Mormons in NCAAs: BYU, 'Cinderella,' Wisconsin Lose, Utah State, Duke and Stanford Win

With all but one of the college basketball teams with Mormon players playing in yesterday's games, half of the teams were eliminated, two of them in very close games. The mostly-Mormon "Cinderella" team, Southern Utah University, lost to Boston College in a game that was only decided in the final minute and a half, while Wisconsin, with its Mormon player Ricky Bower playing at 'home,' lost by just one point to Georgia State. But Mormons playing on Utah State, Duke and Stanford all saw wins in their first round games.

Bower Goes Home ... to Play in NCAA Tournament

Most players connect playing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament with traveling to a distant city and playing before a neutral to hostile crowd. But while LDS basketball player Ricky Bower will have to travel to play in this year's "March Madness," Bower will be going home. And he hopes that playing at home will be an advantange for his team.

Pollard's Friendship with Vaughn Survives Differences

They are known as the NBA's Odd Couple. The Jazz's Jacque Vaughn and the Kings' Scot Pollard are friends for life. Thrown together as roommates at the University of Kansas in 1993, Little Jacque and Big Scot were strangers from two different worlds. Vaughn was soft-spoken, thoughtful and liked to read and write poetry. Pollard was free-spirited, fresh off 500 hours of community service for his youthful misdeeds and trying to separate himself from his LDS Church roots.

Are Olympics the LDS Church's Golden Moment?

The Public Affairs Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is already working to ensure that the world gets a positive, and accurate, view of the religion during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Olympics have not been held in a city with such a strong religious identity since the 1960 Summer Games in Rome.

At Least 7 NCAA Teams Include Mormons

At least six teams appearing in "March Madness," the annual NCAA tournament to determine the best college team in the US, include Mormon players on their teams. BYU is back in the tournament for the first time since 1995, along with fellow Utah teams Utah State and Southern Utah University. But Mormon players are also on Stanford, Duke, Wisconsin and Western Kentucky's teams.

BYU Remains No. 1 -- Unanimously

After downing Quincy, 3-0, last weekend and winning its 13th match of the season, the BYU men's volleyball team remained the top-ranked team in the country for the third straight week, according to this week's USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll and the Volleyball Magazine Poll.

Other Sports News Articles

With BYU Closing for Olympics, SLOC Steps Up BYU Volunteer Recruiting

PROVO, UTAH -- Since BYU has decided to suspend classes for a week during the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials have stepped up their efforts to recruit BYU students to do volunteer work during the event. And BYU students seemed eager to help, snapping up volunteer applications. "The students here at BYU have a lot of the same qualities we're looking for in all volunteers," said SLOC staffing official Linda Ohlson. The SLOC says that its volunteer positions are filling fast. "If you want to volunteer, you had better do it this month," said another staffing official, Dave Zumbrennen.

SLOC tapping into BYU Volunteer effort getting boost from students Provo UT Daily Herald 11Mar01 S3 By Amy K. Stewart: The Daily Herald

Romney: These Are Not Mormon Games

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Salt Lake Organizing Committee chief Mitt Romney is also objecting to the use of the word Mormon -- as describing the 2002 Winter Olympics. "These are not Mormon games," Romney said Friday. "They are America's games, Utah's games - the Olympics." Since the one-year countdown to the games began in February, Romney and the organizing committee have been fielding as many as a dozen calls a week asking about Mormon involvement in the games, Olympic spokeswoman Caroline Shaw said. Romney also says that the LDS Church has not received special treatment by the committee, which has turned down the Church in some cases where it wanted to use the Olympic insignia.

Romney: These Are Not Mormon Games Yahoo!News (AP) 16Mar01 S1 By Rich Vosepka: Associated Press Writer

LDS Player Boosts Navy Lacrosse

WASHINGTON, DC -- Phil Emery, who was an all-Metropolitan area Lacrosse player at Langley High School has returned to Navy after serving an LDS mission to Spain. But his team is 0-3 so far, the worst start Navy has had since it started playing Lacrosse in 1908.

Men's 2001 College Lacrosse Preview Washington Post pg D07 13Mar01 S2

[an error occurred while processing this directive]