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News Nuggets, 01.11.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Pirate Radio plans T-shirt promotion for Cincy game

Greenville's WGHB-AM 1250 will offer "Pirate Nation" T-shirts to the first 3,000 fans at Wednesday night's East Carolina-Cincinnati basketball game, the station announced Monday.

The station, known as Pirate Radio 1250, will be asking for a one dollar donation in exchange for each T-shirt, said the announcement, which noted that monies collected will benefit the ECU Pirate Club.

“The Pirate Nation is what we are all about, and this is a way we can give back to the program by providing fans a great looking shirt, and raising 3000 dollars for the Pirate Club. Everybody wins," said station co-owner Troy Dreyfus in a statement.

According to the announcement, the T-shirts will be distributed at Gate 2 inside Minges Coliseum at the Dowdy Student Stores concession area.

The Conference USA battle between the Pirates and Bearcats is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip off in Minges Coliseum's Williams Arena.

The station indicated in its press release that the promotion will mark the third time in a year that it has provided shirts to ECU fans, with its total distribution of T-shirts over the span exceeding 5,500 after Wednesday’s game.

Pirate Radio 1250, which has its studios in downtown Greenville, broadcasts a daily lineup of original sports programming and carries ECU's football and basketball games as a member of the Pirate Sports Radio Network.

The station's live audio feed is also streamed over the Internet by Bonesville.net through a cooperative venture between the two companies.

12th football game gets preliminary nod

A push to allow Division I football teams to play 12 regular season games each year has been waved ahead to the next step in the legislative process, while several changes put forward concerning basketball face a more questionable future.

While most of the proposals from basketball coaches seeking more access to players and prospects will get further consideration from the NCAA, they are a long way from gaining final approval.

"The details are in place," NCAA Division I vice president David Berst said at NCAA meetings conducted in Grapevine, TX. "Work has to be done in trust-gap issues. That is the impediment we need to overcome."

Berst said coaches still have to convince many administrators and faculty that the purpose of their proposals is to have more mentoring opportunities with players, and isn't just a way to gain more practice time.

"If this had been the final vote, I believe it would have failed," Berst said. "It runs to the lack of trust, and whether coaches are sincere in their claims."

The 44 proposals from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Womens Basketball Coaches Association were among 146 for various sports considered by the NCAA Division I Management Council.

The council gave initial approval to making permanent a 12th football game each season for Division I and I-AA teams, something that couldn't take effect before the 2006 season. There was little discussion of that issue.

Schools are now allowed 12 games only in seasons when there are 14 Saturdays between Labor Day weekend and the last weekend in November. The 2003 season qualified for additional games, but the next won't come until 2008.

All issues forwarded by the management council Sunday are subject to open comment over the next 60 days. The council meets again in April, when it reconsiders the proposals before deciding whether to forward them to the NCAA Board of Directors for final approval.

Since becoming NCAA president two years ago, Myles Brand had urged basketball coaches to get involved with trying to correct what they considered problems.

That led to the package of proposals from the NABC and WABC. Many of the ideas are designed to allow more access to players and signees, including the ability to work with players during the offseason and to observe voluntary, non-organized activities like pickup games.

The coaches also sought some recruiting changes.

"The backbone of what they wanted is still in place," said America East Conference commissioner Chris Monasch, the chairman of the Management Council.

Monasch said a "significant portion" of the council's daylong meeting was spent on the basketball proposals. He said some were initially turned down, but were revived and forwarded after further discussion.

The council, however, denied a proposal to permit additional benefits to men's basketball players such as occasional meals and special circumstance gifts of up to $50 for birthdays and such.

Berst said if such benefits are considered, they need to be considered for all sports. He said he wouldn't be surprised to see a similar proposal in the future. That issue, however, can't be considered in April.

Also denied was a proposal to allow schools to pay for airfare for one parent to accompany prospects during official visits.

Associated Press basketball poll

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college basketball poll, with records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

(Poll released Jan. 10, 2004. Conference USA team, including future members, and Carolinas teams in bold; East Carolina opponents in red.]

 1. Illinois 16-0 1783 1
 2. Kansas 11-0 1730 2
 3. North Carolina 13-1 1636 3
 4. Wake Forest 13-1 1553 4
 5. Duke 11-0 1496 5
 6. Oklahoma State 11-1 1412 7
 7. Syracuse 15-1 1405 6
 8. Georgia Tech 11-2 1301 9
 9. Kentucky 10-2 1189 8
10. Texas 12-2 1085 15
11. Mississippi State 14-2 909 18
12. Connecticut 9-2 904 10
13. Boston College 13-0 823 25
14. Washington 13-2 742 12
15. Michigan State 10-2 734 20
16. Gonzaga 11-3 723 11
17. Arizona 12-3 666 13
18. Cincinnati 13-1 631 23
19. Louisville 12-3 502 17
20. Pittsburgh 11-2 373 16
21. George Washington 10-2 370 24
22. Marquette 13-1 345 _
23. Alabama 12-3 259 19
24. Iowa 12-3 194 14
25. Oklahoma 11-2 143 _

Others Receiving Votes:

Maryland 109, West Virginia 105, Notre Dame 47, Wisconsin 37, UCLA 23, Texas-El Paso 21, Vanderbilt 20, Arkansas 19, Oregon 18, Arizona State 17, Virginia 12, Wichita State 11, Miami (FL) 9, N.C. State 8, New Mexico 8, Ohio State 8, Southern Illinois 4, St. Mary's, California 4, Charlotte 3, Old Dominion 2, Texas A&M 2, Bucknell 1, Nevada 1, South Carolina 1, UAB 1, Western Kentucky 1.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:20 PM