Rice freshman right-handed
pitcher Ryan Berry and Missouri sophomore right-handed pitcher Rick
Zagone were named national co-pitchers of the week by the National
Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Berry won his only start of the
week on the road at 22nd-ranked East Carolina on Apr. 6. The
right-hander from Humble, TX, allowed just four singles and one walk
while striking out a career-high 12 in seven shutout innings in a game
the Owls won 4-0.
He faced 24 ECU batters and held
the Pirates to a composite .167 batting average on his way to his fifth
victory of the season. Only three ECU hitters faced by Berry reached
scoring position.
South Carolina junior second
baseman Travis Jones was named hitter of the week.
Durant says adios to
Texas, hello to NBA
Texas swingman Kevin Durant intends to declare
himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft and will begin the process of
hiring an agent, he announced Tuesday.
The first freshman in NCAA history to earn
consensus national player of the year honors, Durant led the Big 12
Conference in scoring (25.8 ppg), rebounding (11.1 rpg) and blocked
shots (67). He was the only player to rank in the Top 10 nationally in
both scoring (fourth) and rebounding (fourth).
Durant is the first player in Texas history to
declare for the NBA draft following his freshman year. The 2007 NBA
draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28 in New York City.
Turgeon taking
reigns of Texas A&M hoops
Former Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon has been
named basketball coach at Texas A&M.
In seven years as head coach at Wichita State
(2000-07), Turgeon built the Shockers into one of the premier teams in
the Missouri Valley Conference, culminating in a conference title and
NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2006.
In the 2006 NCAA Tournament, WSU knocked off Seton
Hall and Tennessee before falling to eventual Final Four participant
George Mason. Turgeon was named the 2006 MVC coach of the year.
He built a 128-89 record (.590) at WSU, third most
wins in school history. He posted a 104-56 record (.650) in his final
five seasons, an average of 20.8 victories per year. He led the Shockers
to three straight NITs from 2003-05 in addition to the 2006 NCAAs, the
first time WSU had four straight postseason appearances in 40 years.
April
8, 2007
Imus
apologizes but critics still want him axed
USA Today has reported that talk
show host Don Imus apologized again Monday for calling the Rutgers
women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed hos" last week, but
critics continued to press for his firing.
And his two major outlets, CBS
Radio, which syndicates his morning show, and MSNBC, which simulcasts
it, said Monday they're suspending the shock jock for two weeks starting
April 16. NBC News said in a statement that Imus has professed "profound
regret" and said its future relationship with the entertainer would be
determined by his behavior.
The East Carolina women's
basketball team
was handily defeated by Rutgers in
the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Scarlet Knights went on to
advance to the tournament finals,
where they were beaten by
Tennessee.
ECU,
UNCW reschedule softball doubleheader
The non-conference softball
doubleheader between East Carolina and UNC-Wilmington has been postponed
from Wednesday, April 11, to Tuesday, April 17, in Wilmington due to
questionable weather and scheduling conflicts.
The first game of the
rescheduled doubleheader is slated for 4 p.m.
Former Spartan gridder charged with murder
Former Michigan State football
player Hubert D. Thompson, 28, once rated as a top pro prospect at
defensive end, is charged with murder for allegedly throwing a neighbor
to his death from a third-floor apartment balcony.
Thompson has said he thought the
man was trying to poison him, according to reports. Thompson told the
Chicago Tribune that he was being poisoned by James Malone, 66, who
resided in the same suburban Chicago apartment complex.
Friends and family said Thompson
suffers from mental illness.
April
8, 2007
Marshall brings
Jones home as hoops coach
Donnie Jones, associate head
coach at two-time NCAA champion Florida, has been named Marshall's
basketball coach.
Jones, a native of Point
Pleasant, WV, just completed his 11th season coaching at Florida and his
13th overall under Gators coach Billy Donovan.
Jones, who was retained as an
assistant coach at Marshall when Donovan was hired as the Thundering
Herd's head coach in 1994, assisted in all phases of coaching at Florida
— from off-campus recruiting, practice planning, on-floor coaching, to
scouting.
NCAA denies ESPN contention on Toledo betting
Contrary to a story published
this week on ESPN.com, the NCAA was not informed 18 months ago about
sports wagering suspicions related to the University of Toledo. Not only
was the NCAA not contacted at that time about the suspicions, but also
no report was filed with the NCAA.
The above statement was released
by the NCAA at its website,
www.ncaa.org.
The statement continues:
The NCAA is certainly aware of
the point-shaving allegations and in contact with the University of
Toledo and law enforcement officials. The NCAA also is involved in
regular communication with gaming industry officials in Las Vegas.
However, it is inappropriate to discuss specifics related to the
University of Toledo allegations at this time, because this situation is
still developing.
But these types of allegations
are precisely why the NCAA continues to take such a strong stance
against any sports wagering. There is no doubt that sports wagering
threatens the well-being of student-athletes and can affect the
integrity of our games.
