News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

06.28.06: Postgraduate scholarship goes to ECU's Davenport ... UCF center foregoes final year of eligibility ... Sinclair named women's athlete of the year

06.27.06: Beavers beat Heels to win College World Series ... Irish baseball coach to interview for LSU job ... Cal quarterback suspended after assault charge

06.26.06: Mustangs lead
C-USA teams in Director's Cup ... Tulane AD receives prestigious service award ... Calipari racking up some broadcast work

06.25.06: Coal industry to sponsor Marshall-WVU series ... Mountaineers extend Rodriguez deal to 2012 ... Vols add non-league challenges

06.24.06: Del Conte takes reins as AD at Rice ... Contact at combine means fine for Emory ... UNCW aligns with adidas for shoes, uniforms

06.23.06: Witter starts professional ball with a flourish ... Big Ben's little sister commits to Sooners ... Wake Forest football recruit faces felony charges

06.22.06: Big Ten scores momentous television deals ... Former ECU diver Derr to coach at JMU ... Grizzlies turn to Tinkle on hardwood

06.21.06: Troth returns to the fold as ECU assistant ... College of Charleston, Herrion settle on buyout ... Another national award for Houston's Lincoln

06.20.06: ECU announces long-term pact with Nike ... Pirates release women's soccer schedule ... Three C-USA linemen on Outland Trophy list

06.19.06: USM-Memphis game shifts to Sunday for ESPN ... Tar Heels AD Baddour gets contract extension ... U.S. Women's open to have distinct Duke flavor

06.18.06: Rice rallies in its College World Series opener ... Houston's Lincoln gets 2006 Howser Trophy ... C-USA's top scorer backs away from NBA draft

06.17.06: ECU grad Millican wins N.C. women's amateur ... College World Series: Tigers win in comeback ... LSU's Carter sweeps national track honors

06.16.06: Ex-ECU assistant named Campbell grid coach ... Pirate softball ace Keli Harrell named All-State .. Report: Back woes nix Redick draft workouts

06.15.06: Camels expected to name football coach ... Rice leads C-USA contingent on A-A team ... K-State, UCLA announce football dates

06.14.06: ECU's Smith among 7 C-USA All-Americans ... Duke star Redick charged with drunk driving ... UAB selects Shoop to guide baseball program

06.13.06: Owls carrying C-USA banner to Omaha ... ECU's Ray shares Coastal Plain League honor ... Terms of Huggins' K-State contract reported

06.12.06: ECU ticket office temporarily relocates ... Irish safety's ring debut: Bell rung quickly ... Miners seventh in NCAA men's track

06.11.06: Miami loses Berry- recruited QB to baseball ... Clemens award finalists have C-USA flavor ... Buckeyes announce series with Toledo

06.10.06: ECU network announces blowtorch flagships ... "The Buzz" remains in Pirate broadcast lineup ... Former LSU athlete turned pro wrestler dies

06.09.06: ECU's "Voice" revving up for benefit "Ride" ... Pirates bow out at NCAA track & field meet ... ODU makes plans to add I-AA football

06.08.06: MLB Draft: Smith selected by A's, Mathews by Giants ... ECU's Hunt, Krug take Scholar Athlete honors ... NCAA nixes course credits from 'diploma mills'

06.07.06: ECU's track elite at NCAA meet in Sacramento ... Super region pairings pit Rice against Sooners ... Cleared USC quarterback says he's rejoined team

06.06.06: NCAA change on grad transfers gets reaction ... Duke reinstates men's lacrosse with conditions ... Cardieri resigns as baseball coach at USF

06.05.06: Owls carry C-USA banner against Bears ... Laval steps down as LSU baseball coach ... Date of "Civil War" changed for TV

06.04.06: C-USA players reap All-America honors ... "Flesh- eating" germ claims Tulsa gridder ... Blazers baseball coach hangs up cleats

06.03.06: ECU's Jake Smith named 2nd-team All-America ... Pirates get first signee in McPhaul golfing era ... Duke men's lacrosse program to be reinstated

06.02.06: Bucs' new pitching coach has LeClair pedigree ... Three gridders depart WVU program ... ECU announces blue chip tennis signees

06.01.06: Pirates announce kickoff times, TV games ... ECU excels among C-USA's academic elite ... Rice's Degerman makes Academic All-America

The Bowl Championship Series standings will be released the day after most college football games are played for the 2006 season, according to an espn.com report.

