By Jacob Plecker. BOONE, N.C. – On the heels of a record-breaking season, App State head men’s basketball Dustin Kerns has signed a contract extension that runs through the 2029-30 season, Director of Athletics Doug Gillin announced Friday. The extension was approved by Chancellor Sheri Everts and the Appalachian State University Board of Trustees.

“Dustin and his staff have turned App State Men’s Basketball into a perennial contender for conference titles and postseason berths, and we are excited to see the program’s continued upward trajectory under his leadership,” Gillin said. “With 27 wins, the first regular-season Sun Belt title, historic home crowds and national television appearances, Dustin’s team showed App State can compete among the best in college basketball, and we look forward to continued success for the program and our student-athletes both on and off the court.”

The Mountaineers set several program records in the 2023-24 season in Kerns’ fifth year at the helm, tallying a program-best 27 wins, an undefeated record at home for the first time in the Division I era, a Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship and an NIT appearance for the first time since the 2006-07 season. App State also set the Holmes Center attendance record, hosted the first two sellouts at the Holmes Center in over a decade and welcomed four of the six largest crowds in the building’s history.

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App State is one of just 23 Division I teams with at least 27 wins and one of only 12 teams with at least 16 conference wins this season. Additionally, the Mountaineers tied the 1988-89 team for the most nonconference wins in program history with 10 while defeating a Power Five opponent in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

Adding to the team success, the Mountaineers posted three wins against teams that made the NCAA Tournament this season and were the only team in the country to be undefeated in both Quad 1 and Quad 2 games. App State was the only team in the nation to post three winning streaks of at least eight games this season.

“We are so thankful to our Board of Trustees, Chancellor Everts and Doug Gillin for the confidence to keep our program moving forward,” Kerns said. “Thank you to our student-athletes and our coaching staff who are the reason we do this. We are thrilled at the direction and investment that has been shown to make App State Basketball one of the best programs out there.”

“Our students and fan base have made the Holmes Center one of the best game day atmospheres in the Sun Belt. Myself, Brittany, Emory and Riggs love being Mountaineers and we are so excited to continue to be a part of this incredible Boone community.”

Kerns has not posted a losing season in his five years at App State, making him the first Mountaineer head coach to secure five consecutive winning seasons since Tom Apke did so from 1987-1992. His 97 wins across his tenure are the most wins by a Mountaineer head coach over a five-year stretch in the Division I era.

Because of the Mountaineers’ success, Kerns was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, marking App State’s first conference coach of the year since Houston Fancher took home the award in 2003. Kerns was also named the NABC All-District 23 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for both the Jim Phelan and Hugh Durham Coach of the Year.

A program-record four players received Sun Belt honors this past season under Kerns’ tutelage, which included two first team all-conference selections for the first time since 1999-00. App State has seen six players garner All-Sun Belt honors in Kerns’ tenure and four first-team selections.

The 2023-24 Mountaineers featured one of the most efficient offenses and defenses in the Sun Belt as they led the league in scoring defense while also boasting the fourth-best scoring offense, leading to the second-best scoring margin in the Sun Belt at 11.2. The Mountaineers have led the league in scoring defense each of the past three seasons and have finished in the top two every year under Kerns.

Statistically, the Mountaineers ranked in the top 10 in the country in blocks (first), blocks per game (first), field-goal percentage defense (fourth), fouls per game (third) and rebounds per game (fifth). App State’s 230 blocks in 2023-24 set a program record.

Capping off the historic season, the Mountaineers’ NIT appearance marked the third time in the Kerns era that the Mountaineers have made the postseason. App State made the NCAA Tournament after claiming the Sun Belt Tournament crown in 2020-21 while also participating in the Basketball Classic in the 2021-22 season. Before Kerns, the Mountaineers hadn’t made a postseason appearance since 2009-10.

Off the floor, Mountaineer student-athletes have experienced success under Kerns as three student-athletes made the 2023 fall semester Dean’s List. The Mountaineers have achieved at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA each of the past two semesters.

By Katherine Jamtgaard. BOONE, N.C. – Alaura Sharp, who led Presbyterian College to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and win last month, has been named the ninth head coach in App State women’s basketball history, Director of Athletics Doug Gillin announced Friday.

