But no one is around.

The announcer again welcomes the next performer to the stage, but no one is there.

A rap mix starts up—suddenly—he appears out of nowhere.

He comes out in a navy snapback, a light blue shirt, a gold watch and of course gold all in his chain.

He’s fearless.

The young man smiles and begins to rap for the audience.

This scene took place at the annual Spring Fever Concert. The concert sums up the majority of the week and is usually the big finale for students.

The song being performed is called “Project X2,” an original track created by Keldric Bonton.

The song was inspired by an actual house party that Kel attended last year thrown by a few ULM students.

“It’s a blessing to be in the building.” said Bonton. “I encourage everyone to follow their hearts and dreams no matter what anyone says. Have faith that God will lead you where he wants you to go.”

Bonton is a senior mass comm major from Alexandria. He has been working with music for six years now and is also working on his seventh mixtape.

Some of his inspirations include Earth, Wind, & Fire, Luther Vandross, Drake and Whitney Houston.

The headliners for the concert were TPain and Chingy, opened up by Trey Parker, Kel and B. Smyth.

Trey Parker (Silas Trey P. Stapleton) is also a student from ULM who graduated with a degree in music and is from Jackson, Miss.

B. Smyth, 19, is an aspiring performer from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., who has only been in the music business for about a year now.

His fame developed from YouTube this the past year. Smyth said that his inspiration is Micheal Jackson because his talent.

Everyone has tried to moonwalk at least once and all of Jackson’s work is phenomenal, according to Smyth.

“The concert was amazing.” said Mone’t Zeno, a sophomore education major. “My favorite part, of course, was B. Smyth since he’s extremely good looking and has the voice of an angel. I feel like he’s going to be really big really soon.”

Although Waka Flocka Flame, the original headliner for the show, was not able to make it, Chingy was quick to fill his place. Chingy has been in the music industry since 2002 as a popular hip-hop artist from St. Louis, Mo.

Some of his debut tracks include “Right Thurr,” 2003, “Pullin’ Me Back” and “Dem Jeans,” 2006.

This was Chingy’s first time performing in Monroe.

“I would give the same energy I would to an audience of one or two people that I would to an audience of thousands.” said Chingy. “It’s important to make the audience feel like they are a part of a show and that they are included.”

Alexis Cacioppo hit a two-run walk-off home run to give ULM a 3-2 victory over Central Arkansas on Wednesday at the ULM Softball Complex.

After falling behind to the Bears (31-17) in the seventh, Haley McCall started off the rally in the bottom of the inning with a bloop single to shallow right field. Cacioppo stepped up to the plate and put the ball deep over the right field wall to give the Warhawks (19-27) the victory.

“When I come up in those types of situations, I just tell myself to focus on a base hit,” Cacioppo said.

ULM shook off a slow start in the bottom of the third inning when Kayla Boening led off with an infield single. She was followed by an out on a fielder’s choice and a strikeout looking. The Warhawks couldn’t move a runner past first base in the inning.

Central Arkansas countered in the top of the fourth inning with its first base runner of the game, but they were also unable to advance past first. ULM closed out the fourth inning by getting on the scoreboard with Cacioppo’s first homer of the game.

The Bears scored their first run of the game in the top of the sixth inning when Sarah Bigej’s infield single brought in Sam Forrest. Central Arkansas scored again in the top of the seventh inning to take a 2-1 lead and set the stage for Cacioppo.

Cacioppo took the offense into her own hands for the Warhawks, finishing with two home runs and three RBI’s.

“It’s something about these benefit games. It makes you want to play at a different level,” Cacioppo said. “I just went out there and did the best I could.”

The game was the inaugural “teal-out” game as ULM wore teal jerseys to show support for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Willie and Korie Robertson, stars of the hit television series “Duck Dynasty,” were in attendance.

“To have [them] here was just awesome. It ignited Central Arkansas and our girls as well,” head coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill said.

Stephanie Routzon went all seven innings for the Warhawks, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with four strikeouts.

