S CAROLINA-WHAT’S NEXT
Coach Holbrook: Gamecocks will return to CWS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook says he’s working for a return to the College World Series after the Gamecocks’ disappointing NCAA tournament performance this month.
South Carolina ended a run of 13 straight times advancing out of a regional it hosted, a streak that dated back to 1976. Holbrook says he’s still not gotten past the defeat more than a week later. The coach says sometimes left a room where the TV was tuned to NCAA super regional games.
But Holbrook has already begun planning for 2015 and leading a very different club than he had this season.
Six Gamecock juniors who played in the NCAA opening game were drafted last week by major league baseball and Holbrook said Tuesday that most are poised to start their pro careers.
NORTH CAROLINA-ACADEMIC PROBE
UNC AD urges patience with academic probe
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham says curious fans should be patient while an investigator conducts his probe into alleged academic misconduct at the school.
Cunningham issued a statement Tuesday, four days after former basketball player Rashad McCants levied allegations of academic wrongdoing that drew harsh denials from coach Roy Williams and other players on the school’s 2005 national championship team.
Cunningham says instead of “speculation and innuendo,” people should allow former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein to conduct his investigation.
McCants told ESPN that tutors wrote papers for him and he believes Williams knew “100 percent” about players taking no-show classes.
In response, 16 players from that team defended their Hall of Fame coach, saying “with conviction” that they went to class and did their own schoolwork.
US OPEN
Mickelson trying to keep his focus on Pinehurst
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Phil Mickelson believes Pinehurst No. 2 is such a complete test for the U.S. Open that he’ll have to be focused on every shot.
That could be quite a challenge for the five-time major champion.
On the golf course, Mickelson is trying to ignore the high expectations for him to finally win the U.S. Open and join five other greats who have won the career Grand Slam. There’s also the emotional connection he has to Pinehurst No. 2 from his first runner-up finish in 1999, just one day before his daughter was born.
Off the golf course, he was linked two weeks ago to an insider trading investigation involving investor Carl Icahn and Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters.
Mickelson says he usually does his best when everyone least expects it.
US OPEN-ROSE RETURNS
Rose hopeful about US Open, not so much about WCup
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Now that he’s got that pesky major out of the way, Justin Rose is learning to savor the quest for his next big title.
The Englishman is the reigning champion heading into the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, a player much more at ease with himself now that he’s got a big title on his resume.
He’s certainly more optimistic about becoming the first back-to-back Open champion in a quarter-century than England winning the World Cup.
England has a huge opening match against Italy on Saturday, the soccer game scheduled to kick off in Brazil about the time the third round of the Open is wrapping up in North Carolina.
Rose will be watching the match, but says it’s important to keep his emotions in check, no matter the outcome.
US OPEN-WATSON
Bubba chasing 2nd major of ’14 at US Open
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — Bubba Watson has one thing going for him: So far, nobody else has a better chance at winning a second major this year.
That’s because he’s already got one.
The two-time Masters champion came to Pinehurst this week for the U.S. Open trying to become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win the first two majors of the year.
He says his position means “it’s been a good year” because “you’ve done well early.”
The world’s third-ranked player is trying to join that short list of players to win both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year.
He’s certainly hoping this attempt goes better than the last one. Two years ago at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, he missed the cut.
OBIT-DONLAVEY
NASCAR car owner Junie Donlavey dies at 90
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former NASCAR car owner Junie Donlavey has died at the age of 90.
Richmond International Raceway spokeswoman Aimee Turner said Donlavey died Monday night.
According to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame website, the Richmond native fielded his No. 90 cars for drivers including Joe Weatherly, Tiny Lund and Dick Brooks.
Bill Dennis, Jody Ridley and Ken Schrader won NASCAR Cup series rookie of the year honors for Donlavey. Ridley recorded Donlavey’s only Cup win in a 1981 race in Dover, Delaware.
Sixty different drivers drove for Donlavey before he closed his shop in 2005. He had more than 860 starts as a car owner during his 50-plus years in the sport.
In a statement Tuesday, NASCAR said it lost a treasure and a man who personified its proud past.
