Sports

The WKU men’s basketball team is preparing for a tough three-game stretch away from home, starting this Sunday afternoon at longtime rival Murray State. WKU has had the week off for final exams, but some major tests are still ahead for the men’s basketball team.

The Tops will hit the road for Murray to take on the 7-1 Racers Sunday, in a game that will be televised on the Hiltopper Sports Satellite Network. It will be the 150th time the two in-state rivals have played.

Next Tuesday, WKU travels to Richmond, Virginia, to take on Virginia Commonwealth. The VCU Rams are one of the top mid-major programs in the country, and are battle-tested already this young season, with a win against Memphis, and losses to Duke and Missouri.

WKU freshman Kendall Noble will miss the remainder of the 2012-13 season after suffering a torn right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Sunday’s game at Kent State. A full recovery is expected back in time for the 2013-14 campaign.

“Any coach does not want to hear that about their players,” said WKU head coach Michelle Clark-Heard. “I am really sad that the fans did not get to see Kendall Noble this year. The greatest thing about that is we will have her for four more years and everyone will have the chance to see how special she is. She came back in the Morehead State game and had a really good game and then this happens. She is an unbelievable young lady from an unbelievable family.”

WKU Public Radio reported on ACL injuries earlier this year, in a profile of WKU senior wide receiver Marcus Vasquez, who tore a knee ligament in a 2011 game.

The New York Times has this story looking at WKU's hiring of Bobby Petrino as the school's next head football coach. The Times says Monday's hiring of Petrino began a discussion over  whether "Western Kentucky had made a Faustian decision to trade its morality for the possibility of on-field success."

As WKU Public Radio reported Monday, athletic director Todd Stewart said Petrino was the number one name on the school's wish list when the head coaching job opened up.

All this took place after Willie Taggart left WKU Friday to become the next head coach at the University of South Florida.

WKU has announced that despite the hiring of Petrino, WKU defensive coordinator Lance Guidry will coach the team Dec. 26 in the Little Caesar's Bowl vs. Central Michigan.