Absent A Buyer, Wichita Wings Soccer Franchise Likely To Fold

By Josh Heck

Unless something changes soon, professional indoor soccer won’t be played in Wichita this season and likely beyond.

Efforts to sell the Wichita Wings to a new ownership group have proved unsuccessful thus far, but the Major Indoor Soccer League is still working to find a buyer.

Wink Hartman, who revived professional indoor soccer — and the Wings franchise — in Wichita after a 10-year absence, announced in March that he wanted to sell the team as part of a review of his group of companies.

League President Tim Holt says a new ownership group would need to emerge in the next 30 to 45 days to allow enough time to complete the scheduling process in time for the 2013-2014 season, which starts in November.

If that doesn’t happen, Holt says, the Wings won’t field a team, and the organization will fold.

Holt tells me that the MISL has not received any business plans or ownership-transfer agreements regarding the Wichita Wings, which seems to refute earlier reports on Wednesday that the league had rejected a potential buyer’s group for the Wichita Wings.

“At no point and time have we received any application or business plan for transfer,” Holt says.

Hartman representatives could not be reached for comment.

In 2011, Hartman announced his plans to bring indoor soccer back to Wichita. The original Wichita Wings ceased operations in 2001.

It wasn’t until later that Hartman was given clearance to use the Wings name again with the new team.

Holt says the team was a good addition to the MISL.

It had, he says, a loyal fan base and was competitive in games, though that wasn’t necessarily reflected in the win column. Holt says the Wings appeared to be headed in the right direction and could have been a playoff team in another year or two.

Holt says the league hopes to again have a team in Wichita.

But that’s starting to appear less likely.

UMKC Rounds Out Men’s Basketball Coaching Staff

Kansas City men’s basketball has its entire coaching staff on board, announced Wednesday by Head Coach Kareem Richardson. Angres Thorpe is the Associate Head Coach, while Sean Bledsoe and Jason Sautter were named Assistant Coaches. Conner Hampton was elevated to the Director of Basketball Operations position, while former ‘Roo Spencer Johnson will serve as Graduate Assistant.

Both Thorpe and Bledsoe have been in Kansas City since mid-April, while Sautter became official this week. Hampton served in a graduate assistant role at UMKC the past two seasons, while Johnson returns to Kansas City after a professional playing career in Europe.

“I couldn’t be happier about the staff that is with me here,” Richardson said. “Each one of these guys are tremendous teachers and mentors for the players.”

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Thorpe brings 20 years of experience with him, coming to UMKC after two seasons as the Associate Head Coach with the Toledo basketball program. He spent the previous two seasons as a member of Tod Kowalczyk's coaching staff at UW-Green Bay before coming with him to Toledo.

He helped coach Kowalczyk transform the program during his time at Toledo. The Rockets boasted a 15-win improvement in 2012 (second-best in the nation) and recorded UT’s first postseason win in 11 years. In his final season, the Rockets tied for first place in the MAC West Division with a 10-6 record, securing its first division title and most conference wins since 2007.

Thorpe's two seasons in Green Bay were memorable ones as the Phoenix posted a pair of 22-win seasons and advanced to post-season play for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign. His first year saw UWGB put together a 22-11 overall record, place second in the Horizon League and host a first-round game in the College Basketball Invitational. The Phoenix registered a 22-13 mark last season and advanced to the second round of the CBI.

Prior to joining the UWGB program, Thorpe spent the previous six seasons (2002-08) as an assistant at Saint Louis University. During his time with SLU, the Billikens averaged 16 wins per season and were one of the top defensive teams in both the Atlantic 10 and Conference USA. Thorpe coached five all-conference players and two all-rookie selections during his tenure.

Thorpe gained some familiarity with the Mid-American Conference when he worked two seasons as an assistant coach at Ball State. In 2001-02, the Cardinals posted a 23-12 record and earned a trip to the National Invitation Tournament. That campaign included upset wins over UCLA and Kansas at the Maui Invitational.

From 1996 to 2000, Thorpe helped guide Lewis University to a 75-37 mark and two trips to the NCAA Division II tournament. He was the Flyers' recruiting coordinator and was responsible for recruiting Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and all junior colleges. During that time, the Flyers produced two Division II All-Americans.

Thorpe began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Loras College in Dubuque, IA, from 1993-96. During his tenure, Loras produced a NCAA Division III All-American, and the Duhawks were three-time runners-up in the prestigious National Catholic Basketball Tournament.

A Chicago native, Thorpe was a two-time All-Catholic League performer at Fenwick High School. He went on to become a four-year letterman at St. Leo College (Fla.). Thorpe earned his bachelor's degree in business management.

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Bledsoe was most recently the President of the VC Athletic Group in Indianapolis since 2007, where he trained basketball players from elementary to professional age, while also starting and running the Midwest Elite Exposure Camp.

He also founded the D3 Heat AAU program, producing players like McDonald’s All-American Gary Harris (Michigan State), R.J. Hunter (Georgia State) and Austin Burgett (Notre Dame).

Prior to that, he spent 10 seasons coaching in the college ranks, most recently a three-year stretch as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Cleveland State through 2006. Bledsoe joined the Viking basketball coaching staff in the spring of 2003 after serving as an assistant coach at Bowling Green for two seasons (2001-03).

Bledsoe helped the Falcons to a 37-25 record during his two seasons. Included in that total was a 24-9 mark in 2001-02 that set the school record for wins.

A 1994 graduate of Indianapolis University with a Bachelor of Arts in education, Bledsoe began his coaching career with a two-year stint as assistant coach at Urbana University (1995-97). He left Urbana in 1997 to become assistant coach at Wilberforce University in southern Ohio.

Bledsoe was promoted to head coach after just one season, compiling a 26-25 record in two seasons (1998-2000). In his first season, he guided the Bulldogs to the school's first winning season.

Bledsoe resides his wife, Heather. He has five children, Jacobby, Khalil, Gabby, Collins and Paxton.

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Sautter comes to UMKC after a two-year stop at Seward County C.C. (Kan.) as an assistant coach, where he helped the Saints to back-to-back Jayhawk West conference titles.

In 2012-13, the Saints posted a 14-2 conference mark and went 25-8 overall while receiving votes in the final NJCAA Poll. Known for his defensive coaching style, the team broke the school record with only 62.7 points allowed per game. The squad had three all-region selections, as well as an All-American in Kaheem Ransom. The team had four players sign with Division I schools as well.

In his first season, SCCC had a third place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament, winning the Region VI Championship. Sautter helped the Saints to the third-best opponents’ points per game average in school history at 63.4. He saw Deverell Biggs earn Jayhawk West and Region VI MVP honors before being named a first-team NJCAA All-American. He also had two players named to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team.

Prior to joining Seward, Sautter was the head coach at Western Texas College, posting a 55-30 record over three seasons. The program returned to the NJCAA regional championships after being absent for 27 years, and led his team to an NJCAA national ranking for the first time in 30 years. He also led his team to the No. 1 defensive ranking in the country during the 2010-11 season.

Sautter was the Associate Coach at Howard College before his stop at Western Texas. He helped lead the program to a 112-23 record during his four-year tenure. During the 2005-06 season, Sautter assisted the Hawks to a 35-2 record, a No. 1 national ranking, and the WJCAC Conference Championship.

In his first two seasons at Howard, Sautter was a part of a staff that led the team to a combined record of 62-8. During his tenure at Howard, Sautter recruited and helped coach the NJCAA Player of the Year, Region V MVP, WJCAC Player of the Year, and a First Team All-American, as well as four all-region players, and 14 all-conference players.

Prior to his days at Howard, Sautter had a brief stint at Lincoln University during the 2003-04 season as the assistant coach. Before he arrived at Lincoln, he served as a graduate assistant at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. During the 2002-03 season, Harding had a record of 21-9, while making the GSC Tournament and the NCAA-II National Tournament.

From 1999-2001, Sautter was the Head Boys Basketball and Baseball Coach at Bakersfield High School in Bakersfield, Mo. Along with the coaching abilities, he was recognized for his teaching achievements there.

Sautter earned his bachelor’s degree from York College and his masters in education from Harding. He and his wife Jacy have three children, sons Jacob and Jadon, and daughter Jordyn.

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Hampton has been promoted for the third time in three years, this time to the Director of Basketball Operations position. He joined the UMKC men's basketball team as a manager in 2011, and was promoted to the graduate assistant position for the 2012-13 season.

