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The WR from Florida visited Western Kentucky earlier this week, @drew_toennies caught up with Ponder after his visit for an interview a couple of days ago. You can check that out below...


Ponder also held offers from Florida Atlantic and Ohio

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@DerrickDeen breaks down the film of 2024 QB commit Tucker Parks

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An in-depth video interview with Western Kentucky 2024 QB commit Tucker Parks

WKU head coach Steve Lutz and company added a new assistant coach to the 2023-24 staff, announcing the hiring of Texas State assistant coach Robert Guster.

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Guster will be joining the Hilltoppers' coaching staff after coaching the Bobcats for seven seasons. Before that, Guster coached UTSA for 10 seasons as an assistant.

"I am extremely excited to welcome Robert and his family to The Hill," Lutz said. "I have been fortunate to know and observe Robert over the last 20-plus years. He is a great family man, mentor to young people and has a great basketball mind. I know that he will hit the ground running from day one and help impact winning daily."

During his time at Texas State, Guster put together one of the strongest defenses in the country, leading the Sun Belt in scoring defense for five out of his seven seasons with the Bobcats. Guster additionally helped place Texas State on the map, landing them in the top-30 in the country three times.

The Bobcats also led the Sun Belt in rebounds per game during the 2018-19 campaign and field goal percentage in the 2021-22 stint. Guster also assisted in coaching the 2019-20 Sun Belt Player of the Year.

"I am extremely excited to join the Hilltopper family," Guster said. "To be a part of a program with such rich tradition is a blessing for me and my family. I admire and respect Coach Lutz and feel honored to join the Hilltopper family. He is an absolute winner. I will work diligently to support the WKU family, community and athletes to make certain we build a culture of character, hard work and academic achievement."

During his 10 seasons with the Roadrunners, Guster helped lead UTSA to the school's first NCAA postseason win in any sport, helped the team to claim a league championship and made two conference tournament title game appearances.

Guster additionally helped UTSA to break 20 school records, including eight players earning all-conference honors. Three were also named the league freshman of the year.

Before UTSA, Guster worked as an assistant coach for Southeast Missouri State, making significant contributions to the Redhawks' recruiting efforts as well as academic affairs.

Guster began coaching at West Plains Community College, working as an assistant coach for five years. Guster helped West Plains reach a 120-36 record and helped 10 of the players he recruited pick up opportunities at the D1 level.

2024 small forward Trent Noah, an explosive in-state talent at Harlan County (Ky.), has a list of notable schools he will be visiting over the next few months, including an official visit with the Hilltoppers.

The 6-foot-7 shooting forward out of Harlan, KY. confirmed to InsideHilltopperSports.com that he will be stopping by Western Kentucky for an official visit on Sept. 8th.

In addition to his upcoming visit with Western Kentucky, Noah will also be stopping by Seton Hall on July 30th, Butler on Sept. 20th, South Carolina on Sept. 22 and Saint Louis on Sept. 28th.

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The three-star prospect holds a mountain of notable opportunities, recently adding a C-USA offer from WKU head coach Steve Lutz this past June. Noah said that the Hilltoppers have been involved in his recruitment for as long as he can remember as he was also close with some of the former staff.

Noah additionally said that he's spent a lot of time talking with Coach Lutz and has enjoyed their conversations. He added that he's excited to get to know WKU's coaching staff even more when he visits campus.

2024 wide receiver Dallen Ponder from Vanguard (Fla.) stopped by Western Kentucky recently for an unofficial visit. He told InsideHilltopperSports.com that he had a great visit and felt like it could be an easy transition if he chooses to call it home.

Said that the Hilltoppers have been involved in his recruitment since this past spring spring, connecting with the Hilltoppers' coaching staff at a practice and at the Mercer Mega Camp.

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A couple of WR’s from Florida

Summarizing what Western Kentucky head coach Tyson Helton, quarterback Austin Reed, and linebacker JaQues Evans said during C-USA Media Day on Tuesday...

