Sports briefs
Ringgold hires coach for boys basketball
The Ringgold School Board hired Eugene Wilson as the Rams’ new boys basketball coach Wednesday night.
Wilson was the head coach the past two seasons at Baldwin. Before that, he coached at Westinghouse in the Pittsburgh City League and in the WPIAL at Wilkinsburg.
Wilson’s Westinghouse team won the City League championship in 2017-18 and won two games in the PIAA tournament.
At Baldwin, Wilson’s teams went 6-15 last season and 8-14 in 2018-19.
Wilson replaces Phil Pergola, who had his position opened in June. Pergola spent 55 years in coaching, including 50 as a head coach. He spent two stints as Ringgold’s head coach. Pergola won more than 600 career games, including one PIAA title.
Van Gundy to coach NBA’s Pelicans
tan Van Gundy is headed to the New Orleans Pelicans, where he’ll take over a promising team that includes 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson and reigning Most Improved Player Brandon Ingram.
Van Gundy agreed to a four-year contract, said a person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms had not been revealed publicly.
LSU self-imposes football sanctions
LSU has self-imposed penalties for NCAA rules violations by the football program that include a reduction of scholarships and a two-year ban from its athletic facilities for Cleveland Browns star and former Tigers receiver Odell Beckham Jr., according to a report by Sports Illustrated.
“LSU has worked proactively and in cooperation with the NCAA to identify and self-report any violations that occurred within our football program,” LSU senior associate athletic director Robert Munson said in a statement.
Sports Illustrated reported LSU was working with the NCAA on three separate potential football violations, including a Level III (considered minor) violation for Beckham’s handing out of about $2,000 worth of cash to Tigers players on the field after last year’s College Football Playoff national championship game.
LSU and the NCAA have also been looking into a more serious violation stemming from a booster funneling $180,000 to the father of former LSU football player for a no-show job between 2012-17.