East Carolina offensive tackle
Eric Graham has signed a free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers.
Graham will participate in the
team's three-day mini-camp May 4-6 at the Panthers' practice facility at
Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
A Jacksonville (NC) native and
product of Richlands High School, Graham recently completed his ECU
career after starting 34 of 40 games on the offensive line. In all, he
saw action on 2,320 snaps and was credited with a combined 183.5
knock-down blocks, dating back to his redshirt freshman season in 2003.
Graham, 23, was selected to both
the coaches and media All-Conference USA squads (second team) as a
senior in 2006 after helping lead the Pirates to their first winning
season since 2000 and first bowl berth since 2001.
Tulsa tennis teams, Rice men get NCAA bids
Both Tulsa tennis programs will
represent Conference USA in the 2007 NCAA tennis championships after
receiving the league's automatics bids in reward for winning the
conference crowns on April 22. The women will face Tennessee in
Nashville, TN, in the opening round, while the men will face Vanderbilt
in Baton Rouge, LA, in their opening match.
Rice's men's team will also
represent C-USA after it received one of the 33 at-large bids handed out
to the men's event. The Owls will face Texas A&M in Waco, TX, in the
first round.
First- and second-round
competition will be conducted Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday, May
11-12 or 12-13, with the winner of each site advancing to the NCAA
Division I men's and women's tennis championships in Athens, GA.
Florida State panel denies tight end's release
A three-person faculty panel
upheld Coach Bobby Bowden's decision to deny former Seminole tight end
Brandon Warren a release from his Florida State scholarship. The panel,
chaired by NCAA faculty representative Joe Beckham, cited Warren's
inability to provide proof of "extraordinary hardship," according to a
Tallahassee Democrat report.
As a true freshman, Warren had
more receiving yards (301) than any FSU tight end since at least 1980.
In June 2005, a year before Warren arrived at FSU, his mother, Deirdre,
had a cancerous kidney removed. She said on Monday the cancer remains in
remission and she continues to work.
Deirdre Warren said the family
is still exploring its options and the next move. An FSU official said
Warren has exhausted his appeals with the university. Without his
release from FSU, Warren must pay his way for the next academic year to
a Division I university, including nearby Tennessee where it is believed
Warren wants to transfer.
May 2, 2007
Pirate golfers
accorded conference honors
East Carolina junior Andre
Thorsen has been named second-team All-Conference USA in golf and
freshman Tripp Brizendine has been selected to the all-freshman team as
voted upon by the league's 11 head coaches.
Thorsen posted the sixth-lowest
18-hole average among all Conference USA players with a 72.77. He
recorded five top 10 finishes in nine events this season, including a
pair of top three finishes. His best showing of the year came at the
Palmetto Intercollegiate where he came in second.
Brizendine registered a trio of
top 25 finishes, including a second place finish at the Bradford Creek
Intercollegiate. He had the sixth-lowest scoring average among all C-USA
freshmen entering this week's Conference USA championship.
UAB's
Osborn, Tulsa take C-USA golf titles
With a key eagle on No. 12, UAB
senior Garrett Osborn carded a 70 in the final round of the Conference
USA golf championship and picked up medalist honors with a 212 for 54
holes.
Tulsa earned the team title
after taking a comfortable lead following the first two rounds of the
championship played on the par 72, 6,935-yard Texarkana (AR) Country
Club.
Saint Louis becomes new challenge for Majerus
Rick Majerus has been named
basketball coach at former Conference USA member Saint Louis. Prior to
working as an analyst for ESPN for the last three years, Majerus amassed
a 422-147 career head coaching record. When coaching a full season, he
has missed the postseason just two times in 17 seasons.
May 1, 2007
ECU's Lee, Roach
get national academic honors
The National Football Foundation
and College Hall of Fame (NFF) have announced that former East Carolina
student-athletes Robert Lee and Kevin Roach have earned selection to the
inaugural NFF National Honor Society.
The NFF National Honor Society
is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who
each maintained a 3.2 grade point average or better. A total of 345
players from 195 schools earned recognition as part of the inaugural
class.
Houston's Kolb leads C-USA draft selections
Conference USA had a total of
eight players selected in the 2007 NFL draft. Houston quarterback Kevin
Kolb was the first player chosen from a C-USA school, going to the
Philadelphia Eagles with the fourth pick of the second round, the 36th
overall selection.
This year's draft the first time
since 2003 that a C-USA player was not chosen in the first round.
Kolb was the third quarterback
selected in the draft, behind LSU's JaMarcus Russell (Oakland Raiders -
No. 1) and Notre Dame's Brady Quinn (Cleveland Browns - No. 22).
Kolb finished his career as the
most prolific passer in Houston history, rewriting almost every passing
and total offense record, including pass completions (964), pass
attempts (1,565), passing yards (12,964), total plays (2,037), total
offense (13,715) and touchdowns responsible for (106).
Kolb was a consensus selection
as the 2006 Conference USA offensive player of the year and a unanimous
pick to the All C-USA first team.
Other C-USA selections:
-
Central Florida wide
receiver Mike Walker to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the third round;
-
Texas-El Paso wide receiver
Johnnie Lee Higgins to the Oakland Raiders in the third round;
-
Memphis cornerback Brandon
McDonald to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round;
-
East Carolina wide receiver
Aundrae Allison to the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round;
-
Southern Methodist defensive
end Justin Rogers to the New England Patriots in the sixth round;
-
UTEP quarterback Jordan
Palmer to the Washington Redskins in the sixth round;
-
Marshall running back Ahmad
Bradshaw to the New York Giants in the seventh round.
Jordan's son plans to join Illini hoops program
Jeffrey Jordan, a senior guard
at Loyola Academy and Michael Jordan's son, has said he plans to play
basketball at Illinois.
The 6-foot-2 guard, who twice
made all conference, said he will be a preferred walk-on, meaning he
won't be have a scholarship but that he is assured of a roster spot.
The younger Jordan declined a
scholarship to Valparaiso to join the Big Ten program.
