Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS ó Tom Walter has accepted the head baseball coaching job at Wake Forest, leaving behind a New Orleans program with an uncertain long-term future.
Walter, who led UNO to the NCAA tournament in 2007 and 2008, replaces Rick Rembielak, whose contract expired at the end of May and was not renewed.
Walter, 39, said it was difficult leaving UNO, which is dealing with a financial crisis but still plans to maintain its Division I baseball program at least through next season.
“There are not many jobs that would make me want to leave New Orleans, but to be able to coach in the ACC ó the best baseball conference in the nation ó is too good to pass up,” he said.
UNO hired Walter away from George Washington five years ago and the coach went 153-147 with the Privateers, keeping the program together after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.
“During the past five years, Tom has done exactly what we envisioned when we brought him here,” UNO athletic director Jim Miller said “He has put UNO baseball back on the map and done so with class and integrity.”
In 2008, 10 former players signed professional contracts. UNO fell short of qualifying for the Sun Belt Conference tournament this season.
Ron Wellman said Wake admired Walter’s “strong history of developing players.”
“He has had several players drafted that were not drafted coming out of high school,” Wellman said. “Tom also is a very strong recruiter and knows how to recruit at a private school with strong academics.”
COLLEGE HOOPS
COLUMBIA, S.C. ó Clemson coach Oliver Purnell has agreed to a two-year contract extension that will keep him with the Tigers through 2016.
Purnell’s base salary jumped $50,000 a year to $275,000. His supplemental income improved to $1.075 million each year.
* LOUISVILLE, Ky. ó Federal prosecutors have agreed to delay for at least six weeks the trial of a woman accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
* JACKSON, Miss. ó Southern Miss has reported a secondary violation of NCAA rules by the men’s basketball program to the NCAA.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ó The NCAA is allowing Florida State to release a version of its letter to the school on a disciplinary case resulting from an academic cheating scandal, officials said.
The school must first retype the report from a computer format and redact names, Florida State general counsel Betty Steffens said.
The letter details the NCAA’s response to Florida State’s appeal of sanctions resulting from the cheating. The school would be stripped of wins in 10 sports, including football. That would seriously hurt Bobby Bowden’s bid to become college football’s all-time winningest coach.
Several media outlets, including The Associated Press, sued the school and NCAA on Monday to release the report.
HOCKEY
ST. PAUL, Minn. ó Minnesota native Todd Richards has returned home to coach the NHL’s Wild.
* GLENDALE, Ariz. ó Billionaire Jim Balsillie failed in his bid to have a bankruptcy court judge order the Phoenix Coyotes sold to him and, over the NHL’s objection, moved to Hamilton, Ontario.
GOLF
ROCKVILLE, Md. ó Michelle Wie has failed to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. She shot a 74 in the second round of qualifying Monday and missed by one shot.
The 19-year-old from Hawaii has played in the U.S. Women’s Open every year since she was 13. Also failing to qualify were Natalie Gulbis and 18-year-old Vicky Hurst.
TENNIS
EASTBOURNE, England ó French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in the first round of the grass-court tournament at Eastbourne, falling 6-0, 6-3 to Aleksandra Wozniack.
Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic and No. 4 Vera Zvonareva also lost.
SOCCER
NEW YORK ó Twenty-seven stadiums have been dropped from consideration for the U.S. bid to host soccer’s World Cup in 2018 and 2022, while Las Vegas and Salt Lake City have been added.
Nearly all the stadiums that were dropped are college football venues. Also eliminated were Green Bay’s Lambeau Field and Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills.
Forty-five stadiums in 37 areas currently are in contention, ranging from New York to college towns such as Knoxville, Tenn.
* COLUMBIA, S.C. ó Longtime Clemson men’s soccer coach Trevor Adair has resigned more than two months after his arrest on charges of attacking his teenage daughters.