University of Evansville Adds to Athletics Department
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe University of Evansville has added to its Athletics Department. Erik Brown has been hired to replace Troy Coppus as an assistant athletic trainer and instructor in the Athletic Training Education program. Coppus is now clinical education coordinator for the UE Athletic Training Education Program. Brown is a graduate of DePauw University and completed a master’s degree from Indiana University and a second master’s degree from California University Pennsylvania. He previously served as athletic training education clinical coordinator for Wheeling Jesuit University. Brown has experience in a variety of sports including: Baltimore Orioles minor league baseball, NBA top 100 Prospects Camp and the Maccabia USA team participating in the 2017 Maccabia Games.
Joe Downs has been named director of media relations. He has spent the last five years as sports director at WFIE in Evansville. Downs came to the Tri-State area with nearly two decades of broadcasting experience and has worked his way from behind the camera to in front of it, starting out as a videographer in his hometown of Portland, Maine. Since then, he has been a sportscaster in Colorado, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Ohio. He came to Evansville after a stint as sports director at WFIE’s sister station in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In his career, Downs has covered everything from NFL and NHL playoff games, the BCS Title Game, the FCS Title Game, Major League Baseball and some of the best high school football in the nation.
Carson Harris has been named an assistant men’s basketball coach. He was an assistant under head coach Marty Simmons from 2010 until 2015 when he took the position of head coach at Marian University. Harris spent two seasons pacing the Knights. He joined the UE staff in 2009 as director of basketball operations. A three-time all-North Central Conference guard at Lafayette Jeff High School and a three-time all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection at Manchester College, Harris stayed on there as an assistant coach for two years following his graduation in 2001. He then coached three years at Earlham College and three years at DePauw University before making the move to the Division I level in the summer of 2009.
John Metelko returns to the university to serve as assistant coach for the cross country and track and field teams. A 2005 Evansville graduate, he most recently served as head coach at Viterbo University for cross country for the past nine years, and track and field for the past six. Since 2008, Metelko built the Viterbo cross country program from one which had been discontinued twice due to a lack of interest, into a solid program with more than 28 student- athletes in the program, each of the last seven years. Additionally, he grew the track and field team to have more than 80 student-athletes. Before being a head coach, Metelko served as a volunteer assistant cross country coach at UE in 2005. During his time as a student- athlete he was chosen as recipient of the Most Improved Runner Award and the team’s 110% Effort Award. He also helped the men’s UE cross country team to their best finishes to date at the Indiana Intercollegiate, MVC and NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships. Metelko graduated from the University of Evansville with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
Michael Robertson has been appointed assistant director of media relations. He has been involved in college sports information and athletics media relations since 2010. Robertson previously served as assistant director of athletics communications at the University of Mount Olive in North Carolina. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV Broadcasting. While at USI, Robertson served as a sports information student intern for two years. He also worked as a play-by-play announcer for The Edge Radio from 2010-14. While there he was named a part of the Best Sportscast by Intercollegiate Broadcast Systems in 2012, Best Sportscast Finalist in 2013 by College Broadcasting Inc., and Best Play-By-Play Finalist in 2014. Following the completion of his bachelor’s degree, Robertson continued at Southern Indiana as a graduate assistant for two years.
Jauwan Scaife has been named assistant women’s basketball coach. He previously served as in a similar role at Southeast Missouri State. While at SEMO, he served as the team’s facilities, social media and video/technology coordinator in addition to assisting with recruiting, camps, scouting and player development. Prior to Southeast, he spent the last two years as a graduate assistant/video coordinator with the Ball State men’s basketball team. Scaife played four years as a guard at Ball State from 2009-13. He was named Second-Team All-Mid-American Conference in 2012-13 and earned MAC All-Freshman Team honors in 2009-10. He finished his career ranked 14th in program history with 1,326 points, becoming the 26th 1,000-point scorer for the Cardinals. Scaife broke BSU’s career records in three-pointers made (203) and attempted (579), as well. Scaife graduated in three years at Ball State with a degree in Sport Administration. He remained at BSU to get his master’s in physical education/coaching.
Heather Tarter has been hired as assistant softball coach. She previously served as interim head coach at IUPUI. After joining the team early in 2016 as an assistant coach, Tarter took the reins of the program and enjoyed great success. She led the Jaguars to an 11-6 mark in Summit League play on her way to conference coach of the year honors. Prior to IUPUI, Tarter was the head coach at Purdue Calumet for three seasons. She spent her first two collegiate seasons playing at Kankakee Community College in Illinois. Tarter was a standout catcher for the Cobras where she led the team to a pair of NJCAA Regional titles on her way to being an All-Region player. She finished her career in the Missouri Valley Conference, playing at UNI in her final two years.
Andrea Wallace, a 2006 graduate returns to her alma mater as director of business operations.She began her career in the sports industry as assistant box office manager at The Center, now Old National Events Plaza. Wallace quickly transitioned to ticket office manager at Roberts Stadium, Victory Theatre and Mesker Amphitheatre. In June of 2011, she became part of the inaugural Ford Center staff and in 2014 she became premium services manager. Wallace joined the Evansville Otters front office staff for their 2016 championship season before transitioning to UE this past winter.