VIEW THE MOBILE ALPHA VERSION OF THIS SITE

News Nuggets, 02.21.04
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

Previous Day Nuggets...             Next Day Nuggets...

Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Marquette assistant progressing after lung transplant

MILWAUKEE — Marquette assistant basketball coach Trey Schwab is showing steady improvement in his recovery from a double-lung transplant, Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean said Friday.

The 39-year-old Schwab remains in the intensive care unit at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where he is expected to be sedated for another week "in order to limit the amount of oxygen he needs as the transplanted lungs grow accustomed to his body," Crean said.

Schwab, who used a portable oxygen tank on the bench, waited nearly two years for the transplant.

He was diagnosed in late 2001 with the rare, incurable disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which attacks the air sacks in the lungs and hinders the body's ability to process oxygen. The cause of the disease is not known.

Stumbling C-USA heavyweights collide

What happened to Louisville and Cincinnati?

Only a month ago, the schools looked like two of the top teams in the nation. The Bearcats (17-5, 8-3 Conference USA) were unbeaten and No. 6 in the country, while the fifth-ranked Cardinals (17-5, 7-4) had one loss coming into a Jan. 21 matchup between the teams.

Louisville jumped all over Cincinnati in a 93-66 rout, but neither team has played well since. Cincinnati has split eight games, and Louisville has dropped four of seven contests.

Before their matchup last month, Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said that their teams were not as good as the records indicated. Clearly, both men knew what they were talking about.

Both squads will try to get back on the winning track as No. 10 Louisville visits 17th-ranked Cincinnati on Saturday in a key C-USA matchup.

Cincinnati is coming off an 80-69 loss to UAB on Wednesday night that dropped it out of first place in the conference.

``Mo Finley made some big shots for them,'' said Huggins, whose team lost for the fourth time in six games. ``He made big shots when he had to, and we had nobody who did.''

The Bearcats took an 8-0 lead against the Blazers, then fell behind and made only a brief comeback attempt. Cincinnati leading scorer Tony Bobbitt fouled out without scoring. Jason Maxiell had a team-high 13 points for the Bearcats.

``What's happened to us would wake anybody up, but it hasn't,'' Huggins said.

Louisville is coming off an embarrassing 71-46 loss at TCU on Tuesday. The Cardinals' point total was their lowest in three seasons under Pitino.

``We're not battling adversity the correct way. We have to regroup, get better and start to improve,'' Pitino said, adding a ``humbling'' loss is good ``to get you back mentally and physically.''

The Cardinals posted the lowest-scoring game for a team coached by Pitino since Boston University scored 46 in a two-point loss to Canisius on the same date 22 years ago. That's a span of 456 games with four teams over 15 college seasons interrupted by two stints as an NBA coach.

The Cardinals shot a season-low 29 percent (14-of-49) Tuesday and didn't have a player score in double figures for the first time this season. Larry O'Bannon had a team-high nine points for Louisville.

``We have a very young basketball team mentally,'' Pitino said. ``It should feed off the defense. Unfortunately, we feed off our offense a little bit. We don't have a real high basketball IQ.''

Louisville leads the all-time series with Cincinnati 47-35.

Saban officially hits the jackpot

BATON ROUGE — Nick Saban's new seven-year, $18.45 million contract received final approval from the LSU governing board Friday, making him the highest paid coach in college football.

The contract guarantees Saban at least $2.3 million this year and grows by about $100,000 annually. The coach can earn an extra $400,000 each year based on postseason game appearances and team graduation rates.

The LSU Board of Supervisors gave its final approval to the deal, which runs through 2010. It increases Saban's pay from the $1.6 million he earned last year.

The coach signed his new contract a few weeks after ending speculation that he would leave for the NFL after leading the Tigers to the Bowl Championship Series title, their first national championship in 45 years.

In the current year, Saban will get a $400,000 base salary, $1.45 million for appearing in radio, TV and Internet programs and $450,000 in ``additional revenue'' from the Tiger Athletic Foundation, shoe and equipment contracts and other deals.

The base salary and radio and TV appearance money will grow over the life of the contract.

He also can earn up to $350,000 more a year depending on LSU's postseason game appearances and up to $50,000 extra a year if the football team is among those college teams with the highest graduation rates.

Both LSU and Saban can end the contract with 30 days written notice, but the university has to pay Saban various levels of compensation if they terminate his contract ``without cause.''

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007