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News Nuggets, 07.14.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Diamond success spurs bigger bucks for Mazey

After a season in which his team climbed to as high as No. 4 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 5 in the Baseball America rankings, East Carolina coach Randy Mazey has been rewarded by his employer.

The ECU Board of Trustees approved a contract extension and a raise for the second-year head coach Tuesday.

Mazey’s new pact was extended two years until June 30, 2008, and his annual salary was increased from the mid-'eighties range to $100,000.

In two years as skipper of the Pirates, Mazey has guided the team to an overall record of 85-40-1 (.679), two NCAA Regional appearances, one Super Regional berth, and a Conference USA regular season championship.

Under his direction this past season, ECU won a school-record 51 games and advanced to its second Super Regional in the past four years.

The 2004 Pirates set numerous records, including school and C-USA records for consecutive wins, and were No. 8 in the season's final Baseball America poll, the program's highest ranking ever at the conclusion of a season.

Mazey was named C-USA's 2004 Keith LeClair Coach of the Year, an annual award which recognizes C-USA’s best coach in honor of the former ECU skipper and Hall of Fame member who stepped down after the 2002 season because of the affects of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Mazey, an assistant coach at ECU under LeClair during the 1998 season, became the school’s ninth head coach on July 1, 2002.

Five C-USA quarterbacks on O'Brien watch list

Five Conference USA players are among the 42 preliminary candidates for the 2004 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, given annually to the nation's top college quarterback.

Cincinnati’s Gino Guidugli, Houston’s Kevin Kolb and Louisville’s Stefan Lefors are joined by Danny Wimprine of Memphis and Darrell Hackney of UAB on the preseason watch list.

Quarterbacks from Carolinas schools named to the list were senior Darian Durant of UNC-Chapel Hill and junior Charlie Whitehurst of Clemson.

Guidugli begins his senior campaign as Cincinnati’s all-time leader in pass completions (670), pass attempts (1,214), passing yardage (8,822) and passing touchdowns (53). He ranks among the top six in C-USA history in all four categories.

Kolb, the 2003 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, closed out his rookie campaign with 3,131 yards through the air and 25 touchdowns with just six interceptions in leading Houston to its first bowl game in seven years.

LeFors, a first team All-Conference selection last season, threw for 3,145 yards and 17 touchdowns in 13 games in his first season as Louisville’s starter.

In 30 career starts, Wimprine has set 25 Memphis records and he will enter his senior season as the school’s all-time leader in pass completions (583) and attempts (1,071), passing yards (7,323) and TD passes (59).

Hackney was off to a good start for UAB last season before missing the final five games of the season with a broken thumb. Prior to the injury, he had completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,659 yards and nine touchdowns.

The O'Brien Award, the oldest award in the country for college quarterbacks, is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, the All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Texas Christian who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship.

Semifinalists will be announced in early November and narrowed to three finalists later in that month by the O'Brien National Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of nationally known sportswriters, commentators and other members of the media.

The recipient of the 2004 O'Brien Award will be announced Dec. 9 on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, FL. The winner will be honored at the 28th Annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February 2005, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, TX.

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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