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News Nuggets, 06.09.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Cavanaugh scooped up by San Diego Padres

All-Conference USA outfielder Brian Cavanaugh became the fourth member of East Carolina's 2005 baseball team to get a call about playing for pay.

The Monroe, CN, senior was selected in the 21st round on day two of the 2005 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft Wednesday, joining sophomore pitcher Ricky Brooks (3rd round), senior shortstop Billy Richardson (14th round) and junior third baseman Mark Minicozzi (17th round), each of whom was drafted on day one.

Cavanaugh, taken by the San Diego Padres as the 638th overall pick, recorded a C-USA leading .382 average this season, had seven home runs, 36 RBI's and 14 stolen bases.

Right-handed pitcher Matthew Olson, a member of ECU's incoming recruiting class, was also drafted on Tuesday. The Western Branch High School (VA) ace, considered by many observers one of his state's top 5 players, was picked by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 13th round.

From staff and ECU Athletics reports.

UAB signs with Winston-Salem-based ISP sports

Alabama-Birmingham and ISP Sports have reached an agreement that provides the company with exclusive multi-media rights to UAB athletics for the next five years, the school announced Wednesday.

The university indicated in a news release it is guaranteed an annual rights fee and will share in additional revenues, while ISP Sports will have the rights to all sales and marketing opportunities associated with Blazer sports, including the radio network, print advertising in various publications and all signage in UAB's athletic facilities.

The Blazers are the 25th major NCAA program to align with ISP Sports, which also has relationships in the state with Alabama and Auburn.

Among the Winston-Salem company's other college partners are Conference USA members Houston, Marshall, Southern Miss, Tulane and Central Florida; ACC programs Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest; Big East schools Pittsburgh and Syracuse; and UCLA of the Pac-10.

Compiled from a UAB Athletics report.

Police blotter once again has Cincy connection

Another embarrassing incident has cropped up for Cincinnati's basketball program and its beleaguered coach, Bob Huggins.

Charges of statutory rape and indecent assault have been lodged against incoming UC basketball recruit Tyree Evans, the school said in a Wednesday press release.

The charges, relating to an incident last October, were filed in Massachusetts, where Evans, one of the most prolific scorers in Virginia high school basketball history, played last season at The Winchendon School, said the release.

Evans, a 6-3 guard from Richmond, VA, was the Virginia high school player of the year in 2003-04 and originally signed with the Bearcats a year ago.

The school's press release characterized Huggins as "stunned" at the development and quoted him as saying, "I am shocked to hear of these allegations. We just found out about this. We are in the process of getting as much information as we can.”

Cincinnati athletic director Bob Goin indicated that the Bearcats would renege on Evans' scholarship if the charges prove to have merit.

“ ... We are in a fact-finding mode right now and will let the judicial process play itself out," stated Goin in the release. "If these allegations are true, we will not honor our commitment to Tyree and he will not be a part of our basketball program.”

Under Huggins, the Bearcats have established themselves as one of the nation's elite programs, but that success has often been tarnished by problems off the court.

A pair of drunken driving charges in the span of a year — one against Huggins and the other against UC assistant coach Keith LeGree — were among factors that influenced the university's recent decision to not follow its customary annual practice of adding an extra year to Huggins' contract.

Cincinnati players have also showed up on the police blotter a number of times in recent years, the most recent incident coming last month when promising freshman forward Roy Bright, from Durham, NC, was booted from the team after admitting to Huggins he had brought a gun onto the campus.

From staff and Cincinnati Athletics reports.

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