App State will hold a press conference on Friday, April 12 on the fifth floor of the Mark E. Ricks Athletics Complex to introduce Sharp. The press conference is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Lunch will be provided for media members, staff, students and fans who would like to attend.

“We are thrilled to welcome Alaura to the App State family,” Gillin said. “She is a proven leader who has recruited and developed student-athletes at a high level. Her vision for the program aligns with our core values of academic integrity, competitive excellence, social responsibility and a world-class experience. We are excited about the future of App State Women’s Basketball.”

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Last month, Sharp guided Presbyterian to its first NCAA Tournament berth in program history, which turned into its first NCAA Tournament victory when the Blue Hose defeated Sacred Heart 49-42 in the First Four. Presbyterian then fell to No. 1 South Carolina, but not before Sharp led her squad to a program-record 21 wins.

In 2024, Sharp guided Presbyterian to its first NCAA Tournament bert and first NCAA Tournament victory — and a program record 21 wins.

Before serving the last six seasons as head coach at Presbyterian, Sharp was an assistant for two years each at Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss, where she helped her teams earn a postseason bid all four seasons. She was also a successful head coach at the junior college level at Garden City (Kan.) Community College and Lamar (Colo.) Community College.

“I’m honored to be named the head women’s basketball coach at App State,” Sharp said. “It is exciting to join an athletic department that has so much momentum and success. I look forward to building relationships with the players and growing this program. The Sun Belt is loaded with great coaches and talented players that I am excited to be a part of.

“I want to thank the Board of Trustees, Chancellor Everts, Doug Gillin and the rest of the administration for believing in me. I am excited to get to work.”

In addition to earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth and setting the wins record, Sharp’s 2023-24 Blue Hose team claimed the program’s first Big South Tournament title and became the first No. 5 seed to ever win the Big South women’s tournament when they trounced Radford 60-37 in the championship game on ESPN2.

Coaching at the smallest Division I school in the country, Sharp led Presbyterian to steady improvements throughout her first five seasons leading up to the breakout sixth campaign. Her 2020-21 team turned in the program’s first winning record (11-10) in five years, while her 2022-23 squad captured their best league finish (tied for fourth) in seven years.

Under Sharp’s tutelage, center Bryanna Brady became the program’s first two-time All-Big South honoree, while guard Tilda Sjökvist also earned All-Big South accolades in 2023-24. Sjökvist was named the 2024 Big South Tournament MVP, while Brady and Mara Neira joined her on the All-Tournament Team.

Sharp’s teams are known for defensive tenacity and efficient offense, as evidenced by PC leading the Big South and ranking 56th nationally in scoring defense in 2023-24, while also topping the league in assists per outing. A season earlier, the Blue Hose ranked top 65 nationally in field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made per game, while Brady led the league and was 24th in the nation in field-goal percentage.

In two seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisiana Tech, she helped the Lady Techsters make their first postseason appearance in six seasons with a WNIT berth in 2016-17, followed by a 19-win season in 2017-18 and a second consecutive WNIT appearance.

Sharp spent the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Southern Miss, where she helped the Golden Eagles reach back-to-back Conference USA Tournament championship games and make a pair of WNIT trips. The 2014-15 team advanced to the WNIT quarterfinals, and Southern Miss won a total of 52 games in Sharp’s two seasons on staff.

From 2009-13, Sharp spent four seasons as head coach at Garden City Community College, where she compiled an 83-45 record, defeated 11 nationally ranked teams, and turned the Broncbusters into a top contender each year in the tough Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and Region VI.

Sharp guided GCCC to its best record in school history at 29-4 and a No. 13 ranking in the NJCAA polls in 2012-13 and mentored an All-American in Tamara Jones from Prosser, Wash., in her last two years. She was awarded the KJCCC Coach of the Year in her first season in 2009-10, while her teams advanced to the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament in 2012 and 2013.

She spent the 2008-09 season as head coach at Lamar Community College in Colorado after a two-year stint as an assistant at Adams State University.

A native of Fredonia, Kansas, Sharp was a second-team All-KJCCC selection and NJCAA Academic All-American at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College while averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore. She finished her collegiate career at Southwest Minnesota State, where she led her team in steals at 3.5 per game.

Sharp graduated magna cum laude from SMSU in 2006, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education with a sports management concentration and a minor in coaching.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — At 1,296, the second largest crowd in Smith Stadium history witnessed solid run production by App State in the early and middle innings on April 2. Scoreless pitching in the final three frames backed up the Mountaineers’ offense, propelling them to an 11-3, non-conference midweek win over regional rival, High Point.

