“Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend,” which has become a tradition in college basketball, will take place Jan. 30-Feb. 1.
A collaborative initiative of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society, “Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend” will see participating coaches wear sneakers instead of dress shoes with their usual game attire in a show of support for the fight against cancer.
The coaches hope to spotlight the fact that while cancer remains a major health concern, everyone can take daily steps to reduce their risk of the disease.
ide to increase public awareness of the Society’s mission to save lives and prevent cancer, and to raise funds to fight the disease on a variety of fronts.
Maryland coach Gary Williams is the 2008-09 chair of the Coaches vs. Cancer Council.
“Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend provides a tremendous opportunity for college basketball coaches nationwide to demonstrate their support for the American Cancer Society’s work to fight the disease and save lives,” Williams said. “The money raised through Suits and Sneakers will fund vital research and support numerous services for cancer patients, their families and caregivers.”
Coaches vs. Cancer participants have raised nearly $45 million since 1993 to help the Society fund groundbreaking cancer research, provide up-to-date cancer information and education, advocate for public health policies that benefit communities, and deliver services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
Additional information is available at www.cancer.org/coaches.
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NICE FINISH: Every team in the Big East will have a stretch of games where it faces three, maybe four, ranked teams in succession. When a conference, even a 16-team one like the Big East, has half its membership in the Top 25, it’s unavoidable.
ough stretches.
The Golden Eagles’ regular season concludes with: at Georgetown; Connecticut; at Louisville; at Pittsburgh; Syracuse, all teams which have spent time this season in the top 10.
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BIG RIVALRIES: Dozens of times Johnny Dawkins experienced the Duke-North Carolina rivalry, arguably the best in college basketball. Last weekend, he took part in his first California-Stanford showdown for bragging rights in the Bay Area. The first-year Stanford coach came out on top 75-69 against the then-No. 22 Golden Bears at home before a sellout crowd at Maples Pavilion.
“Wow. I thought everyone involved was amazing,” Dawkins said, praising the students and fans for their support. “As loud as our fans were, I loved it.”
Dawkins was an All-America at Duke and had been on the Blue Devils’ coaching staff since 1997-98, most recently as Mike Krzyzewski’s longtime top assistant before taking over at Stanford when Trent Johnson departed for LSU last spring. Dawkins played for a national championship, spent nine years in the NBA and won an NCAA title as an assistant coach.
He is far from ready to pick a favorite rivalry.
“Of course that rivalry’s unique, but this rivalry is unique also,” Dawkins said. “I’d like to keep them both (separate). I’m fortunate to be able to participate in both.”
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XTRA TIME: Boston University fans have to make sure they put enough money in the parking meters lately as the Terriers have given them plenty of extra game time.
On Monday, Boston University beat Stony Brook 99-97 in four overtimes. On Thursday, the Terriers went double overtime before beating Maryland-Baltimore County 80-77.
BU is 3-1 in overtime games this season, a feat even more impressive considering injuries have reduced coach Dennis Wolff to a seven-man rotation.
“We’re going to Maine on Sunday and that will be four games in eight days and we threw in an extra one night and 10 more minutes another,” Wolff said. “The kids have played so hard considering the circumstances.”
As tiring as the Terriers’ overtime experiences sound, they’re only halfway to the Division I records for extra time.
Western Kentucky in 1977-78, Portland in 1983-84 and Valparaiso in 1992-93 all played eight overtime games in one season. Western Kentucky went 5-3 in its games, while Portland and Valparaiso split theirs.
The record for consecutive overtime games is four by Jacksonville in 1981-82 and Dayton in 1987-88. Jacksonville went 3-1 in its stretch, while the Flyers were 1-3.
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sell for $5 the rest of the season.
Indiana’s average attendance has dropped to less than 12,500, a sign of both the tough economic times and the worst season in decades for the men’s team. The Hoosiers have lost eight straight, their longest losing streak since 1964, and their 0-5 start in the Big Ten is the worst since 1944.
At recent games, the lower bowl of Assembly Hall has had empty seats and some in the balcony have also been empty. Glass said he hoped the new pricing policy will help fill some of those seats.
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FULL FIELD: The Old Spice Classic has become one of the top early season tournaments after just three years. The field for the fourth edition was filled out this week and it’s as impressive as any of the others.
Marquette and Xavier, both currently in the Top 25, as well as Baylor and Michigan, which were ranked during the season, were already in the field along with Alabama, Creighton and Iona. Florida State was tabbed this week as the eighth team for the tournament that is held Thanksgiving weekend at the Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, of which Iona is a member, will serve as the event’s sponsoring conference for the fourth straight year.
essee in the championship game. The first two winners were Arkansas (2006) and North Carolina State (2007).
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KING COLES: Charlie Coles became the winningest coach in Miami of Ohio history this week with the Redhawks’ 67-60 victory over Bowling Green.
Coles improved to 217-161 in his 13th season at Miami, passing Darrell Hedric, who was 216-157 in 14 seasons there.
The 66-year-old Coles, who played at Miami, has a history of heart problems. In 2008, he had four operations as one health problem led to another. Doctors shocked his heart to get it back into rhythm, replaced the blood vessels around it in a quadruple bypass, fixed a bleeding ulcer in his stomach and removed his gall bladder.
Still, he returned for this season. The RedHawks are 10-6 and Coles is at the top of Miami’s career wins list.
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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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