketball team is really good,” said Adesuwa Ebomwonyi on why she chose the school to continue her education. “I love the coaching staff and the girls are just great. There’s a lot of positives.”

Ebomwonyi graduated from Pflugerville High last spring. Her time as a Panther was by any measurement a success. She dominated on the basketball court, as well as in the classroom. Now Ebomwonyi has taken her talents to the Big Easy, and is a starting forward as a freshman for the Tulane women’s basketball squad.

The faster play, tougher competition and more in-depth play book marked a stark difference in transitioning from the high school to the college level.

“At practice at the college level is like playing a game at the high school level,” said Ebomwonyi during a recent phone conversation. “Every practice, we have to come ready, be intense. Playing a college game is like triple times that.”

Ebomwonyi got off to a fast start this season for the Green Wave, and was named a Conference USA Freshman Player of the Week back in November. So far this season, she’s averaged 5.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 21 minutes per game.

“The coaching staff has been really helpful,” Ebomwonyi, 19, said. “They’re patient and they help let us know what we need to do, what we need to work on.”

As of the first week of January, the Green Wave sported an 11-2 record, and is 7-0 at home.

“We use our strengths, we take our positives and use that, and work on our weaknesses,” Ebomwonyi said of the team’s success.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ebomwonyi was a three-year letter winner at Pflugerville, where she led the team to two District 25-5A titles. She was also named to the All-Central Texas first-team as a junior and senior.

This past summer, Ebomwonyi was selected to the Nigerian U19 World Championship National Team.

“It was a really good experience,” Ebomwonyi said. “I made a bunch of new friends. That’s a good thing to have.”

In high school, Ebomwonyi was named to the National Honor Society. In college, she’s pre-med, and plans to go to medical school to possibly become a pediatrician.

With a blossoming college hoops career and a pre-med track academically, Ebomwonyi knows what her goals are when it comes to the little free time she she has: Getting some sleep, and plenty of of it.

“It’s one of my number one priories,” she said.

It’s easy to understand what motivates Deon Mitchell.

The former Pflugerville High School basketball star and current Northern Iowa University standout is now working hard in college.

A rare opportunity in his immediate family.

“I think I’m the only one to go to college in my family,” said Mitchell during a recent phone interview. According to Mitchell, his father earned a track scholarship, but was unable to go to school because of family obligations. “That’s my motivation, just to get it done and do what it takes.”

On the basketball court, things are going well for the 18-year old. The freshman is the starting point guard for NIU, which sported a 10-4 record through Sunday.

Mitchell said that the transition from high school to college was evident in the pace and speed of the game. He also noted that players hustle more, and defensively are more likely to take a charge.

All that said, Mitchell isn’t intimidated by starting as a freshman.

“I’m just playing basketball,” he said. “I don’t try to do too much. I just try to play my role and do what it takes to help my team win.”

While at Pflugerville High, Mitchell was a first-team all-state pick after averaging 21 points, six assists and five rebounds a game as a senior. He was recruited by a number of schools, but was drawn to the unselfish play he saw at NIU.

“When I was going through the recruiting process, I visited a few schools, unofficially,” Mitchell said. “Northern Iowa was my only official visit. When I went to the other schools and I saw how the players play, I saw them being selfish. When I came to Northern Iowa, I noticed that they’re very unselfish, they play as a team, and they’re very good defensively.”

Through 14 games at NIU, Mitchell is averaging 7.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game.

And if anyone thinks that Northern Iowa is no-man’s land when it comes to college hoops, think again. The school made the NCAA tournament from 2004-2006 and 2009-2010. In 2010, the school defeated top seeded Kansas to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. However, Mitchell said that the coaching staff doesn’t lean too much on past glory to motivate the current crop of players.

Mitchell said he’s still undecided on a major, but is interested in counseling or psychology.

When it comes to hitting the books or working in the gym, Mitchell doesn’t have too many distractions. The University of Northern Iowa is located in is Cedar Falls, Iowa, a town of about 40,000 residents.

“It’s pretty nice,” Mitchell said. “There’s not really a lot to do. You have time to sit back and think about what you’re doing.”

The men’s soccer program at Concordia University in Austin is beginning to come into its own. The school started Division III play in 1999, and before this year, had never won more than five matches in a single season. In the school’s first six years at the Division III level, the program won just one game.

In 2011, the Tornadoes set program marks by going 6-7-3 overall and 6-4-3 in the American Southwest Conference.

Part of the team’s breakthrough season can be attributed to Pflugerville High School graduate Sebastian Parra.

“I think it was hard work and becoming a family,” Parra, 20, said. “Our coach always instilled we play for each other and with each other and play from the start to the finish. I think that was a big part of our success this year.

“I know past seasons we’ve been at the bottom of the table, and this is the year we’ve broken through and shown who we are to the conference,” he added.

Last month, Parra was named to the American Southwest Conference third team, this after two seasons of earning honorable mentions.

“It’s a great feeling,” Parra, a junior, said. “Having two honorable mention years, I’ve been waiting for this time to come. I’ve been working hard. I was pretty surprised this year, actually, because my stats didn’t really show I should have been third team.”

Playing the center midfield position, Parra notched three assists and is second all-time in the program’s history in that category. But Parra’s contribution to his team goes beyond the box score, serving as one of the squad’s captains.

“I think my coach (Tatenda Chieza) put a good word in for me,” Parra said. “He sees me every day and he sees what I do. That’s what he does for all of our players.”

Parra was one of six players named to the All ASC team from Concordia.

“We all work hard together every day on the field,” Parra said. “We see our hard work paying off in games. It’s great to be rewarded as a team like that.”

For the third consecutive year, Parra started every match.

“It’s important to me because I think starting a match is something that every player on the team wants to do,” said the business major, who plans to graduate in the Spring of 2013. “It’s an honor to get put on the field with the first 11. The first 11 are kind of like the core of the group. Being put on first is the best honor to have and a gift your coach can give you.”

Next season, Parra is looking for both personal success and to see the program continue its ascension.

“For myself, I would say to play to my best abilities and leave it all out on the field every game,” Parra said. “For the team, the best thing to do is to make it to conference and win the conference tournament. That’s out ultimate goal.”

Things are coming together nicely for T.J. Johnson.

The Hendrickson High School product is starting to make a name for himself as a senior for the Missouri Western State University men’s basketball team. Last month, Johnson was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Player of the Week.

“I was excited, but I’m a team player,” said Johnson, 22, during a recent phone interview. “I couldn’t have done it without my team. It’s great to get personal accolades sometimes, and I’m working hard just trying to do my best out here.”

Johnson, a senior, has embraced his role as a leader for the Griffons.

“I just try to be a leader on the team, and I’m a captain of the team, so I’m just trying to lead by example,” Johnson said. “I know if I play hard and work hard, then my teammates work hard as well.”

Johnson didn’t take the most direct route to MWSU, located in Saint Joseph, Missouri. After a successful career at Hendrickson, he played two years at McLennan Community College in Waco.

After visiting the MWSU campus, Johnson felt that the university was a good fit for him. And he’s clearly been a good fit for the university.

Last season, Johnson averaged 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Through seven games this season, Johnson was leading his team in scoring at 13.4 point per game, to go with 4.7 rebounds.

The Griffons play at the Division II level.

“It’s a good school,” Johnson said. “We’re in a real tough conference, so we have competition every day. I feel this D-II competition is as good as some D-I competition. So I’m out there having fun doing what I love to do.”

Johnson said his game has not changed much since high school.

“I pretty much play the same way,” he said. “Just like in high school, I just play with freedom and I just let the game come to me. Whatever happens, happens.”

He added that college athletics has taught him skills that will benefit him in the future, such as leadership and resolving conflicts.

“It will get you ready for the real world, in my opinion,” Johnson said.

As far as the future is concerned, Johnson is very clear on his plans for after he graduates this spring: He wants to take his talents and play professional basketball overseas. He doesn’t care where, as long as he gets a chance to play.

“I’m looking into that now to make that happen,” Johnson said. “Wherever I can go, I’m just trying to play as long as I can. It’s what I love to do.”

Poughkeepsie, New York, is a world away from Pflugerville. Sure, both are relatively small towns. And both names start with the letter ‘P’ and would be worth a lot of points if allowed in a game of Scrabble.

So for a Pflugerville High School graduate to choose to attend Marist College, which is located near Poughkeepsie, midway between Albany and New York City, there should be a good reason.

For Marisa Gilbert, who graduated in 2011 from PHS, there were a number of factors. Her grandparents live nearby. She enjoyed the campus when she visited. Marist offers well-regarded academics and a study-abroad program.

And she’d get a chance to play Division I volleyball.