Student-athletes who are caught
wagering on sports lose all NCAA eligibility, and they can face criminal
charges as well. Their campus can also be cited for violating NCAA rules
related to institutional control if officials there knew about the
situation or should have known about it.
Spartans reign after Frozen Four thriller
A fourth-place finisher in its
conference and a No. 3 regional seed, Michigan State completed an
improbable climb to the pinnacle of college hockey on Saturday night
when it rallied past Boston College 3-1 and captured its first NCAA
Division I title in 21 years.
The Spartans scored the winning
goal with 18.9 seconds remaining, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch
report. Winger Tim Kennedy dug the puck out behind the Boston College
net and centered to center Justin Abdelkader. He sent a wrist shot past
goalie Cory Schneider, igniting a wild celebration on the Michigan State
bench.
Chris Mueller added an empty-net
goal for the final margin.
The capacity crowd of 19,432 at
Scottrade Center in St. Louis was a Frozen Four record.
April
7, 2007
Freshman leads ECU
softball past UAB
A two-run homer in the fifth
inning by freshman Charina Sumner gave the East Carolina softball team
the lead for good in a 3-2 victory over UAB Saturday afternoon at George
Ward Park in Birmingham.
ECU improved to 29-14 overall
and 7-5 in Conference USA and maintained a hold on second in the
conference standings.
Pitino
adds son to staff at Louisville
Louisville basketball coach Rick
Pitino has made three revisions to his staff.
Richard Pitino, an assistant
coach at Duquesne University for the past year and the son of the
Louisville coach, will join the staff as an assistant coach.
Eric Scott, an assistant coach
at Bellarmine University in Louisville for the past two years and a
former Cardinals assistant, will become the director of basketball
operations.
Matt Morris, a program assistant
at Louisville last year, will become director of video operations.
Texas'
Durant captures Wooden Award
Texas freshman swingman Kevin
Durant has been named the winner of the 2007 John R. Wooden Award.
Durant is the first freshman to win the award, which was first presented
in 1977.
Durant is the second Konghorn
player to receive the honor, joining T.J. Ford who garnered the accolade
in 2003.
April
7, 2007
Rice basketball
player dies from stabbing
Rice is mourning the loss of
Jonathan Bailey, a junior who was stabbed to death Thursday in College
Station, TX, where he had just celebrated his 22nd birthday with his
twin brother.
Jonathan was a walk-on member of
the Owls basketball team, and head coach Willis Wilson met with
Jonathan's mother and another brother in Houston the morning after the
incident.
"Obviously, we are shocked at
this tragedy," Wilson said in a Rice release. "Our thoughts and prayers
are with Jonathan's family. Every member of our athletics community is
grieving at the loss of a teammate and a friend."
Bailey transfered to Rice for
the start of the 2005-06 season from Texas State and redshirted. He
played in four games for the Owls this past season, playing a total of
10 minutes. He scored all of his four points in the opener against Paul
Quinn College.
Gillispie
departs Aggies to take reins at Kentucky
Kentucky has named Billy
Gillispie as its basketball coach, filling the void left by Tubby
Smith's departure to Minnesota and in quick response to Billy Donovan's
decision to remain at Florida after directing the Gators to a second
straight NCAA Tournament championship.
Gillispie agreed to a seven-year
contract with the Wildcats. Gillispie leaves Texas A&M after directing
the Aggies to a 27-7 record in 2007 and a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16.
K-State moves fast after Huggins goes to WVU
The Manhattan (Kansas) Mercury
has reported that Kansas State has promoted Frank Martin to basketball
coach, replacing Bob Huggins, who resigned Thursday to go to West
Virginia.
According to a release by
K-State athletic director Tim Weiser, Huggins assistant coach Dalonte
Hill has also been promoted and will remain with the Wildcat program as
associate head coach.
April
6, 2007
League tournament
shifted to Greenville
The 2007 Conference USA baseball
championship, originally scheduled for May 23-27 at Turchin Stadium in
New Orleans, will be held at East Carolina's Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Due to continuing renovations at
Turchin Stadium since Hurricane Katrina, the facility will not be
completed in time to host the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
"We were disappointed to learn
that Turchin Stadium will not be ready to host the 2007 C-USA Baseball
Championship, since we expect it will be one of the finest college
baseball facilities in the country when it is completed," said
Commissioner Britton Banowsky.
East Carolina was originally
scheduled to host the 2008 championship. Tulane and ECU will now switch
years, with next year's event to be held at Turchin Stadium.
"We certainly appreciate East
Carolina stepping up and hosting the 2007 championship," said Banowsky.
"ECU has an outstanding baseball facility and enjoys tremendous fan
support. We know they will do a great job of hosting the championship
and we are certain that the Pirate Nation will turn out in large numbers
for this event."
The 2007 tickets will be priced
at $60 and may be ordered online at
www.ecupirates.com, beginning Monday, April 9. The ECU ticket office
will be open at 9 a.m. EDT on Monday to answer customer inquiries.
Individual session tickets, if available, will be priced at $10, and
will go on sale the week of the tournament.
