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Jul 1, 2010 9:24:50 AM

The NCAA News

 

At long last, Newberry College has a new nickname.

The institution's board of directors settle on "Wolves" in June after a student vote earlier in the year led it in that direction.

Newberry's teams, previously known as the Indians, spent the past two seasons competing without a nickname after the school was among those included on an NCAA list of 17 institutions whose mascots or nicknames might be considered offensive to Native Americans.

Mick Zais, Newberry's president at the time, did not agree with the decision, which would have prohibited Newberry from hosting NCAA championship events had it retained the nickname. However, after Newberry's appeal was denied, the institution agreed that it would continue to use Indians for two years as it searched for an alternative. That agreement ended in 2008, and Newberry has used only a large block "N" since.

The athletics department said it will create a new logo that will be unveiled before the fall semester.

 

East Coast Tip-Off Classic canceled: The Division II Conference Commissioners Association and Disney Sports Attractions announced June 25 that the 2010 Disney's Division II East Coast Tip-Off Classic has been canceled.

During the past 13 years, Disney's Division II East Coast Tip-Off Classic has welcomed 71 men's teams from 29 states and 62 women's teams from 26 states. The 2010 event had been scheduled November 5-7 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

Disney's Division II West Coast Tip-Off Classic will not be affected. That event will be entering its third year at the Anaheim Convention Center.

 

Former Tampa student-athlete dies in World Cup tragedy: Nicole Murphy, a four-year starter for the Tampa women's soccer team and a member of the 2007 Division II national championship team, was killed June 15 when she was hit by a car in South Africa while attending the World Cup with her family.

Murphy, 24, graduated from Tampa in May 2008 and was entering her third year of medical school at LSU.

"Nicole, we miss you already, and the love for you out there in the community is massive," Tampa coach Gerry Lucey told the Tampa Tribune.

 

Coker makes hisssssssstory with new logo: Coker College unveiled its new Cobras athletics logo, one that features an edgier kind of cobra.

The new look incorporates an aggressive typeface while keeping Coker's traditional colors of navy and yellow. The new Cobra replaces the original logo that has been used since 1973, giving Coker athletics a "New Logo. New Attitude."

The new logo is the official mark of Coker athletics and will be used for all publications and merchandise. It was designed by Phoenix Design Works of New York and a committee of seven Coker faculty and staff members.

With the new Cobra logo comes a redesigned official Coker athletics website at www.cokercobras.com. The Coker athletics website was created by AthleticSite.com.

 

E.J. Dreyer on top of her game: For the first time in school history, the valedictorian at Molloy was a student-athlete.

Elizabeth Dreyer graduated from one of the top nursing programs in the country with a 4.0 grade-point average. In addition to her academic success, E.J. (as she is known on the basketball court) was a four-year starter in basketball who contributed to a pair of East Coast Conference championships and NCAA regional appearances.

Dreyer has been on the athletic director's honor roll every semester of her collegiate career. She was also a two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine academic all-district selection.

Click here for her message to the Class of 2010.

 

Milestone win: Mount Olive baseball coach Carl Lancaster picked up his 800th career win in the Trojans' 2-1 victory over Erskine in May in the Southeast regional of the 2010 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

Lancaster led Mount Olive to a 41-11 record in 2010 and currently has a career mark of 800-383 for a .676 winning percentage.

Since reaching the 600-win mark during the 2006 season, Lancaster has compiled a record of 200-55 (.784). In 2008, he guided Mount Olive to a 58-6 record and the school's first national championship.