Alan Segal has been hired as head volleyball coach at Eastern Illinois. Scheduled to begin his duties as the ninth head coach in the program’s history on February 6, Segal spent last season as an assistant at UAB. Before his stint with the Blazers, he served as head coach at Armstrong Atlantic for nine seasons, guiding the program to two Peach Belt Conference regular-season and two league tournament championships. The three-time Peach Belt coach of the year compiled a 233-104 record and led the Pirates to five straight Division II tournament appearances from 2000-05.

Other transactions

Directors of athletics – Fort Valley State appointed Wilson Gosier as athletics director. A former student-athlete and graduate of the school, he previously was an associate dean of students at Fort Valley State in the 1970s. A retired collegiate and professional basketball and football official, Gosier, who succeeds interim athletics director Sean Stanley, has recently fulfilled duties as director of football operations at the school.

Football assistants – Former Arena Football League standout John Kaleo was chosen as quarterbacks coach at Towson. For the past two seasons, Kaleo has served as offensive coordinator at Iona. In a 14-year career in the AFL, he played for 10 teams before retiring in 2007. He also was a reserve quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League for one season after graduating from Maryland, where he played quarterback for the Terrapins for two years, establishing school records for completed passes, passing attempts and passing yards (286 in 482 attempts, 3,392 yards).

Women’s soccer – Eastern Illinois’ Tim Nowak resigned as head coach, effective January 30, to accept a new professional opportunity. In four years under Nowak’s leadership, the Panthers earned four straight Ohio Valley Conference tournament berths, including two semifinal appearances and a 2005 championship game appearance.

Deaths

Bill Werber, former Duke basketball and baseball student-athlete – and the oldest living ex-Major League Baseball player – died January 22. He was 100. Werber was a member of the Blue Devils’ basketball and baseball teams from 1928 to 1930, going 43-17 with the baseball squad. In an 11-year career as a Major Leaguer, he played on five different teams, including the 1940 Cincinnati Reds team that captured the World Series. A teammate of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove, Werber was the leadoff hitter in the first televised baseball game in 1939.