Leftfielder C J Boyd has been in a little bit of a slump of late, but seemed to break out of it in leading off the bottom half of the first inning with a solo shot over the left field fence. The Mountaineers manufactured three more runs in the first frame after Boyd’s leadoff dinger, including a single each by Austin St. Laurent and Banks Tolley before Drew Holderbach ripped a 1-out single up the middle, scoring St. Laurent.

Adam Quintero fouled off the first pitch thrown to him, but then watched patiently as the Panthers’ starting pitcher, Bryan Rivera, chucked four straight balls that passed outside the strike zone, the walk loading the bases for the Mountaineers.

App State right fielder Hunter Wilder worked the count to full, 3-2, before getting a free pass to first, scoring Tolley. Then catcher Tommy Walker pushed Holderbach home with a sacrifice fly to left. That ended the first inning scoring for the Mountaineers, but they jumped in front with a 4-0 lead.

The visiting Panthers closed the deficit, scoring two runs in the second inning and one in the third while blanking App State in the bottom half of the frames with a new pitcher, Howell Polk.

But after St. Laurent singled in the bottom half of the 4th inning, then Tolley and designated hitter Braxton Church hit consecutive doubles to score two more runs, Polk was chased and replaced by Jake Potts on the mound. He didn’t fare much better, giving up run-scoring doubles to Quintero and APP second baseman Joseph Zamora. High Point brought Dalton Olsovsky to the mound to get the final out of the inning, but not before the Mountaineers had batted around in the inning, scoring 5 runs on 5 hits and had pushed the advantage to 9-3, a lead they never surrendered.

App State added two insurance runs in the bottom half of the 5th inning. After Tolley singled, Holderbach took advantage of the wind blowing out, hammering the ball deep over the left field fence for his fifth home run of the season.

Meanwhile, three righthanded relief pitchers each took a turn on the mound for the Mountaineers, including Max Tramontana, Grey LaSpaluto, and Zach Lewis. None of them allowed High Point to score a run, although Tramontana and Lewis each allowed one hit and one walk. Among the five hitters Lewis faced, three were strikeouts, scattered around an early hit, a couple of wild pitches and a walk by the redshirt sophomore from Winston-Salem.

Next up for the Mountaineers is a road trip to Harrisonburg, Va., in a Sun Belt Conference test at James Madison on April 5, 6, and 7.

KEY PERFORMERS

• APP – Drew Holderbach: 3-4, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, HR, walk
• APP – Banks Tolley: 3-4, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2B, walk
• APP – Austin St. Laurent: 3-5, 2 runs scored, 2B, walk
• APP – Joseph Zamora: 3-5, 2 RBIs, 2B
• APP – C J Boyd: 1-5, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, HR, walk
• APP – Adam Quintero: 1-3, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, walk
• APP – Hunter Wilder: 0-2, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 2 walks, hit by pitch
• APP – Braxton Church: 1-5, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 2B
• HPU – Miggy Echazaretta: 1-2, 1 run scored, 3 walks, 1 stolen base
• HPU – Brayden Simpson: 1-4, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, walk
• HPU – Cael Chatham: 1-2, 1 run scored, 2B, walk

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Once in a week is one thing, but twice? It may be a High Country epidemic.

Just two days after Watauga High School’s 15-run explosion in the top of the first inning at Freedom, App State counters with 15 runs in the the first two innings against Marshall on March 30 at Smith Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 1,027 mostly Mountaineer fans — on their way to a dynamic, 19-2 win on a bright, sunny day for baseball, jackets optional in the sometimes breezy conditions. It felt like the day before Easter and had the Mountaineers been carrying baskets, there was plenty of good stuff to put in them.

BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE

And it started in the top of the first inning with The Thundering Herd at bat and App State’s righthanded sophomore pitcher, Jackson Steensma, on the mound. The Byron Center, Mich., product was “feeling it” on the day, delivering a three up-three down performance in the top of the first, all strikeouts.

App State scored five runs in bottom half of the first, manufactured initially by two RBI doubles from 3B Austin St. Laurent and C Braxton Church. They were followed by run-scoring singles off the bats of Adam Quintero and Kameron Miller.

