UC Riverside Fires Longtime Coach Masi

UC Riverside fired Coach John Masi on Monday after 26 seasons. The Highlanders were 462-269 under Masi, but only 42-89 since moving up to NCAA Division I in 2000. Riverside had 21 consecutive winning seasons under Masi while a Division II program and five losing seasons since the transition.

Riverside was 9-19 this season, including 4-14 in the Big West Conference. The Highlanders failed to qualify for the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday in Anaheim. Masi played at Riverside from 1968 to 1970, and spent 29 years as a full-time employee of the school.

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San Jose State men’s Coach Phil Johnson resigned. He will leave the Spartans after the Western Athletic Conference tournament this week. Johnson was hired before the 1998-99 season. He left for a stint as an assistant with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, returning to San Jose in 2002.

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Gonzaga will play host to the West Coast Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in 2006, and Portland will serve as host in 2007, WCC Commissioner Michael Gilleran announced. The tournament will move to Southern California in 2008 and 2009.

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Santa Clara gave Coach Dick Davey a contract extension one day after the Broncos lost in the WCC tournament. Terms were not released.

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Wake Forest’s Chris Paul was suspended by the school for one game for hitting North Carolina State’s Julius Hodge in the groin during a game.

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Former Louisiana State women’s coach Sue Gunter, who has emphysema, was removed from a ventilator and is recovering from pneumonia.