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Sports

SPORTS

U professor studies coaches

Ryan Wallace
April 1, 2002

Tom Izzo has it. Ron Mason had it. Bobby Williams is developing it.It, is something coaches call the ability to positively affect the learning ability and performance of their athletes.Deb Feltz, director of MSU’ Department of Kinesiology, has been examining this philosophy not only on the athletic field, but also in the classroom.However, the idea of coaching efficacy, or coaching competence, was not the first thing that got her interested in this field of research.“My intents started with nonathletes attempting physical activities for the first time,” Feltz said.“I was interested in fear-invoking activities - like diving.”Feltz decided to take the role of confidence in a different direction.She looked at how teachers used their efficacy to motivate their students.

BASEBALL

Baseball team deserves more

This has not been the ideal March for MSU sports fans. After three consecutive Final Fours, you thought the men’s basketball team could pull it together and make another run at a title, but they bowed out in the first round. Then, the Spartan hockey team followed suit with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Colorado College in the NCAA Tournament ending the career of legendary coach Ron Mason. Then the women’s basketball team created some excitement on campus, advancing deep into the 2002 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Andrew Fifer
March 29, 2002

Junior guard named to WNIT All-Tournament Team Junior guard Vnemina Reese was named to the 2002 Women’s National Invitation Tournament All-Tournament Team on Thursday. Reese, who graduates in May, will not use her final year of eligibility next season. “I’m surprised,” she said.

BASKETBALL

Spartan coaches recruited by top programs

Dan Woike
March 29, 2002

While this year’s Spartan men’s basketball team didn’t achieve the same success as its predecessors, who earned trips to three consecutive Final Fours, faces from the program’s recent history still are making noise in March. Former MSU assistant coach Stan Heath announced his resignation as the head coach at Kent State on Thursday to take the helm as head coach at Arkansas. That decision came as other current Spartan assistant coaches discuss their potential futures as leaders of other programs. Associate head coach Brian Gregory has spoken with DePaul and Bradley about their coaching vacancies, athletics department spokesman John Lewandowski said. Neither Bradley nor DePaul spokespersons could be reached for comment. Many major universities have turned to the MSU pedigree possessed by current and former assistant coaches. Nabbing Heath to be the Razorback coach spawned Arkansas Chancellor John White to excitedly pass out Heath candy bars to everyone attending the news conference. Heath, 37, got the 10th-seeded Golden Flashes within one game of the Final Four, losing 81-69 to the Indiana Hoosiers last Saturday in the South Regional final. “It’s been a whirlwind,” Heath said Thursday at a Fayetteville, Ark., press conference.

BASEBALL

Spartans blank Saints in home opener

Chris Mackinder
March 28, 2002

The Spartans’ home opener treated fans to the baseball team’s first shutout of the season.MSU (15-3) defeated Siena Heights (4-19) 6-0 at Kobs Field on Wednesday afternoon.“Our team is definitely really confident, there’s no question about that,” Spartan manager Ted Mahan said.

ICE HOCKEY

No chance for Miller to claim second Hobey Baker

James Jahnke
March 28, 2002

MSU suffered a disheartening loss to North Dakota in last year’s Frozen Four, but Ryan Miller won the 2001 Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s outstanding player the very next day.This year, the Spartans’ season ended earlier - with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss Friday - and so did the junior goaltender’s Hobey Baker pursuit.Miller, one of 10 semifinalists for the 2002 Hobey, didn’t make the cut of three finalists announced Wednesday by the Hobey Baker Award Selection Committee.St.

FOOTBALL

Pretrial for defensive end postponed

Ryan Wallace
March 28, 2002

The pretrial hearing Wednesday for Spartan defensive end Clifford Dukes was adjourned. Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor Joyce Draganchuck said the reason for the adjournment was so that Dukes’ attorney, Brian Jeffries of ASMSU’s legal services, could have access to all the information. “He just had to sort through all of the police report,” Draganchuck said.

BASKETBALL

Spartan considers going professional

Dan Woike
March 27, 2002

In what seems to be becoming an annual event, another member of the Spartan men’s basketball team will leave MSU early and enter his name into the NBA Draft. But unlike when ex-Spartans Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph declared for the NBA Draft at the end of the 2000-2001 season, sophomore guard Marcus Taylor’s announcement on Tuesday to declare for the draft is anything but definite. “Becoming an NBA player has been one of my goals for a long time,” Taylor said in a written statement.

SPORTS

WNIT run suggests bright future for Spartans

Chris Mackinder
March 27, 2002

After making the Women’s National Invitation Tournament final four, the MSU women’s basketball team has Spartan faithful excited for next season.Recent WNIT history may prove to be a blessing for the Spartans (19-13). Of the previous 16 WNIT final four teams, seven made the NCAA Tournament the following year and only two of those teams failed to win a tournament game.“Ultimately, we’re going to pursue the same goal we pursued this year - to be one of 64 and to make a run and pursue championships,” Spartan head coach Joanne P.

FOOTBALL

No more to be charged for fight

Justin A. Rice
March 27, 2002

After reviewing testimony involving an October fight that included football players and fraternity members, the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office says it will only charge a sophomore defensive end, citing lack of evidence to pursue others. Clifford Dukes, 20, is scheduled to have a pretrial hearing today in 54-B District Court on four counts of assault and battery and two counts of aggravated assault. The charges, issued on March 20, involve an Oct.

ICE HOCKEY

Comley era begins; changes expected

James Jahnke
March 27, 2002

Some fans were grinding their teeth just as hard as the MSU hockey team was trying to grind out a goal during the NCAA Tournament West Regional on Friday in Ann Arbor. In the end, the toil didn’t pay off for the Spartans - who wrapped up their season with a 2-0 loss to Colorado College that day.

SPORTS

Coach retires after nearly 4 decades

John Ostler
March 26, 2002

After 37 years as MSU’s head diving coach, John Narcy will finally leave the pool. Narcy, 66, brought closure to his collegiate coaching career at the 2002 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas, on Saturday. The Spartan’s only diving representative, senior Carly Weiden, placed 11th in the one-meter dive and 24th in the three-meter dive. “I had a great farewell,” Narcy said.

ICE HOCKEY

Longtime assistants in search of other options

James Jahnke
March 26, 2002

A big chunk of the uncertainty surrounding the MSU hockey program’s future ended Monday with the hiring of Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley.But the uncertainty for Tom Newton and Dave McAuliffe is just beginning.The two Spartan assistant coaches are in a precarious position.

ICE HOCKEY

Spartans welcome Comley

James Jahnke
March 26, 2002

Rick Comley was so firmly entrenched at Northern Michigan University that only a “very good reason” could sway him to leave Marquette. Apparently, the head coaching position at MSU was enough persuasion. Comley, 55, was formally introduced as the fifth head coach in the history of MSU hockey at a press conference Monday in Munn Ice Arena.

SPORTS

Sports briefs

Andrew Fifer
March 26, 2002

Wrestler finishes 7th Junior Gray Maynard earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish at the 2002 NCAA Championships on Saturday. “It feels all right,” the two-time All-American said.

ICE HOCKEY

Northern Michigan coach to lead icers

James Jahnke
March 25, 2002

Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley will be named MSU’s next hockey coach at a press conference today, the university announced Sunday night.“Rick Comley is a fierce competitor,” retiring MSU head coach Ron Mason said in a written statement.