Pac-Tending 04-15-09

"It makes sense. The NCAA looks at the program as a whole, and you may be talking about systemic problems in these cases of payments by agents. Yes, these were different teams and coaches. Rather than do it piecemeal, look at the institution."

- Attorney Anthony Salerno after learning that the NCAA will combine investigations of USC's football case involving former player Reggie Bush and men's basketball case involving former player O.J. Mayo into one large investigation ostensibly focused on lack of institutional control.

It is springtime at the Creek and conference teams sit at or near the top in baseball, softball, track and field and rowing this week.

Meanwhile, at NCAA HQ, the Nebraska Cornhuskers won their third straight title in women's bowling.

UCLA

In men's hoop, freshman guard Jrue Holiday has announced he will make himself eligible for the NBA Draft.

USC

In men's hoop, three players - DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett – all announced they would make themselves eligible for the NBA Draft.

In women's hoop, head coach Mark Trakh resigned.

California

In softball, freshman Jamia Reed was named as the conference's player of the week.

Oregon State

In volleyball, the Beavers added middle blocker Tami Brown and libero Dianni Freeman to their 2009 roster.

Arizona

In men's hoop, former head coach Russ Pennell was named as head coach at Division II Grand Canyon College while current head coach Sean Miller named James Whitford and Emanuel Richardson as assistants. Center Jordan Hill declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft and the Wildcats received a verbal commitment from Kyryl Natyazhko.

Washington

In football, Washington received verbal commitments from receiver Jamaal Kearse and offensive lineman Ben Riva.

In men's hoop, center Joe Wolfinger will transfer.

WSU

In men's hoop, Wazzu retained assistant coach Ben Johnson on staff.

In football, defensive back Kevin Frank has left the team and receiver Michael Vandenkolk and kicker Wade Penner will transfer.

In baseball, Wazzu took one game from top-ranked ASU but lost to Gonzaga to move to 5-4 in conference play and 15-16 overall on the year.

In track and field, sophomore hurdler Jeshua Anderson was named as the conference's male athlete of the week.

In rowing, the Cougars lost to Washington for the first time in five years.

In tennis, the Cougars lost to UC-Santa Barbara but defeated EWU to move to 8-17 overall on the year.

Arizona State

In track and field, senior sprinter Charonda Williams and senior thrower Sarah Stevens were named as the conference's female track and field athletes of the week.

Oregon

In baseball, the Ducks lost to Portland to drop to 12-21 overall on the year and 2-7 in Pac-10 play.

Stanford

In softball, the Cardinal defeated Santa Clara to improve to 36-4 overall on the year.

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