The Morning Dish – Tuesday, August 31st
Community Service and Counseling for Vaughan: Court officials agreed to settle charges with former Connecticut assistant coach Clyde Vaughan for soliciting prostitution and interfering with police. Vaughan must perform 10 days of community service and undergo counseling. If Vaughan meets the court’s requirements, the charges will be dismissed. But he must still look for a new place of work after resigning from Connecticut. He admitted that he had been arrested for similar crimes in the past at two different assistant coaching positions. He had been entering his third season as an assistant at Connecticut.
European Disappearance Act: Former Jacksonville center and Croatia-native Jure Lozancic has left the school to play for a professional Spanish team because he needs to make money to support his ailing father. Although several European players leave their collegiate teams to seek fortune at home or in other leagues, most players notify their coaches beforehand. Jacksonville coach Hugh Durham, on the other hand, learned about his player’s defection through the Internet after someone hinted to him that Lozancic had left the team. Lozancic averaged 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season.
Wait Til Next Year?: Villanova freshman guard and prize recruit Kyle Lowry tore his ACL in his left knee and requires surgery that may force him to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation. Lowry’s injury is similar to the one sustained by Derrick Snowden last season. His recovery was quick, and he was back on the court by the end of December. If Lowry can have an equally expeditious recovery, the Wildcats may have their best member of this year’s recruiting class on the court by the middle of Big East play.
Radford to Switch Conferences?: One of the original members of the Big South Conference may seek greener pastures in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Radford has been a member of the Big South since the conference’s creation in 1983. School officials will present their case for switching conferences to the Radford Board of Visitors today. Reports indicate that if officials approve the move, Atlantic Sun officials will quickly welcome Radford into the conference. But former sports information director Mike Ashley said he worries that Radford may be blindly joining a conference in crisis. The Atlantic Sun is losing four members and could potentially lose more, he said. There also are concerns that travel costs could increase.