Steensma did another masterful job in retiring the side again in the top half of the second inning, 3-up and 3-down once again. Meanwhile, the Mountaineer offense was just getting started.

Early in the inning, after St. Laurent had singled through the left side of the diamond, what should have been a routine double play was muffed by the Marshall second baseman and Banks Tolley reached first on the error with St. Laurent advancing to second. Church followed with a walk, loading the bases. Drew Holderbach singled to center, scoring both St. Laurent and Tolley, but it was just the first two of what would become a 10-run inning.

Intermixed among at bats where Quintero walked and Hunter Wilder was hit by a pitch, Miller doubled down the left field line and Joseph Zamora doubled down the right field line, with three more runs scoring.

After The Herd got a second out and it looked like the visitors from West Virginia might avoid any more damage, it turned ugly — or beautiful if you were App State. St. Laurent ripped his second single of the inning, scoring Zamora and Wilder, then stole second. Tolley walked and both he and St. Laurent advanced on a wild pitch. Church walked to load the bases again, then everyone advanced on another wild pitch, St. Laurent scoring.

With obvious control problems, the Marshall righthander Cole Agemy coffed up the last run of the inning on yet another wild pitch, but mercifully the inning ended on a fly ball third out to left. But it didn’t come before App State plated 10 runs in the inning to jump out to a 15-0 lead.

With Steensma rolling on the mound for App State, he kept Marshall scoreless through the fifth inning. Meanwhile, the visitors seemed to find a solution on the mound in senior Peyton Schofield, who managed to pitch three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and just two walks. Even if the Indiana native hit a couple of Mountaineer batters in his three innings of work, he managed to wriggle out of any scoring threats from the 13 batters he faced.

Marshall finally got on the scoreboard with a 2-run blast off the bat of left fielder Elijah Vogelsong, but App State countered with four more runs in the bottom half of the inning, thanks to home runs from Tolley and Miller. For Tolley, his 2-run blast was the third of the weekend series. For Miller, his 2-run dinger was the second HR of the series, the second in as many days, and the second of his young App State career.

Next up for Mountaineers is an April 2 non-conference rematch with High Point, played at Smith Stadium. They resume Sun Belt Conference play at James Madison on April 5, 6 and 7.

TOP PERFORMERS

• APP – Jackson Steensma: winning pitcher, allowed 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 innings, w/ 7 strikeouts
• APP – Kameron Miller: 3-5, 2 runs scored, 6 RBIs, 2B, HR
• APP – Austin St. Laurent: 4-5, 4 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 2 doubles
• APP – Banks Tolley: 1-3, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, HR, 2 walks
• APP – Braxton Church: 1-2, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2B, 2 walks
• APP – Joseph Zamora: 1-3, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 2B
• APP – Drew Holderbach: 1-2, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, 3 walks
• APP – Adam Quintero: 1-3, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, 1 walk
• MAR – Elijah Vogelsong: 1-3, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs, HR

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Senior outfielder Banks Tolley clubbed two home runs in Appalachian State’s 15-10 baseball win vs. Marshall on March 29. Teammate Drew Holderbach described Tolley’s second HR in the decisive 8th inning as “a missile” that might still be in orbit around Mother Earth.

While Tolley’s two home runs provided bookends for his day at the plate, coming in the first and eighth innings, App State’s run production was otherwise broad. A total of seven players in the lineup scored two runs each. The list includes 3B Austin St. Laurent, CF Tolley, C Braxton Church, 1B Holderbach, SS Adam Quintero, RF Hunter Wilder, and 2B Joseph Zamora.

Without hitting a home run, Zamora had arguably the best day at the plate, only an HR short of hitting the cycle, with three RBIs produced by his single, double and triple.

On the mound, Bradley Wilson was the Mountaineers starter, going five full innings while giving up three runs on six hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. In facing 23 batters, Wilson threw 97 pitches, 62 of them strikes.

Wilson was followed on the hill by Grey LaSpaluto, who has been stellar of late but had some challenges on this day. After a sixth inning in which he retired the side in order, LaSpaluto was roughed up in the seventh. Marshall manufactured four runs off the senior righthander from Apex, N.C., on five hits. After Max Tramontana relieved him, two more runs scored were credited to LaSpaluto (runners inherited).

