Colorado Athletic Director Dick Tharp announced on Monday that
he will resign at the end of the month, largely because of
recruiting scandals and allegations of financial mismanagement that
tarnished the school’s image. “I am fully aware of the
fact that various parties have called for my resignation,”
Tharp said in a letter to Provost Phil DiStefano, who oversees the
athletic department. “Healing might be better achieved by my
resignation.” Reports that sex and alcohol were used to
entice recruits devastated the football program’s reputation
this past year. New allegations regarding fund-raising efforts by a
small booster club also damaged the athletic department’s
reputation. However, Tharp, 56, said his decision to resign was not
an admission of any wrongdoing. “When completely
investigated, the record will show that I have performed my duties
responsibly,” Tharp said. Colorado is expected to name an
interim athletic director and then conduct a national search for a
permanent replacement.
TENNIS: UCLA’s Blue and Gold teams both
qualified for the USA Team Tennis National Campus Championships by
placing first and second respectively at the Southern California
Campus Championships at Pepperdine this past weekend. Before
meeting in the finals, neither team dropped a match in the
nine-team field. They combined to go 7-0 in round-robin play. In
the semifinals, the Gold team defeated USC Cardinal 28-12 while the
Blue team dispatched of UC San Diego 30-7, setting up the all-Bruin
final which the Blue team won 25-23. “We set our goals high
and accomplished all of them,” team coach Anthony Horsley
said. The National Championships will be held March 10-12 in San
Diego. Last year, the Bruins sent one team to Nationals after
winning the Southern California Campus Championships and placed
fourth.
Compiled by Bruin staff and wire reports.