College Sports Capsules: USC hit hard by NCAA sanctions
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California was no ordinary football program over the past decade, winning seven straight Pac-10 titles and two national championships while annually fielding a gleaming array of NFL prospects.
That's just one reason the Trojans received no ordinary penalties when the NCAA finally announced on Thursday the results of its four-year investigation.
The NCAA threw the book at storied USC, imposing a two-year bowl ban, four years' probation and signficant scholarship losses that likely will damage the program's foundations. The Trojans also must vacate 12 wins from the 2005 season, all stemming from improper benefits given to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush by fledgling sports marketers dating back to the 2004 national championship.
The NCAA ripped USC for a lack of institutional control, condemning the star treatment afforded to Bush and former basketball player O.J. Mayo, who spent just one year with the Trojans before bolting to the NBA and leaving the men's program in shambles.
"The real issue here is if you have high-profile players that your enforcement staff has to monitor ... it is extremely likely that the people who are receiving these interactions outside the institution are going to receive a bigger reward," said Paul Dee, chairman of the NCAA's committee on infractions. "So higher-profile players require higher-profile monitoring."
With pointed language, the NCAA said in its report that USC's oversight of its top athletes ran contrary to the fundamental principles of amateur sports. In a particular slap to the Hollywood-friendly Trojans football team, the NCAA banned most non-essential people from attending practice or standing on the sidelines during games, a favorite pastime of actor Will Ferrell and other wealthy alumni.
"Elite athletes in high profile sports with obvious great future earnings potential may see themselves as something apart from other student-athletes and the general student population," the NCAA report said. "Institutions need to assure that their treatment on campus does not feed into such a perception."
The coaches who presided over the alleged misdeeds — football's Pete Carroll and basketball's Tim Floyd — left USC in the past year.
USC reacted with uniform outrage to the harshness of the sanctions, promising an appeal.
"I'm absolutely shocked and disappointed in the findings of the NCAA," Carroll said in a video statement produced by the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, who hired him in January. "I never thought it would come to this."
The penalties include the loss of 30 football scholarships over three years and vacating 14 victories in which Bush played from December 2004 through the 2005 season. USC beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game on Jan. 4, 2005, and won 12 games during Bush's Heisman-winning 2005 season, which ended with a loss to Texas in the 2006 BCS title game.
Bill Hancock, the executive director of the BCS, said a committee will meet to consider vacating USC's 2004 championship. While no action would go into effect until USC's appeals are heard by the NCAA, Hancock said there would be no 2004 champion if USC's victory is vacated.
"I take the same stance as our university," new football coach Lane Kiffin said. "There is some guilt, but the punishment is too severe. That's why the appeal process is taking place."
The rulings are a sharp repudiation of the Trojans' decade of stunning football success under Carroll.
The NCAA says Bush received lavish gifts from two fledgling sports marketers hoping to sign him. The men paid for everything from hotel stays and a rent-free home where Bush's family apparently lived to a limousine and a new suit when he accepted his Heisman Trophy in New York in December 2005.
The NCAA found that Bush, identified as a "former football student-athlete," was ineligible beginning at least by December 2004, a ruling that could open discussion of the revocation of the New Orleans Saints star's Heisman. Members of the Heisman Trust have said they might review Bush's award if he were ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
"I have a great love for the University of Southern California, and I very much regret the turn that this matter has taken, not only for USC, but for the fans and players," Bush said in a statement.
USC, which plans to appeal some of the football-related penalties, released details later Thursday of its defense arguments. The school believes the NCAA discovered only two flimsy connections between USC and the extra benefits provided by outside parties, resulting in the damaging finding of a lack of institutional control, which led to harsh sanctions.
The NCAA cited a 2½-minute phone call in January 2006 between fledgling marketer Lloyd Lake, who allegedly provided many of Bush's illegal benefits and USC assistant coach Todd McNair, who said he couldn't remember the call. The NCAA also believed Bush's $8-an-hour internship with sports marketer Michael Ornstein — which was approved by the NCAA at the time, the school says — constituted illegal benefits and erroneously classified Ornstein as a booster.
With no resolution of any appeal expected until next spring at the earliest, an appeal won't help many of the current Trojans.
"It does stink to possibly not play in a bowl game," said USC quarterback Matt Barkley, a freshman starter last season. "But at the same time, I came here to get a degree from one of the best universities in the country and to win football games. If we play 13 instead of 14, then we're going to try to win all 13 of those."
The NCAA took no further action against the men's basketball team, which had already banned itself from postseason play last spring and vacated its wins from Mayo's season. Floyd, now coaching at UTEP, resigned from USC last June, shortly after he was accused of giving cash to a middleman who helped steer Mayo to USC.
