College Capsules: Pitching evolution positioned Gamecocks for title
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Michael Roth plans to celebrate South Carolina’s second straight national championship on the Mediterranean coast. A little Spanish, a little windsurfing — all part of his plan while studying abroad in Alicante, Spain.
"I’m not picking up a ball," Roth said.
Roth and the rest of the pitching staff certainly deserve some rest and relaxation after the job they did this season, which ended with a 5-2 win over Florida on Tuesday night and a two-game sweep in the College World Series finals.
South Carolina had to reset its rotation after losing All-American Blake Cooper and Sam Dyson from 2010’s title team and then readjust as injuries cropped up. The only sure thing was Matt Price, who has been one of the nation’s top closers for two years.
"From a coaching standpoint, even though you had a good group of core players, you had to pitch," coach Ray Tanner said. "We knew we had Price at the back end and some setup guys, but our big question was whether we were going to be able to get enough guys up front to support the core group of returners."
Roth made a successful move from bullpen to starter, a transition that started with two impressive outings in last year’s CWS. He went 14-3 with a 1.03 ERA this season and was the winning pitcher in the title-clinching victory.
"I would have been happy with him even winning eight or nine games. Now he’s won 14," Tanner said. "He started it for us."
The Gamecocks also found dependable starters in Forrest Koumas and Colby Holmes after beginning the year with Steven Neff, Tyler Webb and Adam Westmoreland in the rotation.
John Taylor set a school record with 50 appearances out of the bullpen, and Price’s 20 saves were double the number he had last year.
Koumas, who pitched a strong 5 2-3 innings in Game 1 of the finals, was 6-1 as a freshman. Holmes, a sophomore who wasn’t on the 2010 postseason roster because of a hand injury, was 7-3.
The Gamecocks already were without junior Nolan Belcher and freshman Drake Thomason, both of whom had Tommy John surgery before the season. Neff developed a sore bicep and moved to the outfield to shore up another injury-depleted area. Webb also missed time with a bicep problem.
Fortunately, Roth was an anchor from start to finish.
He went 38 1-3 innings without giving up an earned run, and his ERA was lowest in the country among pitchers with more than 55 innings of work.
"I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to have Michael out front," Tanner said. "We felt like that because we had lost Cooper, we lost Dyson. We knew what he was all about as far as the competitive mode that he would be in. But he had done a tremendous job for us as a situational lefty, had the big starts at the end of the year and we just felt that it was going to be the right thing with his presence."
Tanner said he’s hopeful that Roth, a draft pick of the Cleveland Indians, will decide to return for his senior year and rejoin Koumas and Holmes in the rotation. Roth was noncommittal about his plans.
Taylor and fellow senior Jose Mata are the only pitchers who definitely will leave.
Price, a third-year sophomore, was drafted in the sixth round by the Arizona Diamondbacks and is expected to turn pro.
Price provided what’s sure to be one of the enduring memories for the first year of the CWS at the new TD Ameritrade Park. He worked out of three bases-loaded situations late in the 13-inning win over Virginia that put the Gamecocks in the finals.
"I can’t imagine another pitcher in college baseball or maybe professional baseball being in as many tough situations throughout the course of two seasons that we put Matt Price into," Tanner said.
Next year’s question marks will be in the infield. There could be a hole in the middle because second baseman Scott Wingo, the CWS Most Outstanding Player, is a senior and shortstop Peter Mooney could go pro after getting drafted by Toronto.
Adrian Morales is a senior, which opens the job at third base. That leaves first baseman Christian Walker, who played the finals with a broken wrist, as the Gamecocks’ only definite returning starter in the infield.
Left fielder Jake Williams and right fielder Evan Marzilli will be back, but center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., was picked by the Boston Red Sox and will consider turning pro.
No one rules out the Gamecocks making a run at a third straight national title, not after the way they worked their late-game magic over and over to win this year. Tanner, whose .699 winning percentage in 15 years at South Carolina ranks second in Southeastern Conference history, has built a strong enough program to withstand departures.
"You get a little luck shining on you and it works out for the best," Tanner said. "That’s what happened for us. These guys are play-makers. They’ve done a good job between the lines and we had some good fortune."
South Carolina comes home with second straight title
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Gamecocks flag is flying on top of the South Carolina state capitol. Columbia's classic rock station is taking requests for the school's fight song and state senators briefly put aside debate on redistricting to call for university trustees to name the baseball stadium after the team's head coach.
Yep, Columbia is celebrating South Carolina's second straight baseball national championship.
The team came home Wednesday to 11,820 screaming fans at the school's basketball arena. On the stage was the 2010 trophy. Captain Scott Wingo brought in the 2011 trophy as "We Are the Champions" played.
The second trophy might even have been a surprise to coach Ray Tanner. Athletic director Eric Hyman told a story about consulting Tanner on the trophy case for the baseball stadium after winning last year's title. Tanner appeared to be happy with a design that would fit just one trophy. Hyman said there needed to be more room.
"I won out on that one," Hyman said.
The crowd chanted "one more year" to junior ace pitcher Michael Roth, who was picked in the 31st round of the Major League draft by the Cleveland Indians.
"I'm pretty sure I'll see you back here in August," said Roth, who in five appearances in the past two College World Series has a 1.17 ERA in 38 1-3 innings.
The party happened just a few block from the Statehouse, where the governor's declaration put the Gamecock flag on the dome in the same spot where the Confederate flag waved for decades. The party keeps going Friday, when the city of Columbia plans a parade down Main Street.
Although it will likely never be as big as football in South Carolina, the baseball team has found a special place in the hearts of long-suffering Gamecocks fans. After all, how many of them could imagine a time where they could talk about a national championship in a major sport? And now they can have the enviable discussion about which one was better.
The fans wore T-shirts not just celebrating the baseball titles, but also last year's appearance by the football team in the Southeastern Conference title game as well as the Gamecocks wins in the past 18 months over No. 1 Alabama in football and No. 1 Kentucky in men's basketball.
"We've been through the grinder. We've seen heartbreak for many, many years. That's why this means so much," said 78-year-old Frank Hays of Hartsville.
The baseball team also quieted talk about a "chicken curse." The Gamecocks have won 16 NCAA tournament games in a row and 11 straight College World Series games since dropping the opener of the College World Series last year to Oklahoma. Both are NCAA records. During the postseason run, South Carolina has won four games in extra innings and seven of those games by one run.
"We may not be the most talented team in the world," Roth said. "But we are the best team in the nation."
The win got a $75,000 bonus for head coach Ray Tanner, but will also likely elevate him to greater heights. In 15 years with the school, he has missed the NCAA tournament just twice — both time in his first three seasons. His winning percentage with the Gamecocks is .699.
And there will undoubtedly be a push to name South Carolina's 3-year-old baseball stadium in his honor, as evidenced on the floor of the South Carolina Senate on Wednesday. Senators mentioned both the back-to-back titles and Tanner's work with his charitable foundation for both poor children and d ,kids with medical needs.
"These guys win the games," Tanner said, deflecting talk about his legacy or what he means to the school. "I have great assistant coaches."
Tanner guided a team that lost several key contributors, then suddenly got knocked with injuries. At one point, Tanner had to turn to his bullpen because he ran out of healthy outfielders. Then, first baseman Christian Walker fractured his wrist just before the final series with Florida, but still played, getting four hits in nine at-bats in the two games and scoring the winning run in the 11th inning of the opener.
Walker got one of the biggest cheers of the night when he lifted his arm, in a black cast, and waved it to the crowd. He declined his coach's invitation to speak, saying "that's your job."
Tanner said he was amazed by Walker's resilience to play through pain and by the number of tough plays his team made to stay undefeated. He said the one that stuck out in his mind the most was Wingo's diving stab with the bases loaded, no outs and the game tied in the bottom of the ninth against Florida in the championship series opener. Wingo's throw to home was short, but Robert Beary pulled it out of the dirt with his catcher's mitt.
