Today opens the Spring 2012 Semester

For Seniors, the opening of a new Spring semester means they are about 16 weeks from graduation. Jessica graduated a couple of years ago and is now in Grad School.


Lacrosse will face off for the first time at Coker College this spring as Coach Tony Smith enters Conference Carolinas play with the first Coker Lacrosse team.


...and there is a great deal going on at Coker in these early days of the semester.

The Classroom is where much of the action begins this morning. Dr. Lellis just arrived, he is teaching a video production class that starts at 8 a.m. I have just about 20 students in a Public Relations Writing Class that begins at 9:30 and I am looking forward to helping guide students in an area that I believe will provide them an opportunity to build a strong work-place skill. Dr. Glantz (Coach)starts a new class this afternoon called Argumentation and Debate. He is going to be coaching Coker's new debate team and will be using this class a core for that team. Okay, there are other disciplines on the Coker campus, but these are some of the Tuesday/Thursday offerings for Communication.

There is a lot more happening today as the home basketball conference games open at 5:30 with the Women and the Men will follow about 8 p.m. They are playing Barton today and both teams are planning to bounce back from close losses on Tuesday night at Mt. Olive.

As basketball continues, many of the Spring sports will be opening practice over the next couple of days. As a former lacrosse player, I am excited about Coker's first-ever lacrosse team. Coach Smith said the team will open official practice on Saturday at the Byerly Park fields in Hartsville. Coach Dave will have the baseball team on the diamond and Coach Baker said his golf teams (Men and Women) will be opening practice on Friday with some focus exercises. Saturday, the tennis coach is hosting a faculty-staff tennis event as he prepares his teams (Men and Women) for their spring seasons.

I have noticed posters advertising a comedian who will entertain and a couple of guys who are going to talk about dating strategies - so I think students are going to find some interesting things to keep them entertained. The entire Hartsville community is in for a Concert treat on Sunday afternoon as former Coker Music Professor Steve Carlson is on stage for a piano concert sponsored by the Hartsville/Coker College Concert Association.

And, not far from the campus this Saturday will be the downtown Marketplace in Hartsville and a lot of Hartsville merchants in their stores wanting to welcome Coker students back for the Spring 2012 semester.

Former Coker player signs to play in Ireland

Mason Ambler, a leading player for the Coker College Cobras as a dominant center on the basketball team, has signed to play more basketball in Europe. What follows is an article from Ireland announcing his signing:


Moycullan sign American ambler
Tuesday, 7 September 2010 15:54

Moycullen Basketball Club have completed the signing of Mason Ambler ahead of their second Nivea For Men's SuperLeague campaign.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Ambler will replace Nathaniel Fritsch who has signed to play in Portugal after a productive year for the Galway club.

Ambler joins Moycullen with serious pedigree, having been named on the first team all conference of the Carolina Conference after averaging 17.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game for Coker College.

'Mason has a great knowledge of the game and brings a lot of attributes to the court but also give us some bulk inside which is one area we really needed help with,' said Moycullen head coach Enda Byrt.

Moycullen were often mismatched for size last season but they will hope that Ambler, who stands at six foot six inches, and was described as 'country strong' by former teammates and coaches, will help neutralise that problem.

However, the Coker College Cobras' former captain and star player is expected to bring much more than size to Moycullen.

'Mason showed great leadership skills during his time in Coker,' added Byrt. 'He worked for three years before entering college so has a maturity beyond most graduates. He should be a fantastic court leader for our team that really progressed last year and learned from all the ups and downs we had.

'We have everyone returning and we're lucky enough to have a couple of players who were big underage stars for Moycullen coming back to the game in Kevin McDonald and Kieran O'Connor who should be great additions to the squad.'