"As Coach has wanted to say publicly for a long time, 'It didn't happen,'" Floyd attorney Jim Darnell said in a statement.
The bowl ban is the most damaging to Kiffin, who will have to ratchet up his formidable recruiting skills to entice players with no hope of postseason play before 2012. USC also will lose 10 scholarships annually from 2011-13, but Kiffin believes he'll still land a large share of the nation's top talent.
"I don't think it's going to have an impact on recruiting," said Kiffin, who doesn't plan to sign additional players this year before the scholarship sanctions take effect. "We've talked to a lot of people, from our team to our signees to recruits, and we do not feel the impact at all, because USC is still USC. We're still going to play an extremely high level of football. They'll still get a great education as they come to USC."
The women's tennis team also was cited in the report for unauthorized phone calls made by a former player, but the NCAA accepted USC's earlier elimination of its wins between November 2006 and May 2009.
The football team barely avoided further punishment that would have removed one of the sport's most popular teams from television. The committee discussed a TV ban, but decided the penalties handed down "adequately respond to the nature of violations and the level of institutional responsibility."
USC is the first Football Bowl Subdivision school to be banned from postseason play since Alabama served a two-year ban ending in 2003. The NCAA issued no bowl bans during the tenure of late president Myles Brand, but the NCAA reportedly regained interest in the punishment over the past year.
The NCAA condemned McNair's professed ignorance of Bush's dealings with sports marketers Lake and Michael Michaels. Each sued Bush in attempts to recoup nearly $300,000 in cash and gifts they say were accepted by Bush's family during his career with the Trojans while they attempted to sign him as their company's first client.
"I know they did a very, very thorough investigation," said Brian Watkins, a San Diego attorney who represented Lake in a lawsuit against Bush. "It surely wasn't a rush to justice."
Watkins said he spoke with Lake after the sanctions were announced.
"He was sad. He wished that wouldn't have happened," Watkins said.
USC basketball team escapes more NCAA punishment
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California's men's basketball team escaped any further action by the NCAA on Thursday, five months after the university banned itself from postseason play and vacated its victories during O.J. Mayo's lone season.
The NCAA banned USC's football team from bowl games for two years, took away 30 scholarships and placed the school on four years' probation for improper benefits to Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush.
Second-year basketball coach Kevin O'Neill said he was glad the NCAA didn't impose further punishment on his program.
"I applaud them on realizing self-imposing was our way of saying, 'You know what, we did make some mistakes along the way and what we better do is be vigilant in our efforts,' which we will," he said on campus.
Former coach Tim Floyd, who is now coaching at UTEP, abruptly quit last June, after he was accused of giving $1,000 in cash to Rodney Guillory who helped steer Mayo to USC.
"As Coach has wanted to say publicly for a long time, 'It didn't happen,'" Floyd attorney Jim Darnell said in a statement.
Under Floyd, the Trojans made three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and had three straight 20-win seasons at a school best known for its national championship-caliber football teams.
In January, the school cited Mayo's involvement with Guillory, whom under NCAA rules became a USC booster due to his role in Mayo's recruitment, in meting out the sanctions.
Louis Johnson, a former associate of Mayo and Guillory, has previously alleged Guillory received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a sports agency that he partially funneled to Mayo.
In January, athletic director Mike Garrett said Mayo refused to cooperate in the university's investigation into whether he accepted improper gifts and benefits. Mayo now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.
As part of its self-imposed punishment, USC will return to the NCAA the money it received through the Pac-10 for playing in the 2008 NCAA tournament, when the Trojans lost in the first round.
The Trojans lost one scholarship for last season and one for next season; they lost one coach to off-campus recruiting this summer; and lose 20 recruiting days for next season.
USC also vacated its 21 victories during the 2007-08 season, when Mayo competed while ineligible.
"Mike certainly made the right decision in self-imposing (penalties)," O'Neill said. "We understand that we are on four years' probation, so we've got some situations that we've obviously got to be aware of all the time."
O'Neill and a majority of the current players weren't around when the violations occurred. The Trojans were 16-14, including 8-10 in the Pac-10, in O'Neill's first season.
"We're moving ahead in a positive manner," he said. "I really admire how our players handled the situation this last year and I'm confident going forward after meeting with them today again."
The NCAA report, which followed a four-year investigation, cited numerous improper benefits for Bush and Mayo, who played one season before jumping to the NBA. It condemned the star treatment afforded to Bush and Mayo, saying USC's oversight of its top athletes ran contrary to the fundamental principles of amateur sports.
O'Neill said he empathized with new football coach Lane Kiffin and what the football program now faces.
