Pelicans Executive Vice President David Griffin says the mutual decision to part ways with head coach Stan Van Gundy after only one season was due to philosophical differences in how to move forward with the young team. The Pelicans ended Van Gundy’s only season 31-41 good for only 11th in the Western Conference, one spot shy of making the playoff play-in tournament.
Griffin made some puzzling comments during the press conference…
Cut 17 (17) “development”
Former Louisiana Tech women’s basketball star and coach Teresa Weatherspoon emerged as a potential head-coaching candidate. Pels assistant Fred Vinson and Bucks’ assistant Charles Lee are also reportedly in the running for the job.
LSU’s longtime Director of Athletic Training, Jack Marucci has received a promotion as he’ll now serve as director of Performance Innovation at the school. The school says Marucci will use his expertise in sports science to develop new ways for all of LSU’s student-athletes to prosper in competition. Marucci spent the last 25 years leading LSU’s athletic training staff.
LSU softball’s Taylor Pleasants earned freshman of the year honors in the state of Louisiana and coach Beth Torina captured her second state coach of the year award. Pleasants batted .314 with 11 homeruns and 47 RBI’s this past season.
Louisiana Tech third baseman Hunter Wells has been named a Baseball America first-team All-American. Wells was second in the nation this season with 101 hits while batting .385 with 14 homers. He is the third Bulldog to earn All-America honors this season and the ninth in program history.