He has helped with film exchange, cutting game and practice film, and assisting with practice. In his current position, he organizes team travel, oversees film exchange, game and practice film editing, scouting opponents and day to day operations.

He played at Highland Community College for one season, before transferring to Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kan.) to finish out his career. After his playing days concluded, he served as the head junior varsity coach and second assistant on the varsity team at TC. His duties included preparing practice plans, doing game preparation, and maintaining day-to-day operations.

In high school, he attended Kapaun Mt. Carmel in Wichita during his freshman and sophomore years, playing football, basketball and baseball. He transferred to Oxford High school for his junior and senior seasons, and played three sports there as well. Oxford went 18-4 in basketball during his time there, as he led the league is points at 21.8 a game, and assists in 2007. He was a first-team all-league and coaches all-state selection. He led OHS to the SCBL regular season and tournament championships. The team was ranked No. 1 in Class 2A during the month of January.

A native of Wichita, Kan., he graduated from Tabor College with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education in May of 2011. He is currently working on his master's degree in education at UMKC.

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Johnson is no stranger to UMKC basketball as he is the school’s all-time leader in rebounds and games played during his career from 2007-11. He returns to serve as the graduate assistant after playing professionally in Europe.

An honorable mention All-Summit League pick, he recorded a UMKC single-season record 283 rebounds as a senior, averaging 9.4 rebounds per game to rank second in school history. He also recorded 21 rebounds in a game vs. North Dakota State that year, the second-highest total in school history.

He set the school records for career rebounds (710) and games (121), that year as well. He ranks 10th in UMKC history in scoring (993) and field goals made (352), ninth in field goal attempts (792) and three-point field goal attempts, sixth in minutes played (2951) and tied for fourth in games started (91). Johnson’s 16 double-doubles are third in school history, while his 22 double-figure rebound contests are tied for second, and his 45 double-figure scoring games are tied for 10th all-time. At one point during his career, he started 50 consecutive games.

Johnson started his professional career in August of 2011 in the Luxembourg top division on team Etzella. He averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds a game there, before switching teams to a league in Portugal, playing for Udo Uniao Desportiva Oliveirense. He was the team’s leading scorer and co-captain. He helped them to a 20-9 mark and to the Championship Final Four. He had a season high 36 points and 14 rebounds in a second round playoff game. Johnson also recorded eight double doubles during the regular season. He had season-high 19 rebounds during the regular season as well, and made the league’s All-Newcomer squad.

A product of Champaign, Illinois, he graduated from Central High School, where he enjoyed an award-winning basketball career, earning all-state honors while helping the squad win two conference and two regional crowns. After high school, he attended prep school at the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina for one year.

He graduated from UMKC in 2011 with his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts.

Kemper Arena Replacement Must Be A Priority

By James Dornbrook

The quest to replace Kemper Arena is like a duck on a pond moving quietly forward on the surface, with turbulent paddling going on underneath.

It's been a year-and-a-half since the American Royal and the Kemper family released a proposal to raze Kansas City's Kemper Arena and replace it with a 5,000-seat Agricultural Events Center that better fits the needs of the American Royal and agricultural-related events. But there is still no signed agreement in place, no memorandum of understanding on how to move forward.

Behind the scenes is the American Royal, which is tirelessly negotiating, quietly raising money, constantly strengthening its case and rallying supporters to its cause.

The strongest point of the American Royal's debate is that the city continues to pump millions of dollars into upkeep of Kemper Arena, which languishes in relative obscurity. Its busiest tenant right now is the Kansas City Renegades, a Champions Professional Indoor Football League team with six home games.

"Kemper Arena is no longer the facility it was when it was leased to us, primarily because of the construction of the Sprint Center downtown," said Brant Laue, chairman of the board of governors for the American Royal. "Everyone recognizes that. There frankly are not too many people using Kemper Arena anymore aside from us, and it's not well suited to our needs."

Mariner Kemper, son of Kemper Arena's namesake R. Crosby Kemper Jr., said most people don't remember or understand that the original designs for the arena were focused specifically on use by the American Royal. But as the process went along, the city decided it needed a multipurpose arena to attract sports and other events, and it was redesigned.