ULM returns to action on Saturday, May 4 to begin a three-game series with rival Louisiana-Lafayette.

They thought it was over.

Paul Clark and Brett Preuett had been in this position before. Just one fish short of a championship.

FLW Outdoors—the sanctioning organization for collegiate fishing—crowns its national champion by calculating the total weight of the fish each team catches over the three-day tournament.  A maximum of five fish is allowed.

The tournament seemed to be playing out like so many others have before. Clark and Preuett came up with four fish yet again.

The duo thought they had fallen short of their goal of bringing a national championship to ULM, but the math proved otherwise.

Anchored by an 18 pound fish caught on the second day of competition, the ULM fishing team captured the FLW College National Fishing Championship in just its fourth year of existence.

“It’s awesome. Not only are we excited to be national champions, but Brett and I are graduating and we are excited to leave something for the guys still here,” Clark said.

ULM’s three-day total of 40 pounds, three ounces was enough to take home the title, edging the 39 pound, 10 ounce tally of UNC-Charlotte.

Team advisor Ralph Swillie was unable to make the trip, but stayed in constant contact with the team.

“I spoke to them every day,” Swillie said. “The first day they were down, they thought they had lost it. The second day they were hopeful and then they won it all.”

As national champions, the team is now automatically qualified to compete in the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup World Championship August 15-18 in Shreveport.

Clark and Preuett took home a total of $30,000 in prize money for winning the tournament, which they plan on investing in the fishing team.

“We are two of the founding members of this team,” Clark said. “I feel like we have set the guys up for future success.”

Through determination, motivation and colored powder, ULM raised over $9,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Students and families from all over the area came together to get sweaty and colorful in ULM’s first 5k Color Me Cured race held by Up ‘Til Dawn.

“It was so satisfying to see everyone running around completely rainbowed out,” said Laura Knotts, director of student life and leadership. “I like seeing how excited the students are. And we’re just so excited to get to raise all of this money for St. Jude.”

CAB and SGA gave money to sponsor the color run as an RSO scholarship.

Between the two organizations there was $1500 put forward to fund Color Me Cured.

Senior elementary education major Emily Lovelady got to throw the colored powder as part of the Up ‘Til Dawn executive board.

There were families who ran in the race and would also come join in on the powder throwing.

“It was a great experience and it’s good that we can do something like this on our campus, that we have enough student and community involvement to actually be able to pull this off,” Lovelady said.

CAB members Amanda Hikes and Beth Hughes volunteered to get the chance to chase people around with paint.

Hikes would encourage the runners to get to her checkpoint and then surprise them with her paint bottles.

“I would cheer for them and beckon them to over to the finish line. Then I would get them in their moments of victory,” said Hikes, a freshman biology major. “It was a lot of fun to see their faces. I actually hated throwing paint at the little kids because they were so cute. But now they are cute little rainbows and I’m responsible for that.”

Psychology graduate student Monica Winkler was disappointed when the she lost the chance to run a half marathon a month ago in Dallas.

Then she learned about the color run at ULM. She also wasn’t expecting to hear her name get called for first place in the women’s category.

“I was so excited about my prizes and running with my body all painted,” Winkler said. “That’s actually the reason why I really ran. I was like ‘heck yeah I want a bunch of color on my body.’”

Senior communication major Macky James had two things on his mind – charity and first place. But then he realized he was probably going to end in eighth place, and went in to cross the finish line with his final kicker.

But when he got there he was told to turn around.

“I had run all the way back to the starting line,” James said. “Then I came in 27th place. But I had fun. I loved running for a great cause.”

Mascara, eye shadow, brushes and lipstick are strewn on the counters in the dressing rooms. The smell of hairspray still lurks in the air.

The cast is ready.

The moment is here. Months of rehearsal will now be put to the test.

Backstage, some are mouthing the lines they’re about to speak, others are stretching or practicing dance steps, but most of them are silent.

