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Show UVU REVIEW SPORTS A9 COLUMNIST UVU athletics bids adieu to long-time Senior Associate AD Dr. DJ Smith retires after 29 years of service By Garrett Coleman Assistant Sports Editor @legendgary62 Behind every single athletic event that the school participates in is a team of dedicated workers that make sure the whole thing operates smoothly and seamlessly. As a spectator, one does not fully see the behind-the-scenes workers in action. Utah Valley University bids farewell to Dr. DJ Smith this year, the Senior Associate Athletic Director for the last 29 years. UVU has grown over the time that Smith first arrived. In almost three decades of his time here, the school has gone through three name changes and the level and conferences of play have changed vastly in his time spent on the campus. "It's been a great experience," Smith said. "When I got here, we had about 3,500 students and now we are closing in on 35,000. It started out as Utah Technical College and has since transformed into Utah Valley University. I have seen a lot of growth and changes." In the same amount of time that the school changed, Utah Valley has seen a growth in athletics, from playing in the NJCAA to NCAA Division I, all the while having seen the softball team win a national championship as a junior college and the men's basketball winning a championship in the provisional stages of DI. With all the growth and con- stant change, Smith was able to show his hard work and dedication to this program. He began his tenure in the sports information department, a department that takes much time away from family and demands devoted attention. "I always tried to do my best, no matter what my responsibilities were," Smith explained. "I tried to do them to the best of my abilities, no matter how many hours it took to do it. No matter what it was, I wanted to do my job and do it well." His work paid off by winning awards for his media guides as best in the nation nine times while in the NJCAA. In due time, Smith was promoted to Associate Athletic Director in 2003. While the success of the athletic programs are high on anyone's list within the athletic department, those that were close to Dr. Smith knew that having a friendship with him meant everything. Smith was a people person with a quick joke and a contagious smile, who always went around asking people how they were doing. "I think the greatest thing [working here] has been the associations I have established with people and those I have gotten to know," he said. Those friendships and bonds are what helped Smith have a long and great career at UVU. His example of friendship and hard work will not be forgotten. Smith was awarded the Michael V. Jacobsen Bronze Wolverine in the Wolverine Club awards, the highest honor from UVU, which will stand as a testament of his work in the athletic department. No more hunger games for NCAA student-athletes By Kyle Spencer Sports Editor @kyledspencer di T ll U.S.If Presiformer Danny Beddes pitches against UTPA. The Wolverine have hit their stride in WAC play. GABI CAMBELU/UVU REVIEW Senior leadership helping baseball make waves in WAC Seven soon-tobegraduates continue to help the Wolverines succeed on the diamond By Warren McDade Staff Writer @warrenmcdadel7 Like the other sports, the Utah Valley University baseball team is thrilled to be in the Western Athletic Conference. With the league champion getting an automatic bid to the College World Series, the season could not have started sooner. The 2014 Wolverines returned six starting position players and two starting pitchers. They also have seven seniors on the team: Sean Moysh, Devin Nelson, Andrew Freter, Riley White, Ryan Evans, Colby Croft and Tory Ulibarri; each wanting to leave their time at UVU on a winning note. Moysh is from Murray and is tied for leading the team in batting at .286 with three home runs and 17 RBIs. After missing all but three games last year due to injury, Moysh is regaining his form and is one of the leaders of the team. Nelson is from Spanish Fork and plans to major in technology management. In 10 appearances, he is 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA. Freter hails from Meridian, Idaho where he played baseball and basketball. In one of his memorable moments here, he beat then-reigning national champion Arizona by going 5.1 innings without allowing an earned run on three hits. In nine starts this year, he is 2-5 with a 4.19 ERA and 42 strikeouts. He will major in Exercise Science. White is from Lehi, but prepped at Pleasant Grove High School. Last year he finished the season batting .305 and was named AllGreat West second team. On the year, he is batting .223 with 11 RBI's. He plans to major in Business. Evans is from American Fork where he also played football and basketball. He is 2-3 in nine starts with a 4.57 ERA. He looks to major in Behavioral Science. Croft is from Lindon and also played at Pleasant Grove. The former Viking is batting .184 with 8 RBI's. Croft had a great junior year and is looking to get hot for the Wolverines down the stretch. He plans to major in Business Management. And to round out the seniors, Ulibarri is from Salt Lake City and prepped at West High. He is the first person in his family to play college athletics and on the year has a 5.06 ERA in seven appearances. So far, the team is 14-20 overall and 7-5 in conference play. It was a tough start to the year with the Wolverines having to play their first 16 games on the road. Along the way they had big wins over national powerhouse Arizona and instate rival BYU. They have started to heat up, winning seven of their last 10, and six straight behind strong pitching and timely hitting. With only 19 games left, UVU looks to finish strong heading into the conference tournament in Mesa, Ariz., with the winner getting an automatic bid to the College World Series. I dent John F. Kennedy was right when he said, "the war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation," then NCAA Division I athletes inched closer to actual freedom April 15. The NCAA Legislative Council approved a long-awaited rule to provide both walk-ons and scholarship athletes with unlimited meals and snacks in accordance with their involvement. Before the provision, studentathletes under scholarship were allotted three meals a day, so it isn't like they were necessarily starving, but a stringent schedule makes it nearly impossible for any of them to obtain a means of income. A routine in-season schedule requires the student-athletes to train with his or her team every weekday, sometimes twice a day, on top of strength and conditioning and meetings/film sessions. Add those hours to a full-time class schedule, away games that can require traveling thousands of miles to various destinations — often in the same week — and any semblance of a social life, and the student-athlete is lucky to find a moment to ponder the meaning of existence. To be clear, I don't speak from experience, but I have tremendous respect for the work ethic I've witnessed Utah Valley athletes embody. For too long, the NCAA has attempted to deprave studentathletes of basic rights. If a basketball player's mother wants to treat her son's teammate to a meal, how can that possibly violate justified legislation? It won't, hopefully, any longer. It conflicts with an absurdly designed system, sometimes not all that dissimilar — in its extremes, like the prior food rule — to a lesser version of serfdom. The council's approval still has to be made final by the Board of Directors on April 24, however, it feels like an oldfashioned way of doing things is finally opening up to change. 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