"My opinion doesn't matter a lot, but I think it's pretty severe, the penalties that we received," he said. "I know Lane will attack this thing as if he's trying to win a national championship. They're going to recruit like they're trying to win a national championship this year and I don't have any doubt they'll move forward and move past this just like we have."
O'Neill is focusing on rebuilding his roster.
"At least we're in a position where we've overcome some of the things by taking the sanctions this past year," he said.
O'Neill said he spoke with all the incoming freshmen who have signed letters of intent.
"Our message to them is simple: we're moving forward, this isn't going to affect you at all. We've got a great institution here," he said.
-- Beth Harris
Commentary: USC just another failed Hollywood production
USC was a great show while it lasted, always loaded with stars and led by a coach who oozed fun. Like more than a few Hollywood productions, it was also out of control, over budget and conducting business under the table.
Even the NCAA's overworked cops and accountants had little trouble figuring that out once they got a look at the ledger. But keep in mind that Southern California is hardly the only offender; it's just the latest to get caught.
Most of the time, the bosses back at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis just slap some hands and flap their gums. This time, they bared their teeth. This time, they actually seemed to enjoy playing with the prey.
If you think the bite the NCAA took out of USC on the playing field was painful — forfeited wins, a postseason ban and lost scholarships — check out the fine print. It says no more "non-university" personnel — a.k.a. "celebs" and "hangers-on" — at practice or on game-day sidelines. In LA, where being seen is everything, that's the really diabolical part.
Being told to hide the 2004-05 national championship banner, white out a few wins in the record book, maybe even give back Reggie Bush's Heisman trophy — those things might bother alumni, but not the talented kids who made it so glamorous to be around Football U. Yet this guarantees the Trojans will be seeing less and less of them, and possibly for a very long time.
The Trojans' vaunted recruiting machine took a big hit when Pete Carroll lit out for Seattle and the NFL a step ahead of the law. Now Lane Kiffin, Carroll's successor and a promising fast-buck artist in his own right, has 30 fewer scholarships to hand out and no way to promise those kids they'll be on TV much, let alone sniff the postseason for at least two more years.
Trust me, you wouldn't want to be in the living room when he tries to explain to some 18-year-old kid why he won't get the chance to low-five Will Ferrell or Snoop Dogg coming up the sideline of the Coliseum after taking it to the house.
Yet fitting as the punishment was, the timing was almost as telling.
The ground beneath college football is shifting minute by minute, as conferences rush to cannibalize each other, breaking up alliances that in some cases stretch back decades. Their No. 1 goal is to make themselves more attractive as TV packages and command a bigger share of the revenue pie. But the likely No. 2 on the to-do list of those increasingly powerful conferences and the Bowl Championship Series, their already too-powerful ally, is to cut the NCAA out of the sport and keep more of the money it generates for themselves.
BCS executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement Thursday that the BCS was prepared to vacate USC's 2004-05 season title win, perhaps as soon as its presidential oversight committee meets.
"We take the integrity of NCAA rules seriously," Hancock said.
Fine. But you can't be in the business of punishing schools with one hand while dangling all that cash in front of them with the other. Cheating has gone on since college sports began, but the rewards have never been this good.
To be fair, some good may come out of all the conference shape-shifting that's going on at the moment. Chances of a real playoff will go up, the quality of the product will go up and the money paid out will go up, up, up. Plus, we won't have to hear athletic directors and even university presidents prattle on about how much they value "tradition" and why every decision is being made for "the good of the student-athletes."
It will be a cash grab, plain and simple. That's usually when you want more cops on the streets, not less. USC had to be plenty sloppy to get caught, but its biggest sin may turn out to be making a rush for the trough before the coast was clear.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org.
Track & Field
Oregon's Theisen defends heptathlon title
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Brianne Theisen basked briefly in her heptathlon victory before her thoughts turned to her team.
She'd done her part, defending her title in the multi-event discipline with a career-high 6,094. That gave the Oregon women a valuable 10 points toward a team title at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships.
"The girls really want to win this national title. I wanted to make sure I got those 10 points not just for myself but for them," she said.
Kiani Profit of Maryland finished second in the heptathlon with 5,682 points, followed by Alabama's Chelsea Taylor with 5,617.
The second day of the meet was dominated by the multi-events, as well as the preliminary heats in advance of track competition on Friday and Saturday.
Theisen's Ducks were in third in the team standings with 16 points, behind Iowa State with 18 and leader Southern Illinois with 22.
It was also the second day of erratic weather at Oregon's historic Hayward Field. A mix of brilliant sunshine and sudden cloudbursts accompanied temperatures in the low 60s.
