National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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May 12, 2010 9:34:56 AM

Five Division I football coaches will visit U.S. troops in Germany and southwest Asia later this month as part of the USO Coaches Tour, an event designed to boost morale.

Illinois' Ron Zook (left, shown in a 2008 visit to an aircraft carrier), Army's Rich Ellerson, Oregon's Chip Kelly, Harvard's Tim Murphy and Texas Tech's Tommy Tuberville will visit eight countries in nine days, with a final stop at the White House.

The coaches will meet, sign autographs and pose for pictures with service members, as well as facilitate panel discussions and play flag football. Skill competitions and athletics combines are also part of the tour.

"This visit to our troops will be very inspiring," Zook said. "I want to make sure they understand we appreciate all that they do to make our world a better place to live. Our men and women serving in the armed forces put their lives on the line every day to help defend freedom, and, if in some small way our visit can help to motivate them, our time will be very well spent."

The Coaches Tour has put NCAA coaches in touch with more than 40,000 troops to date, and officials estimate that this year, coaches will meet and interact with 15,000 to 20,000 service members through the tour.

The coaches will distribute donated athletics apparel and university-branded items from their schools and from sponsors Under Armour, Armed Forces Entertainment and Morale Entertainment. American Airlines will provide vouchers to outstanding service members for no cost air transportation.

The coaches leave May 21. Coaches who have participated in previous tours include Georgia's Mark Richt, Miami's Randy Shannon, Texas' Mack Brown and Ohio State's Jim Tressel.

Conference USA announces bowl agreements: Conference USA has guaranteed spots in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the Beef O'Brady's Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, EagleBank Bowl, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. The conference has a backup agreement with the Dallas Football Classic to participate in that game if the Big Ten or Big 12 cannot provide a team.

The agreements include matchups against schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Mountain West Conference, Sun Belt Conference and Western Athletic Conference.

The Conference USA 2010 Bowl Schedule begins December 18 in New Orleans and ends December 31 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Davidson BUZZKILL aims at malaria: Davidson basketball student-athlete Bryant Barr organized a three-on-three tournament and auction that raised more than $38,000 for Nothing But Nets, an organization formed to prevent malaria in Africa by providing anti-mosquito bed nets for families.

The donation will provide more than 3,800 insecticide-covered bed nets to African villages, protecting potentially more than 15,000 people. The event more than doubled its 2009 take.

"The people who were involved and the kids who participated in the tournament were incredible in helping with this effort, and we were able to more than double what we raised last year," said Barr. "I appreciate the care, commitment and support everybody showed in making this a possibility. I hope to continue BUZZKILL next year and keep the work going."

Thirty teams with four players each participated in the tournament, and teams were encouraged to raise extra money through sponsorships. The team that raised the most money received first pick in the coaches' draft.

The top fund-raising team brought in more than $2,500 and chose former Davidson Wildcat and current Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry.