National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Apr 29, 2010 8:44:24 AM

Florida State football coach Jimbo Fisher (left) and former Seminoles defensive back Terrell Buckley broke South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier and former Gamecock Sterling Sharpe's win streak in the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge golf event April 27, taking home $120,000 in scholarship money for the school's general fund.

The event, sponsored by the Chick-fil-A Bowl, contributed $400,000 in scholarship money to the 12 universities that competed, bringing its total donations over the last four years to $1.8 million. For some schools, the event is a way for athletics to continue its tradition of giving back to the university.

"South Carolina athletics commits over $1.2 million each year to the university for the general scholarship fund," said Athletics Director Eric Hyman. "Coach Spurrier's winnings in the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge, which is the equivalent of providing a year's worth of education for seven South Carolinians, has gone into the pool of dollars to help offset this commitment."

The event is a way for the coaches to relax and still get the competitive juices flowing.

"This is a fun event," said Spurrier. "It gives us coaches and former players a chance to compete against each other. We've been fortunate to win the last couple of years and give our university $240,000. I appreciate Chick-fil-A for sponsoring this event. It's first-class all the way. I'm sure a lot of us look forward to it each year."

Spurrier and Sharpe came in third, behind Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson and Jon Barry.

MAC signs bowl agreements: The Mid-American Conference will have five bowl relationships for the next four football seasons, the most ties the conference has had in its 64-year history.

The MAC has primary relationships with the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl, the GMAC Bowl and Roady's Humanitarian Bowl. The conference has two secondary agreements with the Papajohns.com Bowl, the Dallas Football Classic (2010 and 2012), the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl/San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl/New Mexico Bowl (2011 and 2013).

"We have a very solid relationship with our primary bowl partners and we look forward to continuing to expand these relationships," said Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. "The addition of the secondary agreements provides our conference the opportunity to build on relationships with multiple bowl groups and ultimately give our member institutions an expanded platform for their programs and student-athletes to perform with other FBS conferences on a national stage."

MAC teams will serve as the backup to the Southeastern and Big East Conferences in the Papajohns.com Bowl and will be a second backup in the Dallas Football Classic. The MAC will back up Army in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (2011) and the Poinsettia Bowl (2013). If Army is not eligible, the Western Athletic Conference will vacate the New Mexico Bowl and provide a team to the Kraft Fight Hunger and Poinsettia Bowl. The MAC will then provide a team to the New Mexico Bowl against a team from the Mountain West.

Elon plans facility upgrade: Elon will upgrade its Walter C. Latham Park baseball facility this summer. A group of donors led by Elon trustee Bryan Latham, who committed $250,000 to the project, will provide financing. The facility is named for Latham's father, a 1934 alumnus and former baseball student-athlete.

"I wanted to continue to honor my father, who received a great education at Elon under difficult economic circumstances," Latham said. "I want that commitment to continue for a long time, and this gift is a way to cement that commitment."

The park's entire playing surface will be replaced, with FieldTurf in the infield and an improved drainage system in the outfield. Fencing will also be upgraded.