"Some people say hey, you guys are pretty lucky, well, maybe so," Tanner said. "But these guys have to make plays. It's just not routine. You still have to field, catch and throw and create double plays when you need one."
-- Jeffrey Collins
Oklahoma school picks new baseball coach
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — Northeastern State University has named a new head baseball coach. Director of Athletics Tony Duckworth said Wednesday that Travis Janssen will succeed Sergio Espinal, who resigned in May after 11 seasons.
Janssen was an assistant at Jacksonville State in Alabama from 2006 to this year. He was Jacksonville State's third base coach. The Gamecocks made two NCAA regional appearances and won a pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles during his tenure.
Janssen began his coaching career as a student assistant at Kansas State in 1996. A year later he moved to Butler County (Kan.) Community College.
From 1998-2001 Janssen was a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Arkansas, helping lead the Razorbacks to a 42-23 record and NCAA Regional berth in 1999.
Football
Notre Dame’s Floyd gets one-year probation for DUI
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Suspended Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor drunken driving and was sentenced to a year of probation. Whether he plays next season remains unclear.
St. Joseph County Magistrate Brian Steinke gave Floyd a one-year jail sentence that was suspended as part of a plea agreement. He also said Floyd cannot drive for 90 days and once when he does, he must have an ignition device installed on his vehicle for six months that won't allow it to start if his blood-alcohol level is too high.
The 21-year-old Floyd was fined $200 and ordered to attend a victim impact panel to hear from people whose family members were killed in drunken driving accidents.
Floyd, who has had two previous incidents involving alcohol, left court quickly after the hearing and declined to comment. He only spoke briefly during the hearing, answering yes to several questions from the judge. He had not been in court for two previous hearings.
Floyd was arrested at 3:18 a.m. March 20 after running a stop sign a block from the school's main entrance. Prosecutors say a breath test showed Floyd had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana's legal limit for driving.
Floyd's attorney, William Stanley, told reporters after the hearing that his client accepted full responsibility from the start.
"Never once did he ever try to give an excuse as to his actions or ever try to mitigate the seriousness of the offense," he said.
Coach Brian Kelly suspended Floyd, Notre Dame's leading receiver last season, after his arrest. Earlier this month, the coach said Floyd would be allowed to participate in voluntary workouts with the team this summer and strength and conditioning exercises supervised by staff.
Kelly said Floyd still had steps he must take to be reinstated to the team, but didn't specify what those steps were. Brian Hardin, Notre Dame's director of football media relations, said Kelly would have no comment on Floyd's plea agreement and Stanley said he doesn't know Floyd's status with the team.
"That's coach Kelly's decision," he said.
Stanley said Floyd went through alcohol counseling at Notre Dame.
Floyd was cited for underage consumption of alcohol on May 15, 2009, in his home state of Minnesota, and pleaded guilty through a hearing officer a month later.
Floyd was also cited for underage drinking in Minneapolis on Jan. 8, 2010. Floyd and Minnesota running back Shady Salamon, who were former Cretin-Derham Hall prep teammates in St. Paul, Minn., were cited after police were called to a fight involving six to 10 people.
Stanley said Floyd performed more than 32 hours of community service in Minnesota when he went home at the end of the school year even though he wasn't required to, saying he has also talked to students about the importance of academics.
"I think he did it for his own well-being," Stanley said. "I think he understood he had to give a little to get something back."
Floyd holds the school record for touchdown catches (28) and ranks second in school history in catches (171) and third in receiving yards (2,539). Floyd had faced a maximum sentence of a year in jail. A charge of running a stop sign was dismissed.
-- Tom Coyne
Chizik discusses new book, Newton
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Coach Gene Chizik wants Auburn fans to remember quarterback Cam Newton for more than the on-the-field exploits that culminated with the Tigers winning a national championship and Newton running away with the Heisman Trophy.
And he means that in a good way.
