Conference USA has concluded its
annual spring meetings in Destin, FL, during which a favorable view was
expressed about a potential new bowl partner.
A number of recommendations
adopted at the meetings will be forwarded to the board of directors
during their meetings next month for final approval.
Recommendations included:
-
Adding the Texas Bowl in
2007 as one of the league's bowl partners, giving C-USA six
contracted bowls.
-
Holding the 2008 C-USA
women's basketball championship in Orlando, with games to be held at
the new $113-million UCF Convocation Center.
-
Awarding 12 postgraduate
scholarships to C-USA student-athletes.
-
Implementing new academic
improvement initiatives.
Heels extend Williams' contract through 2015
The Winston-Salem Journal has
reported that UNC-Chapel Hill has signed Roy Williams to a four-year
contract extension that will keep him as the school's basketball coach
through the 2015 college basketball season.
Williams will earn a base salary
of $325,000 under the new contract terms and have a $30,000 expense
fund. He will receive supplemental income from the school that will pay
him $1.2 million to $1.5 million each year.
Rice's Savery
semifinalist for Dick Howser honor
Rice junior pitcher/first
baseman Joe Savery has been named to the list of 16 semifinalists for
the 2007 Dick Howser Trophy, given to the nation's top collegiate
baseball player.
Houston's Brad Lincoln won the
Dick Howser Trophy last season, becoming Conference USA's first
recipient of the award.
Savery, an Owl star as both a
hitter and a pitcher, was the preseason Conference USA player of the
year and is a two-time All-American. He currently ranks fourth in the
league in hits (72), sixth doubles (15) and seventh in total bases
(100). The Houston native is batting a team-best .353 with three home
runs, two triples and 43 RBI. On the mound, Savery has a 2.38 ERA and
owns a 7-1 record in 14 starts. In 68.0 innings pitched, he has struck
out 44 and held opponents to a composite .237 batting average.
May 18, 2007
East Carolina
women's hoops adds Georgia star
East Carolina women's basketball
coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener has announced the signing of Kimberly Gay of
Eastman , GA.
A 6-foot-2 forward from Dodge
County High School, Gay averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds, three steals
and three blocks per game as a senior. She earned first-team All-State
honors after leading Dodge County to a 22-7 record. Her team reached the
4-AA regional championships and a No. 9 ranking in the state of Georgia.
Gastonia Ashbrook high jumper heading for ECU
Taylor Connor, a four-year high
jumper for Gastonia (NC) Ashbrook High will join the women’s track and
field team at East Carolina this fall, announced ECU coach Curt Kraft.
“We are very excited about
Taylor being a part of East Carolina’s track and field program,” Kraft
said. “She is another example of what we look for in a North Carolina
lady. She is both a good student and a great athlete. We look forward to
her representing ECU in a positive manner.”
Va.
tennis standout joins ECU women's team
Kristin Gordon, a four-year
letterwinner and co-captain for John Handley (VA) High School will join
the women's tennis program at East Carolina.
Gordon had over 140 wins in
singles and doubles during her high school career. She earned a No. 7
United States Tennis Association (USTA) 16 and under ranking in the
state of Virginia. She posted four consecutive district singles and
doubles titles for coach Terry Ewell.
May 17, 2007
Weatherbee: ECU
football tix may get scarce
For the second consecutive year,
East Carolina Department of Athletics will open the football season with
a school-record mark in season ticket sales, according to a release from
the school.
ECU has received orders for
16,476 season tickets, surpassing the previous record of 16,318 sold in
2006. Pre-summer orders have exceeded last year's milestone by nearly 40
percent with over 4,700 additional season tickets sold compared to the
11,713 generated by mid-May last year.
"There has been a lot of
excitement around this team and the direction Coach Holtz is moving the
program," said Scott Wetherbee, ECU's Assistant Director of Athletics
for Tickets and Marketing. "When you combine that with the caliber of
opponents we face at home this year, it's easy to see how ticket sales
have improved."
