Both of Sam Houston High School’s basketball programs will have a new head coach for the 2019-2020 season.

Bob Acord will take over the boys program while Brandi Pryor has been promoted to lead the girls program.

Acord spent the 2018-2019 season as an assistant for LSU-Eunice’s first-year program. Prior to that, he spent a season as an assistant for Hathaway’s Class B 2017-2018 quarterfinal team.

He also spent two seasons as an assistant at St. Louis Catholic and helped lead the Saints to the Class 3A semifinals in 2016 and the quarterfinals in 2017.

Acord played for Marion High School in Marion, Indiana. Along with two-time NBA all-star Zach Randolph, Acord led the Giants to the 1998 Indiana Class 4A state championship game.

Acord replaces Chris Kwan, who led the Broncos to a 15-16 record in his only season as head coach.

Acord is a McNeese State graduate.

Pryor was an assistant coach under former head coach Jason Jagneaux for five seasons and helped lead the Broncos to the quarterfinals three times (2015, 2018, 2019).

Pryor prepped at St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette and played for UL-Lafayette for four years.

Jagneaux led the Broncos for seven seasons before moving over to administration as an assistant principal at Sam Houston.

College bound

Record setting Welsh wide receiver Da’ren Zeno’s career will continue at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Zeno holds the school single-season (2017, 94 rec., 1,450 yards, 19 TDs) and career records (174 rec., 2,715 yards, 31 TDs) in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He also had four rushing touchdowns in his career plus an 80-yard punt return in 2017 and returned a blocked field goal 82 yard in 2017.

Zeno helped lead the Greyhounds to the Class 2A state finals in 2017 and 2018, including the school’s first state championship in 2017.

Cardinal to Crimson Tide

After graduating a year early from Lacassine High School, Carly Whittington signed with the University of Alabama golf team last week.

Whittington has been one of the top golfers in Southwest Louisiana over the last three years, leading the Cardinals to the Division II state championship in 2017 and 2018 and won the Division II medalist state championship this season. At Les Vieux Chenes Golf Course in May, Whittington shot a two-under 72 in the first round and a 76 in the final round to beat Isidore Newman’s Liza Lepeyre by two shots.

All-American scholar

Like her former Sulphur High School teammate Brooke Duzan, Texas A&M freshman Brooke Tyree has been named an All-American Scholar by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.

Tyree led Sulphur to four consecutive Division I state championships from 2015 to 2018 and was the 2018 Division I state champion medalist. She finished in the top-four four consecutive years.

In her first season with the Aggies, Tyree was sixth on the team in stroke average at 75.09.

Grand slam Bronco

Former Sam Houston Bronco standout Dayton Dugas hit his first grand slam as a professional last week.

Dugas, who plays for the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps, hit a grand slam in the first inning of a 9-5 win over the Quad City River Bandits Wednesday.

In 13 games for the Whitecaps, Dugas is batting .340 with 8 RBIs and 6 doubles.

In two seasons since he was drafted in the 16th round by the Detroit Tigers out of Wichita State, Dugas has played for four different teams with a career .233 batting average, 12 doubles, five home runs, 30 RBIs and 28 runs scored.

Reminder to area football coaches

A reminder to all area football coaches to fill out and send in the 2019 American Press football questionnaire. If you have not received a copy yet, send an email to warceneaux@americanpress.com or randerson@americanpress.com.