There were two big news stories that came out of athletics this semester.

First, the basketball court in the Looney Complex arena was named the Tom Smith Court to honor Missouri Western’s longtime and winningest head men’s basketball coach. The court was dedicated and officially named at men’s and women’s basketball games Feb. 16.

Second, an anonymous donor provided the funds for Athletics to purchase the highest-safety-rated helmets made for the football team. All members of the 2019 Griffon football team will have two helmets each that meet the top-performance standards from recent studies by the NFL and Virginia Tech.