Umass, Uconn Must Return Cash
The NCAA stripped Massachusetts of its 1996 Final Four finish - the school’s best ever - Thursday because former star Marcus Camby accepted gifts from a sports agent.
The NCCA’s executive committee, meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif., determined that Massachusetts must return $151,000 in tournament money, and also stripped Connecticut of its run in the 1996 basketball tournament and ordered it to return $90,970 of its postseason earnings because players Kirk King and Ricky Moore accepted plane tickets from an agent.
Both cases are reportedly linked in part to John Lounsbury, who became a certified agent in 1994 before getting out of the business earlier this year and filing for bankruptcy protection. The Boston Globe reported this week that Camby secretly repaid $28,000 to Lounsbury after Lounsbury claimed his life was in danger from loan sharks.
UMass is being allowed to keep 55 percent of its tournament revenue.
Smith to replace Pitino
Georgia Tubby Smith has been hired by Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton to replace former Wildcat coach Rick Pitino, according the Boston Globe.
Just two days after Pitino resigned to take over the NBA’s Boston Celtics, Newton lured Smith away from the Georgia job he has held for the past two seasons. The hire will be officially announced at a press conference today in Lexington, Ky.
Newton made the call to Smith Wednesday morning, and by Thursday afternoon, the deal was all but done, with a multiyear contract offer that could pay him in excess of $1 million per year.
Gobrecht makes it official
Chris Gobrecht, a former player at Southern California and a two-time Pacific-10 Conference coach of the year while at Washington, has become USC’s fourth women’s basketball coach in four years.
Gobrecht, 42, coached at Florida State last season, where her team had a 5-22 record and lost all 16 of its Southeastern Conference games. Before that, she spent 11 years as coach at Washington, where her teams compiled a 243-89 record and competed in nine NCAA tournaments.
FSU athletic director Dave Hart claims that by breaking her contract with four years remaining, Gobrecht owes the school $380,000 under a buyout clause in her contract. But Bob Lane, USC’s legal counsel, said the buyout clause is unenforceable, and all Gobrecht had to do to break the deal was give Florida State 60 days notice.
Tech twosomes eye early departure
Tony Battie and Cory Carr of Texas Tech have announced they are applying for the NBA draft as juniors.
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