There have been several news stories during the month of April that are important to fans of Conference USA sports and the teams of C-USA, so I have put together a quick round-up of C-USA sports news items. Below are some of the significant news stories for the month of April in C-USA football & basketball:

Doherty to coach basketball at SMU
In what I feel is a great move, SMU announced yesterday that they have hired Matt Doherty to take over as their new men’s head basketball coach. The former Notre Dame and North Carolina head basketball coach leaves Florida Atlantic where he turned a terrible program into a respectable one in just one year, leading FAU to a 15-13 season in 2005-2006. Considering that the SMU Mustangs have not won a postseason game of any kind since 1988, I think this move adds instant credibility to the SMU basketball program. This is a great move by SMU’s new AD Steve Orsini and shows that the University is committed to improving their struggling basketball program.

West Virginia student caught spying on Marshall spring practice
On September 2^nd, an in-state college football rivalry will be renewed. It’s only April, but let the trash-talking and accusations begin. It seems that on April 11^th, school officials at Marshall noticed a man in the stands during a spring practice taking notes. After confronting the man it was found that not only is he a West Virginia student, but he also worked in the same building that the WVU football offices are located. The Mountaineers say that the student was not acting on behalf of anyone at WVU, but don’t thik for a second that Thundering Herd fans believe that. This year’s game marks just the second time in 83 years that WVU and Marshall have squared off in football, and it took influence from the Governor of West Virginia’s office just to get this game scheduled.

Calipari signs contract extension to remain at Memphis through 2010-2011
As the annual coaching carrousel made it’s turns in early April, Memphis fans were left holding their breath. Then, on April 13^th, a huge sigh of relief was heard coming from the Memphis area as the Tigers men’s head basketball John Calipari signed a contract extension through the 2010-2011 season at Memphis. After leading Memphis to a school record 33-4 season, a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Elite Eight appearance in the Big Dance, it is clear that the University made a great move in locking up Calipari and taking him of the list of possible candidates at Indiana, Oklahoma and possibly other big-name schools.

Mike Davis takes over as head basketball coach at UAB
Former Indiana men’s basketball coach Mike Davis was named the new head coach at UAB earlier this month. Davis went 115-79 in his 6 years succeeding Bobby Knight and took the Hoosiers to the 2002 National Championship game. An Alabama native, Davis takes over the UAB Blazers who went 24-7 in 2005-2006 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Kentucky.

Rice’s Almond leaves for NBA Draft
Rice’s leading scorer Morris Almond has declared for NBA draft. The 6’6” junior guard scored 21.9 ppg and was named a to the All-Conference USA 1^st team in 2005-2006.

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