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News Nuggets, 10.12.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

C-USA, Sun Belt bowl matchup moving to UL-L

LAFAYETTE, LA — The New Orleans Bowl is moving from the damaged Louisiana Superdome to Cajun Field on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The Dec. 20 game matches the Sun Belt Conference champion against a Conference USA opponent. With the move, the Ragin' Cajuns could host the bowl game if they rally to win the Sun Belt Conference. Although the Cajuns have gotten off to a 1-4 start overall, they're 0-1 in the league.

In the event East Carolina turns out to be the game's C-USA representative, it wouldn't be the first time the Pirates have ventured to Cajun Field. ECU and UL-L — then known as Southwestern Louisiana — played a semi-regular series that began in the 'seventies and concluded in 1990 when the Pirates defeated the Ragin' Cajuns in Lafayette.

Jay Cicero, president of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, said an important component of Lafayette being the temporary host city is that ``it compliments the unique culturally rich backdrop and Cajun hospitality that our participating teams and visitors are accustomed to.''

During a news conference Tuesday, Cicero added that the game would remain an economic tool benefiting the state of Louisiana in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Two other major football games that traditionally were played in New Orleans — the Sugar Bowl and the Bayou Classic — have moved temporarily out of state.

The Sugar Bowl will be played in Atlanta, while the Bayou Classic has moved to Houston.

Feds: Wolfpack basketball player in USA illegally

RALEIGH — Federal immigration officials have determined that North Carolina State sophomore forward Gavin Grant is in the country illegally, an immigration spokeswoman in Atlanta said Tuesday.

Grant, 20, could face deportation after a hearing in federal immigration court in Atlanta, Sue Brown, a spokesoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The News & Observer of Raleigh.

She said she had neither specifics on the hearing date for Grant nor details on the amount of bond on which he was released.

``We do know after the interview that it was determined that he was in this country without inspection, which means he did not come with a visitor's visa or anything like that,'' Brown said.

Several messages left by The Associated Press with immigration officials in Cary were not returned Tuesday night.

Tom O'Connell, ICE resident agent in charge in Cary, told the newspaper that Grant was interviewed in Raleigh early last week. He said he understood that Grant entered the United States from Jamaica after his mother did. Gavin Grant has lived in the United States since at least 1994, O'Connell said.

Deportation isn't the only possible outcome for Grant, a key reserve on last year's Wolfpack team that reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

Another option is voluntary departure, where Grant would leave the country on his own, then apply to return, O'Connell said.

N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler did not return a phone call from The Associated Press on Tuesday night seeking comment. Annabelle Vaughan, an assistant athletics director for media relations, declined comment.

She did say that Grant attended a basketball skills workout Tuesday. The 6-foot-7 Grant averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman.

Grant played at St. Raymond's in New York, the same high school that produced former Wolfpack star Julius Hodge.

One-time Dye assistant calling it quits at Temple

PHILADELPHIA — Bobby Wallace is leaving Temple in the same shape he found it: As one of the worst football teams in the country.

After eight losing seasons of never winning more than four games, Wallace said Monday he will leave at the end of the year when his coaching contract expires.

``What we've been through, the transition we've been through, has taken a toll on me and my family,'' Wallace said. ``It hasn't been easy.''

The Owls have been outscored 297-63 this season and have lost five of their games by at least 25 points.

Wallace, who served a stretch as an assistant under Pat Dye at East Carolina from 1977-79, coached the Owls through one of their worst eras in an already historically woeful program.

Since Wallace took over in 1998, Temple was booted out of the Big East, switched home stadiums and is playing its first year as an independent before joining the Mid-American Conference as a full member in 2007.

The one constant has been the losing. The Owls are winless in six games this year. Their last winning season was 1990 and they haven't played a bowl game since 1979.

``Losing will wear on you and we've lost a lot of games,'' Wallace said.

Even with three two-win seasons and a one-win season on his Temple resume, this year has truly been Wallace's toughest. The Owls have allowed more than 60 points three times already and lost by three points against Western Michigan, their best chance for a win this year.

The 11 opponents on Temple' schedule finished a combined 83-48 (.634) last year and eight of its opponents played in bowl games.

It doesn't get any easier Saturday when the Owls play No. 7 Miami.

Wallace said he met with Temple Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw last week to talk about his future. Wallace said he made the decision now to give Temple a jump on finding a new coach.

Temple's uncertain status after being voted out of the Big East in 2001 didn't help Wallace in recruiting. The Owls were kicked out because they didn't meet minimum requirements for membership, most notably in attendance, facilities and fielding a competitive team.

``That was a strain on all of us,'' Wallace said.

The Owls have no true conference affiliation for another two years. They are affiliate members of the Mid-American Conference this year and next, slowly adding conference teams to the schedule until they are full football members in 2007.

Wallace led North Alabama to three Division II national championships in 10 seasons at the school in his only other head coaching job from 1988-97. But he never was able to match that success at Temple. The Owls never won more than four games in a season under him, and were 3-26 over the last 2 1/2 years.

Conference USA standings, scores & schedule

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 12:28 PM