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News Nuggets, 05.17.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

New ECU strength boss reconnects with Holtz

East Carolina has turned to a veteran athletic performance specialist with previous ties to first-year head football coach Skip Holtz to run the athletic department's strength and conditioning program.

Michael Golden, who worked with Holtz at South Carolina and Connecticut, was named Monday as ECU's Director of Strength and Conditioning in an announcement from Terry Holland, the school's athletics director.

In addition to coordinating off-season and in-season conditioning for ECU's other 19 sports teams, Golden will play a direct leadership role in the strength and fitness regimen for the Pirate football program.

Golden fills a key job that had been open since August of last year when Jim Whitten, ECU's former director of strength and conditioning, left to accept a position at Virginia Military Institute.

The hiring of Golden restores the Pirates' fulltime strength and conditioning staff to three members. John Grieco left a strength position at Florida to join the ECU program in January 2004, while Danny Wheel came to the Pirates from Virginia Tech in 2001.

Golden spent three years on the South Carolina staff beginning in March 2002 as assistant strength coach, working directly with the Gamecocks' tennis and women's golf teams while providing support to the football, volleyball and cheerleading programs.

During the summer of 2004, he designed and implemented the summer strength, speed and conditioning program for the South Carolina football team.

Earlier in his professional career, Golden began a stint as head football strength and conditioning coach under Holtz at the University of Connecticut.

Golden designed, implemented and supervised all weight training, agility and conditioning sessions for the Huskies and played a key role in UConn's first 10-win football campaign and an NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearance in the fall of 1998.

Golden, 36, is a 1992 graduate of Central Connecticut State, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education.

He is a certified member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA), United States Weightlifting Federation (USWA) and National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA).

Compiled from staff and ECU Athletics reports.

Huggins calls UC's bluff on shortened contract

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins decided on Monday to accept the school's decision limiting him to a two-year contract, a sticking point that could flare into a bigger issue down the line.

The university stripped a rollover provision from Huggins' contract after his arrest and conviction for drunken driving last year. Prior to that move, the provision had automatically added a year onto his contract each summer, keeping it a four-year deal.

University president Nancy Zimpher notified Huggins last week that he again would not get the extension, leaving him with a two-year deal. Huggins had to decide whether to accept it or take a buyout provision in his contract.

``I plan on fulfilling my contract,'' Huggins said Monday night. ``I love the players. I think I have an obligation to them, certainly to their families and the fans in the city of Cincinnati.

``People here have been unbelievable. They've supported me, certainly, when I needed support. They've always been there.''

Huggins is 399-127 in 16 seasons at Cincinnati, which he rebuilt into a nationally prominent program after years of disarray. His teams have made 14 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, and reached the Final Four in 1992.

The program also has a history of player arrests and infractions. The program went on two years' probation in 1998 after the NCAA concluded there was a lack of institutional control over the men's basketball program.

Huggins was arrested last June and pleaded no contest to driving under the influence. He was ordered to attend a three-day intervention program, and the school suspended him with pay for two months.

Huggins declined to take questions Monday night following his three-minute, off-the-cuff statement. He was diplomatic about the school's decision, saying other coaches won't have their contracts extended until a new athletic director is in place. Cincinnati AD Bob Goin plans to retire in one year.

``I have every confidence that everything will work out fine, as it always has,'' Huggins said.

The Bearcats failed to win the Conference USA championship and were knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the second round last season, their last before moving to the Big East.

Zimpher didn't want to discuss Huggins' contract status with him until after the spring recruiting season.

After the season ended, the program's problems multiplied. Assistant coach Keith LeGree was suspended after he was charged with drunken driving. Last Tuesday, freshman forward Roy Bright was dismissed from the team after acknowledging that he had a firearm on campus.

Questions have been raised about whether recruits would be wary of coming to a program where the coach has only a two-year deal and doesn't appear to have the full support of the school president.

``I know there's been some concern about what it does for recruiting and those kinds of things,'' Huggins said. ``In 1993, I had one year left on my contract. Nobody really made a big deal out of it. I certainly didn't make a big deal out of it. It didn't affect recruiting one way or another.''

The university had no comment beyond a statement confirming that Huggins had accepted its decision.

Temple football program moving to MAC

PHILADELPHIA — Temple's football program has found a home and a new opportunity, accepting an offer to join the Mid-American Conference and looking for a fresh start for a team with little history of success.

The Owls will join the MAC as a full member in 2007. An official announcement is scheduled for Tuesday.

