College Basketball
UNM extends coach Neal, while the carousel turns
ALBUQUERQUE – New Mexico gave men’s basketball head coach Craig Neal a two-year contract extension after he led the Lobos to the NCAA Tournament in his first season.
The deal was announced Monday by athletic director Paul Krebs. Financial terms were not disclosed. Neal’s original five-year contract ran through the 2017-18 season. The new deal will run through 2019-20.
After six seasons as the associate head coach, Neal led New Mexico to a 27-7 record this season, including a 15-3 mark in the Mountain West.
Neal’s 27 wins is tied for the 12th-most in NCAA history for first-year head coaches. He became the first New Mexico coach to bring the Lobos to the NCAA Tournament in his initial season, where the Lobos lost 58-53 to the Stanford Cardinal.
TAMPA, Fla. – Orlando Antigua, a Kentucky assistant, was introduced Tuesday as the ninth coach in South Florida’s history. Antigua is one of the nation’s top recruiters, one of the reasons why Kentucky is in the Final Four with a starting five of all freshmen.
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Oregon assistant coach Brian Fish will be the new men’s basketball coach at Montana State. Fish, a native of Seymour, Ind., has been an assistant coach for 25 years.
INDIANAPOLIS – IUPUI hired former Arizona star Jason Gardner as its new basketball coach. Gardner, the 2009 Indiana Mr. Basketball, served as an assistant coach on Josh Pastner’s staff at Memphis.
PULLMAN, Wash. – Athletic director Bill Moos once hired Ernie Kent to turn Oregon around; he’s now done the same at Washington State. Kent was hired as the Cougars’ new men’s basketball coach, agreeing to a five-year contract to leave behind his current job as an analyst for the Pac-12 Networks and re-enter the coaching ranks.
MILWAUKEE – Marquette found its replacement for Buzz Williams in Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching tree. The Golden Eagles introduced Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski as their next men’s basketball coach, replacing Williams, who left for Virginia Tech last month.
MLB
MLB draws a record average for spring training crowds
NEW YORK – Major League Baseball said spring training games drew a record average of 8,078 fans, up 7.3 percent from last year’s 7,527.
The previous mark of 7,793 was set in 2008.
Overall attendance for 447 dates was 3,610,738, baseball’s fifth-highest total, the commissioner’s office said Tuesday.
The Chicago Cubs drew 213,815 fans and an average of 14,254 for the first season of Cubs Park in Mesa, Ariz.
Soccer
USA will debut its World Cup road jersey against Mexico
CHICAGO – After unveiling a plain white home jersey for the World Cup, the United States Soccer Federation is going with a colorful red-white-and-blue design for its road uniform.
The away Nike design announced Tuesday features a blue section at the top, a thick white stripe across the chest and sleeve and is otherwise red, including the sleeve cuffs.
The shirts, with crew-neck collars, will debut for Wednesday night’s exhibition against Mexico in Glendale, Ariz.
The road shirt contrasts with the home jersey announced March 3, which resembles a golf shirt with a polo collar.
Aston Villa to play at Dallas and Houston in preseason
FRISCO, Texas – Aston Villa will play two games against Major League Soccer teams in Texas during a preseason tour.
The English Premier League club will face FC Dallas on July 23 in Frisco, Texas, then will play at the Houston Dynamo three days later. Aston Villa will play an exhibition at the Dutch team Groningen on Aug. 2.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United also have announced preseason games in the U.S.
Associated Press
