Colleges

'Bama gives basketball coach Gottfried six more years

By wire services
Published June 28, 2005

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama basketball coach Mark Gottfried received a new six-year contract worth a $1-million annually, Bloomberg reported.

Gottfried, 41, is 143-83 in seven seasons and has led the Crimson Tide to four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama was 24-8 last season and lost to Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the opening round of the tournament.

FOOTBALL: Florida State junior linebacker Ernie Sims was named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Football Writers Association of America's award honoring the nation's top defensiver player. Among the other 50 preseason candidates is Maryland senior libnebacker D'Qwell Jackson, a former Seminole High standout who led the ACC in tackles last season.

TRACK: FSU senior Dorian Scott won the shot put at the Jamaica National Championships with a throw of 61 feet, 4 inches last weekend to earn a spot at the IAAF World Championships in August. FSU's Garrett Johnson, out of Tampa Baptist, set the school record in the shot put, at the U.S. Outdoor Championships with a throw of 67-03/4 on Sunday in Carson, Calif.

Also, University of Tampa junior Allison Macsas was voted to the 2004-05 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women's Track/Cross Country team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. The cross country runner has earned first-team honors in consecutive seasons and has a 3.919 cumulative GPA as a graphic design major.

VIOLATIONS: Georgia Tech might contest some charges it had agreed to in its NCAA infractions case, and hired a lawyer to help evaluate its options. The university doesn't dispute that 17 athletes played when they should have been academically ineligible, but it might challenge the NCAA enforcement staff's contentions that the school showed a lack of institutional control. Tech has until Aug.2 to respond to the allegations. The school has self-imposed scholarship cuts, including the loss of six in football in 2005 and '06.

FROM AD TO COMMISH: Maine athletic director Patrick Nero resigned to become commissioner of the America East Conference.

--Times staff writer Brian Landman contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 28, 2005, 01:47:08]