Chizik defends the No. 1 NFL draft pick in the upcoming book "All In: What It Takes To Be the Best" but describes it as "really a story about football, family and faith."
"I think me going to bat for Cameron Newton is something that just in my spirit and my heart, I feel very strongly about," Chizik said Wednesday. "He's a very gifted person and not just as an athlete. He's an amazing kid. He needs to be remembered at Auburn as a great individual as well as a great player."
Newton, who's now with the Carolina Panthers, was a lightning-rod for controversy late in the season with the NCAA investigating a pay-for-play scheme that involved his father Cecil during Newton's recruitment at Mississippi State.
Chizik discussed the book — and Newton — in a conference call with reporters ahead of its July 5 release that will have him hit the road for a promotional tour with nine stops in four states, starting in Ridgewood, N.J. All proceeds go to his family's You Turn Foundation.
He said doing the book required "a lot of midnight phone calls" with co-author David Thomas and sessions during spring break, and that he wanted to make sure it didn't take away from either family time or his day job.
Chizik declined to discuss the recent recruitment of former North Carolina State quarterback and pro baseball player Russell Wilson. Wilson ended up choosing to spend his final season at Wisconsin.
"Obviously I don't discuss recruiting," Chizik said.
In the book, Chizik talks about his departure after two seasons at Iowa State to take the Auburn job despite a 5-19 record that led many to question the hiring, as well as the Tigers' national title run and 14-0 record.
He's hoping that personal and team success story will resonate with even non-football fans who have been through trials like illness, death of a spouse or divorce. Their own equivalent of having to rise from a 5-19 record.
"It's the story of 100-plus special young guys who in August 2010, nobody had on their radar for a national championship, but in January 2011 was holding that crystal football," Chizik said. "There's a message of hope in the book that people can get out of that, overcome and keep pressing toward the prize, even if you have a 5-19 in your life."
-- John Zenor
Utah AG seeks partners in potential BCS lawsuit
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is once again seeking antitrust law firms to join a potential federal lawsuit aimed at disbanding the BCS.
Shurtleff says he has begun the process of selecting a legal team to investigate and possibly sue the Bowl Championship Series.
He says there are "serious antitrust violations" in the BCS system, which is used to crown a national champion in college football. He sought similar proposals from law firms in April, accusing the BCS of being an illegal monopoly.
Shurtleff says it doesn't matter that the University of Utah will join the BCS in the Pac-12 Conference. He says the same flawed system remains.
The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division also plans to meet with the BCS for a briefing on how the series operates.
Longtime athletic trainer Randy Oravetz steps down
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida State trainer responsible for the daily care of two national champion football teams is retiring.
The school announced Wednesday that Randy Oravetz is stepping down after 32 years. For the past 25 years, he was director of sports medicine, where he led a department that cared for more than 500 athletes in 19 sports. Bobby Bowden's Seminoles recorded an unprecedented run of 14 consecutive seasons of 10 or more wins during Oravetz's tenure and the track team won three national championships in recent years.
Oravetz served as the primary liaison between the Florida State team doctors and the coaching staff. He graduated from Florida State in 1979 and began his career in the training room under the late Don Fauls.
MSU football player Smith retires
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Montana State defensive end Brad Smith, who has battled injuries over the years, has decided to end his football career. The Belgrade native played in all 12 games as a redshirt freshman, starting seven, and tallied 41 tackles with 9.5 for a loss including 3.5 sacks. He missed most of the last two seasons with injuries.
Coach Rob Ash says Smith kept experiencing setbacks in getting his body ready for the fall and made the difficult decision to retire. Ash says Smith remains on scholarship and is on schedule to graduate with his business degree.
NDSU's Bohl accepts five-year contract extension
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Football coach Craig Bohl and North Dakota State University have agreed to a five-year contract extension that pays a base salary of $196,668 plus incentives for wins in the conference and the playoffs.
Bohl enters his ninth season with the Bison with a 61-30 career record. In 2010, the Bison made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision I (FCS) playoffs. NDSU opens the 2011 season at home Sept. 3 against Lafayette College.
