SDSU | Ben Maller

50% chance No. 1 seed wins NCAA Tournament

The four No. 1 seeds in the 2011 NCAA Tournament (Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Pittsburgh) have almost exactly a 50% chance to win. Continue reading…

March 14, 2011, 6:08 am

CBS News investigative reporter played college sports

Armen Keteyian, CBS’ News chief investigative correspondent, is a former college athlete. Continue reading…

Read more: Odd Notes & Stuff, College, CBS, SDSU, news

March 11, 2011, 9:08 am

Big 12 offensive coordinator facing home foreclosure

The San Diego area home of former San Diego State football coach Chuck Long is going to be auctioned off in foreclosure Continue reading…

Read more: Odd Notes & Stuff, College, realestate, SDSU

February 24, 2011, 1:00 am

Michigan football coach hip with text messaging

Brady Hoke, leaving San Diego State for Michigan after guiding the Aztecs to a Poinsettia Bowl victory over Navy last month, bid farewell to his players in a mass text message. — LA Times

Read more: Odd Notes & Stuff, College, michigan, SDSU

January 21, 2011, 6:52 am

SDSU’s Rocky Long had chance to join Michigan staff

Rocky Long still had choices. On Tuesday, Brady Hoke called Long to offer him a chance to join him on the staff at Michigan. Long turned him down. Long thinks he’s got a better job at San Diego State.

Former Jets coach to San Diego State?

Herman Edwards. SDSU AD Jim Sterk isn’t about to say “A San Diego State man will coach San Diego State,” but Edwards is an alum Continue reading →

Read more: NFL, College, Jets, Chiefs, SDSU

January 5, 2011, 7:46 am

Duke, Ohio State lead NCAA Men’s Hoops odds

Odds to Win the 2010-11 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
Duke                             11/4
Ohio State                     11/2
Kansas                         7/1
Michigan State              12/1
Pittsburgh                     18/1
Kansas State                20/1
Kentucky                      20/1
Syracuse                      20/1
Continue reading →

December 16, 2010, 8:47 pm

SDSU’s Hoke denies Pitt contact

San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke said he hasn’t had contact with the University of Pittsburgh about the job vacancy there. On Monday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that he had spoken with Pitt Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Hoke wasn’t available for comment Monday, but SDSU athletics spokesman Mike May said Hoke denied it. SDSU Athletic Director Jim Sterk also said Monday that “no one (from Pitt) has talked to Brady and there’s been no contact with me.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU donor pledges $5 million to help retain Hoke

SDSU Athletic Director Jim Sterk said Tuesday that a single donor, as yet unidentified, recently made a $5 million pledge that will be used toward retaining football coach Brady Hoke and to challenge other alumni and friends of the university to help fund the program. “It is a significant gift,” Sterk told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “It allows us to put a retention package together for Brady and the assistants and (to) help address some facility needs we have. It allows me the opportunity to be able to do some things that we wouldn’t be able to do without that resource. It’s very, very positive. “It also inspires some others to help.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU football coach meets with Big Ten school

The University of Minnesota has met with San Diego State head football coach Brady Hoke about possibly hiring him as its new coach. The meeting with a Minnesota official was in person and in San Diego recently. “I did have an informal conversation about an opening that’s out there,” Hoke said when asked about it after practice Tuesday. He declined to say which school or name the official. He said he didn’t want to say which school “out of respect for that other school and the kids we have here that we’re 100 percent committed to and will stay committed to.” A source close to the situation said Hoke met with Minnesota, which is looking to replace fired head coach Tim Brewster. When asked about it, Hoke confirmed that more than one school has initiated contact with his agent about job openings and that Minnesota was one of them. — San Diego Union-Tribune

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November 24, 2010, 4:28 am

SDSU’s Brady Hoke not looking to leave San Diego

A possible contract extension for San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke will be a subject for discussion after the season, San Diego State Athletic Director Jim Sterk said. In the meantime, reports out of Minnesota say Hoke is on that school’s list to replace the fired Tim Brewster. Hoke’s response: He hasn’t been contacted about the Minnesota opening and is “not looking to bail out” on SDSU after two seasons in San Diego. — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU football coach Brady Hoke up for Big Ten coaching job?

The latest word is that the University of Minnesota has San Diego State’s Brady Hoke on its list of serious football coaching prospects. Hoke’s Aztecs are 7-2 and will play at No. 3 Texas Christian (10-0) on Saturday. Hoke, 52, who is from Kettering, Ohio, coached defense at Michigan for eight years before becoming head coach at his alma mater Ball State, where he finished 12-1 in 2008. He is in his second season at San Diego State, where his quarterbacks coach is Brian Sipe, the former Cleveland Browns QB. In Hoke’s first season at San Diego State, the Aztecs finished 4-8. Meanwhile, Colorado’s firing Tuesday of Dan Hawkins adds competition to the Gophers’ search. And Arizona State could have a head coach opening soon, too. — Pioneer Press

California has NCAA’s most starting quarterbacks

If your favorite team is looking for a quarterback, your team’s coaches — not surprisingly — need to head to California, Florida and Texas. Exactly half — 60 of 120 — of the starting quarterbacks at FBS schools are from those three states. In addition, of the top 40 high school quarterbacks in the nation this recruiting cycle, almost half (18) hail from that trio of states. Of the current FBS starting quarterbacks, California has the most with 23. Texas is second with 19 and Florida third with 18. Pennsylvania (eight) and Georgia and Ohio (seven each) round out the top five. Last season, California, Florida and Texas combined for 54 starting quarterbacks. — Rivals.com

CALIFORNIA (23)
Bowling Green: Matt Schilz. Pasadena/Maranatha *
Buffalo: Jerry Davis. Fresno/Edison
Colorado: Tyler Hansen. Murrieta/Chaparral
Colorado State: Pete Thomas. El Cajon/Valhalla
Fresno State: Ryan Colburn. Visalia/Central Valley Christian
Louisiana Tech: Colby Cameron. Thousand Oaks/Newbury Park
Louisville: Adam Froman. Santa Rose/Maria Carrillo
Nebraska: Taylor Martinez. Corona/Centennial
Nevada: Colin Kaepernick. Turlock/Pittman
New Mexico: B.R. Holbrook. Newhall/Hart *
New Mexico State: Matt Christian. Carlsbad/Carlsbad
Notre Dame: Dayne Crist. Sherman Oaks/Notre Dame
Ohio U.: Boo Jackson. Lompoc/Lompoc
Oregon State: Ryan Katz. Santa Monica/Santa Monica
San Diego State: Ryan Lindley. Lakeside/El Capitan
San Jose State: Jordan La Secla. Newbury Park/Newbury Park
Tulane: Ryan Griffin. West Hills/Chaminade College Prep
UCLA: Kevin Prince. Encino/Crespi Carmelite
USC: Matt Barkley. Santa Ana/Mater Dei
Utah: Jordan Wynn. Oceanside/Oceanside *
Utah State: Diondre Borel. Oakley/Freedom.
Washington State: Jeff Tuel. Fresno/Clovis West
Wyoming: Austyn Carta-Samuels. San Jose/Bellarmine College Prep

September 24, 2010, 6:38 am

SDSU hoping fired coach does better at Kansas

Nearly two years since his firing, former head football coach Chuck Long remains on San Diego State’s payroll through December. He never came close to earning a bowl berth in his three seasons at SDSU from 2006 though 2008. But the university is still hoping to finally see him go to a bowl game this year in his new job as offensive coordinator at Kansas. That’s because if Long’s new team goes to a bowl, it will reduce the amount of money SDSU still owes him from his original five-year contract. SDSU owed him $715,900 for the final year of his SDSU deal, which expires at the end of this year. After hiring a consultant to help reduce that amount, SDSU reached a deal with him last November to deduct his new income at Kansas ($350,000 salary) from what SDSU owed him ($715,900), leaving a balance for SDSU of $365,900. — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU, Nicholls State make $300,000 deal

One team is really hurting for cash. The other team badly wants to go to a bowl game. Combine those two interests and the result is a $300,000 deal between San Diego State and Nicholls State of Louisiana. In exchange for that money, Nicholls State has agreed to play SDSU Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium in the football season opener for both teams. The Colonels made the agreement even though they play in an inferior division with fewer resources and smaller, slower players. Meanwhile, SDSU has never paid that much money to bring in an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision. The Aztecs might even lose money on the game. Keep in mind SDSU’s average per-game ticket revenue last year was $233,000. But the deal works for both teams because of the inequities in Division I football and the importance SDSU is placing on earning its first bowl berth since 1998. — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU coach says BYU won’t be on future schedule

