News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

07.30.06: Love, smitten with UCLA, spurns Tar Heels ... Wake won't enroll indicted football signee ... Slippery Rock backpedals after Title IX ruling

07.29.06: Whimper, Williams get multimillion-dollar deals ... Blazers DE nabs C-USA preseason honor ... TCU coach resigns over phone infraction

07.28.06: Navy game tickets available to Pirate Clubbers ... ECU grants extension, raise to Baldwin-Tener ... League football coaches visit New Orleans ... C-USA football media blitz set for CSTV

07.27.06: ECU recruiting thumbnail: Devon Wallace ... USM soph on Mackey watch list ... Scribes pick Miami to win ACC title ... New post-college football league in the works

07.26.06: "Meet the Pirates" shin-dig set for Aug. 19 ... Leukemia claims former UAB football star ... ACC honors Dukie Redick, Terp Infante

07.25.06: ECU last in poll; Allison, Graham get respect ... Former Pirate Ward joins Bulls baseball staff ... NCAA's impact lucrative for Indianapolis

07.24.06: Miami football player shot at off-campus residence ... 'Star-crossed' defensive back leaving Auburn ... Admission denied for Gamecock hoops signee

07.23.06: Accident claims life of Georgia hoops player ...
Ex-Navy quarterback Owens spared jail time ... Former Gamecock suing university

07.22.06: Blue Devils name new lacrosse coach ... Former Duke back issues $1 million challenge ... Current Duke back Harris gets tube time

07.21.06: Hoops recruiting thumbnail: Jontae Sherrod ... Tiger recruit says Irish used negative tactics ... Duke football hit by suspension, dismissals ... UK to report self over Internet shenanigans

07.20.06: ECU to hold public "celebration" of LeClair's life ... LeClair rites to be broadcast and live-streamed ... Future Pirate Fields tallies 8 points in East loss ... C-USA announces staff additions, promotions ... UCF uses buyout; Vols host Wolfpack in 2008

07.19.06: Irish fill baseball coaching vacancy ... Fork Union, Oak Hill getting review by NCAA ... Alabama cager denied fifth year of eligibility

07.18.06: ECU's Krog, Hauser recognized for academics ... UCF golfer fires record round of 60 ... Rutgers drops six sports to trim athletic budget

07.17.06: LSU paying baseball coach $450K per year ... Kruger uses rule change to play for dad ... MAAC adopts new hoops tourney format

07.16.06: UTEP track athletes achieve in classroom ... Former George Mason cager gives up on NFL ... Jury hears tape of Navy quarterback's call

07.15.06: GMAC Bowl in Mobile moves to January ... Louisville ponies up to lock down Petrino ... Tulsa names McCombs women's golf coach

07.14.06: N.C. prep hoops star re-routes to Memphis ... ECU's Flye, Ray land in CPL All-Star Game ... UNC-CH's Miller receives Clemens Award

07.13.06: Logan to have daily show on "The Bull" ... Marshall hires former Blue Devil as hoops aide ... Redick 'backs' out of Team USA workouts

07.12.06: C-USA unveils 2005-06 athletes of the year ... Rape trial underway for former Navy QB ... Clemson gridder on jet ski that killed coach

07.11.06: ECU recruiting thumbnail: D.J. McFadden ... Uggla poised to make history in All-Star game ... COSIDA recognizes former president Ford ... Houston associate AD Sparks succumbs

07.10.06: ECU alum Godwin to wear LSU's purple & gold ... Tulane resumes baseball stadium renovation ... Kelly rejoins O'Leary at Central Florida

07.09.06: Fitzgerald takes bittersweet promotion ... Paper defuses report on Mayo to USC ... More national acclaim for Houston's Lincoln ... SMU golfer wins Greater Cincy title

07.08.06: Former ECU slugger Hastings joins BC staff ... Tar Heel baseball stars transition to pros ... Rice's Britton packing to play in Philippines

07.07.06: Report: No. 1 prep hoops star choosing USC ... Motorcycle wreck claims Georgia Southern star ... NBA exhibition games coming to Dean Dome

07.06.06: Owls' St. Clair chosen for Team USA baseball ... Houston, Rice rookies make all-frosh team ... Case-era Pack hoops legend Dickey passes

07.05.06: National honors piling up for Houston's Lincoln ... Wade's wallet now packs a wallop ... Duke gets QB from prestigious prep program

07.04.06: Howard joins ECU media relations staff ... Bertman leads college baseball hall's first class ... Temple gets prized hometown grid recruit

07.03.06: Paper: C of C and Cremins come to agreement ... Four depart Oregon in search of playing time ... Gator recruit wins national prep QB award

07.02.06: College of Charleston hires Bobby Cremins ... Duke gets pair of football commitments ... Georgia Tech baseball coach gets extra year ... Big Sky Conference expands by one

07.01.06: SI.com columnist rates O'Leary among best ... Bogdan, Floyd get top awards in C-USA track ... Northwestern mourns passing of Walker

Team North Carolina is looking to end a drought in girls basketball at the AAU Junior Olympics after winning three national championships in '01, '02 and '03.

The Charlotte-based team, which drew more than a dozen college coaches for its games at Heritage High School in Newport News, again is loaded with Division I prospects as well as star power.

Candace Wood, a 5-11 guard, is the daughter of former Tar Heels great and NBA alum Al Wood, who coaches Team North Carolina.

The team also includes top prospects such as fraternal twins Britny (6-foot-1) and Whitny (5-11) Edwards, two junior swing players who have been watched by such schools as Connecticut, Duke, North Carolina and Tennessee. The twins are the daughters of Blue Edwards, the last great player out of East Carolina, who spent 10 years in the NBA.

Saturday, Edwards was more than an interested observer and more than a parent sitting courtside, according to a Hampton Roads (VA) Daily Press report. He coaches some of Team North Carolina's members — including his daughters — on traveling teams known as the Charlotte Fire and Carolina Classics, which play in other tournaments.

Edwards, who has been coaching his 16-year-old daughters since they were 11 years old, said he participates because "I've always loved the teaching aspect of basketball, seeing kids get better."

Southern Mississippi sophomore linebacker Mitch Craft has been suspended by coach Jeff Bower for the first two games of the 2006 season, according to a Hattiesburg American report.

Craft was recently arrested with former Golden Eagle Antwon Courington and another man on felony vandalism charges after allegedly damaging a windshield and an apartment's door and window. Bower would not comment on the basis for the suspension.

Though Craft will be allowed to practice with the team during the suspension, he will miss the season opener at Florida and the home opener against Southeastern Louisiana. The 6-foot-1, 235-pounder from Cape Girardeau, MO, is listed as No. 1 on the depth chart. He started the Black and Gold Spring Game and had 4.5 tackles and one sack.

The suspension likely gives the starting middle linebacker spot for the first two games to Marcus Raines.

Houston senior quarterback Kevin Kolb has been selected as the Conference USA preseason offensive player of the year by the league's head coaches.

The Cougars also are pushing Kolb as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Kolb has started 36 straight games, tops in the nation among Division I-A quarterbacks, according to Houston's athletic website.

Also a preseason selection by The Sporting News as its C-USA Offensive Player of the Year, Kolb has 9,155 career passing yards and 9,752 career yards of total offense, tops in both categories among active players.

Kolb passed for a career-best 3,258 yards in 2005 en route to being selected third-team all conference. Kolb passed David Klingler last season as the school's all-time leader in total offense and is on the verge of owning all the Cougars' top passing and total offense numbers.

Kolb has been named to the Maxwell Award watch list and been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game in January.

Former Southern Methodist player and coach Forrest Gregg will be the keynote speaker at the second annual SMU football kickoff luncheon on Wed., Aug.16, at the Campbell Centre Doubletree Hotel in Dallas, according to an announcement on the university's athletic website.

An SMU leader as a student and an alum, Gregg was a two-way player on the Mustang football team from 1952-55. A dominant force on both sides of the line as a collegian, he earned All-SWC honors in 1954 and 1955 and served as SMU's co-captain as a senior.

After his career with the Mustangs, Gregg moved on to a 14-year career in the NFL. He played for the Green Bay Packers for 13 years and closed his NFL career in 1971 with the Dallas Cowboys. He won a pair of Super Bowl Rings in 1967 and 1968.

Gregg set a then-Green Bay record by playing in 187 consecutive games, was chosen All-Pro eight straight years from 1960-67, played in nine Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

He served as head coach of the 1989 and 1990 Mustangs before becoming SMU's athletic director (1990-94). He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in the fall of 2000. The award represents the highest honor the university and its Alumni Association can bestow upon an alumnus of the institution.

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.