Theisen won the pentathlon at the NCAA indoor championships earlier this year. The women switch to the heptathlon for the outdoor season.
Last season at the outdoor championships in Fayetteville, Ark., Theisen scored 6,086 points, her previous personal best.
"It was a good feeling last year but this is so much better," she said. "The fans are here supporting us all year. And to be able to do a heptathlon for them and put up a good score is a really good feeling. That's a big thing for me, putting on a show for the fans."
Liberty's Sam Chelanga pulled out front early in the men's 10,000 meter finals and was a half-track ahead of the pack midway through the race. He finished in 28 minutes, 37.40 seconds, well in front of runner-up John Kosgei of Oklahoma State (28:55.93).
Chelanga set the collegiate 10K record by posting a 27:08.39 at the Payton Jordan Invitational in May. He also plans to run in the 5,000 meters in Eugene.
The softspoken runner said he didn't think he tapped himself out on Thursday.
"I will know more tomorrow," he said. "Right now I feel good."
Brown's Craig Kinsley won the men's javelin with a throw of 250 feet, 3 inches. Jordan Scott won the men's pole vault, which took more than 4½ hours to complete because of a rain delay, with a leap of 17 feet, 8 1/2 inches.
Nikola Lomnicka of Georgia won the hammer throw final with a hurl of 215-1, and Clemson's Patricia Mamona won the triple jump title with a leap of 45-11¾.
In the men's decathlon, Oregon's Ashton Eaton had 4,500 points after the first five events, a new American collegiate record for the first day. He passed the mark of 4,458 set by William Motti of Mount St. Mary's in 1985.
Eaton capped the day by winning the decathlon's 400 meters in 46.28, also a new American college record. It broke the mark of 46.89 set by Azusa Pacific's Jordgan Hudgens at the Mt. Sac Relays in 1999.
The announced crowd of 11,172 at Hayward Field cheered wildly when Eaton finished the 400 and raised his hands in an Oregon "O." The decathlon concludes on Friday.
Eaton set the world record in the heptathlon at the NCAA indoor championships earlier this spring, breaking the mark set 17 years ago by Dan O'Brien. But he insisted on Thursday that records were not on his mind.
"I'm just trying to get the 10 points for my team," he said.
Host Oregon was a runner-up last year for the NCAA team title, won by Texas A&M. After two days, Kansas and Texas A&M were leading the men's team standings with 18 points each.
-- Anne M. Peterson
Baseball
Sooners ride late-inning magic into super regional
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — During Oklahoma's suspense-filled NCAA tournament run, Bobby Shore looks for distractions to take his mind off the close games when he is not on the mound. Often a little bubble gum is enough to do the trick.
Lately, the pitcher has had plenty of reasons to look for distractions.
His Sooners (47-15) have won five of their last seven games by scoring in their final at-bat and won notched three straight by one run to squeak through the Norman Regional this past weekend.
Twice, Oklahoma needed extra innings to come out ahead.
"When I'm in the dugout doing the chart, I can't stand it. I'm going to have a heart attack in there," said Shore, who's left to take notes when it's not his turn in the starting rotation.
"I'd like to have some boat races in there. But they're fun games when you come out on top."
The Sooners have been able to find late-inning magic again and again in earning a trip to Charlottesville, Va., this weekend for a super regional against No. 5 national seed Virginia (50-12). Game 1 of the best-of-three series is Saturday.
It all started with three straight dramatic wins against Kansas last month. Tyler Ogle delivered a three-run double with two outs in the ninth to cap the Sooners' four-run rally for an 8-7 win on May 22. The next night, he hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the ninth for another
Then, in the opening game of the Big 12 tournament, the Jayhawks fell victim to another Oklahoma comeback as Cody Reine hit a game-ending two-run double in a 3-2 Sooners win.
Those heroics carried over into the postseason, with Chris Ellison and Erik Ross providing the decisive hits in the 10th inning for wins against Oral Roberts and North Carolina last weekend.
"The thing with our team is there's not that much pressure because we know that until the last out's been made, the game's not over," said third baseman Garrett Buechele, the son of former big leaguer Steve Buechele.
"That's something that we've established throughout the year for our team, the fact that until the game's over we still have a chance to win the game."
It's hardly how sixth-year coach Sunny Golloway would draw up the victories for his team.
"I think the players like the late-inning drama. I don't think the coaching staff likes it at all. But I do like the toughness," Golloway said. "Our program is built on mental toughness. We talk about it. We have a definition: Learning to be comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. ... There was nothing comfortable about this weekend."
The Sooners have arrived in the super regionals for just the second time since the NCAA tournament format was changed in 1999 in a season that started with some uncertainty.