Pirates take break
before Purple-Gold game
East Carolina closed out its
fifth week of spring drills a few days early by utilizing a split venue
for its 13th practice. The Pirates worked an hour on the artificial
surface of Hight Field within the Cliff Moore practice complex before
completing the final phase of the workout in full scrimmage mode on
Wednesday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
East Carolina will be taking a
long weekend off in observance of Good Friday and Easter before resuming
its schedule April 11. That workout will mark the Pirates' final tune-up
in preparation for the Purple-Gold Game on April 14.
Coach Skip Holtz put a heavy
emphasis on the passing game during the scrimmage portion of Wednesday's
practice, which was highlighted by a pair of touchdown passes by
sophomores Rob Kass and Brett Clay.
Kass capped the opening
possession by connecting with Alex Taylor on a 14-yarder before Clay
closed the contest by finding Taylor in the back of the endzone with an
11-yard toss. Kass also hooked up with redshirt freshman Dwayne Harris
on a 35-yard non-scoring pass play during the scrimmage.
"We really wanted to focus our
attention on the passing game today," Holtz said. "We tried to get in as
much pass situational work as we could, emphasizing third-and-short,
third-and-medium and third-and-long in drop-back and ball control calls
with ones going against ones and No. 2s against No. 2s."
While the tone of the scrimmage
featured a strong aerial presence, the Pirate rushing attack also
continued to make an impact as junior Dominique Lindsay and redshirt
freshman Norman Whitley recorded runs of 74 and 83 yards, respectively.
Lindsay added a 17-yard touchdown dash, junior quarterback Patrick
Pinkney contributed a four-yard scoring rush and junior Brandon Simmons
had a long effort of 42 yards.
The scrimmage wasn't without
some big plays on defense as junior Zach Slate recovered the game's only
fumble and senior Travis Williams returned an interception 35 yards for
a touchdown late during the action.
"There have been a lot of
positives this spring," Holtz commented. "However, the one thing we
don't have at this point is a level of consistency."
After next Wednesday's full-pad
practice, East Carolina's coaching staff will conduct a player draft to
select roster positions for the Purple-Gold Game, which is scheduled for
a 3 p.m. kickoff.
Tickets, which are priced at
$5.00 for the contest or $10.00 with the addition of a plate of barbecue
from the Pigskin Pig-Out Party, can be purchased online at
www.ecupirates.com or by calling (252) 328-2300 or (800) DIAL-ECU
outside the Greenville area.
Grambling coaching
legend Robinson succumbs
The Grambling State University
family lost one of its biggest patriarchs and ambassadors to the world
late Tuesday night as legendary head football coach Eddie G. Robinson,
Sr., passed away at Northern Louisiana Medical Center in Ruston, LA$.
According to a Grambling
release, Robinson spent 57 seasons consistently fielding stellar
football teams and guiding his young charges to success both on and off
the gridiron. The second “winningest coach in the history of college
football” always remained humble, crediting his players, his family, his
loving wife Doris, the media and football fans from all over the world
for making the name “Eddie Robinson” synonymous with the best that
college football has to offer.
On October 7, 1995, Robinson
became the first college football coach to break the 400-win barrier, a
mark once thought to be unreachable until Grambling’s version of the
Energizer Bunny just kept on going and going and winning and winning.
The 42-6 win over Mississippi Valley State came before a national
television audience on ESPN2.
“Nobody has ever done or will
ever do what Eddie Robinson has done for this game,” Penn State coach
Joe Paterno said. “Our profession will never, ever be able to repay
Eddie Robinson for what he has done for this country and the profession
of football.”
ECU posts net
win over Division II power Barton
East Carolina used four singles
wins, three coming in convincing fashion, and the doubles point to post
a 5-2 non-conference men's tennis victory over Barton on Wednesday
evening at the ECU Tennis Complex.
The win improved the Pirates'
record to 8-11 while Barton, ranked No. 31 nationally at the NCAA
Division II level, fell to 11-4.
East Carolina opened the match
by sweeping doubles play and capturing the opening point. Matt Peeler
and Brian Walters defeated Nikola Andjelic and Robert Jenner 8-2 at the
No. 2 flight before Aleksey Kochetov and Stephen Whitwell handed Brent
Ching and Dan Mascall an 8-5 loss at No. 1 to seal the outcome.
The Pirates continued their
strong play in the singles competition, winning four of the six matches.
Kochetov rallied past Ching (4-6, 6-1, 6-0) at No. 1 and Whitwell
handled Andjelic (6-4, 6-1) at No. 3 before Bryan Oakley and Walters
added 6-1, 7-5 and 6-3, 6-4 victories over Chris Martel and Mascall at
Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.
The Pirates' match against
Gardner-Webb, scheduled to be completed earlier Wednesday as part of a
doubleheader, was canceled because of expected inclement weather and
potential travel difficulties.
East Carolina will close out its
three-match homestand when it welcomes UNC-Wilmington to Greenville on
Saturday at 1 p.m.
