News Nuggets, 08.04.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Once again, police blotter touches Bearcats basketball

CINCINNATI — University of Cincinnati basketball player Armein Kirkland and his youthful live-in companion were both charged with misdemeanor counts of domestic violence and assault after police said he struck the 17-year-old girl.

Kirkland, 6-foot-8 sophomore guard from Tyler, Texas, and Ambrea Lacy were arrested at Kirkland's apartment at 2:30 p.m. Saturday after he called police.

Lacy faces the same charges because of accusations that she bit Kirkland in the elbow and stomach, a police report said.

Kirkland, 19, is accused of grabbing Lacy's throat and slapping her in the face. Lacy had been living with Kirkland for two months, police said.

Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin, who said he was on vacation and didn't learn of the arrest until Sunday, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he would meet with Bearcats coach Bob Huggins to determine Kirkland's status on the team.

Huggins declined to comment to the newspaper.

Kirkland was in Hamilton County Justice Center and scheduled to be arraigned Monday. Lacy was taken to Hamilton County Youth Center.

Kirkland averaged 3.4 points and 2.0 rebounds as a freshman last season.

Sugar Bowl Classic pits Blazers against LSU

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham men's basketball team will face LSU in the Sugar Bowl Classic on Dec. 27 in New Orleans, La, according to a Sunday announcement by Blazers head coach Mike Anderson.

The Sugar Bowl Classic kicks off a week of festivities which will lead to the 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl. UAB will play the Tigers in one game, with the other contest matching up the Blazers' fellow Conference USA school, Tulane, against SEC foe Mississippi State.

"We are honored and excited to be playing in the Sugar Bowl Classic," said Anderson. "LSU has a very good basketball program and they play in a great conference. It is also a game our guys really look forward to playing."

The UAB-LSU clash will mark the two schools' first meeting ever on the basketball court. The Blazers have compiled an overall record of 21-23 against SEC schools.

USM vets and newcomers report en masse

HATTIESBURG — The Southern Miss football team is primed and ready to work, as Sunday marked the official beginning of the Golden Eagles' 2003 football preseason.

Veterans, first-year players and walk-ons reported to the USM campus yesterday. When the roll was called, everyone who was expected to show up did, with the exception of incoming freshman linebacker Chaz Richards (Troy, Ala.), who was involved in a vehicle mishap on Sunday.

"Everyone reported in except for Richards," Southern Miss head coach Jeff Bower said. "He was in an automobile accident on the way to Hattiesburg. He totaled his truck, and the last we heard, he was in a Montgomery (Ala.) hospital, but we don't think that it was anything serious."

This marks the first time in recent years that all members of the Golden Eagles team reported on the same day, thanks in part to new NCAA regulations concerning preseason programs.

Bower, who is beginning his 13th season at the helm of the USM program, and his staff will get an opportunity to look at the talent on the entire 2003 roster, including an initial look at the rookies.

"I hope it will be a good first-year group," Bower said. "We are going to practice them separately from the varsity players for the first four days, just so that we can give them more attention."

All first-year player practices will run from 10 a.m. through noon each day, beginning on Monday and ending on Thursday. During the first week of practice, the varsity players will attend morning weightlifting sessions while the first-year players practice. In the afternoons, varsity players will run through specialty workouts and the first-year players will go through various orientation meetings.

Despite the new NCAA regulations, the Southern Miss preseason is expected to run smoothly. In addition to the reporting changes, the new regulations also mandate that two-a-day workouts may not be held on consecutive days.

"We are going to have an opportunity for more meeting times, in addition to our practices, and we can do a few different things," Bower said. "We are still getting the same number of practices in, and we are also going to be able to work on conditioning more than we have (in recent years)."

The first full practice for all players is scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. Two-a-days begin on Saturday, Aug. 9, with practices scheduled for 7:35 a.m. and 3:55 p.m.

This preseason also will be the first for a handful of Southern Miss coaches, including three on the offensive side of the ball. The new coaches also mean new schemes for the players, many of which will be incorporated over the next few weeks.

"We will move on as fast as our players allow us to," Bower said. "We still have a lot more to put in, but I would rather do a few things well than try to get in too much and not do anything well."

Southern Miss opens the season on Aug. 30 in Berkely, CA, against the Cal Bears of the PAC-10.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2003 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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