Gould to replace Kliavkoff as PAC-12 commissioner
SAN FRANCISCO » The Pac12 has promoted Teresa Gould to commissioner as the conference tries to navigate a murky future.
Gould will succeed George Kliavkoff on March 1 after he was relieved of duties on Friday. She becomes the first female commissioner of an Autonomy Five conference.
“Teresa’s deep knowledge of collegiate athletics and unwavering commitment to student-athletes makes her uniquely qualified to help guide the Pac12 Conference during this period of unprecedented change in college sports,” Washington State University President and Pac-12 Board of Directors chair Kirk Schulz said in a statement on Monday. “As the first female commissioner of an Autonomy Five conference, Teresa will be able to bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to the table as the industry works to find its way through this shifting landscape.”
Gould was hired by the Pac-12 in 2018 and served as deputy commissioner, overseeing all sports, championship events and other duties.
She takes over a conference that’s down to two members after a mass exodus last year.
UCLA and Southern California announced in 2022 a move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten and eight more schools followed suit in a tumultuous summer after Kliavkoff couldn’t reach a new media rights deal that remaining members believed would keep them competitive with Power Five conference peers.
Washington State and Oregon State are the only remaining long-term members of the Pac-12, and currently the only members of the conference’s board of directors.
The Pacific Northwest schools plan to keep the conference up and running with only two schools for at least another year, or maybe two, as they try to rebuild the league.
TUCSON, ARIZ. » Arizona has hired former Missouri athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois to guide the athletics department through financial difficulties prior to the school’s move to the Big 12.
Reed-Francois agreed to terms Monday on a fiveyear contract that will start at $1 million per year, pending approval by the Arizona Board of Regents. She replaces Dave Heeke, who was fired after seven years last month, and will become the first female to hold the full-time AD job at Arizona when she takes the reigns on March 3.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Desireé to the University of Arizona family, and we could not be more excited about the leadership experience and outstanding credentials she brings,” University President Robert C. Robbins said in a statement. “Respected nationally for her commitment to studentathletes, Desireé has a history of success everywhere she’s served and is exactly the right person we need to modernize our athletics operations and usher in an ongoing culture of success in all aspects of athletics.”
Reed-Francois spent the past three years as Missouri’s AD, helping stabilize a department that had operated at a deficit for five years. She previously served as UNLV’s athletic director from 2017-17 and had previous leadership positions at Virginia Tech, Cincinnati and Tennessee.
“The growth of our department has been tremendous,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “You don’t look at the back of a person when they’re in transition from one job to the next. You look at the mark that they’ve left and she’s done a tremendous job.”
Reed-Francois takes over an Arizona athletics department that borrowed more than $80 million from the university in recent years. The school has its own financial issues following a $240 million miscalculation of projected cash on hand.
The financial difficulties, in part, led football coach Jedd Fisch to leave for Washington after resurrecting the program. He was replaced by former San Jose State coach Brent Brennan, hired by Heeke shortly before he was relieved
of duties.
Reed-Francois is a graduate and former rower at UCLA, and earned a doctorate degree from Arizona’s law school in 1997.
“There are very few institutions that would entice me to leave an SEC athletics department with strong momentum,” ReedFrancois said. “The University of Arizona has tremendous potential and is an institution — and an athletics program — on the rise, and I want to be a part of shaping that future.”
Nebraska’s response to player-assistant coach’s sexual relationship was inadequate, lawsuit says
OMAHA, NEB. » A former Nebraska women’s basketball player alleges coach Amy Williams and athletic director Trev Alberts did not take appropriate action when her sexual relationship with an assistant coach became widely known.
Ashley Scoggin filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court describing how Chuck Love allegedly took a special interest in her and how the relationship turned sexual and caused Scoggin to fear retaliation if she refused to engage in it.
The lawsuit was filed Sunday and names the university’s Board of Regents and Love as defendants, in addition to Williams and Alberts. Scoggin seeks a jury trial in Lincoln and unspecified damages for the alleged violation of her civil rights.
“It’s a very troubling and serious subject of predatory coaches that pursue sexual relationships with student-athletes,” Scoggin attorney Maren Chaloupka said Monday. “There’s an enormous imbalance of power between the professional coach and studentathletes. This is something that was well known in 2022.
“Certainly Division I universities that operate at the top level are well aware of the harm that comes from this kind of a predatory situation, and there’s a strong onus on the university and on the coaches to prevent this from happening and, heaven forbid it does happen, to address is correctly.”
University spokesperson Melissa Lee said the school was made aware of the lawsuit Monday.
“While the University does not comment on the specifics of pending litigation, it does not agree with the allegations contained in the complaint and intends to vigorously defend this matter,” Lee said in a statement.
Williams declined to comment. Alberts and Love did not respond to text and emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Scoggin played two seasons for the Cornhuskers. She was dismissed from the team on the same day Love was suspended with pay in February 2022. Love resigned three months later. Scoggin now plays at UNLV.
Arizona hires Desireé Reed-Francois as athletic director to navigate move to Big 12
ECU baseball player appears in game with prosthetic leg after boating accident
GREENVILLE, N.C. » East Carolina sophomore Parker Byrd appeared in Friday’s season-opening win against Rider with a prosthetic leg after having part of his right leg amputated following a 2022 boating accident.
The school said Byrd is believed to be the first NCAA Division I baseball player to play in a game with a prosthetic leg. Athletic spokesman Malcolm Gray said the Byrd family researched for any other examples. NCAA spokesman Greg Johnson said the organization doesn’t track that type of record.
Byrd, an in-state product from Laurinburg, walked to the plate in the eighth inning to a loud ovation from the home crowd. He took a firstpitch strike then drew four straight balls to reach base. The Pirates then had freshman Jason Janesko come on as a pinch runner.
“Chill bumps, man,” Byrd said in his postgame interview with reporters. “It’s absolutely phenomenal.”
Pirates coach Cliff Godwin told WCTI-TV based in New Bern that it was “one of the proudest moments I have ever had as a coach.”
“He’s going to get some more,” Godwin said. “But he’s worked his tail off. It was super-emotional.