``When our presidents and our membership have gone through the process of membership evaluation, we really look for an institutional fit,'' MAC commissioner Rick Chryst said. ``I think that's what we have here. There's excitement about time and circumstance bringing us together.''

The Owls were kicked out of the Big East after 13 years for failing to meet minimum requirements for membership, most notably in attendance, facilities and fielding a competitive team.

That didn't deter the MAC.

``I don't have any doubt that Temple will be competitive and a contributor,'' said Chryst, who will be in Philadelphia for the official announcement.

The football team will play the next two seasons as an independent, though the Owls will likely add more MAC teams to their schedule during that period. Temple is to play MAC teams Toledo, Bowling Green and Miami (OH) in 2005.

The rest of Temple's athletic teams will remain in the Atlantic 10, where the school has been since 1982. No other A-10 school plays Division I-A football.

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw was unavailable for comment.

The Owls were overmatched in the Big East and haven't had a winning record since going 7-4 under Jerry Berndt in 1990. They went 2-9 last season and are 19-60 in seven seasons under coach Bobby Wallace.

Though Wallace said during the season the Owls would be a perfect fit for the MAC, the Owls lost to two of those mid-major teams in 2004: 45-17 at Toledo and 70-16 against Bowling Green.

Temple hasn't been to a bowl game since 1979 and has had five one-win seasons since 1992. The Owls spent most of the last two decades without a permanent home and the crowds were as sparse as the victories.

Temple created a task force last summer that studied the viability of keeping the football program around and decided in January the program would remain at the Division I-A level.

The MAC was impressed with Temple's attempts to spruce up the program. The Owls built a state of the art practice facility at their north campus that opened in 2001, and the program reached a deal before the 2003 season with the Philadelphia Eagles to play all home games at Lincoln Financial Field.

``The group that went to Temple was impressed with the foundation that was in place,'' Chryst said. ``We were impressed with the people and how they've handled what's been a very difficult situation the last three or four years.''

Baseball America & Collegiate Baseball Polls

Released 05.16.05.
(View previous week's rankings)

[For both polls below, Conference USA teams — including future members — and Carolinas teams are in bold; East Carolina opponents are in red.]

BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 25

DURHAM — The top 25 teams in the Baseball America poll with records and previous rankings (voting by the staff of Baseball America):

 1. Cal State Fullerton 37-12 1
 2. Tulane 45-8 2
 3. Oregon State 39-8 3
 4. Miami (FL) 38-12 4
 5. Texas 41-11 5
 6. Georgia Tech 37-14 7
 7. Nebraska 41-12 6
 8. Arizona 33-16 8
 9. Baylor 34-18 10
10. Long Beach State 35-17 12
11. Tennessee 36-16 9
12. Rice 36-15 15
13. Louisiana State 35-17 16
14. Florida State 45-14 17
15. Florida 34-18  11
16. Alabama 35-18 13
17. Arizona State 30-19 18
18. UL-Lafayette 44-12 19
19. Mississippi 37-16 22
20. Missouri 34-17 20
21. Southern Cal 32-15 24
22. N.C. State 36-14 23
23. Coastal Carolina 42-11 NR
24. North Carolina 37-14 14
25. St. John's 35-14 25

COLLEGIATE BASEBALL TOP 30

TUCSON — The top 25 teams in the 2005 Collegiate Baseball (Baseball News) poll with records and previous rankings (voting by coaches, sports writers and sports information directors):

 1. Tulane 45-8 1
 2. Cal State Fullerton 37-12 2
 3. Oregon State 39-8 8
 4. Texas 41-11 4
 5. Nebraska 41-12 3
 6. Georgia Tech 37-14 5
 7. Miami (FL) 38-12-1 6
 8. Baylor 34-18 9
 9. Arizona 33-16 7
10. Florida State 46-14 11
11. Tennessee 36-16 10
12. Florida 34-18 12
13. Long Beach State 35-17 13
14. Louisiana State 35-17 16
15. Rice 36-15 23
16. Alabama 35-18 15
17. Southern Cal 32-15 21
18. Arizona State 30-19 17
19. UL-Lafayette 44-12 18
20. College of Charleston 41-10 20
21. Mississippi 37-16 25
22. Arkansas 37-15 26
23. Coastal Carolina 42-11 —
24. Clemson 33-19 —
25. North Carolina 37-14-1 14
26. Texas Christian 36-16 24
27. Troy 35-16 27
28. St. John’s 35-14 28
29. Cal Poly SLO 32-18 19
30. Creighton 39-13 —

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 Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:24 PM