San Jose State’s basketball coach resigns for personal reasons
A national search is underway for the next head coach of the San José State University men’s basketball program after Dave Wojcik resigned from the position for personal reasons on Monday.
“This past year has been emotionally challenging for me with the loss of my father. His passing made me evaluate what is important in life and the value of family,” Wojcik stated in a release from San Jose State. “With the considerable needs of my widowed mother, as well as my son moving to the East Coast after his high school graduation, I believe it is the appropriate time to resign my position as head men’s basketball coach at San José University.”
Marie Tuite, the Spartans director of athletics, accepted Wojcik’s resignation and announced assistant coach Rodney Tention will serve as the team’s interim head coach.
“On behalf of our entire department, I want to wish Dave and his family the very best as they begin a new chapter,” Tuite stated in the release. “We will immediately start the process of conducting a national search to find a replacement for Coach Wojcik.”
The Spartans went 3290 in four seasons under Wojcik as head coach, but the 2016-17 team was the program’s most successful in six years, posting a 14-16 record and tying for eighth place in the Mountain West Conference at 7-11.
“The opportunity to lead the men’s basketball team has been a privilege. I am proud to leave the program positioned for continued success and wish the program and San Jose State University all the best,” Wojcik stated.
Olympics
USA, FRANCE MAKE PITCH
>> The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, has told IOC leaders it “has been and could be again the ideal Olympic city.”
Garcetti led an L.A. delegation visiting the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland Monday two hours ahead of the visit by France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, with a Paris bid team.
Both cities should be assured of hosting the Summer Games in 2024 or 2028 when the full International Olympic Committee membership votes on Tuesday on making a double award in September.
A future deal on which city hosts in 2024 could be brokered by IOC President Thomas Bach and his executive board, whom Garcetti addressed at the museum.
Mayor Garcetti invited them to “share the soul of LA, to get the taste of the city that has been reborn.”
LA’s previous hosting duties, in 1932 and 1984, were also “games-changers” for the Olympics, Garcetti said.
Still, Paris is widely viewed as favorite for 2024. It would also be Paris’ third hosting and mark exactly 100 years since the previous edition there.
France’s charismatic new president is adding his star quality to a campaign event that typically does not lure heads of state.
On Tuesday, both candidate cities will explain their hosting plans through videos and on-stage presentations to up to 95 IOC members.
They will ultimately vote to confirm the hosts on Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.
Anti-doping
RUSSIA ANNOUNCES NEW
MEASURES >> Russia wants to hit dopers where it hurts — in their bank accounts.
In a push to restore Russia’s sporting reputation after numerous doping scandals, the government has approved a plan to reclaim prize money and government grants from athletes found to be cheating.
Several Russian athletes have been able to hold onto large sums, despite being caught doping.
In a package of anti-doping measures signed Monday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Russian Sports Ministry and national sports federations to develop a scheme for “confiscating income and property from athletes, coaches, doctors and other specialists” involved in doping cases.
Boxing
WBO REVIEW CONFIRMS
HORN’S VICTORY >> The World Boxing Organization says an independent review of the scoring in Manny Pacquiao’s welterweight world title loss to Jeff Horn confirms the outcome in favor of the Australian former schoolteacher.
A Philippines government department asked the WBO to review the refereeing and the judging of the so-called “Battle of Brisbane” in Australia on July 2 after Horn, fighting for his first world title, won a unanimous points decision against Pacquiao, an 11time world champion.
The WBO agreed to conduct a review, but said it couldn’t change the outcome unless there was evidence of fraud or a violation of law.