"People forget that," Kemper said. "And while the arena isn't always full for an American Royal event, it isn't because the American Royal isn't doing well. It's full at the level a similar event would be at in another city."

Kemper argued that it's better for the city to pump current maintenance dollars into a new venue that would boost the American Royal and help attract more events to the city. He said the American Royal commissioned a study that shows hundreds of agricultural events throughout the country not only looking for new facilities that are more conducive than a multipurpose arena, but for venues closer to home. Most venues fitting their needs are on the East Coast, not smack dab in the middle of the United States like Kansas City.

"I think it's a real opportunity to breathe life into the American Royal and capture events around the country that are going elsewhere today, because the Kemper and its surrounding buildings aren't conducive in a way that they could be if they were designed specifically for agricultural-related events," Kemper said. "People tend to forget just how huge the American Royal is for this city. It has as much economic impact as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game did last year, and they do it every year."

Laue said the time to act is sooner rather than later because Kemper Arena continues to deteriorate. He understands that Kansas City is working on other projects — such as a streetcar, a 1,000-room hotel, sewer improvements, etc. — but he says Kemper Arena also needs to be on the list of priorities for the city.

"Everybody acknowledges that Kemper Arena is problematic, so our view is that now is the time to act," Laue said. "If not now, when? If not this, what? So we're charging forward."

Renegades Roll Over Defenders

The Oklahoma Defenders were looking to make it two wins in a row on Saturday night as they hosted the Kansas City Renegades at the Tulsa Convention Center. This was also a revenge game as the Defenders lost to the Renegades 54-47 in Kansas City back on March 30. Instead Oklahoma ran into a buzzsaw that night and lost to the Renegades 65-28.

Throughout the game, the Kansas City defense plagued the Defenders’ offense.  The defense forced five turnovers (including two that resulted in immediate scores by Renegades LB Rashad Washington) and caused the Oklahoma offense to commit several mistakes that lead to the victory.

The Renegades offense was led by Chris Coffin, who went 15-23 for 184 yards and seven touchdowns (to six different receivers) on the night.

Return man O.J. Simpson continued to make an argument for Special Teams Player of the Year as he returned a second quarter kickoff 50 yards for a touchdown.

The loss drops the Defenders to 3-7 on the season and the Renegades improve to 6-4.

Kansas City host their last home game of the season this Saturday as they take on the Kansas Koyotes at Kemper Arena. The Renegades have teamed up with the Salvation Army on a food drive. If you bring a canned good to the box office you will receive $1 off every ticket purchased.

There will also be a pregame concert by local band Run With It in the parking lot.

UMKC Men’s Basketball Season Tickets Now On Sale

The UMKC men’s basketball squad announced Tuesday that season tickets for the 2013-14 season are now on sale. New Head Coach Kareem Richardson has added a recruiting class that boasts local talent to complement a returning core of players, while also preparing for the move to the Western Athletic Conference this season.

UMKC will also play the bulk of its schedule at historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

“Your support of our team is truly needed as we move back to Municipal,” Richardson said in a message to Kansas City area fans. “We will play an exciting brand of basketball and we need your excitement and enthusiasm to give us the best home court advantage in the WAC.”

Season tickets start at just $120, with discounts available for alumni and faculty/staff.

New for 2013-14 is the Family Four-Pack, giving fans four general admission season tickets for just $330. Also new for 2013-14 is the All Sports Pass which grants admission to all men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball and softball games.

UMKC is accepting deposits for season tickets and will reserve seats with a 50% deposit.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (816) 23-KCTIX or go online to the UMKC men’s basketball ticket page.

Topeka RoadRunners Offseason 101: Season Recap

A long exciting season has ended, a hard fought playoff concluded. Now begins the next chapter: The Offseason. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to preview every step your RoadRunners take when building towards another exciting season. Before we can look ahead, however, let’s take a look back at 2012-2013. So take out your notebooks and grab a pen, we’re going to school. It’s Offseason 101.

As is the case with every new season, the fresh sheet of ice mirrors the hopes and dreams of every team in the league with everyone’s eyes on the NAHL’s ultimate prize, the Robertson Cup. The RoadRunners came into the new season brimming with confidence. In addition to returning a number of key players from the previous year, Topeka loaded up with several NAHL veterans who had become free agents due to the dormancy of New Mexico and St. Louis. Rounding out the roster was a batch of promising first-year players and it appeared the stables were stocked for a productive season.