“All those factors helped me decide,” said Gilbert, who admits she hasn’t left campus much, what with volleyball and class, and doesn’t know much about Poughkeepsie. But having her grandparents nearby made the 1,800 mile move much easier.

“It was easy to transition,” Gilbert said.

On the volleyball court, the freshman has had a pretty smooth transition as well. Heading into this last weekend, the 6-foot-tall Gilbert leads the team in blocks with 79 combined block shots and block assists. She was also fourth on the team in kills.

“It’s a quicker pace,” Gilbert said of the transition to the collegiate level. “I feel like I adjusted really well. I actually like it quicker. We do practice every day. But I like playing volleyball, so I don’t mind the time that it takes up.”

Starting as a freshman was at first intimidating, but her productivity justifies her starting role.

“I was really nervous to play, especially with older girls,” said Gilbert, who also played for the Austin Juniors club team. “But now, not so much. I actually kind of like it. I like being younger than everyone else. It’s not bad at all. It’s fun starting as a freshman. It’s exciting. I really wasn’t expecting to.”

And all of those blocks are a result of an added focus.

“What I’m working on this year is being patient, because sometimes I guess which way the ball is going to go and it doesn’t work out for me,” Gilbert laughed. “That’s what I’m working on currently.”

At Pflugerville High School, Gilbert was a member of the National Honor Society, a four-time Academic All-District selection and a 2010 Academic All-State honoree. Gilbert is still hitting the books at Marist.

Gilbert is fluctuating between an environmental science and digital media for her major. Her typical day includes two classes; volleyball practice for close to three hours, including film study, weight training, and scrimmaging; and studying. And she’s looking forward to her junior year study abroad opportunity, which may include London, Australia and Florence, Italy.

“I still have a couple of years to decide were to go,” she said. “Anywhere would be fun. I’m really excited.”

With the volleyball season winding down and the holidays approaching, Gilbert is looking forward to the long trip home for Thanksgiving.

“I’m really excited to go back,” Gilbert said. “I miss home.”

Pflag Correspondent

It’s not common to find three athletes from the same high school continuing their education and playing careers at the same university.

It’s even less common for those three players to come from the same graduating class, but a certain trio at South Carolina State did just that.

Bria Brimmer, Peri Ligons and Shabree Roberson are all 2008 graduates of Connally High School. The three are now seniors on the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion South Carolina State University womens volleyball team.

“They’re really close friends of mine,” said Roberson, 21. “We have a close relationship. We wanted to bring that to the team.”

The fact that the three women all wound up at South Carolina State is part coincidence, part happy happenstance. The three were recruited individually based on their talent and potential, and each found South Carolina appealing. But the fact that they could do it together was an added bonus.

The three have played volleyball together for a number of years, and the familiarity lends itself to an added advantage on the court.

“It helps you be comfortable and confident in your teammates,” said Brimmer, 21.

Added Roberson, “It’s a natural thing. We know where each other is going to be.”

Ligons, also 21, indicated that the adjustment in moving so far away from home was made easier by having her friends in the same boat. She said that having two close friends with her at college and on the volleyball team was like having a part of home on the East Coast.

“I think it really helped,” said Ligons, a biology major. “You had your second family.”

The three have each had successful careers at South Carolina States, and have entered their final month of playing. The team won the 2010 MEAC title, and Roberson and Brimmer were named to the MEAC all-preseason team.

“I was humbled by it,” said Roberson on the preseason recognition. “I wasn’t expecting it. Now I’m trying to live up to expectations.”

Roberson, named to the All-MEAC first team last season, entered 2011 already in the top 10 all-time in kills and top-five in blocks at South Carolina State, and is quickly rising up the ranks.

Brimmer, an accounting major, has had quite the career at South Carolina State. Entering 2011, she was already the all-time assists leader at South Carolina State, and has recently eclipsed 4,000 in that category. She was also named to the all-MEAC first team in 2010.

Now Brimmer is focusing on living up to the expectations set but her preseason honor, as well as last year’s team success.

“It’s very exciting,” Brimmer said. “It caught me off guard. I hadn’t really thought about it. I’ve used it as motivation to live up to something like that.”

Sean Ianno is the all-time leading place kicker for the University of Texas at San Antonio football program.

OK, so the football program has only been playing games for about six weeks now. But that’s part of the reason why Ianno, a Pflugerville High School product, chose to play his college ball at UTSA.