Director Robin Stephens comes in for the final talk before show time. There’s no mention of things to work on during practice. There won’t be any more practices. It’s show time.

“You’ve put so much work into the show at all kinds of levels. Please honor the work,” Stephens said. “Break a leg and have a wonderful show.”

“Places!” The stage manager gives the final call before the orchestra strikes up the overture.  Just like that. Everyone from the dancers to the costume designer come alive.

After months of preparation the cast of “Guys and Dolls” performed in Brown Auditorium last weekend. There were four performances over the course of the weekend.

“Guys and Dolls” is set in New York City during a time when gambling was illegal. This play was filled with secret casinos and unexpected love through the lives of the four main characters: Miss Adelaide, Nathan Detroit, Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown.

Flashback: Dress rehearsal

It’s Tuesday. Opening night is two days away and the cast has been having nightly rehearsals for two weeks.

Dressed and ready, the performers listen while Stephens gives notes before rehearsal starts.

“Let’s go forward with our work and not backwards,” Stephens said. “I had to pry myself out of the fetal position yesterday, but last night I was grinning and loving every moment.”

While waiting to go on stage Allison Friloux, who plays general Matilda B. Cartwright, and McKenna Giovingo, who plays Miss Adelaide, make small talk.

“It’s been a long week,” Friloux said.

“It’s only Tuesday,” Giovingo said.

Tucker Futrell, who plays Nathan Detroit, paces back and forth while practicing his gestures. Mouthing his lines. Earlier Futrell talked about how he feels while onstage during the performance.

“I always want to at least make sure the audience is engaged with what I’m doing. If they are engaged I can take the energy they’re giving me and always try to give that back,” Futrell said.

Futrell, a music education major, said he was a little nervous because he hasn’t played a part this big. His first performance was in last year’s production of Chicago when he played the master of ceremonies.

The girls have changed into their outfits for “Bushel and a Peck.” One of the dancers is practicing steps. Another dancer goes to grab her shovel, which is a prop in the performance. But then they run off to their places.

Flash forward: Opening night

“Opening night is always a frenzy of emotions for everyone involved. It’s the culmination of all the long hours of hard work that have gone into the planning and rehearsal process,” Alison Tugwell, the stage manager, said.

While the stage is lit with vibrant colorful dresses and loud musical numbers, the lights are off backstage. Only one blue light leads the performers back and forth from the green room to the props table and then on stage. Any other light comes from flashlights.

While the performers sing loud on stage and project their lines toward the audience, all is quiet backstage. There has to be silence so the actor’s microphones won’t pick up the noise.

But just because no one’s talking doesn’t mean the action hasn’t picked up. It’s much like the dress rehearsal. Performers run off stage to change for the next scene while listening to the overhead speakers set up in the green room.

Out on stage the cast lights up the auditorium with dramatic dance scenes of crap games and trips to Havana. This play is a complete turn around from last year’s production of “Chicago.” Stephens said “Chicago” was a “great way to hook an audience.”

“You can’t do Chicago every year. You have to do some varying away from that,” Stephens said. “This is iconic and it should be part of everyone’s experience with the musical theater.”

The cast gives all they’ve got until the very last note. And once the production is over the dresses will go back to the racks, the dressing room counters will be free of makeup and the scent of hairspray will dissipate.

But everyone involved will always remember the experience and hard work put into this production.

This year’s theme “Hawk Dynasty” is based off of the hit A&E series “Duck Dynasty” which is filmed in West Monroe. This week students can let their redneck flag fly with a packed schedule of events fit for a duck calling king.

Michael Roboski, committee head for Spring Fever, said with the amount of attention this local family and company has received there was no better compliment than imitation.

“I thought it would be a fun and relatable theme for campus. This show is the highest rated show on A&E and one of the most popular programs across all networks,” Roboski said.

Free lunch and snacks are offered for students Monday through Thursday in the quad.

Monday we celebrate Earth day and that night will be the drive-in movie in the Grove showing “Identity Thief.”

Tuesday is novelty day in the quad where there will be a sweet tea dunking booth, hawk calls and mallards.

Come out in your best “Duck Dynasty” themed costume for prizes as there is a costume contest for the crowd.

First place receives a $300 gift card and second place receives a $150 gift card.

Wednesday is full of sweet tea (you can drink this tea) and crawfish.

Stop by the Quad to see fellow classmates chug sweet tea in a chugging contest and go cheer on the Warhawks as they play against Mississippi Valley State again and enjoy free crawfish.

Piece for Paint, Art Improv and Toms take over Thursday before the evenings’ events.

Redneck Olympics in Bayou Park features steel toe boot toss and much more. Anyone wanting to participate in any competitions throughout the week needs to sign up for a slot because spots are limited.

Oozeball begins Friday at 11 a.m. This year 31 Ambassadors chose the theme “The Dirty South” which ties in perfectly with the theme.

The day ends at the Monroe Civic Center where T-Pain will perform for a hopefully packed crowd.

Waka Flocka was originally scheduled to perform along with T-Pain, however Juaquin Malphurs (Waka Flocka) recently fired agent/manager and cancelled many college performances. Laura Knotts, director of student life, apologizes for the change but ensures a supremely talented replacement.

“Waka Flocka’s cancellation was out of our control, the addition of B. Smyth is one we are very excited about,” Knotts said.

Smyth is an up and coming performer whose single “Leggo” featuring 2 Chainz is out now. He has the same manager as Justin Timberlake and is known for great vocals and dance moves.

Saturday starts with a 5k with all proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Color Me Cured: A St. Jude 5k” begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Alumni Center. Students may run/walk or volunteer. Colored powder will be thrown at runners throughout the campus course.

Baseball and Sand Volleyball will continue throughout the day.

Sunday wraps Spring Fever week up as the baseball team plays South Alabama.

A complete schedule was given to the Duck Dynasty cast. It is not certain if they will come or not. The full schedule can be viewed at ulm.edu/springfever.

The party was quickly approaching and Lincoln Powell could not find anything to wear.  There was no time to go shopping.

He went outside, hung up a pair of old Dickies shorts on the clothesline and splattered house paint all over them. Powell repeated the same process with his shirt.

Powell is a senior mass communication major and is the owner and designer of Preppy Poindexter, a new fashion line that has recently been caught trending at ULM.

“It’s a feeling you can’t describe,” Powell said of seeing students wear his clothing.

The brand officially began this January and has been sold to anywhere from 50 to 100 ULM students, according to Powell.

The first ULM student to ever buy a Preppy Poindexter shirt was Kahya Mayweather, who recently transferred back to Shreveport.

“I remember before the clothing line came out, he was asking if he made a few shirts would I support him…I wanted to be the first to know about it. Hence, I was the first to purchase a Preppy Poindexter tee,” Mayweather said.

According to Powell, a poindexter is anyone who is being truly who they are, which played a role into him naming his brand “Preppy Poindexter.”

It can be described as a brand where anyone can pick it up and make it his or her own said Powell.

Powell is not the only fashion designer on campus. According to him, there are at least four or five fashion designers at ULM that are also students.

It’s more like a support system than a competition said Powell.

He has been interested in fashion since he was a child.

Powell said he would anxiously await “Rip the Runway” on BET every year and  couldn’t wait for it to come on.

Then one day he thought.

“Maybe I’m into fashion more than I would really like to admit.”

Powell’s parents are his biggest fans and his mom, he said, is his unofficial secretary.

Being raised in Lake Providence, where the nearest WalMart is in the next parish, Powell always felt like an outcast.

Powell said people  would say things like ‘Ew plaid shorts, why do you have on plaid shorts?’

Two weeks later they would all have on plaid shorts.

Powell’s inspiration behind his clothing is the everyday college student.

Powell has not always been so confident in his dreams of being a designer.

“I went back and forth so many times,” Powell said, “You know in the back of your mind that you can, but there’s still that fear of failure.”