A solid back end of veteran defensemen with experienced goaltenders Spencer Viele and Mackenzie Sawyer helped the RoadRunners to a strong start, going 6-0-1 to begin the season. Topeka’s only loss over that span came in a shootout against the Michigan Warriors. The first loss in regulation didn’t come until Oct. 5, a last-second heartbreaker at home to the Odessa Jackalopes (It was the only time Topeka would fall to Odessa, going 11-1-0 vs. the Jackalopes the rest of the way). The ‘Runners rebounded and would not lose back-to-back games in regulation until just before the Christmas break. That may have been precipitated in part by the game ending brawl against Springfield on Dec. 8 that left Topeka short-handed by the resulting suspensions. The RoadRunners went 0-2-1 the next three games. Still, things looked pretty good at the holiday break with a 19-7-5 record.

The second half of the season saw the ‘Runners fashion a 20-7-2 record, all the more impressive considering the number of man-games lost to injury and suspension. February was one of the most challenging segments of the year. Events at the Expo took away practice ice and almost all of the games were played on the road. The team rose above these challenges and put together their longest winning streak of the season, a seven-game run that included six straight wins on hostile ice. The streak snapped suddenly at the hands of Wichita Falls who managed a sweep in the Expocentre, something the Wildcats had never been able to do before. Undaunted, the ‘Runners responded by going 7-1-1 the rest of the season (a 14-3-1 stretch over the last two months that propelled them ahead of the Texas Tornado to finish second in the NAHL South). This final stretch surge earned home ice for Topeka for the sixth straight season.

In the season prior, Topeka faced Texas in the first round of the playoffs, winning a pair of tough 2-1 battles at home before finishing the sweep in Frisco. Texas would be the RoadRunners first round opponent again but the results were not the same. This season, it was Texas who squeezed out a pair of 2-1 wins at the Expo before completing their sweep in Game 3. For the RoadRunners, it was the first time they had lost an opening round playoff series since moving to Topeka.

Despite the early exit, there were many things to celebrate along the way. Kyle Sharkey broke the all-time franchise career points record of 122 (Ryan White) and set the new mark at 129. Goalie Spencer Viele recorded his 50th career win. Also, several RoadRunners have committed to NCAA programs, including Sean Gaffney (Connecticut), Tyler Andrew (Ferris State), Ross Luedtke (St. Thomas), Kevin Patterson (Niagara), and the trio of Kyle Sharkey, Trace Strahle and Spencer Viele (Wisconsin – Stevens Point).

Tune in next week as Offseason 101 continues. Up next, the Pre-Draft Camp.

Isaac Kreuer Becomes Next Signee to Come Home, Inks With ‘Roos

UMKC men’s basketball added another Kansas City area product on Wednesday with the signing of big man Isaac Kreuer. A 6-10 forward/center, he spent his last season at Impact Basketball Academy, after playing for Metro Academy during his high school career.

“We are very fortunate and extremely excited to add Isaac to our family,” UMKC Head Coach Kareem Richardson said of his fourth signee, “He brings immediate depth to our team in the front court with his size and skill set.”

Isaac Kreuer

6-10 * 245 * Forward/Center * Freshman

Harrisonville, Mo. * Impact Basketball Academy (Nev.) * Metro Academy

Played in the Impact Basketball Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, during his post-high school season in order to prepare for the next level… Previous to that, he played his high school ball at Kansas City Metro Academy, in a homeschool league for head coach Robin Sullivan… While there he was ranked as one of the top homeschool players in the nation, garnering All-American honors as both a junior and a senior… As a senior, he averaged 19.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.5 assists per contest… As a junior he led the Mavericks to a regional title and an appearance in the national Elite 8… During his sophomore season he was an all-region selection as well… In the AAU ranks, he played for the Pumas in Kansas City for head coach Scott Wedman.

Kreuer joins Martez Harrison (Brewster Academy/University Academy), Frank Williams, Jr. (Indian Hills C.C./Raytown H.S.) and Shayok Shayok (Bradley/Ottawa, Ontario) as part of Richardson’s first signing class.