Oregon assistant to join Kent
Oregon assistant Scott Duncan was one of five assistant coaches selected Monday to join Ernie Kent’s staff as a court coach for the 2002 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team trials. The selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee that is chaired by Terry Holland, University of Virginia athletic director emeritus.
“Our court coaches represent the life-blood of the trials process — they are the ‘hands-on’ teachers on the courts and they also stay in the dorms and eat their meals with our trials participants,” Holland said.
The five will serve as court coaches during the 2002 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Trials that will be held May 31-June 2 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Trials court coaching staff is responsible for conducting drills, coaching scrimmages and working with players who will be vying for spots on the USA team.
Duncan completed in 2001-02 his second season with the Oregon Ducks after gaining national recognition for his recruiting efforts last summer. Duncan was named one of the hardest working assistant coaches and one of the nation’s best recruiters in a pair of surveys compiled by Rivals.com’s Dave Telep. He was also recently named the 12th best assistant coach in the country by Hoop Scoop.
Duncan has accumulated more than 23 years as a major college basketball assistant coach. The Columbus, Ohio, native has been associated with Division I programs that have advanced to postseason play 11 of the past 17 seasons. In 1998, he was singled out by one major publication as one of the top 16 assistants in the country.
Duncan officially joined the Ducks’ coaching staff in 2000 after spending the three seasons under Larry Shyatt, assisting the University of Wyoming to its first postseason berth in seven campaigns in 1997-98.
— from staff and wire reports
UCLA softball
grabs Pac-10 title
(U-WIRE) LOS ANGELES — Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 4 Arizona State was of little consequence for the top-ranked UCLA softball team. Friday’s 4-2 win over No. 2 Arizona had pretty much determined the Pacific-10 Conference champion.
It’s a shame such a distinction did not guarantee UCLA a chance to host an NCAA Regional.
The Bruins (50-6, 18-3 Pac-10) secured the conference crown with 4-1 and 6-1 wins over ASU and Sunday were named as the top seed in the Division I Softball Championship Pairings.
As reward, UCLA was sent to Columbia, S.C., for games May 16-19.
“In our sport we’re used to seeing top seeds be granted host sites if they meet the criteria and I’ve always felt it’s a privilege to host,” UCLA head coach Sue Enquist said. “Unfortunately that won’t be the case this year.
“Once you get through the emotion, bottom line is you have to go on and get it done. The unfortunate thing is we have to pack our bags.”
UCLA is a resilient, low-maintenance and flexible team according to Enquist, so as they head east the Bruins are still very likely to advance to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
But the $40,000 invested in light poles for Easton Stadium, a requirement by the NCAA for host sites, will now go to waste.
The selection process stipulated that top seeds were not guaranteed to host a regional because site selection was based on geographic location.
“You look down the list, on paper we’re strong and hosting wasn’t based on talent or on execution,” Enquist said. “That’s obvious.”
–Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin
(U. California-Los Angeles)