“UTSA was starting a new program, and I would just love to be part of it,” said Ianno during a recent phone interview. He said he had offers to play out of state, but they weren’t enough to keep him from choosing to be a Roadrunner. “I love being here, I love San Antonio. This atmosphere of a brand new program is great.

“Everything we do is a record,” Ianno added, laughing. “Kickers are usually at the top of scoring the most points, so I have the potential to be the all-time leading scorer from UTSA for a career.”

At the helm of the UTSA football program is none other than Larry Coker. Coker is best remembered as the head coach of the University of Miami football team that won the 2001 national championship.

“He’s a cool guy, I like him a lot,” said Ianno, 19. “He’s a great coach, he’s a great motivator. He really gets us going.”

The new UTSA football program has also been the subject of a six-part television series “UTSA Football: The Birth of a Program,” which can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest.

Ianno said he’s caught a couple of episodes, but has been too busy with football and school to see the rest, including the scenes he’s in.

“It was kind of fun,” Ianno said of the filming. “We were just hanging out, kicking footballs. It wasn’t too different.”

The Roadrunners inaugural game on Sept. 3, a 31-3 shellacking of Northeastern State at home, drew 56,743 fans. According to the school, that’s a modern NCAA record for attendance for a start-up program.

“It’s incredible,” said Ianno of the fan support. “The first game we were so pumped up. We had been waiting all year for it.”

Ianno, who is a sophomore in the classroom but a freshman on the field, admits that some of the team’s success in the first game was due to adrenaline. The squad is now 2-5.

“We saw we’re not as good as we were that first quarter of that first game, and we’ve got something to work out,” he said. “We’ve been getting it down pretty good lately.”

With no history to speak of for the UTSA football program, Ianno and his teammates are making their history.

“This is a new thing for me,” Ianno said. “It’s a new thing for most guys on the team. That first game was the first time on the field for most of us.”

Gooden was named to the watch lists for both the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, each of which goes to the top defensive collegiate football player in the country at the end of the year. This is in addition to preseason fourth-team All-American and preseason first-team All Big 12 nods.

But as Gooden points out, these are preseason awards.

“You know, it’s all good,” said Gooden during a recent phone interview. “It’s an honor just to be recognized like that. But at the end of the day, it is preseason stuff. I’d like to see that end-of-the season stuff.”

Last season was Gooden’s first year starting. The season before, he made the transition from safety to linebacker, adding weight while keeping his speed. In 2010, he led Missouri with 85 tackles.

Gooden attributed last year’s growth on the field to simple experience.

“I got a lot more comfortable and composed out there,” said Gooden, who recently turned 21. “The game slowed down a lot for me. I just learn so much what offenses are trying to do to you, just keys I can pick up now that maybe I didn’t at the beginning of last year.”

At Pflugerville High in 2007, Gooden won district all-purpose player of the year, the same season his team finished as 5A state runners up.

When visiting college to decide where to continue his career, the Missouri coaches and team impressed the young man.

“The team seemed like a pretty close family,” said Gooden, a business management major. “Everybody got along. It just seemed like a good environment for me.”

Although the preseason accolades recognize Gooden’s athletic ability, there’s an honor he’s received that means a little more. Gooden wears No. 25, in recognition of Missouri football player Aaron O’Neal. O’Neal passed away unexpectedly after a practice in 2005, and now one player is selected to wear No. 25 to honor his memory.

“They wanted to pick someone who does things right on and off the field,” Gooden said. “They just thought I’d be a good fit for it.”

To reach his goals this year, to live up to all of the preseason hype, and to honor the memory of No. 25, Gooden knows he needs to get his work done on the football field.

“Just stay focused on the task,” Gooden said. “Honestly I’m not out there thinking ‘I want to make this, I want to make that.’ I just try to do the best to help my team to win and I just let the rest take care of itself pretty much. Just practice hard, keep working hard and studying film and just let the rest go.”

When the time came for the announcement of the Hermann Trophy preseason watch list, which recognizes the top collegiate soccer players in the country, Karo Okiomah and his roommate eagerly checked on-line to see who made the cut.

But the High Point University soccer star Okiomah wasn’t exuding some display of hubris. He was simply curious to see if a teammate from a club team made the cut.

That’s when Okiomah’s roommate pointed out that his name was on the list as well.

“It was a surprise,” said Okiomah during a phone interview last week. “I hadn’t thought about it. My mind wasn’t focused on stuff like that.”

“I had a smile on my face,” he added. “It’s nice to be up for it. I just laughed.”

Forty-two nominees were named to the initial list, and 15 semifinalists will be announced in November.

“It’s the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy in football,” said High Point head coach Dustin Fonder. “It’s the top honor in our sport.”

A Hendrickson High School graduate, Okiomah was named the Big South Player of the Year in 2010 and a third-team All-American last year after scoring 12 goals in 16 games. The senior forward had 22 goals and seven assists for his career heading into this season.

Okiomah is the first player from High Point to be named to the Hermann Trophy watch list.

“He’s a dynamic forward,” said Fonder, who attributes Okiomah’s success to hard work and dedication. “At any moment he can change the game.”

During the summer, Okiomah played for the Carolina Dynamo, as he has the past three years. That experience has helped the High Point senior refine his game.

“I pick something up every year,” said Okiomah, who’s younger brother Fejiro is a sophomore at High Point, a small liberal arts college in North Carolina. The brother also plays on the soccer team. “Along the way you pick up little things that other people do.”

In addition to the Hermann Trophy watch list, Okiomah has also been named a third-team preseason All-American. However, he’s careful to note that the season will have to play out before he feels as though the preseason honors are justified.

“Nothing really changes,” he said. “I’m still the same old Karo.”

Fonder isn’t concerned with all the preseason hype going to the head of his captain.

“We take every game as a one-game-at-a time approach,” the coach said.

So far this season, High Point has a 1-0-1 record. Okiomah had a goal in the victory.

Okiomah, who turned 22 last week, graduates from High Point in December and hopes to continue his soccer career.

“I’ve grown tremendously,” he said. “If I had gone to any other school, I wouldn’t have been the player I am today.”

Pflag Correspondent

Wes Malott didn’t come into bowling the same way most professional bowlers enter the sport. The former Pflugerville resident and PBA Player of the Year didn’t grow up with a ball glued to his hand and the echo of falling pins dominating his dreams.

“It’s kind of a different story than most of the guys out on tour,” said Malott, during a recent phone interview from one of his Strike-A-Lott Pro Shop locations.

He told the story of starting his relationship with bowling at age 10 after a suggestion from his mother.

“I didn’t really catch on to it too much until I was 15, 16, and really to start understanding the game, and at that point I kind of fell in love with it,” Malott said.

Growing up in south Austin, Malott worked at Westgate Lanes as a teenager, tackling tasks from lane attendance to repairing machines.

“There’s really nothing I can’t do at a bowling center,” Malott said.

Malott joined the Professional Bowlers Association in 2001, and enjoyed his most productive season in 2008-2009 when he won three tour titles en route to Player of the Year honors, with an average score of 222.98. That season also included the King Of Bowling televised event, where he rolled a perfect 300 in two of five matches.

Since that breakthrough season, Malott has had mixed success. For the 2010-2011 season, he finished with an average of 215.96. Malott attributes his recent struggles to other distractions in life. He’s married with three children, and is expanding his Strike-A-Lott Pro Shops.

“It takes a lot of practice, a lot of dedication. Not only do you have to be physically able to do it, you have to be mentally able to do it,” Malott said. “You’ve got to be able to mentally focus and do what you need to do on the lanes to be able to compete at the level that we do. And if you don’t have that, I don’t think you can win out there.”

Not that Malott is done, not by any means. He turns 35 later this year, which in bowling years is still young.

“As long as your body is willing to allow you to do it,” Malott said. “If you have the physical game, and you’ve got the drive and the focus and the mental game to be able to compete, you’re pretty much able to do it as long as you want to.”

Malott keeps active in a couple of summer leagues, one with friends, another a youth/adult league with his son.

“I’m not one who practices a lot anymore. I did my fair share when I was younger. At the same time, I think that it’s starting to take an affect on me,” he said. “It keeps the motions going and keeps things ready so once the tour starts up again.”

His oldest son, who soon turns 8, has picked up at a much younger age the sport his father mastered. The youngster spends time bowling frames while his father works.

Watching his son fall in love with the game at such a young age has highlighted the different path Malott took to the top of the bowling world.

“I didn’t know until it basically happened,” Malott said. “Most of these guys grew up in a bowling center. Seeing him come up, I really understand.”

“I love everything about bowling,” Malott added. “I don’t know what it is. There’s something there that I just love about it.”