| REGISTER TO WIN | |
 |
Travis Ford, who played his college basketball at Missouri and Kentucky, is leaving Massachusetts to become the new basketball coach at Oklahoma State. It is the second straight hire with a Kentucky connection for the Cowboys.
Ford led UMass to a 25-11 record this year and an appearance in the NIT championship game, where it lost to Ohio State. He is 62-35 in three seasons at Massachusetts. He turned down Providence earlier this year.
Ford will be replacing Sean Sutton, who resigned on April 1 under pressure. Sutton had replaced his father Eddie Sutton, whom the Cowboys lured away from Kentucky.
Love plans news conference
UCLA freshman center Kevin Love has scheduled a news conference on campus today to announce his plans for next season. Love led the Bruins in scoring (17.5 points) and rebounds (10.6). They lost in the national semifinals to Memphis.
Love will be accompanied by his father, Stan, and UCLA coach Ben Howland. Howland said last week scouts have projected Love to be selected between fifth and 10th in the draft.
Wuebbels suspended at MU
Missouri reserve offensive lineman Austin Wuebbels has been suspended for the rest of spring workouts, which consist of one more practice and Saturday’s spring game. He was arrested Sunday morning on four misdemeanor charges — suspicion of possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana, possession of a drug pipe, a fake ID and alcohol — when stopped in his car.
San Diego’s strikeout king
San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg had the outing of a lifetime last Friday, setting school and Mountain West Conference records with 23 strikeouts in a 1-0, one-hit victory over Utah.
“I’ve seen a lot of baseball and seen a lot of things, but I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Tony Gwynn, the Aztecs’ coach and a Hall of Famer.
The 23 strikeouts tied for the third most in Division I history, and were the most in a game since Miami’s Neal Heaton also had 23 against Indiana State in 1981. The NCAA record is 26 by Miami of Ohio’s Buddy Schultz against Wright State in 1973. LSU’s Butch Mixon struck out 24 against Louisiana-Lafayette in 1959.
UMKC signs point guard
Trey McKinney-Jones has signed to play basketball at UMKC next season. McKinney-Jones, a 6-foot-4 point guard from Bay View, Wis., averaged 15 points, six assists and 5.7 rebounds as a senior last season. McKinney-Jones was a first team all-Southeast Conference selection last season at South Milwaukee High School. He was the highest-scoring point guard in the league, making 49 percent of his shots from the floor.
Defender is first K-State pick
Kansas State’s football team held its spring game draft, and two defensive players were chosen first. Offensive coordinator Dave Brock, who’ll coach the White team, won the coin toss and picked defensive end Ian Campbell. Defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar, guiding the Purple team, took cornerback Joshua Moore.
Quarterback Josh Freeman landed with the White team. The annual Purple-White game is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
MIAA baseball tickets on sale
Tickets go on sale today for the MIAA baseball tournament May 9-11 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in KCK. Tournament passes, good for all games (up to seven possible), will be $25. Daily passes also will be available — $10 for adults, $5 for students with ID and youth. Children under the age of 6 will be admitted free. All seating will be general admission. Tickets can be purchased through the T-Bones ticket office by calling 913-328-2255 or online at www.tbonesbaseball.com.
Dozier complaint dismissed
A domestic assault complaint against University of Memphis basketball player Robert Dozier has been dismissed. No charges were filed in the Feb. 3 incident involving Dozier’s ex-girlfriend outside a Beale Street nightclub. Shelby County court records show Dozier’s former girlfriend, LaParis Woods, sought an order of protection against the player, claiming he slapped her in the face.
His current girlfriend, Andrea Brown, later filed a protective order alleging that Woods threatened her. The order against Dozier was dismissed Wednesday. The 6-foot-9 forward will be a senior at Memphis next season.
•One of the country’s last undecided high-profile basketball recruits will spend next season at Memphis. Tyreke Evans, the most valuable player of the McDonald’s All-American game last month, announced his decision to go to Memphis at a news conference at American Christian School.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.