Will add full transcript in a few

Tyson Helton:

- Really excited about the upcoming season and the new C-USA
- Always been blessed at WKU to have record-setting quarterbacks and NFL quarterbacks
- Build everything around the quarterback, then build inside and out with the offensive and defensive line
- Got to have a high-caliber QB to pull the trigger to win ball games
- Have not made it easy on Austin, but he's earned everything he's got
- Austin has always embraced competition or adversity
- Doesn't worry about the amount of teams in the conference, thinks there will be a lot of parody in C-USA this year
- Thinks some of the new football teams will give everyone a run for their money
- Doesn't get into the preseason hype with his team
- Team understands what they are capable of achieving
- Try to keep a chip on our shoulder above everything, our guys embrace that

Austin Reed:

- Really excited to be chosen as Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, but you have to go out there and earn it. More concerned with postseason awards
- Nice to not be in a quarterback competition and just be able to dive into your game and getting the team ready to win. Just trying to win as many games as possible
- Prides himself on being able to run the ball
- Lost 10 pounds this offseason, says it was bad weight and wants to be faster
- Wants to put WKU in the best position to win, make the right checks, and have complete control of the offense
- Super close with Coach (Drew) Hollingshead and excited for what he can do for the offense this upcoming season
- Open with Coach Helton on entering the transfer portal and ultimately decided to come back to WKU
- Has the upmost respect for Coach Helton, wanted to come back and play for Helton and win C-USA
- 100-percent confident in the decision he made

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Has offers from South Florida, Oregon State, UCF, App State, Liberty, and others

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Hilltoppers add their 8th commitment of the 2024 recruiting class in Mill Creek (Ga.) athlete Justin Content. He was offered by WKU on June 16th by cornerbacks coach Chris Martin. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound prospect played safety and boundary corner during his junior season and had other notable offers from Coastal Carolina, Army, Air Force, Akron, and more.

On his commitment:

"It immediately felt like home when I stepped on campus. The coaching staff is amazing and they run a great program up there in Bowling Green."

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Recorded 44 tackles, nine pass break-ups, and three interceptions during the 2022 season

The unofficial, non-complete 2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule

NON-CONFERENCE:

Dates TBD:

@ Murray State
vs. Austin Peay

Nov. 11th - vs. EKU
Nov. 24-26 - @ Northern Classic (Bowling Green, Canisius, Dartmouth, Lipscomb, Wofford, UNC-Asheville, Umass-Lowell)
Dec. 9th - @ Buffalo
Dec. 16th - @ Wichita State
Dec. 19th - @ Cal Baptist - CUSA/WAC Alliance
Dec. 30th - Abilene Christian - CUSA/WAC Alliance

CONFERENCE PLAY:

Jan. 6th - Liberty
Jan. 10th - @ Sam Houston State
Jan. 13th - Jacksonville State
Jan. 18th - @ New Mexico State
Jan. 20th - @ UTEP
Jan. 25th - Florida International

Feb. 1st - Sam Houston State
Feb. 3rd - Middle Tennessee
Feb. 7th - @ Louisiana Tech
Feb. 10th - @ Jacksonville State
Feb. 15th - UTEP
Feb. 17th - New Mexico State
Feb. 24th - @ Middle Tennessee
Feb. 28th - Louisiana Tech

Mar. 2nd - @ Florida International
Mar. 9th - @ Liberty

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St. Thomas (Minn.) freshman transfer

2023 SEASON: Appeared in 42 games with 40 starts, including 22 at third base, 11 at designated hitter, and seven in left field, as a freshman... hit .245 from the plate with 38 hits, four doubles, and two triples... third for the Tommies and tied for 22nd in the Summit League with seven stolen bases... totaled 20 runs and 14 RBI... longest hitting streak lasted six games from April 29 versus Omaha until May 9 at Western Illinois... finished with seven multi-hit games... scored a career high three runs twice, April 30 versus Omaha and May 18 at New Mexico State... recorded a .954 fielding percentage on 33 putouts and 29 assists.

