Colleges

Eriksen will stay with USF softball

By Times Staff
Published July 1, 2005

TAMPA - USF softball coach Ken Eriksen, courted by two top programs after leading the Bulls to a third straight NCAA regional appearance, is staying at his alma mater.

Eriksen, who was entering the final year of a contract signed in 2003, signed a five-year deal through 2010 with a 21 percent salary increase from his last deal.

"I really like the direction Doug Woolard has USF going in," said Eriksen, who interviewed for a vacancy at Florida and talked with Arizona State about its opening. "It's important for a coach to not only feel secure in his job but also secure in the fact that the administration and the president is behind the program's goals and dreams, and I feel like they are."

Eriksen, a 1984 USF grad, was due to make $51,202 in base salary under his old contract, but will now make $62,000 while continuing an annual car allowance of $5,400. Incentives include $5,000 for making the NCAA Tournament, $5,000 for earning Big East Coach of the Year honors and $7,500 for reaching the College World Series.

In nine years as USF's head coach, Eriksen has a 415-208-1 record, and he helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the Athens Olympics last year as an assistant coach. The Bulls lose only one starter from their 2005 team, which went 42-28 and finished fourth in Conference USA.

BASEBALL

TEXAS: Coach Augie Garrido, who led the Longhorns to their sixth College World Series title with a two-game sweep of Florida, was named Collegiate Baseball 's national coach of the year for the sixth time.

BOSTON COLLEGE: The school is putting together a bid to hold the ACC baseball tournament at Fenway Park, perhaps as soon as 2007.

BASKETBALL

FSU: Toney Douglas, a freshman last year at Auburn, has transferred to Florida State. Douglas averaged nearly 17 points and 5 rebounds a game last season for the Tigers. ... Forward Antonio Griffin, a senior who played sparingly last season, has been released from his scholarship and plans to transfer.

KANSAS: Guard J.R. Giddens is leaving the program a month after the junior was stabbed during a bar fight. Giddens averaged just over 10 points a game for the Jayhawks last season.

KENTUCKY: Randolph Morris, a 6-foot-10 center who declared himself eligible for the NBA draft but wasn't selected, could return to play basketball with the Wildcats thanks to a little-used NCAA eligibility rule. Morris, who gave up his remaining three seasons of college eligibility, could get those seasons back if he pays for all the expenses of any NBA workouts in which he participated, he sends a letter to Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart within 30 days of the draft asking for reinstatement and the school agrees to take him back.

FOOTBALL

USF: Indiana redshirt freshman quarterback Grant Gregory will transfer to USF, according to Bulls head coach Jim Leavitt. Gregory, the son of USF offensive assistant coach Greg Gregory, will sit out this year and will be eligible for the 2006 season. Gregory, 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, was named Division III All-Ohio after completing 115 of 214 passes for 2,085 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior at Athens High School.

HONORS

USF: Men's soccer player Christopher Raye, a senior from Bradenton, was named a recipient of a Conference-USA Post-Graduate Scholarship. ... Christa Benton, women's cross country, and Tiffany Stewart, softball, were named 2004-05 Scholar Athlete Award winners by C-USA.

FSU: Dave Hart was named the Division I-A Southeast Region athletic director of the year.

Times staff writers Greg Auman and Brian Landman contributed to this report, which used information from the Associated Press and other news organizations.

[Last modified July 1, 2005, 01:24:21]