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News Nuggets, 03.25.04
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...

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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Eustachy resurfacing at Southern Miss

Larry Eustachy will be named Southern Mississippi's basketball coach, a university source close to the team said Wednesday night.

USM officials will introduce Eustachy at a Thursday news conference, the source said.

Southern Miss spokesmen Mike Montoro and Mike Martinez on Wednesday night declined to identify who would fill the vacancy left by James Green, but acknowledged the news conference was to introduce a coach.

Eustachy was forced to resign as Iowa State's basketball coach last year after photographs were published of him drinking and kissing young women at a fraternity party.

Green, a former Conference USA coach of the year, resigned a day before the Golden Eagles' final regular season game. His eighth season proved to be a contentious one: the Golden Eagles finished 13-15 and lost five of their last six games.

Southern Mississippi basketball has been mired in mediocrity for years. Under Green the Golden Eagles won a regular-season Conference USA co-championship in 2001. But they are coming off their third straight losing year.

Declining attendance at Reed Green Coliseum also hurt Green. The Golden Eagles drew about 3,300 per game to the 8,095-seat arena this past season.

Eustachy was the Associated Press' coach of the year in 2000 and led Iowa State to Big 12 championships in 2000 and 2001. In 2000, the Cyclones reached the round of eight in the NCAA Tournament.

Eustachy also spent three seasons as the head coach at Idaho and five at Utah State. His career record over 13 seasons is 260-145.

Before he resigned from Iowa State, Eustachy announced he was an alcoholic. Earlier this year, he said he had stopped drinking and wanted to get back into coaching.

Eustachy has some history in Mississippi. He was an assistant at Mississippi State in the early 1980s under coach Bob Boyd.

Eustachy was also said to be a candidate for an opening at James Madison.

Towe gains security at New Orleans

New Orleans basketball coach Monte Towe agreed to a new five-year contract that will run through 2008-09.

"Monte Towe proved this year that he can bring the University of New Orleans basketball back to major prominence," athletic director Jim Miller said Wednesday.

UNO, picked to finish last in the Sun Belt West, made it to the championship game of the conference tournament before losing to Louisiana-Lafayette 67-58.

A member of N.C. State's powerhouse teams of the early 'seventies, Towe has led the Privateers to winning seasons each year since taking over the program three seasons ago. He has compiled a 47-42 record at UNO, including a 17-14 mark this year. .

"We are making progress every year both academically and athletically as far as our talent is concerned," Towe said.

The contract must still be approved by the LSU System Board of Supervisors.

Calipari cops regional coaching award

Memphis head coach John Calipari has been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 7 Coach of the Year. The NABC District 7 covers all NCAA Division I institutions in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Calipari is the first Memphis head coach to receive this award. This is the second time that Calipari has earned the honor, as he also won the NABC District 1 award in 1996 as head coach of the UMass Minutemen. Calipari was named NABC National Coach of the Year in 1996.

In his four seasons at Memphis, Calipari has compiled a 92-38 overall record and is the only coach in Tiger history to post 20-win seasons in each of his first four years. He has guided Memphis to the postseason in each of his first four seasons, directing the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament the past two years. Calipari's 2001 and 2002 squads advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) final four, and the 2002 team won the NIT crown.

Calipari has an overall record of 285-109 and is ranked among the top 10 in coaching starts by victories in the first 12 seasons.

The Tigers (21-7), ranked No. 24 in the final Associated Press (AP) poll, is seeded No. 7 in the East Rutherford Regional and will play the No. 10 seed South Carolina Friday, Mar. 19 in Kansas City, Mo. Game time for the match-up is 11:30 a.m. (CT).

Memphis finished 2003 ranked No. 19 in the final AP poll, and with the No. 24 ranking this year, it is the first time since the final polls of 1985 and 1986 that the Tigers have been ranked in the final polls in consecutive seasons.

Glantz-Culver lines for NCAA & NIT games

USC, LSU cross paths at last — at the White House

WASHINGTON — Southern California and LSU finally met this week, but not on the football field. President Bush hosted the players at the White House Tuesday to honor the co-national champions.

There's been ``a lot of talk about who's number one,'' Bush joked, adding that the South Lawn of the White House is ``a pretty good size,'' big enough to accommodate both teams.

The Bowl Championship Series came under intense criticism at the end of the season when USC, ranked No. 1 in the AP media and the coaches' polls, was bypassed for the BCS' title game in the Sugar Bowl. LSU beat Oklahoma, and finished No. 1 in the final coaches' poll.

USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and was voted No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll.

Both teams are national champions, Bush declared to cheers at a ceremony featuring three other NCAA championship teams: Indiana's men's soccer team, North Carolina's women's soccer team and USC women's volleyball team.

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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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