UI Taps Buchanan As Volleyball Coach

Debbie Buchanan will be introduced as the University of Idaho’s new volleyball coach this afternoon, The Spokesman-Review has learned.

Buchanan, a former Vandals assistant, was offered the job Wednesday and accepted. She interviewed Tuesday and Wednesday in Moscow.

The news conference is today at 4 on the second floor of the Kibbie Dome. The public is invited.

Buchanan, 26, will replace Carl Ferreira, who accepted the coaching job at the University of Oregon last week after three seasons as Idaho’s coach.

Buchanan, formerly Debbie Martin, coached at UI in 1996 under Tom Hilbert. She accompanied Hilbert to Colorado State for the last three seasons. The Rams made the NCAA Tournament round of 16 last season.

Buchanan played on four A-2 State championship teams at St. Maries High and was three-time MVP of the Intermountain League. She was a three-time All-IML basketball player and a member of the Lumberjacks’ state-championship team in 1987.

Knee injuries cut short her collegiate career at USC.

Sun Belt finds bowl

The Louisiana Superdome has played host to national championship contests, Super Bowls and, beginning in 2001, perhaps the Idaho Vandals in a bowl game.

The Sun Belt Conference, set to open football in 2001, announced Wednesday it plans to send its champion to the New Orleans Bowl - the working title until a sponsor is secured - against an at-large opponent. The game would be played sometime the week before Christmas, traditionally a slow time for New Orleans’ tourism industry.

The bowl game awaits certification from the NCAA, but Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters sees no stumbling blocks. Official approval should come in April.

“A bowl affiliation gives the league credibility and is something we can be proud of,” new Vandals coach Tom Cable said. “The opportunity to play in a bowl game is something coaches and players all want.”

The bowl will offer the NCAA minimum payout of $750,000 to each participant. Each team will be responsible for 10,000 tickets at $25-$30 a pop, Waters said.

Negotiations with ESPN are ongoing.

Waters said he’s been contacted by several conferences hoping to tie-in with the New Orleans Bowl. He didn’t rule out the possibility.

“There were 6 or 8 bowl-eligible teams last year that didn’t have a place to be,” Waters said. “As long as there are deserving teams out there, we almost have an obligation to give young people an opportunity.”

The Sun Belt begins play in 2001 with Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State and North Texas.