Men's Basketball
Smith, Coach K, Yow honored by Naismith
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Only on Tobacco Road could this scene unfold: Dean Smith slowly walked onto the stage, his arm held by Roy Williams, and sat next to Mike Krzyzewski. A few seats down was the sister of the late women's coach Kay Yow.
Smith, Krzyzewski and Yow — three Hall of Fame coaches who have combined for more than 2,500 victories at North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State, respectively — were honored Wednesday night on "Basketball Day" in North Carolina.
Each point of the state's Triangle was represented and celebrated during a ceremony presented by the state's sports hall of fame, with each receiving Naismith Good Sportsmanship Awards for their contributions to the game by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.
"You can't bring those three entities together and not have it be an incredible night," Krzyzewski said.
Krzyzewski enters his 37th season as a head coach with 900 wins — two shy of matching Bob Knight for the most by a Division I men's coach. Smith retired in 1997 as the record-holder with 879 wins. Yow, who died in 2009 after a two-decade fight with cancer, won 737 games during her career.
"If anybody asked me who made ACC basketball, without a doubt, it's Coach Smith," said College of Charleston coach Bobby Cremins, a longtime rival of Smith's and Krzyzewski's from his time at Georgia Tech.
Then, he quipped: "I'm very proud of what I accomplished, and when I see what (Krzyzewski has) accomplished, I feel like a cockroach."
The 80-year-old Smith, who rarely appears publicly, didn't speak to the crowd and appeared on the stage for only about 10 minutes. Williams escorted him out and brought him to a seat between Krzyzewski and Charles Scott — the first black player in North Carolina history.
As the crowd gave Smith a standing ovation, he beamed a smile and playfully bowed toward the audience to show his appreciation.
"I feel inadequate up here," said Williams, who spoke in place of Smith. "How do you represent Coach Smith?"
Smith led North Carolina to national championships in 1982 and 1993, took the Tar Heels to 11 Final Fours, won the ACC tournament 13 times and led the U.S. to the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
"Lou Gehrig might have been the luckiest person in the world," Scott said. "But we who played for Coach Smith ... we are the luckiest people in the world."
Krzyzewski, passed Smith, his longtime rival, on the wins list in December. In more than three decades at Duke, he has taken the Blue Devils to 11 Final Fours — one shy of John Wooden's record — and won four national championships in a span of 20 years.
"What an amazing thing for us to recognize three giants in the history of the sport of college basketball," said Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski, who presented Krzyzewski. "I think it's so fitting that we are talking about (not only) how much they won, but more importantly the way in which they won. All three coaches, they won with class, they won with integrity and no matter where they went ... everyone they touched wound up better for it."
Yow was remembered for her graceful fight against breast cancer, her gold medal-winning performance for the U.S. at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and the Wolfpack's inspirational postseason run in 2007. That team, fueled by Yow's return from cancer treatments, upset undefeated and No. 1 Duke to reach the ACC championship game and advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
"I'm still dealing with the fact that she isn't here," said her sister, N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow. "She would be so proud ... (because) winning the right way did matter to Kay."
A moment of silence was held for former N.C. State men's player Lorenzo Charles. The hero of the Wolfpack's improbable run to the 1983 national championship was killed earlier this week in a bus accident.
-- Joedy McCreary
NCAA eyes summer hoops in recruiting rules rewrite
ST. LOUIS (AP) — It's almost July, and for college basketball coaches and their assistants, that means a series of trips that makes the conference road schedule look like a drive to the gym.
There are more than 230 NCAA-approved events coming up around the country featuring high school stars — and potential recruits — from the Nike Peach Jam in South Carolina to LeBron James' skills academy in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, to any of the five youth tournaments slated for Las Vegas over a single summer weekend.
Even as it acts as a gatekeeper for the summer circuit, the NCAA is working to rewrite its men's basketball recruiting rules to try and slim down the season, avoiding potentially unsavory influences of AAU coaches, event operators and other hangers-on who may be looking to ride the coattails of the next superstar.
The latest effort comes after conference commissioners asked the NCAA to entirely scrap the July recruiting period. An NCAA panel is instead expected to recommend a reduction in July recruiting, but not its outright elimination.
DePaul assistant coach Billy Garrett knows the nuances of summer travel ball better than most: along with his job as a recruiter, his son Billy Jr. is a top prep prospect.
The younger Garrett, a 6-foot-3 inch point guard entering his junior year, has verbally committed to stay in Chicago and play for his father's school. Yet he'll continue to crisscross the country over the next few months, attending events such as the recent Nike Elite 100 camp for top high school freshmen and sophomores.
"Anybody that's good wants to play the best," said the elder Garrett, a former college football player whose previous coaching stops include Iowa, Seton Hall and Siena.
Current NCAA rules provide two 10-day windows for coaches to evaluate prospects: July 6-15 and July 22-31. That means a midsummer schedule packed with events ranging from the Battle of The Ballerz in Tulsa to the L.A. LAST CHANCE College Coach View in Anaheim, Calif.
The Division I Leadership Council plans to offer a series of suggested changes for consideration by NCAA members later this year or in early 2012, said Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke, who heads the effort. While Burke said the proposals aren't "revolutionary," they're not insignificant. Among the group's expected recommendations, in addition to a reduction in the July recruiting period:
— lifting the ban on off-campus contacts between coaches and recruits during their junior year;
— requiring recruits to meet minimum academic standards before they can visit a college campus as a recruit;
— further restrictions on unofficial visits, with closer scrutiny of how such visits are paid for.
College basketball has had an uneasy relationship with non-scholastic travel teams — many of which play under the AAU moniker — for years. The concern is for potential recruiting violations and improper benefits that result in scandals and hurt the sport. The investment of major equipment and apparrel sponsors in youth teams, Nike, adidas and other shoe companies, has only made things more complicated.
Coaches, meanwhile, know their relationships with an AAU contact can help land a recruit for their team, sometimes even going so far as to hire inexperienced assistants with strong grass roots ties.
That was the case at Indiana in 2007, where former coach Kelvin Sampson hired AAU coach Travis Steele as the team's video coordinator to help land Eric Gordon. More recently, UCLA coach Ben Howland hired as an assistant 32-year-old Korey McCray, coach of an Atlanta AAU team whose alumni include NBA stars Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Amare Stoudamire.
Yet they're also aware that rule-breakers in that crowd can bring down a program. In 2004, the NCAA sanctioned Auburn after concluding that summer team coach Mark Komara was essentially a school booster who provided two of his players recruited by Auburn with extra benefits.
And a decade ago, Kansas City AAU coach Myron Piggie was convicted of federal fraud and tax evasion charges after he admitted paying five high school stars, often hiding the money in shoe boxes.
Both instances led to incremental changes in summer basketball recruiting rules — along with calls for more forceful action.
"I don't know that you're necessarily going to be able to walk away from the summer," Burke said. "The third-party influences aren't going to go away."
And even before the two July recruiting periods, top players do like to play together. At the Nike camp, college basketball's next generation were paired with Nike instructors and well-regarded high school coaches at a Saint Louis University rec center.
Campers worked on fundamentals but also spent much of the four-day session in 3-on-3 games as well as daily 5-on-5 contests, culminating with a championship.
Mindful of the summer circuit critics, Nike has formed an "Elite Youth Basketball League" for 40 spring and summer 17-and-under travel teams that includes a regular season and concludes with a 24-team championship at the mid-July Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C.
"We've definitely put more of an emphasis on skills development," said Vince Baldwin, Nike's elite youth director of scouting. "Kids were playing way too many meaningless games."
Like Garrett, who attended the St. Louis event as a parent, Baldwin said the summer circuit has a valuable, if misunderstood, role, especially for college programs with smaller recruiting budgets.
"It hurts the universities and it hurts the kids," he said, referring to the likely reduction in the July evaluation period. "Colleges will make more mistakes about who they recruit. And kids will get overlooked."
