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News Nuggets, 06.21.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Later start for baseball season on NCAA agenda

The NCAA is considering delaying the first pitch of the college baseball season by two weeks from its current mid-February start, which would push the end of the College World Series into July.

If the change does occur, it wouldn't happen until 2006 at the earliest.

East Carolina Hall of Famer and former head baseball coach Keith LeClair, who authors a regular column on Bonesville.net, has been a vocal advocate of such a change.

The inclement weather that is typical of February raises "serious questions about why college baseball insists on starting their season in the middle of the winter," LeClair wrote in a column as the 2004 season was about to begin.

"Not only that," LeClair added, "but why try and compete for fans during the middle of basketball season?"

Concurrent with the currently-ongoing College World Series in Omaha, a 10-person NCAA committee consisting of athletic directors, baseball coaches and others will be meeting Monday to consider ideas, some of which have been talked about in various forms for years.

"There's so many variables and influences on it," said Florida State athletic director Charlie Carr, a member of the committee. "There's a lot of needs."

Small schools worry about the expense of extending the season beyond the academic year, while northern schools want more games when the weather is warmer, Carr said.

"The hard part is you're trying to fit a baseball season into an academic schedule," he said.

Under the model, the regular season would remain at 56 games but the first game wouldn't be played until March 1. That would push the start of the CWS to July 2 instead of June 18. It would end either July 11 or 12, instead of June 27 or 28.

UAB set for Friday and Saturday TV games

BIRMINGHAM — UAB has announced that two of the first six games on its 2004 football schedule will be televised nationally by ESPN.

The Blazers will travel to Florida State for a Saturday, Sept. 18 game that will be carried by ESPN2. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. CT in the Seminoles' Doak Campbell Stadium.

The following month — on Friday, Oct. 15 — UAB will play host to Conference USA foe Texas Christian for a 7:00 p.m. CT kickoff to be telecast nationally on ESPN.

"We are extremely excited about these two great opportunities for our program to be showcased in front of a national television audience," said UAB director of athletics and head football coach Watson Brown. "Certainly, it is not our preference to play any of our games on Friday nights, but as a program looking for additional avenues for national exposure, I think we always need to evaluate our options."

Last season, the Blazers' Sept. 4 home game with Southern Mississippi was televised by ESPN and played before a crowd of 44,669 at Legion Field.

UAB also announced tentative game times for its other 2004 contests at Legion Field. In addition to the Oct. 15 TCU game at 7:00 p.m. CT, the Blazers will also play home games this fall on Sept. versus Baylor (6:00 p.m. CT), Sept. 25 versus Memphis (6:00 p.m. CT), Nov. 6 versus South Florida (3:00 p.m. CT, Homecoming) and Nov. 13 versus Houston (3:00 p.m.).

49ers pivotman pulls out of NBA draft

Charlotte 49ers basketball coach Bobby Lutz has announced that 7-0 rising sophomore center Martin Iti has withdrawn from the NBA Draft, which will be held later this month. Iti had declared for the draft and participated in the NBA's pre-draft camp in Chicago but he did not sign with an agent, thereby keeping his options open to return to the 49ers.

Iti, from Sydney, Australia, was named to the Conference USA all-Freshman team after averaging 6.0 points and 4.7 rebounds, this past year. He led the 49ers with 35 blocked shots and 37 dunks while shooting .569 from the floor. Iti started 23 of Charlotte's 30 games, helping the 49ers claim a share of the C-USA regular-season title and notch their fourth NCAA bid in the last six years.

He scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and added four blocks vs. Tulane. He scored in double figures four times and pulled double-digit rebounds three times while averaging 18.4 minutes per game.

Prior to joining the 49ers, Iti, a Top 10 national prospect, was selected as the nation's top post prospect by ESPN.com.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007