Fast Break
Men’s basketball
Earlywine mum, but will return
No one at Eastern Washington University is talking publicly about the “personal matter” that prevented Kirk Earlywine, the Eagles’ second-year head coach, from attending Monday night’s 57-48 road loss to Boise State University in Boise.
But EWU athletic director Bill Chaves said Earlywine has “resolved his personal issue,” and would rejoin the team in Phoenix late Tuesday evening and coach in Friday night’s Big Sky Conference matchup against Northern Arizona that tips off at 6:05 in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Chaves and Earlywine both refused to comment further on the matter when reached by phone. But Earlywine, who watched Monday night’s game via a Boise State Web cast and spent some time in his office in Cheney on Tuesday, said he expected to fly into Phoenix late Tuesday evening and conduct Wednesday and Thursday practice sessions with his team, which flew directly from Boise to Phoenix on Tuesday.
Junior hockey
Lightning sign Chiefs’ Tokarski
The Lightning have signed Spokane Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski to a standard three-year entry level contract, the Tampa Bay club announced.
Tokarski, a 5-foot-11, 189-pound native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, is currently playing for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship. The 19-year-old is midway through his third season with Spokane of the Western Hockey League and has posted a record of 16-9-2 with four shutouts, a 1.97 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage.
Selected by the Lightning in the fifth round, 122nd overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Tokarski has appeared in 97 career games in three seasons in Spokane, posting a record of 59-30-7 with 12 shutouts.
Tokarski will return to the Chiefs following the World Junior Championships. The Chiefs play tonight at Tri-City and Friday at Kelowna before returning home against Portland on Saturday.
College football
OSU gives Riley contract boost
Oregon State coach Mike Riley has agreed to a one-year contract extension that will take him through the 2015 season.
Riley has taken Oregon State to three straight bowl games and five over a six-year span during his second tenure at the school, winning all four postseason contests. The Beavers meet Pittsburgh today in the Sun Bowl.
Riley said he has “a terrific job at a place that I truly love.” He is due to earn about $1 million this season with included incentives. He had been working with a six-year contract that rolled over for every bowl appearance.
The new contract will be for seven years and is structured similarly in that it will add a year for each bowl appearance.