Associated Press
CHARLESTON, S.C. ó Lefty Driesell hasn’t given up coaching, not even after his induction into the Southern Conference Hall of Fame.
Driesell says he’s continually giving tips to son Chuck, who spent his first year as head coach at The Citadel this past winter.
“But he’s like all children, he doesn’t listen,” Lefty said.
Driesell was among six enshrined in the 90-year-old league’s third Hall of Fame class.
Although the group included former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dexter Coakley, past Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles champion Vic Seixas and Tennessee’s cherished former football coach, Gen. Robert Neyland, none were as colorful as college basketball’s “Lefthander.”
Driesell, 79, earned the honor through nine successful seasons at Davidson from 1960 to 1969. He won five regular-season and three tournament titles and took the Wildcats to the NCAAs in 1966, 1968 and 1969.
Davidson went to the round of 16 in 1966 and played in the NCAA’s final eight in 1968 and 1969.
“I’m proud to be in the Hall of Fame in the Southern Conference. You know why? Our first job was in the Southern Conference,” Driesell said.
After going 176-65 at Davidson, Driesell went on to lead Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State ó reaching the NCAA tournament at each stop.
“Yeah, some people might say we were lucky,” Driesell said. “But I had a philosophy that the harder you worked, the luckier you got.”
GOLF
VIRGINIA WATER, England ó Luke Donald shot a 7-under 64 on Thursday to take the lead in the suspended first round of the BMW PGA Championship, leaving him eight stroke ahead of No. 1 Lee Westwood in their battle for the top spot in the world ranking.
IRVING, Texas ó Jeff Overton shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Ryan Palmer after the first round of the Byron Nelson Championship.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. ó Japan’s Kiyoshi Murota shot a 6-under 66 to overshadow stars such as Mark O’Meara and Tom Watson and grab the first-round lead in the weather-plagued Senior PGA Championship.
BASEBALL
LOS ANGELES ó Los Angeles police say they are satisfied with the results of a lineup to find out whether witnesses to the brutal beating of a San Francisco Giants fan could identify the man suspected of leading the attack.
The Los Angeles Police Department said that Giovanni Ramirez had taken part in a physical identification lineup and that police would submit their case to the district attorney’s office at the appropriate time.
Ramirez, who remains in custody on a parole hold, is a suspect in the March 31 beating of Bryan Stow, who remains hospitalized in San Francisco.
Ramirez’s attorney says his client was never at the Dodgers game where Stow was attacked.
Attorney Thomas Giardi, who represents the Stow family in the lawsuit, told KNTV that Barry Bonds had donated money for a college fund for Stow’s two young children.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Paul Splittorff, the big, blonde left-hander who became the winningest pitcher in Kansas City Royals history and a popular broadcaster for the team, died of complications from skin cancer. He was 64.
The Royals said Splittorff died at his home in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs. His family announced 10 days ago that he had been battling melanoma and oral cancer.
Splittorff spent his entire 15-year career in Kansas City. A tall, bespectacled lefty with a high leg kick, he retired during the 1984 season with a club-record 166 victories. His best year was 1973 when he went 20-11, the Royals’ first 20-game winner.
SOCCER
ZURICH ó With FIFA’s presidential election just a week away, soccer’s governing body said it is investigating challenger Mohamed bin Hammam for bribery in his campaign to unseat Sepp Blatter.
FIGURE SKATING
WOBURN, Mass. ó The brother of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was acquitted of manslaughter in the death of their 70-year-old father by a jury that apparently agreed with his defense that the elder man died of heart disease, not from a scuffle between the two.
Mark Kerrigan, 46, was convicted, though, of a misdemeanor assault and battery charge in a January 2010 altercation with Daniel Kerrigan at the family’s home in Stoneham, Mass.
Nancy Kerrigan and her mother, Brenda, embraced and cried after the verdict was read.
WOMENíS HOOPS
NEW YORKó North Carolina basketball player Jessica Breland has won the Honda Inspiration Award after returning to the court following treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Breland was diagnosed with the disease in May 2009 and received chemotherapy. She sat out a year and returned to basketball this season. She averaged 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in the ACC tournament.
Despite six months of cancer treatment, Breland attended classes and kept up at least a 3.0 GPA in her last four semesters to earn a spot on the ACC honor roll.
Breland was a second-round pick in the WNBA draft last month and is trying to make the roster of the New York Liberty.