Similar to members of select soccer programs or summer baseball all-star teams, the basketball players at summer all-star camps are there to match their skills against other top talent, Baldwin said. Most high school games can't provide that sort of environment.
"It's about the competition," he said. "You can watch them compete against other Division I athletes. If you watch a kid at his high school, he might be the only Division I athlete on the court."
Burke acknowledged that "there are some good things to come out of the camps." But he also stands firmly behind the NCAA's effort to keep those influences in check.
"There are way too many people out there ... selling a vision that only a few will realize," he said.
-- Alan Scher Zagier
Raleigh police don’t know why Charles’ bus crashed
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Raleigh police say they are looking for witnesses to help determine why a charter bus driven by Lorenzo Charles crashed earlier this week, killing the North Carolina State University basketball star.
Police filed a report Wednesday about the wreck Monday afternoon on Interstate 40. Police say the bus ran off the road for an unknown reason, rumbled through a grass shoulder, across an on-ramp and into a wooded area. The report says the bus then struck several trees and went back across the road before stopping.
Police spokesman Jim Sughrue says officers remain interested in obtaining information from any witnesses.
Charles is remembered for his game-winning dunk in the 1983 NCAA championship game.
Jent leaves Cavs for post at alma mater Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Chris Jent is leaving the team to take a similar position at Ohio State, where he played for four seasons.
Buckeyes coach Thad Matta announced the move Wednesday. Jent replaces Brandon Miller, who resigned to spend more time with family.
Jent was a Cavaliers assistant since 2009, joining the organization in 2006 as director of player development. He played at Ohio State from 1988-92, scoring more that 1,000 points in 123 games. The Sparta, N.J., native played two years in the NBA, with the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.
He served as interim head coach and an assistant coach for Orlando in 2004-05, and as an assistant coach/player development for Philadelphia in 2003-04.
MSU Billings men's hoops signs brothers from Utah
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana State Billings men's basketball coach Jamie Stevens has announced the signing of a pair of brothers from Sandy, Utah, who previously played for him at Central Wyoming College.
Chase Richards transfers to MSU Billings from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and has one year of eligibility remaining. He played two seasons at Central Wyoming, where he averaged 9.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. At Colorado Springs, he averaged three points and 1.2 rebounds per game as a guard last season.
Preston Richards played at Central Wyoming during the 2008-09 season, averaging 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a freshman before leaving for a two-year mission trip. He comes to MSU Billings with three years of eligibility remaining.
Sioux City East coach takes job at Creighton
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton coach Greg McDermott has hired Sioux City East High School coach Jeff Vanderloo as his new director of basketball operations. Vanderloo replaces Erik Crawford, who left this week for an assistant coaching job at Northern Iowa.
Vanderloo has spent the past 19 seasons at Sioux City East, leading the Black Raiders to 295 wins and eight state tournament appearances. He's the winningest boys basketball coach in Sioux City history.
Vanderloo in February was named one of eight finalists for National High School Athletic Coaches Association national basketball coach of the year.
Women's Basketball
Carroll names Rachelle Sayers women's hoops coach
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Carroll College has named former Weber State basketball player and assistant Rachelle Gardner-Sayers as its new women's basketball coach. Sayers replaces Shawn Nelson, who resigned after eight seasons to take a job at NCAA Division II Central Washington.
Sayers is an Absarokee native who spent the past 13 years as an assistant at NCAA Division I Weber State, including the last five as associate head coach. She twice earned all-Big Sky Conference honors as a player for the Wildcats.
Carroll athletic director Bruce Parker says Sayers' ties to Montana and her connections in the northwest and the Rocky Mountain regions will help with recruiting. Sayers says she's excited to have the opportunity to coach at a great school with a lot of tradition.
The Independent Record reports two Carroll players — Alex Dunn and Jessica Van Dyke — have decided to follow Nelson to Central Washington.