Golloway lost six players to the first nine rounds of last year's Major League Baseball draft, and three others who were picked later on. Among those who moved on were the club's two top starting pitchers and five everyday starters.
For many of Oklahoma's current regulars, the late-inning dramatics are the only way they've experienced postseason success.
"It's a great feeling to know that you can come from behind, being down in the ninth inning or the eighth inning or whenever," Reine said. "It's good to know that you can count on the guy behind you to come through."
After winning 20 of their past 24 games, Golloway said the Sooners are brimming with confidence and the "expectations are to get to Omaha, and to not just get to Omaha but to win in Omaha" at the College World Series.
"We don't quit whether we're down or it's a one-run game. We just keep playing until the end," said Zach Neal, who is expected to start Game 2 on Sunday at Virginia. "That shows a lot about our team and our players and the group of guys that we are. We feel good about the wins this weekend. They were all good games. We're just going to keep pushing.
"Our goal is Omaha, so we've got one more weekend."
-- Jeff Latzke
In-state rivals Miami, Florida vying for CWS berth
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's path to Omaha goes through a familiar — and historically formidable — opponent.
The Gators (45-15), the No. 3 seed nationally, need to beat perennial powerhouse Miami (43-18) twice in three games this weekend to advance to the College World Series. It's something Florida has never done in postseason play.
Sure, the Gators beat Miami twice in last year's Gainesville Regional, but that series didn't have a CWS berth at stake.
This one does. And no team has kept Florida from making a trip to Omaha, Neb., more than Miami. The Hurricanes have claimed all seven series that included their in-state rivals and had the program's primary goal within reach.
"I don't think you need any more than Omaha on the line to make it competitive," Miami coach Jim Morris said Thursday. "When you get to this point, I honestly don't believe it matters who you're playing. Your guys are going come out to play. If they don't, something's wrong. This is for all the marbles."
With the stakes so high, both coaches are being tightlipped about their starters.
Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said he hasn't decided who will be on the mound for Friday night's opener in the best-of-three series. He narrowed it down to left-hander Alex Panteliodis (10-2, 3.39 ERA) or right-hander Hudson Randall (8-3, 2.97).
"There's pluses to both guys," O'Sullivan said. "I don't know if it's that big of a deal. The bottom line is you've got win two out of three."
Morris countered with similar secrecy, saying only that ace lefty Chris Hernandez would not be available in the opener. Hernandez pitched six scoreless innings against Texas A&M on Saturday, then returned for two more scoreless innings against the Aggies on Tuesday.
"Have they announced their starters?" Morris asked. "I don't guess we need to, either. We're either going to throw a left-hander or a right-hander. ... I'm not going to sit here and announce our rotation if they don't. I know what we're doing."
Hernandez (10-3, 2.77), a seventh-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox, is expected to start Saturday night.
"I know how things go," Hernandez said. "I came back last week on short rest and I did what I had to do to get us here anyway possible."
The 'Canes have made the CWS 11 times in 17 years under Morris, and considering this is the final year for Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, some believe it wouldn't be right not having Miami there for the storied stadium's final collegiate tournament.
But beating Florida might be as easy as Miami has made it look in the past.
The Gators have been nearly unbeatable at home, posting a 31-3 record and winning 13 in a row at McKethan Stadium. Florida swept the Gainesville Regional last weekend by thumping Bethune-Cookman, Oregon State and Florida Atlantic by a combined score of 32-5.
Miami presents a much tougher challenge, though.
The Hurricanes have won 10 of 15 postseason games against Florida, a somewhat one-sided affair that seemed much more daunting before Florida's two wins in last year's Gainesville Regional. Nonetheless, the Gators followed those with consecutive home losses to Southern Mississippi in the super regional.
"Last year, we were so close," first baseman Preston Tucker said. "We had to win two games at home to go to the World Series. Unfortunately, we didn't come out on top last year. But this year, I feel a lot more confident. Who wouldn't want to see Miami playing Florida to go to the World Series?"
It remains to be seen whether Tucker and his teammates feel the same way after this series.
"It doesn't matter who we play," said O'Sullivan, who won two of three at Miami in late March. "This is a chance to go to Omaha, best two out of three, playing at home. We're not going to underestimate anybody or overestimate anybody. Bottom line is we have to play well. If we play well, we have a chance. If we don't, then obviously we'll come out on the short end of it."
-- Mark Long
Vanderbilt, Florida State meet in super regional
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin credits a weeklong trip to Japan in late November for jump-starting a young Commodore baseball team now just a pair of wins away from its first trip to the College World Series.
