Sports briefs
Toolson off to a good start in Turkey
Former UVU basketball standout Ryan Toolson is off to a good start in his professional debut in Turkey. Toolson is averaging 19.3 points through the first six games for Pinar Karsiyaka (4-2) of the Turkish Basketball League.
In last Thursday’s game on the road against Fenerbahce Ulker, Toolson poured in 29 points, with five three-pointers to lead his club to an 88-76 upset win. Fenerbahce is considered to be one of the top teams in Europe. In an earlier game against Oyak Renault on Oct. 24, Toolson went 8-for-10 from beyond the arc on his way to 32 points.
For the year, Toolson is shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 51.4 percent from three-point range, and 96.4 percent from the free throw line.
Toolson is playing alongside teammate David Holston, a former standout at Chicago State of the Great West Conference. Holston is averaging 12.8 points for Karisyaka.
Toolson and Holston waged a number of battles against each other in the collegiate ranks. The most memorable of those was their Jan. 30, 2009 meeting in Chicago when Toolson fired in a school-record 63 points to lead UVU to a 123-121 quadruple-overtime victory. Holston had 41 points for Chicago State in the loss.
UVU baseball announces fall signings
UVU baseball coach Eric Madsen has announced the signing of three players during the early fall-signing period.
The signees include Jeremy Gendlek (Olympia, Washington/Western Nevada CC), Alex Exon (Farmington, Utah/Salt Lake CC) and Ty Hansen (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham High School).
Gendlek was part of a Western Nevada squad that won both a conference and district championship in 2009 as a member of the Scenic West Athletic Conference. The team went on to finish third at the Junior College World Series.
He finished his freshman season with a 3.38 ERA and one save in nine appearances and is entering his sophomore season this spring. Gendlek prepped at Olympia High School in Washington where he earned All-State and All-League honors while helping his club to a third place finish at state.
Exon is entering his sophomore season at Salt Lake Community College after recently finishing his high school career at Viemont in Bountiful, Utah. Exon batted .286 as a freshman catcher at SLCC and was named an Academic All-Region athlete. While at SLCC he played with current Wolverine pitcher Zane Grey.
During his high school career he led Viewmont to a region championship while earning All-State and Region MVP honors. Exon is the nephew of the late UVU Hall of Fame baseball coach Dave Nelson.
Hansen, a left-handed pitcher, is entering his senior season at Bingham High School in South Jordan, Utah. As a junior Hansen batted .544 while also pitching the region championship-clinching win over Riverton. Bingham held the region title for the duration of his high school career and were runners-up in the 2008 Utah State Championship game.