DALLAS – Conference USA announced the full men’s basketball league schedule on Monday, including WKU’s slate of games.

With nine total teams in CUSA for the 2023-24 season, the campaign includes home and away contests against every conference member, with 16 league games overall.

WKU’s CUSA schedule begins with the four new member schools.

The Hilltoppers will kick off the new year with new league opponent Liberty at home in E.A. Diddle Arena on January 6. It will be the first-ever meeting between WKU and the Flames.

WKU will then travel to Sam Houston on Wednesday, January 10, taking on the Bearkats for the first time in program history.

The Tops will return home for a Saturday game against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks on January 13. It will be the first time the teams have met since 2016, and WKU will look to defend a perfect 3-0 program record against Jax State.

The Hilltoppers will head west to play New Mexico State on January 18 followed by UTEP on the 20th. WKU is 9-1 all-time against New Mexico State and 1-1 in Las Cruces, N.M.

WKU will begin a three-game homestand on Thursday, January 25, facing off against a familiar CUSA opponent in FIU.

The homestand will continue into February as the Hilltoppers play Sam Houston on the 1st and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on the 3rd. The 145th meeting between WKU and MTSU will conclude the three-game homestand.

WKU will travel to Louisiana Tech on Wednesday, February 7 before heading to Jacksonville State on February 10. It will be the first time the Hilltoppers have ever played the Gamecocks in Jacksonville, Ala.

UTEP will visit E.A. Diddle Arena on February 15 and WKU will look to defend the Tops’ perfect 4-0 record against the Miners in Bowling Green. The Hilltoppers will stay home and play New Mexico State two days later.

Following a week break, WKU will travel 100 miles to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on MTSU.

The Hilltoppers’ final home game of the season will be played against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 28.

WKU finishes off the league slate with games at FIU on March 2 and at Liberty on March 9.

The Conference USA Men’s Basketball Championship will be played March 12-16 in Huntsville, Ala., at Propst Arena. It’s the ninth location to host the CUSA Men’s Basketball Championship in league history.

The first three seasons WKU was in CUSA (2015-17), the championship was also held in Alabama at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The East West Shrine Bowl released its Shrine Bowl 1,000 list Monday, which recognizes the top 1,000 all-star game eligible players in college football. Five WKU Football players were among the 1,000 listed.

Representing the Hilltoppers in the Shrine Bowl 1,000 list were quarterback Austin Reed, receiver Malachi Corley, linebacker JaQues Evans and offensive linemen Quantavious Leslie and Wes Dorsey.

"The Shrine Bowl 1,000 serves as the first look at who may be at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl," said Eric Galko, Director of Football Operations and Player Personnel for the Shrine Bowl. "Our staff combed through all four levels of college football, evaluating thousands of Shrine Bowl-eligible players, to find the top players in the country. We're excited to recognize these players for their accomplishments so far, and make sure that fans, media and NFL clubs know that these players are among the best in the nation."

WKU players have enjoyed a recent run of success in college football all-star games, including the East West Shrine Bowl. Brodric Martin and Kahlef Hailassie from the 2022 Hilltopper squad both played in the 2023 Shrine Bowl. Martin went on to be drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft while Hailassie signed a free agent deal with the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Each year, hundreds of the top collegiate stars are either taken in the NFL Draft or sign as free agents, and the East-West Shrine Bowl provides these NFL hopefuls with an excellent opportunity to showcase their skills while supporting the life-changing mission of Shriners Children's.

The 99th annual East-West Shrine Bowl will take place Thursday, February 1, 2024, in Frisco, Texas, at Ford Center at The Star, the worldwide headquarters and training facility for the Dallas Cowboys. The game will be televised nationally on NFL Network.