Vanderbilt (45-18) came out of the loser's bracket to knock off top-seed Louisville is last week's regional round and advance to the super regional against Florida State in a best-of-three series that begins Friday. The host Seminoles (45-17) swept through their region in Norwich, Conn., with three straight wins to advance.
"We went to Tokyo for a week during Thanksgiving," Corbin said Thursday. "When we played those games against that competition, and it was very good competition, I thought our season already started."
Corbin said a tough early season schedule against teams on the West Coast also helped.
"From that point on our kids have responded in a very positive way, a very consistent way," he said.
Good pitching has help Vandy avoid any prolonged losing streaks.
"We don't drop off a whole lot from a pitching standpoint," Corbin said.
Sonny Gray (9-5) has a 3.51 earned run average and struck out 110 hitters in 102 innings for the Commodores while Taylor Hill (6-5) recorded a 4.15 era while also throwing 102 innings. Corbin hadn't decided Thursday which one will pitch Friday with the other going Saturday.
Florida State coach Mike Martin named a pair of sophomore lefties as his starters: Sean Gilmartin (8-7, 4.74) will pitch the opener with Brian Busch (5-1, 4.24) up in game two.
Sophomore third baseman Jason Esposito led Vandy's offense this season with a .359 batting average to go with 10 home runs, 59 runs batted in and 30 stolen bases in 34 attempts. Left-handed hitting Aaron Westlake clubbed 14 home runs and drove in 58 for Vanderbilt.
The Seminoles' 1-2 punch comes from junior outfielders Tyler Holt and Mike McGee, who doubles as Martin's closer.
Holt led the Seminoles with a .349 average and scored 79 runs while also stealing 29 bases in 31 tries. McGee hit a team-high 14 home runs and drove in 67 besides 11 saves after claiming the closer's role early in the season.
"We've got a ballclub that plays well together," Martin said Thursday, noting that Holt not only leads off but leads. "Holt is a guy who goes about his business and makes sure everybody else goes about theirs. He's played in a College World Series, he's played in super regionals."
And Martin hopes he'll play in one more next week.
-- Brent Kallestad
Wittels looking for a return to normal
MIAMI (AP) — Garrett Wittels still hasn't gotten a haircut.
Florida International's standout infielder and budding NCAA hit king isn't sure if he will anytime soon, either. After all, his streak hasn't ended. It's just on hiatus.
Wittels has experienced a wide range of emotions in the last few days, everything from the disappointment of FIU's season ending with two losses in the Coral Gables Regional round of the NCAA tournament to relief that the hubbub over his hitting exploits will subside until FIU's 2011 season opens next winter.
"The last couple days have been hard," Wittels said. "You look at the TV and college baseball's still going on. And you hope that we're still playing. But the season's over, and there's many different things that I can take into next year, so many things I can improve on."
It was nothing short of a sensational year for Wittels, who finished the season with a 56-game hitting streak, two shy of matching Robin Ventura's Division I record. Wittels will carry that streak into next season, when he'll aim to repeat as the Sun Belt Conference player of the year.
Wittels also was named a first-team All-American by Ping!Baseball and Louisville Slugger.
"I just liked to get the focus more on the team and not me," Wittels said. "A lot of times, a lot of people would joke around and say we were the 'Garrett Panthers' or the 'FIU Garretts,' this and that. But it wasn't about me. This was about the whole team. We used it as inspiration, went out there, played our game and played really well toward the end of the year."
And as Streakwatch continued and kept growing, Wittels was clearly uncomfortable with certain aspects of it all.
"Now that it's over, it's definitely good," Wittels said. "It gets a little annoying when you're trying to work on things, this and that, and you always have to look around to see who's watching. I tried to just stay humble throughout the whole thing, take it as a learning process. I enjoyed it completely. I'm so honored to have done this."
As the streak got longer, the Golden Panthers surely played better — they won 10 of 14 games at one point late in the year, including five straight win-or-else games to capture the Sun Belt title and berth in the NCAA tournament.
With many key players back, expectations will be high for FIU in 2011.
But when next season begins, all eyes will be on Wittels, who acknowledges that waiting to resume his pursuit of history won't be easy.
"It's going to be tough. I'm not going to lie," Wittels said. "The biggest thing is, I just have to get myself better and work as hard as I can until we're ready to open up the year."
Wittels will play summer baseball in Alaska, and if he goes without a hit in any game there, he might give in to one of his superstitions — during the streak, along with chewing watermelon-flavored bubble gum, Wittels refused to get his hair cut. It's now a dark, curly mop that he can barely squeeze inside his helmet.
Vanity might have to wait. The baseball rule is, never mess with a streak.
"I'm still up in the air," Wittels said. "I might have to wait until next year for that."
