EWU’s Griffin goes pro in Germany
Former Eastern Washington University basketball player Laron Griffin will play for the Hanau White Wings of the German Pro B League during the upcoming season, the team announced. Griffin replaces former BYU player Chris Miles on the White Wings’ roster.
The 6-foot-8 Griffin played in 92 games for the Eagles over the last three seasons, starting in 62 of them. He made 50.4 percent of his shots from the field and averaged 6.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots a game. His 70 career blocked shots rank fifth in school history and his 540 rebounds are sixth.
He capped his career at EWU by notching double-doubles in his last three games and averaging a double-double in the last five games of his career (16 points, 10.6 rebounds).
In Big Sky Conference statistics, Griffin was first in field-goal percentage (.620) and offensive rebounds (3.1), and was fourth overall in rebounding (7.0) and eighth in blocked shots (0.7).
Hanau was 13-9 last season for a sixth-place finish in the league’s Group South division.
Basketball
Central Washington University announced the addition of seven women’s basketball players – including two local players – for the upcoming 2012-13 season.
Two four-year transfers – senior guard Shayla Ball and junior point guard Ally Schmitt – join the Wildcats from NCAA Division I programs. Ball played last season at Florida Gulf Coast University, while Schmitt most recently played at Montana State.
All four of the recent high school graduates that signed letters of intent are from Washington, along with junior guard Leslie Stillar (Lakeside – Nine Mile Falls), who spent the past two seasons at Walla Walla Community College.
Stillar, a 5-6 point guard, was named to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges’ (NWAACC) all-Eastern Region team as a sophomore last season. She averaged 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game.
Also joining the Wildcats are: Mead graduate Jasmine Parker, a 6-2 forward/center who averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season for the Panthers; Nina Caldwell, a 5-10 forward from Tacoma; 6-1 center India Matheson (Shorecrest) and 5-5 point guard Purshall Artison from Seattle.
Golf
The Gonzaga’s men’s golf team is one of 68 NCAA Division I teams to receive Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Academic Team recognition for earning a team grade- point average of 3.0 or better. A total of 124 teams from NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, NJCAA Division I and NJCAA Division II programs were recognized.
Gonzaga was one of just two West Coast Conference schools honored – the other being Saint Mary’s.
To be eligible for GCAA All-Academic Team honors, schools must submit GPAs for each player on its roster, with a team GPA of 3.0 or better necessary for recognition. The Bulldogs held a 3.01 team GPA last season.
Freshmen Brendan Connolly and James Fahy had the highest cumulative academic marks for the Zags. Connolly has a 3.54 GPA in business administration, while Fahy has a 3.47 GPA in accounting.
•Fahy tied for 12th at the 110th British Columbia Championship, held at Swan-e-set Bay Resort and Country Club in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, this past week.
The Gonzaga sophomore-to-be, who hails from Vancouver, B.C., qualified for the Canadian Amateur Championship.He finished the tournament with a 54-hole score of 296 (71-76-76-73).
This is the second consecutive year Fahy will participate in the Canadian Amateur Championship. He tied for 56th (out of 243) at the 2011 event with four-day, 54-hole score of 296 (75-70-76-75).
The 2012 Canadian Amateur Championship is this week at the Camelot Golf and Country Club and Club de golf Outaouais in Cumberland, Ontario.
Track and field
The Washington State women’s track and field team is one of the 171 best academic women’s teams in NCAA Division I, the U.S. Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced.
With a cumulative GPA of 3.05, the Cougars women have been nationally honored eight times with a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award. To be considered for the honor, a team must have competed and compiled a team score at an NCAA regional championship meet and have a minimum 3.0 team cumulative GPA.
Seven women’s teams from the Pacific-12 Conference were named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams, with Stanford being named the Outdoor Track & Field Scholar Team of the Year.
Earlier this month, two Cougar women were honored individually by the USTFCCCA for academic excellence: steeplechaser Ruby Roberts (Kingston, Wash.) and javelin thrower and North Central High graduate Celena Ward (Spokane).