One Coach Fired, Other May Resign

One Big Ten coach, Illinois’ Lou Tepper, was fired, and another, Minnesota’s Jim Wacker, according to a Minneapolis cable television network, will tell his team today that he is resigning. Both will coach until the end of the season.

When Wacker, who is 15-38 in his fifth season, signed a two-year contract extension in the offseason, it included the stipulation he would resign if he did not win five games this season. The Golden Gophers are 3-6 and on a six-game losing streak.

Wacker, in his fifth season at Minnesota, is 15-28.

Athletic Director Ron Guenther praised Tepper’s “class and dignity” in a news release announcing the firing.

Illinois (2-7) lost its first three games by a combined scored of 116-11.

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Boston College has decided that the 13 football players suspended in a gambling probe will not play again this season, and any of the returning suspended players will have their status for next season determined on a case-by-case basis.

The school plans to submit to the NCAA a summary of its investigation once it’s completed. That report will contain the school’s recommendations for reinstating suspended players.

It is against NCAA regulations for college athletes to bet on pro or college sports events.

Last year, Maryland quarterback Scott Milanovich was suspended by the NCAA for eight games for gambling on college basketball. The NCAA later reduced the suspension to four games.

The Boston College investigation that involved the office of Middlesex County district attorney Thomas Reilly has implicated more athletes than any known probe in college sports.

Reilly said the players had bet from $25 to $1,000 on the World Series, college football or pro football. He added that his office does not plan to file criminal charges, a common decision with misdemeanor gambling.

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The Citadel fired Coach Charlie Taaffe and named interim coach Don Powers as his permanent replacement.

Taaffe had been suspended in July after his second drunken-driving arrest in three years.

Taaffe, 55-41-1 with one Southern Conference championship in nine seasons at The Citadel, taught physical education courses this semester but will leave by Dec. 31, said R. Clifton Poole, the school’s interim president.

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Cancer-stricken Pokey Allen returned to his job as head coach of Boise State with hopes of reviving a Bronco team that is only 1-9 this season.

“We’re going to get it done and I hope we can get it done real quick,” Allen said at a Bronco booster luncheon.

Allen said he planned to meet with the team later in the day for the first time since Aug. 6. On that date, it was announced that Allen’s cancer had returned, and he went on medical leave.