-- Tim Reynolds
Football
Tuberville: Auburn worthy of '04 title
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville feels his unbeaten 2004 team should be declared national champions after the NCAA ordered Southern California to vacate wins, including the BCS championship game.
It won't happen. BCS Coordinator Bill Hancock said Thursday that the championship would be left vacant, barring a successful appeal by USC.
Tuberville said Auburn would have been worthy.
"I don't think there's any doubt. I think how they played all year long, beat five Top 10 teams and unfortunately we started (17th) in the polls and worked our way all the way up," Tuberville said during a football camp at Texas Tech, his new team. "That's the first time in history No. 1 and 2 never lost during the year. It's just one of those unfortunate years.
"I think they deserve it."
The NCAA imposed a two-year bowl ban and the loss of 30 scholarships Thursday for numerous violations mostly involving Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Reggie Bush and men's basketball player O.J. Mayo.
The NCAA found that Bush, identified as a "former football student-athlete," was ineligible beginning at least by December 2004 and ordered USC to vacate wins in which Bush participated while ineligible.
USC beat Oklahoma in the BCS championship game on Jan. 4, 2005, while Auburn completed a 13-0 season by defeating Virginia Tech. The Tigers were No. 2 in the final poll and the BCS rankings.
They had to settle for being declared champs by Golf Digest. Tuberville acknowledged that it wouldn't necessarily have been a black-and-white case of Auburn over Oklahoma if the BCS opted to declare a champion and not leave it vacant.
He hoped they would "continue the process."
"We never complained and we won't complain now," Tuberville said.
That Auburn team had four players taken in the first round of the NFL draft a few months later — quarterback Jason Campbell, running backs Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams and cornerback Carlos Rogers.
"For that group of players, and I've been on three national championship teams at Miami, that's as good a football team as I've been around," said Tuberville, a former Miami Hurricanes assistant, before the BCS announced its decision on leaving the title vacant.
"And so they might get their just due and I think that's what those players deserve."
The Tigers' only national championship was in 1957.
-- John Zenor
QB's dismissal caps stunning fall from grace
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Jeremiah Masoli finished last season at the Rose Bowl, already bestowed with Heisman Trophy buzz. Most agreed he had the potential to do something special at Oregon this season.
Just five months later, Masoli is a disgraced former Duck, dumped from the team for wasting a second chance in a stunning fall from grace.
Masoli was pulled over by police on Monday night in Springfield, Ore., for failing to stop when exiting a driveway. Police say he was driving on a suspended license and there was a small amount of marijuana in the glove box.
It was his second run-in with the law in less that six months. He pleaded guilty in a January theft at a fraternity house and was suspended for the entire upcoming season by Oregon coach Chip Kelly.
Masoli, with one year of eligibility remaining, was allowed to practice with the team while suspended, but he was warned to stay out of trouble.
A brief statement released by the university on Wednesday said Masoli was dismissed "for a failure to adhere to obligations previously outlined by head football coach Chip Kelly."
Kelly would not comment further.
The university said Thursday that Masoli is not currently on scholarship because the term is over. It was not known whether he had completed his finals, but he would need to maintain his academic standing should he choose to transfer and use his final year of eligibility, said athletic department spokesman Dave Williford.
Attempts to contact Masoli were unsuccessful. There was no answer at the door of his apartment.
On New Year's Day, Masoli played in Pasadena. Even though Oregon lost to Ohio State, the Ducks were elated to be in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1995.
Masoli had directed an offense that racked up more than 37 points and 424 yards per game during the regular season while ending Southern California's seven-year reign as Pac-10 champions.
But soon after the Rose Bowl, things began to unravel.
In late January, a student reported that a pair of football players had stolen a pair of laptops and a guitar from his fraternity house. He identified one of the players as Masoli.
Rumors swirled until Masoli was formally charged in March. Ultimately he pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and was immediately suspended by Kelly.
Masoli was cited for Monday's noncriminal violations. He can either pay the fines associated with the citation or appear in Springfield Municipal Court on June 24.
It was unclear how the violations would impact the terms of his probation from the March guilty plea.
Darron Thomas, competing to take over as starting QB for the Ducks in the upcoming season, was in the car Monday when Masoli was stopped. Thomas was not cited and Oregon said he would not face discipline.
Masoli's trouble comes in an offseason littered with player transgressions.
Running back LaMichael James, who set the Pac-10 freshman record with 1,546 yards rushing last season, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment in March for an altercation with his former girlfriend.
James was suspended for the season opener against New Mexico, as was place-kicker Rob Beard, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges connected to a street fight in January.
Others on the team who have gotten into trouble include linebacker Kiko Alonso, who was arrested on drunken driving charges. Alonso, who pleaded not guilty, was suspended for the upcoming season.
Defensive end Matt Simms was dismissed by Kelly after he was cited on assault charges last month. Simms pleaded guilty to physical harassment for striking a man he thought had beaten Beard.
Receiver Jamere Holland was dismissed from the team by Kelly after posting vulgar comments and criticizing Kelly on the Facebook social networking site.
But Masoli's descent was by far the most dramatic. His dismissal Wednesday briefly drew attention away from opening day at the NCAA track and field championships at Oregon's historic Hayward Field.
Jon Taylor, a Duck fan attending the meet on Thursday, had no sympathy for Masoli.
"He got his second chance, plain and simple," Taylor said. "He blew it."
-- Anne M. Peterson
Men's Basketball
UCLA to hold John Wooden memorial on June 26
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A public memorial service for John Wooden will be held June 26 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, where Wooden coached the Bruins to several of their record 10 national basketball championships under him.
About 6,000 seats in Pauley's middle and upper levels will be available to the public on a general admission basis. Floor seats will be reserved for the Wooden family, current and former Bruin basketball players and coaches and other designated guests.
For those not admitted to Pauley, the 90-minute service will be shown live on two video boards in nearby Drake Stadium. The university said Thursday that the service will begin at 11 a.m. PDT.
The service will be televised live in Los Angeles. Wooden died June 4 at age 99.
Memo in 1999 warned UConn of Nochimson
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut's basketball staff was warned in 1999 not to have contact with a man now at the center of the school's recruiting scandal.
A Nov. 22, 1999, memo from Bill Shults, then a university compliance officer, informs the basketball staff that former team manager Josh Nochimson was off limits because he was considered to be an agent by the NCAA. At the time, Nochimson was working as a business adviser for former UConn star Richard Hamilton.
The memo was noted by the NCAA in its recent notice of allegations, accusing UConn of eight recruiting violations. Details of the memo were first reported Wednesday by The Hartford Courant.
The NCAA had been investigating since a report by Yahoo! Sports last year that Nochimson helped guide player Nate Miles to Connecticut, giving him lodging, transportation, meals and representation.
Women's Basketball
Miami gives Meier new 5-year contract
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Katie Meier has signed a new five-year deal to stay at Miami, a reward following a season where she led the Hurricanes to a 22-14 record and a trip to the WNIT championship game.
The university announced the deal Thursday.
"We are excited about the tremendous progress our women's basketball team achieved this past season," athletic director Kirby Hocutt said. "Coach Meier continues to assemble a special group of talented young women at the University of Miami."
Meier is 72-84 after her first five seasons at Miami, though her last three recruiting classes have all been ranked among the Top 25 nationally. Last season was a breakthrough for the Hurricanes, who went 5-1 in the WNIT and beat a pair of teams — Florida State and North Carolina — who held top-15 national rankings at the time.
"I love working for the University of Miami," said Meier. "I'm very proud to work for both Kirby Hocutt and (university) President (Donna) Shalala — two individuals who have recognized the progress we have made in women's basketball and more importantly are as confident as I am in the future success of this program."
Before last season, only one other Miami women's team had won 22 games since 1993. The Hurricanes will have three starters back next season, including their top two scorers, Riquna Williams and Shenise Johnson, who combined to average 38.6 points a year ago.
Huskies name Locke women's hoops assistant
SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington women's basketball team has added assistant coach Kyle Locke. Huskies coach Tia Jackson announced Thursday that Locke had arrived from Coppin State.
He was an assistant for nine years for the Division I school in Baltimore. He was known there for coaching defense and recruiting.
Jackson cites Locke's "passion, drive and coaching experience." She calls him a "perfect fit" and exceptional recruiter for the Huskies.
The 36-year-old Locke calls it "a step up to the upper echelon of college basketball, the Pac-10."
The native of Philadelphia and former Coppin State player is replacing Fred Applin. Applin left Washington to pursue a coaching chance at East Carolina.
Chelsea Newton returns to Rutgers as assistant
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Former women's basketball standout Chelsea Newton is returning to Rutgers as an assistant coach.
Scarlet Knights head coach C. Vivian Stringer made the announcement Thursday.
The upcoming season will be the 27th straight year that Stringer has had at least one former player on her staff.
This will be Newton's second stint on Rutgers bench. She previously served as director of player development during the 2006-07 season, when the Scarlet Knights advanced to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship final.
Newton played for Rutgers from 2001-05. She played five seasons in the WNBA — four with Sacramento and one with the Chicago Sky. She announced her retirement on April 27.
