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News Nuggets, 06.20.04
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NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
Previous Day Nuggets...
Next Day Nuggets...
Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Contender for ECU AD position takes USU job
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PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
06.19.04: ECU's
Jones headlines trio of C-USA All-Americans ... .. C-USA
umps on the job in Omaha ... ..
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06.18.04: Saturday
nights in Greenville in store for Fall ... .. Tidbit: Most
CWS appearances ... .. Kent State QB back on team after pot
plea ... ..
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06.17.04: Cardio
Center bill survives House ... .. UC president clarifies
Huggins suspension ... ..
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06.16.04: Crucial
vote looms as heart center clears committees ... ..
Concussions more prevalent than thought ... ..
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06.15.04: College
baseball polls ... .. Veteran assistant to fill in during
Huggins 'sabbatical' ... .. Louisville transfer guard to
transfer out ... ..
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06.14.04: NYC
has future gaze fixed on Big Apple Bowl ... .. Hornung
booted from Irish broadcast booth ... .. U of L sharpshooter
recovering from surgery ... ..
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06.13.04: Logan,
Alston capture World Bowl title rings ... .. Huggins benched
over DUI escapade ... .. Duke football star dies in car
wreck ... ..
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06.12.04: Huggins'
status in question after DUI arrest ... .. Former big
leaguer out at New Orleans ... ..
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06.11.04: Big
season gets R.J. a ticket to pro baseball ... .. Baseball
players' prank nets felony raps ... ..
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06.10.04: Green
Wave aims for second trip to Omaha ... .. Star football
recruit dies in Arizona workout ... ..
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06.09.04: ECU
antes up to fend off UVa pursuit of Herenda ... .. Baird
successor axed by Auburn ... .. Vandals accept invitation to
join WAC ... ..
More... |
06.08.04: Draft
notices issued to six champs ... .. Super Regional pairings
finalized ... .. Times, TV plans set for Columbia Super
Regional ... .. College baseball polls... ..
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06.07.04: Super
Regional sites set ... .. Dixie State takes juco title... ..
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One of
the candidates whose name was once prominently in the mix of those being
considered for the athletic director's position at East Carolina has been
named to head up the athletic program at Utah State.
Air
Force Colonel Randall W. Spetman, the former AD at the Air Force Academy,
will take over as AD for the Aggies on July 1, USU president Kermit L. Hall
has announced.
The
position has been open since April, when Rance Pugmire resigned after
pleading guilty to one class-B misdemeanor charge of alcohol-related
reckless driving on April 7. He rolled his vehicle three times near Brigham
City on Feb. 15.
Hall
said Spetman draws from deep wells of experience and understanding and a
wide range of skills and abilities that will serve Utah State well during
during a period of transition in its athletic program.
The
Aggies, currently members of the Sun Belt Conference, have accepted an
invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference.
A
major reason for accepting the offer to come to Utah State, Spetman said, is
its emphasis on academics. He noted the university's 10th highest graduation
rate in the nation among its student athletes.
Spetman's name was among three finalists forwarded forwarded by a search
committee to recently-appointed ECU chancellor Steven Ballard for
consideration for ECU's open AD position.
The
other names forwarded to Ballard were ECU senior associate AD Nick Floyd,
who has served as the Pirates' interim AD since last August, and ECU alum
Jeff Barber, an associate AD at South Carolina who serves as director of the
Gamecock Club.
Ballard declined to hire any of the three for the time being and has
indicated he would retain a consultant and rely on a paired down search
committee to help with the process as he seeks additional candidates.
Floyd
and Barber have formerly withdrawn their names from consideration for the
job, though Floyd has offered to continue to serve in his interim capacity
for a period of time.
Sources close to Floyd, who was associate commissioner of Conference USA in
charge of finance before coming to ECU three years ago, say he would likely
still welcome the chance to consider becoming ECU's AD if such an
opportunity were to arise before his career pursuits steer him elsewhere.
Floyd
is thought to be a potential hiring target for a number of AD or other
senior positions in athletics administration around the country.
Turner hired to quell turmoil at Washington
Todd Turner, whose experience as an athletic director
includes stints at Connecticut, N.C. State and Vanderbilt, was hired to head
Washington's troubled athletic department.
An alumnus of UNC-Chapel Hill, Turner will replace interim athletic director
Dick Thompson, who took over when Barbara Hedges announced her early
retirement in January.
Washington's athletic department has been rocked with a series of scandals
in the past year. The school faces the possibility of major NCAA sanctions
in a gambling investigation, and a federal probe is looking into the actions
of a former softball team physician.
There also are lawsuits filed by former football coach Rick Neuheisel and
former softball coach Teresa Wilson.
"I'm not terribly concerned about the past," Turner said at a news
conference Saturday. "I'm more focused on what lies ahead."
Turner is optimistic all those issues will be resolved in due time, and he
pledged continued cooperation.
"You can't always control what happens, but you sure can control the way you
respond," Turner said.
Turner will receive a five-year contract worth $325,000 in base salary.
Administrators are negotiating incentives that should boost the package to
$420,000 annually.
"We ended up with absolutely the right person for this job, and I couldn't
be happier how the process went," incoming university president Mark Emmert
said.
Emmert, who is leaving his job as chancellor at LSU, worked with Turner in
the Southeastern Conference.
Turner's position at Vanderbilt was eliminated last fall in a major
overhaul. The athletic department was integrated into the rest of the
administration.
Turner was Vanderbilt's athletic director from 1996 to 2003, overseeing a
program that included 14 varsity sports and 300 student athletes at the
private school in Nashville, Tenn. Prior to his tenure at Vandy, he served
as AD at N.C. State from 1990-96 and at UConn from 1987-90.
Vanderbilt, with about 6,000 students, is a member of the Southeastern
Conference.
Washington has 23 sports programs with about 650 student athletes and a
$39.5 million annual budget.
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.
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