Powell said he would call his mom and worry about if people would buy his stuff or not.

“You just have to get started,” was her advice, according to Powell.

Powell’s two favorite styles are urban and preppy. He hopes that the future will allow him the means to create another line that leans more towards an urban feel.

“You don’t see people really wearing colors. We are conservative here. People wear polos and pretty much nothing else, “ Powell said.

He hopes to make crazy colors his signature mark on the fashion world- especially when it comes to cardigans and blazers.

Designing for men is what he truly loves, because there are already so many clothing stores devoted to women.

Powell’s advice to anyone with a big dream in fashion is to make sure you do research, make sure it’s something people will like and make sure it’s something people can relate to.

Powell’s website launched on March 29 and his line consists of clothing from socks to muscle shirts.

Expanding the brand is in Powell’s plans for the rest of 2013, and he has been invited to be in his second fashion show of the year this May.

“Preppy Poindexter is going to go further than he could have ever imagined,” Mayweather said.

They go unnoticed by the people who roam these halls on a daily basis, but they tell a story.

A story of the days when fast breaks and full-court presses were the norm, and the roar of the student section took the roof off the building with every thunderous dunk.

Mike Vining, the man who wrote this story as ULM’s winningest basketball coach, looks up at them.

He says there used to be more banners—at least 10—but they’ve since been consolidated into five to save space.

“I had a player tell me once he didn’t think you could have enough banners. I guess you can,” Vining said, offering a glimpse of his trademark sense of humor.

He’s quick to tell a joke, but there was nothing funny about facing the Northeast Louisiana Indians in those days.

Through three different decades and NLU’s transformation into the ULM Warhawks, Vining’s teams amassed 401 wins, nine conference championships, seven NCAA tournament appearances and an NIT bid.

“We had some really good players. We went to the NCAA tournament four years in a row [from 1990-1993]. At the time that happened, there was only 14 schools in the nation who had ever done that,” Vining said.

The Blueprint

Vining shifts his gaze from the banners down to the wooden floor of  the coliseum. He looks comfortable, and given his longstanding connection to the university, it comes as no surprise.

Outside of two years in the Army, Vining has spent his entire life in the area. A native of nearby Goodwill, the coach came to ULM as a student in 1962. He played basketball for Lenny Fant, whose name adorns this building.

After a successful stint as the head coach at Bastrop High School, Vining was lured back to ULM in 1978. He apprenticed for three years, one under Fant and two with his successor Benny Hollis. When Hollis became the athletic director in 1981, it was Vining’s turn to take the reigns.

“Back then if you’d done a good job as an assistant they would promote you,” Vining said. “I got the job and Dr [Dwight] Vines was the president at the time. I was always trying to prove he made the right decision hiring me.”

Vining went to work, putting his own stamp on the program. He devised a system based on constant full court pressure and rotating players in every five minutes.

Fresh legs, combined with constant pressing over 40 minutes, frustrated opponents until they cracked under the weight of their own mistakes.

“In most instances, there’d be a five minute period where we’d have a big run. When the game was over, the other team would say, ‘except for those five minutes we could have beaten them.’ That was the press,” Vining said.

Vining also understood the most important tenet in all sports; you can never have enough athletes. His recruiting philosophy was exemplified by former ULM great Carlos Funchess, an in-betweener who could post up or step out and knock down a jump shot.

“I didn’t worry about where I was gonna play them, I let the other team worry about how they were going to guard us,” Vining said.

Vining had recruited most of the roster out of high school, making it an easy transition for the players.

“It wasn’t like a new coach coming in who didn’t know us,” former player and current ULM head coach Keith Richard said. “We knew him well, but we didn’t know him as the head coach.”

ULM won the conference in Vining’s first year, qualifying for its first ever NCAA tournament in the process. Six other NCAA bids would follow over his tenure.

The 1991 squad was arguably Vining’s best. They went 25-8 that season, featuring Funchess, the national slam dunk champion, guard Anthony “Greyhound” Jones, the dunk contest runner-up and point guard Casey Jones.

“All Casey had to do was throw the ball close to the rim and [Funchess and Jones] were going to dunk it. Everyday was a highlight reel,” Vining said.

Vining went toe-to-toe with some of the game’s best coaches—including Mike Krzyzewski, Lute Olsen and Jerry Tarkanian—but ULM was never able to break through and win an NCAA tournament game.

“We came close but we just never could get that done,” Vining said.

After 24 years on the job, Vining retired from ULM in 2005, leaving a lasting legacy throughout the university and the city of Monroe. Of ULM’s 35 1,000 point scorers, 17 of them played for Vining.

Many of Vining’s former players have gotten into coaching, including his first point guard, who now works in his old office.

“Let’s Go Guard Somebody”

Keith Richard remembers it vividly. Everyday at practice before the start of defensive drills, Vining would grab a ball and say, “let’s go guard somebody.”

“I catch myself saying it now when we start our defensive work. Just like he used to do,” Richard said.

Since taking over as ULM’s head coach in 2010, Richard has relied on many of the lessons he learned from Vining both as a player and an assistant coach.

It hasn’t been easy. Crippling sanctions due to poor academics under the previous staff left the program with little resemblance to the one Richard remembered.

While it hasn’t always showed in the win-loss column, Vining believes hiring Richard is the best thing ULM could have done to get the program turned around.

“They took care of that. Now he’s taking care of the rest of it,” Vining said. “What we’ve got to do as a community and as alumni is support him through this rough period.”

With the sanctions lifted and academic issues fixed, ULM can recruit like a normal college basketball program again.

Finally, it’s time for Richard to write his own story. If Mike Vining has it his way, it’ll include more post-season and championship banners to go along with his own.

You can never have enough banners, right?

Judd Edwards ignited an eighth-inning rally with a two RBI double, but it wasn’t enough as ULM fell to Arkansas State 7-5 on Friday night at Warhawk Field.

After falling behind 7-1 in the seventh inning, the Warhawks (14-24, 4-12) came to life in the bottom of the eighth.

An error by the Red Wolves (21-17, 7-9) sent Brandon Alexander to first. Dalton Todd and Trent Lucas followed with a pair of base hit singles. With the bases loaded, Edwards sent a blast deep in to left field to score two runs.

“We knew if we were gonna have a chance to win tonight we needed to scratch a couple runs,” Edwards said. “I got a good pitch and put a decent swing on it.”

Corben Green’s RBI groundout and an RBI single from Taylor Abdalla drove in two more runs before Arkansas State got out of the inning. ULM was unable to add more to its run total in the bottom of the ninth.

“That was the one inning we threatened and our guys did a good job of getting them across the plate,” head coach Jeff Schexnaider said.

The Warhawk pitchers suffered through a tough night on the mound, setting season-highs with 11 walks and four hit batters.

Cale Wine (4-6) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits and six walks with five strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.

“I was all over the place. It’s the first time it’s been like that all year and I hope it’s never like that again,” Wine said.

Jared Dye, Chad Miller and Andrew Richardson combined to finish the game in relief for ULM.

The Warhawks got on the board first in the second inning with an RBI groundout from Justin Stawychny that sent Dalton Herrington across the plate. Herrington got on base with a leadoff triple.

After the second inning, Arkansas State held ULM scoreless until the bottom of the eighth.

The Red Wolves plated four runs in the top of the fifth inning. Arkansas scored three more in the seventh without recording a single hit.

“We didn’t throw strikes and we gave them too many base runners,” Schexnaider said. “When you’ve got that many innings where you’re battling with base runners eventually they’re going to get one.”

Edwards led the Warhawks with one hit, two RBI’s and one scored run. Daniel Wright (4-3) earned the win for Arkansas State, surrendering only two earned runs on five hits to go along with six strikeouts.

The Warhawks face Mississippi Valley State in a two-game series beginning Tuesday, April 23. Game time is 6 p.m.