Tramontana, the redshirt freshman, faced three batters before getting the third out of the frame, but the first two proved costly. He hit The Herd’s RF Calin Smith, then gave up a 2-run single to AJ Havrilla before getting 1B Caden Kaiser to ground out to second and bring the inning to a close.

Righthander Zach Lewis, a redshirt sophomore, pitched the final two innings and was the pitcher of record when App State exploded for six runs in the 8th, giving Lewis is third win of the season.

App State hosts Marshall in the third game of the weekend series on Saturday, March 30, with first pitch at 1 p.m.

TOP PERFORMERS

• APP – Banks Tolley: 3-5, 2 runs scored, 4 RBIs, 2 HRs
• APP – Drew Holderbach: 2-3, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 2B, HR, twice hit by pitch
• APP – Joseph Zamora: 3-4, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 2B, 3B
• APP – Braxton Church: 1-3, 2 runs scored, 2 walks
• APP – Adam Quintero: 2-5, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
• APP – Kameron Miller: 1-4, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, HR, hit by pitch
• APP – Austin St. Laurent: 1-6, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
• MAR – Owen Ayers: 3-4, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, SF
• MAR – Gio Ferraro: 2-5, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, 2B
• MAR – AJ Havrilla: 2-3, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs. walk
• MAR – Jack Firestone: 3-4, 1 run scored, 3 RBIs, walk

BONUS PHOTOS by David Rogers for High Country Sports

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By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Just when AppNation thought the future looked bright for the Mountaineers’ men’s basketball program after an historic 2023-24 season and regular season Sun Belt Conference championship, we learned today via X (formerly Twitter) that App State big men Tre’Von Spillers and Justin Abson are entering the transfer portal, along with freshman guards Jordan Marsh and Etienne Strothers.

Both Abson and Spillers contributed to App State being ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division 1 blocked shots per game. Young Marsh most often provided a spark in coming off the bench. Strothers didn’t see much, if any, action this past season but came to the Mountaineers with a strong pedigree.

QUESTIONS: Who else might be jumping ship? Is it all for NIL money? Higher exposure playing with a Big 10, SEC, Big East, ACC, or Big 12 team? What is head coach Dustin Kerns’ status?

The answer to that first question is Christopher Mantis, Terence Harcum and Xavion Brown as well as 6-9 freshman forward Josh Hayes, according to our sources close to the program.

When you subtract graduating players that include Donovan Gregory, C J Huntley and Bryant Greene, that leaves junior guard Myles Tate as the only athlete from this season’s 9-man rotation, plus 6-9 freshman center Luke Wilson, freshman guard Luke Ledford, and sophomore guard Dawson Fennema on the roster.

Assuming head coach Dustin Kerns and staff are staying, they will be busy in the coming weeks trying to pluck replacements from the transfer portal and even more aggressively recruiting from among the graduating high school seniors.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — If Jackson Pryor ever decides to give up football — he is committed to Furman University at the next level already — he might consider joining a men’s volleyball fraternity: Phi Slamma Jamma.

After leading his Watauga team to a 3-set sweep of High Country rival Ashe County on March 28, with 22 kills and four service aces, Pryor would be a shoo-in for a slammin’ and jammin’ Greek life. Watauga prevailed on the night, winning the three sets 25-22, 25-17, and 25-23.

Other statistical leaders including libero Bennett Lappin with 12 digs and six service aces, along with setter Kai Church in the middle of things with 35 assists and seven digs.

“It was a great team win tonight,” said the Pioneers’ head coach Kim Pryor. “The growth of our team in just a short amount of time has been fun to watch. Our guys learn and respond so quickly and make strides every time they step on the court. We have 40 players in our program with several involved in other spring sports and activities including baseball, track, lacrosse, golf, tennis, and the school play. We may have a different mix of players each night, but they have stepped up.”

Given that high school men’s volleyball in North Carolina is still in its developmental stages, there are not a lot of high school teams in the region. So Ashe County and Watauga are their own league, with no other teams formed among other Northwestern Conference schools. Both coaches have tried, unsuccessfully, to schedule teams from outside the area, but couldn’t match up with open dates. The next match between Watauga and Ashe County will be April 10, at Watauga’s Lentz Eggers Gym, 6 p.m, the third of 10 total matches between the two schools. At least one of the teams will advance to the state playoffs, with Round 1 slated for May 2.

BONUS PHOTOS