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Some hodgepodge news and notes around the league.
First off the Rocky Mountain Showdown which is the annual showdown between Colorado State and Colorado in football is being moved back one day to Sunday August 31st. The reasoning is so that the game can be on nationally on Fox Sports Net, also the move is made so the game does not conflict with the Democratic National Convention which is being held at the Pepsi Center during that same week. The game will again be held at the home of the Denver Broncos Invesco Field.
Utah Hires Barret Perry as their newest mens basketball assistant coach. Perry is from Utah where he played his collegiate basketball at Southern Utah and then his most recent stint was the head coach at the College Of Southern Idaho. At CSI for 3 years Perry had at least 25 wins, made the NJCAA tournament each year, and sent 23 players to NCAA division one programs.
The Utes also added Stan Johnson as an assistant to their basketball program, and like Perry he also played at Southern Utah. Johnson's previous stop was an assistant at Cal-State Northridge and then prior to that he was the head coach at division two Southwest Baptist and guided that them to the division two NCAA tournament and a conference title.
TCU Center Blake Schlueter is named to the 2008 Rimington's Watch List, which is the award for the top center in college football. Schlueter has been named to the all- Mountain West team for the past two years, and is also selected as a preseason All-American.
UNLV has hired Kenith Pope as the new running backs coach for the football team. Pope replaces Reggie Davis who moved onto Oregon State. Pope comes from Texas A&M where he was the assistant head coach and also oversaw the running backs as well as the wide receivers during that time. Pope has over three decades of coaching which includes stops at TCU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, and SMU.
Wyoming had former player Jay Novack and their fourth player overall elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. Novack played at Wyoming from 1982-84 was an All-American in in 1984 and he still holds the NCAA record for highest average gain per reception by a tight end in a single season (22.6 yards per reception in 1984). He was not only a First Team All-American in football, but also earned All-America honors in track and field in 1984. Novack also went to and won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in 1992, 1993, and 1995 and also was named All-Pro in 1991 and 1992.
John Fletcher is named to the 2008 Outland Trophy watchlist. Fletcher was 11th last year in the nation with 10.5 sacks and he also had 14 tackles for loss.
More Wyoming news and this is in the basketball department where AJ Davis signs a national letter of intent to play at Wyoming in 2008-09 season. Davis comes from Columbus, OH where we averaged 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. The 6-5 guard was the 8th ranked player out of Ohio by prepspotlight.com