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Good morning everyone! It’s officially media day season. Let’s get to the news.

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1. Notables from United Athletic Conference media day

We kicked off our first of many media days with the newly-formed United Athletic Conference on Thursday.

The league features five teams formerly from the Atlantic Sun (Austin Peay, North Alabama, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and West Georgia), three teams formerly from the WAC (Abilene Christian, Tarleton State and UT-Arlington), and one former OVC school in Little Rock.

We encourage you to watch the full show above, but if you’re short on time, below are a few notables and quotes from the four-hour media day.

Be sure to also read Sean Paul’s preview of the conference, which includes the roster turnover for each team, projected lineups, team strengths/weaknesses and his projected league standings and preseason awards.

Media Day Notes:

• Austin Peay head coach Corey Gipson told a wild story about how he used to throw up inside of his jersey every game before changing at halftime. As for his team, he has eight freshman. Why?: “We’ve had a great deal of success with a younger roster,” Gipson said. “There’s only three teams in all of collegiate basketball that’s had back-to-back freshman of the year, and one of them is Austin Peay.”

• Central Arkansas head coach John Shulman is one of the most interesting characters in college basketball. How would his players describe him? “Crazy,” junior forward Cole McCormick said. “But I mean, it’s a good thing. I’ve never seen anyone that hates losing more than him. Like, he hates losing. That’s part of our culture. We hate losing.”

• After two years away from coaching, Travis Ford is back as the head man of Little Rock. Roster building… it’s a bit different now, especially as a new head coach. “There was an anxiety that went over me at one point,” Ford said. “It hit home like, ‘Oh no. We gotta find 15 players.’”

• Another first-year head coach in the league, Eric Haut at Tarleton State, is a first-time head coach, unlike Ford. “I compare becoming a head coach for the first time like finally having kids. When you didn’t have kids and the people you’re around did have kids, you just can’t relate until you have your own kids. So it’s kind of the same.”

• What does UAC CEO Jeff Bacon foresee for expansion and the future of the conference?: “We really love our nine, and frankly, we really love our 17 — both the eight in the ASUN and the nine in the UAC… Now, would we like to grow? Probably, yeah. But it’s got to be in the right way.”

We’ll have more clips out on our social media pages as the day moves on. Be sure to follow along.

2. Arkansas’ Miikka Muurinen cleared, Roddy Gayle granted injunction

It was a busy day on the eligibility front, and a couple programs received great news.

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