Highlighting the Pirates' 2007
home schedule are games with in-state Atlantic Coast Conference members
North Carolina (Sept. 8) and N.C. State (Oct. 20.) Defending Conference
USA East Division champion Southern Miss, Central Florida, UAB and
Tulane will also pay visits to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"At the rate season tickets are
selling, few single game tickets may be available later in the year,"
Wetherbee added, indicating that the option to pay for tickets with a
monthly plan and the convenience of ordering online have helped with the
soaring sales rate as well.
Cougars face La-La in NCAA softball opener
Houston will represent
Conference USA in the 2007 NCAA softball tournament after receiving the
league's automatic bid for winning the conference tournament.
The Cougars (42-16) will face
Louisiana-Lafayette (46-16) in opening round action at College Station,
TX, in the regional hosted by Texas A&M. The Aggies (40-10) and the Sam
Houston State Bearkats (37-24) round out the four regional participants.
Southland
Conference star pulls out of NBA draft
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
basketball player Chris Daniels has removed his name from the NBA Draft
to be held June 27. He had earlier declared for the draft, but did
not hire an agent.
The San Antonio native was named
the 2007 Southland Conference player of the year after averaging 15.3
points and 6.7 rebounds a game.
Pa. justices hear arguments on Paterno's salary
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court
heard arguments this week on whether undisclosed salaries of Penn State
employees, including football coach Joe Paterno, should be released to
the public.
Penn State does not disclose the
salaries of its administrators and employees. The university has not
responded to attempts by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg in regard
to the salary of Paterno and several high administrators.
May 16, 2007
Winthrop guard in
coma following car wreck
DeAndre Adams, a 5-8 point guard
for Winthrop from Austell, GA, is recovering in an Atlanta hospital with
head injuries from a single car accident that occurred near his home on
Saturday morning.
According to Winthrop basketball
coach Randy Peele, the accident occurred around 4 a.m. as Adams was
driving home following a basketball game in the Atlanta Summer League. A
tree that had apparently fallen across the roadway during a
thunderstorm, forced Adams to swerve his car, causing it to flip and
crash into another tree. He was reportedly wearing his seat belt.
Peele says that Adams is in an
induced coma. The primary concern at this point is the head injury and
swelling of the brain. The player did not suffer any broken bones,
according to the reports that his coach received.
C-USA announces
outstanding track performers
Conference USA announced six individual award winners
following the league's track and field championships.
Women's coach of the year went to Rice's Jim Bevan
who guided the Owls to a sweep of the track team honors this year by
winning the outdoor and indoor crowns.
First-year head coach Kevin Robinson of Memphis led
his Tigers to the 2007 men's outdoor crown, earning him men's coach of
the year accolades.
Houston's Ebonie Floyd was the female performer high
scorer of the meet. Memphis senior Brandon Winbush was the male high
scorer of the meet, while his teammate, Steffen Nerdal, was voted male
freshman of the year.
Rice's Pablo Solares raced to one of the greatest
middle-distance doubles in Conference USA history Saturday to earn C-USA
to earn the award for male performance of the meet. The senior won the
1500-meters in 3:43.69 and, less than 90 minutes later, out-kicked
pre-meet favorite Dominic Tanui of Texas-El Paso to take the 800-meters
in 1:47.69.
Solares established championship records in both
events and became just the second athlete to win both titles at the same
meet.
Central Florida and Tulsa distance runners Jenny
Clausen and Ashlea Gilfillan were named co-female freshmen of the year.
C-USA male and female athletes and newcomers of the
year honors will be announced following the NCAA outdoor championships
in June.
Conference
reaches agreement in 'Summit' talks
Effective June 1st, the Mid-Continent Conference will
be renamed The Summit League. The conference began in 1982 as the
Association of Mid-Continent Universities. In 1989, it changed its name
to the Mid-Continent Conference.
Conference members are Oral Roberts, IUPUI,
Valparaiso, Centenary, Oakland of Michigan, Southern Utah, Western
Illinois and Missouri-Kansas City. Valparaiso is leaving the league
after this school year.
IPFW, South Dakota State and North Dakota State will
become conference members on July 1st.