The standings have come out on Mondays in the past but will be released on Sundays during the upcoming season. The change was first reported by USA Today, which has a poll that is included in the BCS computations.

The BCS will continue to use the Harris Poll, the USA Today coaches poll and six computers for its standings. All will be done on Sunday to accommodate the earlier release of the BCS standings.

Earlier this year, the BCS added a fifth bowl and widened the field of eligible teams to the the top 14 from the top 12 for the 10 bowl spots.

Any Division I-A team is eligible for at-large consideration. The BCS has not changed its automatic qualifiers — the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final standings; the champions of the Big East, Big Ten, Southeastern, Pac-10, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences; Notre Dame, if it finishes in the top eight; and a non-BCS team that finishes in the top 12, or in the top 16 if they're ahead of a BCS champion.

Eric Crawford of The Louisville Courier-Journal has reported on USA Today's website that Louisville will run Heisman Trophy campaigns for senior running back Michael Bush and junior quarterback Brian Brohm.

Both are in the top 10 of multiple preseason Heisman Trophy projections, and both have numbers that give that hype legitimacy.

On July 1, the school will launch a website promoting the pair — derbycityduo.com. Crawford states that the Cardinals won't use a gimmicky approach like the one that produced a Dave Ragone bobblehead doll in 2002.

"People have really gotten away from that," said Rocco Gasparro, Louisville's football sports information director, who formerly worked at N. C. State. "We think we have two guys who are legitimate candidates, and we're going to treat them both that way."

During the summer, that will mean Gasparro and sports information director Kenny Klein will have considerable contact with national football writers and publishers. The school will mail out notebooks with Brohm and Bush covers to reporters and Heisman voters. The two share the cover of the Cardinals' 2006 media guide, which will be released in early-to-mid July.

Andy Katz of ESPN.com has reported that former Duke guard J.J. Redick said that he has a herniated disk which is pressing on a nerve, but dismissed rumors that he needs surgery for the injury.

Instead, Redick said he received a cortisone shot and has been pain free for a week. He said he expects to play in the NBA summer league, the USA Basketball national team trials in July in Las Vegas, and during training camp in the fall with the Orlando Magic, which selected him 11th overall in Wednesday night's NBA draft.

Redick said he suffered the injury while working out at Duke earlier this month before going to the Orlando pre-draft camp.

"It really flared up during the combine during the vertical tests and the sprinting," said Redick. "I've been pain free. It was asymptomatic. I've been doing exercises to strengthen my back. I'll be back on the court in a week."

A number of teams told ESPN.com that Redick's disk injury caused their team doctors to flag his medical at the Orlando pre-draft camp. Doctors from every team review the medical tests at the camp. Some red flagged him, which would mean not to take him while others yellow flagged him which means to watch his recovery.

"I've seen two back specialists and worked with a physical therapist and they don't think surgery is needed," Redick said.

Redick said the pain was the reason he shut down workouts, canceling sessions at Boston and Philadelphia in the past week. He worked out for Houston (8), Golden State (9), Seattle (10) and Utah (14) before the injury.

Redick had said he didn't think his DWI arrest on June 12 in Durham should affect his draft positioning and was hoping that he would still go 8-14, which is what his agent Arn Tellem has been telling him and ESPN.com.

That prediction did, in fact, turn out to be on the money when the Magic called his name on the draft's 11th pick.

"The teams understand that it was an isolated incident," Redick said. "Obviously I'm very sorry about what happened. I don't think it will have any affect on the court. I still think I can play and I'm a person of high character."

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 other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.