East Carolina senior inside wide receiver Dwayne Harris and junior defensive back Emanuel Davis have been chosen to the Conference USA Football Coaches preseason all-conference first team, the league office Wednesday in Irving, Texas.
The conference's 12 coaches voted for the preseason award winners and first-team honorees.
Harris was the 2009 C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year and was a first-team selection at wide receiver. He also made the second team as a kick returner, and he was the most valuable player in the league championship game against Houston.
Davis was a first-team defensive back last season despite missing much of the first three games with a shoulder injury.
The Pirates won their second consecutive Conference USA championship and Liberty Bowl.
Houston senior quarterback Case Keenum, last season's offensive player of the year, and Central Florida senior defensive end Bruce Miller, the 2009 defensive player of the year, are favorites for those awards again this season.
Houston junior kick and punt returner Tyron Carrier is favored to be the special teams player of the year.
Houston and Tulsa led the way with five first-team selections, and UCF had four. The complete preseason team is on page 8C.
ECU starts its season at 2 p.m. Sept. 5 in Greenville against Tulsa in a nationally televised Sunday game on ESPN2.
MORE FOOTBALL
No decision on Bush's Heisman: Southern California has sent back its copy of Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy.
The Heisman Trust, however, has yet to decide whether it will be asking the former USC star and current New Orleans Saints player to return the famous bronze statue he won in 2005.
The president of the Heisman Trophy Trust, New York-based attorney William J. Dockery, said in a statement Wednesday that the organization has not determined when it will decide whether Bush should be stripped of his Heisman in the wake of severe NCAA sanctions.
Navy and Penn St. will meet in 2012: Navy and Penn State plan to renew their football rivalry, meeting at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 15, 2012, in their first game since 1974.
Navy won that game when former Penn State assistant George Welsh led the Midshipmen to a 7-6 upset over No. 8 Penn State in State College.
The Nittany Lions lead the series 18-17-2. The series began in 1894 with a 6-6 tie in Annapolis, Md.
Nebraska, Oklahoma top Big 12 poll: Nebraska has been picked to leave the Big 12 in style. The Cornhuskers, who are bolting for the Big Ten in 2011, are the unanimous choice to repeat as Big 12 North champions in the league's preseason media poll.
Oklahoma was picked to win the South division in the poll released on Wednesday.
Florida Atlantic board OKs stadium: Florida Atlantic's board of trustees has unanimously approved a plan for funding a 30,000-seat on-campus football stadium, the last significant hurdle for the Boca Raton, Fla., school's project.
FAU, coached by Howard Schnellenberger, is expected to move to the stadium for the 2011 season.
The Associated Press
BASEBALL
FMU lands Campbell player: Senior right-handed pitcher Joe Wagstaff of Zebulon has transferred from Campbell to Francis Marion, Patriots coach Art Inabinet announced.
Wagstaff, 6 feet 6 and 210 pounds, is pitching for the Wilmington Sharks of the Coastal Plain League this summer.
From FMU news release
BASKETBALL
Hoyas coach rewarded: Georgetown women's coach Terri Williams-Flournoy has signed a contract extension through the 2014-15 season. The coach led the Hoyas to a 26-7 record and their second-ever NCAA bid last season.
Former Seton Hall coach pleads not guilty: Former Seton Hall men's coach Bobby Gonzalez pleaded not guilty Wednesday to shoplifting a $1,400 satchel from the Polo Ralph Lauren store at the upscale The Mall at Short Hills on June 29 in Newark, N.J.
Gonzalez's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 27.
The Associated Press