Now that Brigham Young University has announced it will leave the Mountain West Conference, don’t expect to see the Cougars on any of San Diego State’s future football schedules. “I don’t think we’ll have them on our schedule, no,” SDSU head coach Brady Hoke said. Similarly, Wyoming Athletic Director Tom Burman told the Casper Star-Tribune he had “no desire” to play BYU after the Cougars leave the MWC in 2011. BYU announced Tuesday it would turn independent in football and play in the West Coast Conference in other sports. Without a conference to play in, scheduling might not be easy for the Cougars, who had played eight MWC opponents each season automatically. — San Diego Union-Tribune

Ex-SDSU files suit over post-workout treatment

Former San Diego State football player Eric Ikonne has filed a medical malpractice suit against the hospital and doctor who treated him after he collapsed during an Aztecs football workout in April 2009. Ikonne left the team after the incident and believes he is permanently disabled, according to his lawsuit. The suit seeks unspecified damages for his “permanent and serious injury,” “partial loss of enjoyment of life,” and “loss of insurability.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU considers cutting out-of-state recruiting

To save money in tough times, the San Diego State athletic department has considered cutting back on something many of its coaches consider essential — out-of-state recruiting. Athletic Director Jim Sterk brought it up as a possibility last week at a meeting with coaches and staff. If it happened, it likely wouldn’t have much of an effect on SDSU’s biggest sports — football and men’s basketball. But with state budget cuts and continuing pressure to shave expenses, the idea is on the radar of Sterk and other California athletic directors as the cost of scholarships in the state has increased. “The biggest thing I don’t want to do is limit a coach to where they have to compromise being as competitive as possible,” said Sterk, whose department laid off five employees last week. “It’s not something we’re going to mandate at this point. But we’re going to look at where rosters are right now and where they will be in the future. Some sports have more of a tendency to recruit out-of-state and international. It’s one of the things we need to consider as we look at everything.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

Undisclosed donor commits $90,000 to fund two SDSU coaches who were laid off

An undisclosed donor has come to the rescue and offered to fund the reinstatement of two assistant coaches who were laid off this week from the San Diego State men’s and women’s tennis teams. After learning about layoffs in SDSU athletics, reported Thursday in the Union-Tribune, the donor committed to a $90,000 gift for the next two years. Athletic Director Jim Sterk said it will fund salaries and benefits for the two tennis assistant coaches recently laid off: Lindsey Gamp in women’s tennis and Ryan Redondo in men’s tennis. Their reinstatement will immediately double the full-time coaching staffs of both teams back to two apiece. “It helps the program, and it helps those individuals,” Sterk said. “It made something bright during a difficult week.” — San Diego Union-Tribune

SDSU athletics have $1.5 mil net deficit

The San Diego State athletic department finished with a $1.5 million net deficit for its fiscal year ending June 30 and this week laid off seven employees, including four assistant coaches in men’s and women’s tennis, men’s soccer and women’s crew. The moves come after a similar round of cost-cutting last year, when SDSU laid off eight full-time employees and 12 part-timers. This is the first round of recent layoffs at SDSU that have included coaches. Athletic Director Jim Sterk said the decisions were “tough,” but he also cited progress. The $1.5 million deficit is due to a carry-over from last year, when SDSU athletics was $2 million in the hole despite $15 million in subsidies from student fees, state funds and other university support. With last year’s cost-cutting, SDSU had an operational surplus of $442,000 for 2009-10, which reduced its carry over deficit to $1.5 million, Sterk said. — San Diego Union-Tribune

Football coaching legend would forget trash, daughter in car

In an emotional tribute that lasted more than two hours, Don Coryell was remembered as a football genius/forgetful mad scientist, an intense competitor and a man whose quirks and sincerity created lasting bonds. An example of his focus? Coryell once lived on the top of a hill. Come trash day, he’d pile the garbage in the back of his car, intending to drop it off at the curb. Instead, the trash made its way to work. Instead of dropping his daughter Mindy off at school, Coryell often called his wife, Aliisa, from the office, apologizing, asking if she could come pick her up. – SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE