TigerNation Weekly

Rick Wilson has deep roots in Campbellsville and is an avid CU Tiger fan. He was one of the original members of CU's 12th Man Club and has kept the scoreboard at football games since the late 1980s. Currently, Rick is the lead team sales manager at H&W Sport Shop - the official Adidas dealer for Tiger and Lady Tiger Athletics. 

In episode #6, Rick discusses the partnership between Campbellsville and H&W and how the multi-million-dollar company has grown into one of the largest Adidas dealers in the country.

The 2019 Bassmaster College Series Bracket Qualifier Champion, Nick Ratliff, went from an ordinary college angler to a professional in a span of one year and the opportunity was given because he fished at Campbellsville University. He is the only angler from CU to compete in the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing - the Bassmaster Classic. Check out behind the scenes of Nick's upbringing in bass fishing but also how he has transitioned from the college stage to the professional tour.

Jacob Russell was an NAIA All-American, NCCAA Player of the Year, set multiple single-season and career records during his time two-year stint, and led Campbellsville University football to back-to-back Mid-South Conference Regular Season Championships in 2014-15. Jacob transferred to Campbellsville at winter break 2013-14 and started on the CU baseball team. After hitting .330 for the Tigers, Jacob's passion for football took the forefront and he helped transform the CU Fighting Tigers back to prominence in the MSC and NAIA. He led CU two back-to-back NAIA Playoffs and ended his career as arguably the best QB to come through the program. 

Jacob has traveled with CU on multiple mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Belize. He also has traveled to Florida prisons with the CU football team to minister to the inmates and play softball. 

He is currently the offensive coordinator at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. He's coached at Union as the WR coach and now the OC. He's also coached at Webber International in Babson Park, Florida.

Matt Chewning, or if you're his parents David and Jennifer it's still Matthew, a Taylor County High School product played golf at Campbellsville University from 2012-2015 but also worked inside the athletics department as an intern and work-study. His work ethic is what stood out to administration then and it's standing out now inside a new administration at East Jessamine High School. The 26-year old just become the new head coach for the boy's basketball team at East and is finally getting his chance to lead a squad of his own. 

Matt's brother, John, was an offensive linemen for the Fighting Tigers and graduated in the spring of 2019. He also teaches and coaches but has stayed inside the Taylor County School system. The two are very close and this podcast dives into their relationship from Matt's perspective and also how he worked his way to becoming the head coach at East Jessamine.

Dealing with COVID-19 while also pregnant AND trying to recruit for the upcoming cross country season... sounds like a nightmare but head coach Hilary Lakes handled it with flying colors. She and her husband Brandon welcomed their second daughter, Isabelle, into the world this August and they are also in the process of building their first home in Campbellsville. We dive into quarantine, how their family was secluded on campus while it was shutdown, but also preview the upcoming cross country season.

One of the busiest men in all of NAIA intercollegiate athletics premieres as the first episode of #TigerNation Weekly. Mid-South Conference Commissioner Eric Ward sits down with Jordan Alves to discuss how he has built the MSC into a powerhouse conference but also how the MSC Administrative Council made decisions to postpone fall regular season for the spring. Commissioner Ward and Alves sit down for an hour-long discussion and it dives deep into the workings of the Mid-South Conference.