Meyer to receive Bunn Award
June 30, 2010
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP)—Don Meyer, second on the all-time wins list for alllevels of men’s college basketball, has been selected to receive the John W.Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall ofFame.
Meyer, whose 42-year coaching career ended last season at Division IINorthern State in Aberdeen, S.D., finished with a 923-234 record. The NCAAconsiders Meyer the winningest men’s college basketball coach, even though hiscareer was split between the NAIA and NCAA.
Herb Magee has 907 wins, all at Division II Philadelphia University. BobKnight had 902 on the Division I level and Harry Statham at NAIA McKendreeUniversity has 1,022.
The 65-year-old Meyer was presented the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance lastJuly after surviving a near-fatal auto accident during a team retreat on Sept.5, 2008. In surgery after the accident, Meyer lost much of his left leg and waslater diagnosed with inoperable cancer. He continued to coach, using awheelchair and cane on the sideline the past two seasons.
Meyer retired in February after 11 years at Northern.
The Bunn Award is the most prestigious honor presented by the Hall of Fameoutside of enshrinement.
The Bunn award will be presented Aug. 13 during enshrinement weekend.
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Rutgers to sell naming rights to stadium
June 30, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP)—Rutgers plans to sell the naming rights to itsfootball stadium and basketball arena.
The university announced Wednesday that it has hired Brooklyn Sports &Entertainment and IMG College to act as agents in making a deal.
The football stadium has long been called Rutgers Stadium. The basketballarena is known as the Louis Brown Athletic Center, but it is more popularlyknown as the Rutgers Athletic Center.
The asking price for the naming rights was not immediately known.
The two buildings could have different buyers for the naming rights.
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Rutgers to sell naming rights to arena
June 30, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP)—Rutgers plans to sell the naming rights to itsfootball stadium and basketball arena.
The university announced Wednesday that it has hired Brooklyn Sports &Entertainment and IMG College to act as agents in making a deal.
The football stadium has long been called Rutgers Stadium. The basketballarena is known as the Louis Brown Athletic Center, but it is more popularlyknown as the Rutgers Athletic Center.
The asking price for the naming rights was not immediately known.
The two buildings could have different buyers for the naming rights.
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Illinois St.’s Hill guilty of sex charge
June 30, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP)—An Illinois State basketball player has been sentencedto three years’ probation and dismissed from the university after pleadingguilty to criminal sexual abuse.
Bobby Hill pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a girl younger than 16 andwas sentenced Wednesday in McLean County Circuit Court. A criminal sexualassault charge was dismissed.
Illinois State also announced the dismissal of Hill on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Hill will have to finish sex-offender treatment and registeras a convicted sex offender.
Hill was a redshirt junior last season. The St. Louis native hadn’t playedfor two seasons because of injuries.
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Syracuse-Penn St. at Meadowlands in 2013
June 30, 2010
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP)—Syracuse and Penn State are renewing their long footballrivalry with a game at New Meadowlands Stadium.
The contest in August 2013 will be the first of a three-game seriesannounced Wednesday. The two schools also are working to finalize an agreementto play a home-and-home series in 2020-21.
The teams have met 70 times, the longest rivalry in Syracuse history, withthe Nittany Lions holding a 42-23-5 advantage. The series ended after 1990 whenthe Big East was formed and Penn State joined the Big Ten. It resumed again twoyears ago with a home-and-home series.
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Ducks F Wilson transferring to Marquette
June 30, 2010
MILWAUKEE (AP)—Forward Jamil Wilson is transferring to Marquette from Oregonand will have three years of eligibility left beginning in 2011-12.
Wilson, a former prep standout from Racine, started 14 of 26 games with theDucks last season and averaged 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Marquette coach Buzz Williams says Wilson will fit well in the program andhas “extremely high” potential. The departure comes three months after ErnieKent was fired as Oregon’s coach after 13 seasons.
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WAC to operate with 8 teams in 2011
June 29, 2010
DENVER (AP)—Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson says theleague plans to operate with eight members in the 2011-12 season after BoiseState departs.
Boise State has accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West Conferenceafter this season.
Benson said in a release Tuesday that the WAC will delay adding to itsmembership until July 1, 2012 at the earliest.
He says the WAC’s board of directors and athletic directors have “exploredseveral membership options,” but they it is in the best interest of theconference to go with eight schools in 2011-12.
The WAC’s remaining members are Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech,Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State.
WAC to operate with 8 teams in 2011-12
June 29, 2010
DENVER (AP)—Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson says theleague plans to operate with eight members in the 2011-12 season after BoiseState departs.
Boise State has accepted an invitation to join the Mountain West Conferenceafter this season.
Benson said in a release Tuesday that the WAC will delay adding to itsmembership until July 1, 2012 at the earliest.
He says the WAC’s board of directors and athletic directors have “exploredseveral membership options,” but they it is in the best interest of theconference to go with eight schools in 2011-12.
The WAC’s remaining members are Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech,Nevada, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Utah State.
Colorado AD seeks answers on Big 12 exit
June 29, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP)—University of Colorado athletic director MikeBohn said he hopes to know within a month how much it’s going to cost the schoolto bolt the Big 12 for the Pac-10.
Lawyers for both conferences and the university are in discussions on anexit strategy for CU, which announced earlier this month it was switchingleagues in 2012.
The Buffaloes would prefer to leave after next season like the University ofNebraska, which is joining the Big Ten in 2011.
That could prove costlier for Colorado, but the Big 12 might also decideit’s better for the Buffaloes to leave after next school year and agree to alower penalty fee.
Big 12 bylaws require CU to forfeit half its Big 12 revenue distributionsfor the next two school years in order to leave the league. According to IRS taxrecords examined by The Associated Press, the Big 12 paid out $10,135,802 toColorado in 2008-09.
That would make the buyout around $10 million, although Bohn said the costfor leaving after one year is undefined.
“There’s some ambiguity in the buyout, so we’re trying to figure it out,”Bohn said before the annual College Football Kickoff Luncheon. “We really havea desire to come up with answers because we want to continue to fuel thatinterest” in joining the Pac-10.
“I do know that it is extremely complex and we recognize that the timing ofthe University of Colorado’s departure has implications to 22 institutions,”Bohn said.
Had Texas and other Big 12 schools followed CU to the Pac-10, there mightnot have been any buyout necessary because the Big 12 would have dissolved. Butthe Longhorns declined Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott’s invitation, and so didOklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.
The only certainty in all this complexity is that the Buffs will be playingin the Pac-10 by 2012-13. “We do know that,” Bohn said. “Everything else isunresolved.”
No matter the ultimate cost of leaving the Big 12, Bohn insisted theuniversity is already reaping the rewards of switching conferences.
“We’re benefiting every day with that intensity of interest in the programthat helps us with recruiting, it helps us with our donor base, it helps us withthe media, it helps us with our faculty,” Bohn said.
He said there’s been a rise in donations to the department since theannouncement that the school was joining the Pac-10, but he declined to bespecific.
Among the many tasks involved in the transition is redoing footballschedules.
“We had some schedule models in place through 2020, but that will bealtered significantly, potentially starting in ’11,” Bohn said.
The Buffs also are awaiting announcements on whether teams will play eightor nine league games in the Pac-10, which also lured Utah from the Mountain WestConference, making it eligible for a conference championship.
“I think that’s the most frustrating thing is as we’re gaining excitementassociated with this move, we don’t have all the details,” Bohn said. “We wantto continue to fuel that intensity of interest that our program desperatelyneeds, and you can fuel it by talking about championships and models andschedules and that’s the hardest thing is not being able to share that yet.”
Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins skipped the luncheon because he was at hisdaughter’s wedding.
Hawkins is on the hot seat, having posted four non-winning seasons inBoulder, where his decision to recruit his son, Cody, to play quarterback hasbackfired.
“I have a lot of confidence in Dan,” Bohn said. “He’s done everythingwe’ve asked him to do off the field and he recognizes in Year 5, as we all do,that the expectations are high for the scoreboard this fall.”
The Buffs are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 1990 footballchampionship this fall and will recognize Alfred Williams, a member of that teamwho was elected into the college football hall of fame this spring.
“It’s a big year for Dan. We all know that,” Bohn said. “But it’s anopportunity for us to say goodbye to the Big 12 Conference potentially … butalso use that to enhance future recruiting possibilities and future growth ofthe program.”
The Big 12 exit isn’t the only buyout on Bohn’s plate. He said he’s stillawaiting the $500,000 that former basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik owes theuniversity for breaking his contract to take over at Wake Forest.
“We’re working through that and I don’t anticipate any problems,” Bohnsaid. “It’s just kind of taken a back burner with all these other issues. Butwe remain very respectful and appreciative of what Jeff did for us.”
NOTES: Among the attendees was MWC commissioner Craig Thompson, whoserescheduling task was made easier when Utah left the league for the Pac-10. Now,Boise State, which left the Western Athletic Conference for the MWC, will morethan likely just take Utah’s place on the league schedule. … With the Utes’departure, Thompson is thrilled to have Boise State, 26-1 over the last twoyears, as the MWC enters the third year of a four-year cycle to gain anautomatic bid in the BCS.
AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed to this report.
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Iowa F Cougill academically ineligible
June 29, 2010
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)—Iowa reserve forward Brennan Cougill has been ruledacademically ineligible for next season and will transfer to a communitycollege.
Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery announced Cougill’s departure Tuesday.Cougill, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, says he’ll transfer to nearby KirkwoodCommunity College in hopes of rejoining of Hawkeyes.
Cougill averaged four points and three rebounds a game as a true freshman in2009-10. His departure leaves Iowa with just two post players who played lastseason, Jarryd Cole and Andrew Brommer.
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