Fast Break

College football

Former EWU A.D. in controversy

First-year Alcorn State University coach Ernest T. Jones said he was never notified that seven of his nine assistant coaches would be fired, and found out about the firings from a television report he saw on Thanksgiving Day, the Natchez (Miss.) Democrat newspaper reported.

Jones said he had not received an explanation from the university, including athletic director Darren Hamilton, a former athletic director at Eastern Washington University.

“I got a message from Hamilton that said, ‘Happy Thanksgiving, I’m on vacation and we’ll chat Friday.’ We never chatted Friday,” Jones told the newspaper.

Hamilton said he decided to fire the seven coaches after Alcorn State’s 26-21 loss to Jackson State on Nov. 22.

“It’s very hard for me to grasp that he did not know this was coming,” Hamilton said. “We are all replaceable. There is always someone who can come into the job and do better.”

Hamilton said the team’s performance (2-10 this season) wasn’t the only criteria he used to decide on the dismissals.

“It’s not just based on Xs and Os that programs are evaluated,” Hamilton said.

Jones said he has hired two lawyers to determine what his next move should be.

Hamilton was fired on March 15, 2007, after seven months on the job at Eastern Washington following complaints made about him by several members of the athletic department.

golf

Gozzer Ranch gets top rating

Golf Digest magazine has named Gozzer Ranch Golf Club in Harrison, Idaho, the Best New Private Golf Course in the United States for 2009.

Gozzer Ranch, a 7,142-yard, par-72 layout designed by Tom Fazio on a heavily treed peninsula on the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene, is featured in the magazine’s January issue, on newsstands today.

A panel of more than 900 golfers ranked new public and private courses in North America on design variety, shot values, resistance to scoring, memorability and aesthetics.

College basketball

Zags-Indiana on the tube

Saturday’s Gonzaga men’s basketball game against Indiana in Indianapolis will be shown on the Big Ten Network.

The network is available in the Spokane area on DIRECTV (channel 610), DISH Network (channel 439) and Comcast (channel 404). All DIRECTV subscribers already have access to the network on channel 610. DISH Network and Comcast subscribers must subscribe to a sports package and should contact DISH Network or Comcast to order it.

Game time is 10:30 a.m.