NEVADA GRABS RICE, FORMER UNLV COACH, AS HOOPS ASSISTANT
reno, nev.» Dave Rice is switching sides in Nevada’s biggest basketball rivalry.
A source confirmed Monday that Rice, a former UNLV coach and player, has been hired as an assistant at rival Nevada.
Rice was a member of the Runnin’ Rebels’ 1990 national championship team and spent five seasons coaching at his alma mater before being fired in January after a 9-7 start.
Rice went 98-54 at UNLV and left Las Vegas with the third-most wins in program history. He led the Runnin’ Rebels to the NCAA Tournament his first two seasons, but they missed the big bracket the past three seasons.
Rice was a prolific recruiter at UNLV, routinely landing some of the top classes in the nation, and should provide a boost to head coach Eric Musselman’s staff.
Nevada finished 24-14 in Musselman’s first season in Reno, ending the season on a high note by beating Morehead State to win the College Basketball Invitational championship.
• Indiana guard James Blackmon Jr. said he will enter the NBA draft but will not hire an agent.
That means the 6-foot-4, 195-pound sophomore could return to school next season.
Former Huskers star Blahak dies
B lincoln, neb.» Former Nebraska defensive back Joe Blahak, a member of the Cornhuskers’ national championship teams in 1970 and 1971, has died. He was 65.
The native of Columbus, Neb., was best known for throwing a key block to clear the way for Johnny Rodgers’ 72-yard punt return for a touchdown in the 1971 “Game of the Century” against Oklahoma, which Nebraska won 35-31.
Blahak was selected by the Houston Oilers in the eighth round of the 1973 NFL draft and played five years professionally.
U.S. soccer star Lloyd injured.
U.S. women’s national team star Carli Lloyd has a sprained right knee and will miss from three to six weeks.
Lloyd was injured in the fifth minute of a National Women’s Soccer League match between the Houston Dash, for which she plays, and the expansion Orlando Pride on Saturday. She played until the 14th minute and was later seen on the sideline icing her knee.
Parker left off Olympic team
B new york» Sources said two-time Olympic gold medalist Candace Parker will not be on the women’s basketball team headed to Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Games.
The roster is expected to be revealed Wednesday.
Parker, 30, helped the U.S. win gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She was the team’s leading rebounder in the London Games four years ago. She is a two-time WNBA MVP.
Another charge against Tar Heels
B chapel hill, n.c.» The NCAA added a charge to the list against the University of North Carolina that the school failed to sufficiently monitor its academic support program for athletes in the latest Notice of Allegations.
The NCAA said the university failed to properly oversee the formerly named African and Afro-American Studies department that featured irregular courses as the heart of the scandal.
North Carolina still faces five serious charges that include lack of institutional control.
B sydney» Former time-trial world champion Michael Rogers retired from competitive cycling because of a heart condition.
Rogers, a bronze medalist from the 2004 Olympics who also won three consecutive time-trial world championships starting in 2003, said recent cardiac tests showed a previously undetected heart arrhythmia.
Cyclist Rogers retires