Newsmakers

Resigned Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt is out following a disappointing season in which the Panthers were big favorites to win a weak Big East Conference, only to finish 7-5 and qualify for a minor bowl. The former Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins coach, highly respected by Pitt’s administration, will remain at the school as a special assistant to athletic director Steve Pederson. Pitt apparently chose to change coaches now, rather than after the Jan. 8 Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., because most top candidates would have been hired by then.

Scheduled Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is scheduled to appear today before a Las Vegas judge on a misdemeanor battery charge accusing him of poking a security guard in the face during an argument outside Mayweather’s home. The latest legal scuffle for the 33-year-old undefeated professional fighter stems from allegations that he “repeatedly” jabbed 21-year-old homeowner association guard Shayne Smith in the cheek after Smith wrote parking violations for two vehicles Nov. 15 outside Mayweather’s house.

Awarded Baseball writer Bill Conlin of The Philadelphia Daily News has won the Hall of Fame’s J.G. Taylor Spink Award for his work. His election by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America was announced at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. He will be honored at the Hall’s induction ceremonies on July 24.

Rewarded The Indiana Hoosiers have given new football coach Kevin Wilson a seven-year contract worth $1.2 million per year. The school announced contract terms about 15 minutes before Wilson’s introductory news conference in Bloomington, Ind.

Extended Army coach Rich Ellerson, who this season will guide the Black Knights to their first bowl game in 14 years, was given a two-year contract extension. Terms of the agreement were not revealed. The new pact, announced, will extend Ellerson’s contract through 2015.

Died Former University of Connecticut Huskies basketball star Art Quimby, who averaged more than 21 rebounds a game for the Huskies in the 1950s, has died. He was 77. Huskies officials announced his death, without providing additional details.