Caldwell lures former UCLA recruit to LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU women's basketball coach Nikki Caldwell says she has signed high school prospect Sheila Boykin to the Lady Tigers' roster for next season.
The 6-foot-2 Boykin was one of Caldwell's former recruits at UCLA, which granted the Los Angeles native a release from her letter of intent, allowing her to enroll instead at LSU.
Caldwell calls Boykin "one of those tough kids that do the things that don't necessarily show up in the box score," and a player who "puts the team in front of her own personal glory."
Boykin averaged 10 points and 8.3 rebounds as a senior at Long Beach Poly High School, which she led to a 25-3 record
Caldwell is in her first year at LSU after coaching the past three seasons at UCLA.
Bonnies extend women's basketball coach's contract
OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — St. Bonaventure women's basketball coach Jim Crowley has agreed to a contract extension through 2017 after leading the team to three straight WNIT berths.
In announcing the deal on Wednesday, athletic director Steve Watson says the extension is a sign of the school's continued commitment to Crowley and a reward for him building a model program.
Crowley completed his 12th season as the Bonnies coach and helped transform the program into a consistent winner. St. Bonaventure reached the second round of the WNIT last season, and finished with a 21-12 record. It's the third straight season the Bonnies have had a 20-win season.
Connecticut guard sprains already injured knee
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut guard Caroline Doty has reinjured her left knee after missing last season with a third torn ligament in the same joint. The Hartford Courant reports that Doty sprained the knee while playing in a half-court basketball game last week.
Dr. Tom Trojian, UConn's team doctor, tells the newspaper there is no new tear in the knee and the goal is to have Doty ready to play by the start of the basketball season.
Doty first blew out her knee in high school, and has suffered two more tears while in college. She has two years of eligibility left at UConn. UConn has a 10-day training camp planned for August, followed by a tour of Italy and Greece.
Track & Field
Florida distance runner accused of sexual assault
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A University of Florida distance runner has been arrested on a sexual battery charge for allegedly raping his roommate's friend.
Andries Dumisane Hlaselo, a 22-year-old South African who holds his country's junior national record in the 1,500 meters, was kicked off the team following his arrest Tuesday. Florida officials call the charges "deeply disturbing."
Hlaselo, a junior, is being held at the Alachua County jail on a $100,000 bond. The incident happened June 12, according to a Gainesville Police Department arrest report.
The victim told police she fell asleep at Hlaselo and his roommate's home. She awoke to find Hlaselo sexually assaulting her, according to the report. She told him to stop and then forcefully shoved him to the floor.
Hlaselo told police he entered his roommate's bedroom naked with the intention of having sex with the victim, according to the report. He told police he had sex with her while she was semiconscious and without her consent, according to the report. He left when she woke up and began "freaking out."
Florida quickly parted ways with Hlaselo.
"We are aware of the arrest of Dumisane Hlaselo," the school's athletic association said in a statement. "We find these charges deeply disturbing. He is no longer a member of the University of Florida track and field team."
Manikowski joins ULL's strength staff
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Louisiana-Lafayette has added Jason Manikowski as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, pending approval by the school's board of supervisors.
Manikowski replaces Scott Salwasser, who served on the Ragin' Cajuns' strength staff the previous two seasons before accepting a position with SPARTA Performance Science in Menlo Park, Calif.
Manikowski spent the last 17 months as a graduate assistant at Texas Christian University, where he served as the head strength coach for the women's basketball and equestrian programs. Prior to working at TCU, he was a physical education teacher at St. Catherine's High School in Racine, Wis.
ULL also named Travis Soileau as the school's new director of athletic training. He replaces John Porche, who retired earlier this month.
Softball
Dobson heads to LSU
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Howard Dobson, who resigned as head softball coach at Southern Miss last week, tells The Hattiesburg American that he has been hired as an assistant coach at LSU.
In four years at Southern Miss, Dobson's teams had a 93-128-2 overall record. At LSU, Dobson will be the hitting coach for new head coach Beth Torina.
Prior to Southern Miss, Dobson served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma for five seasons.
