Utah State University

Rod Tueller, Utah State University basketball coach, was named the school's interim athletic director, replacing Dave Kragthorpe, who resigned to become head football coach at Oregon State University.

Kenny Guinn Former 2-term GOP governor of Nevada Kenny Guinn, 73, a former governor of Nevada, died Thursday after falling from the roof of his Las Vegas home while making repairs, police said. Guinn, a moderate Republican, was elected governor in 1998 and reelected in 2002, serving until 2007. Former Gov. Bob Miller, a Democrat who preceded Guinn in office, described him as "a person who devoted his entire life to making Nevada a better place. He put the interests of the state over partisanship in everything he did."

Two Utah State University football players face multiple felony charges stemming from several campus thefts. Ron Lopez of Los Angeles and Ruben Farias of Windsor, Calif., were arrested by university police in February and were formally charged in the 1st Circuit Court in Logan, Utah, last week.

Utah State knows that dominating the Big West Conference in college basketball doesn't get you on ESPN. Being in the national rankings for the first time since 1971, now that's news. The Aggies have spent four weeks in the Associated Press poll this season, including a No. 22 ranking this week. "One of the first things I do when I get in my office on Monday is I get on the Internet and see where we're ranked," said Doug Thompson, mayor of the scenic Cache Valley college town of Logan.

Nathan Morealle, a punter and kicker at University High, has orally committed to Utah State, University Coach Mark Cunningham said Wednesday. Morealle, a two-time, first-team All-Sea View League selection, averaged 38.9 yards a punt and kicked six field goals this season. He kicked two field goals--including a 52-yarder--in University's 14-6 loss to Tustin in a Southern Section Division VI semifinal game.

Utah State University President Stanford Cazier has received a letter of apology from his University of Nevada-Las Vegas counterpart over the behavior of UNLV players in a basketball brawl last week. "The behavior of all our players involved in the disturbance (Feb. 1) at the Utah State-UNLV game was inexcusable," UNLV President Robert Maxon wrote. "I am ashamed and embarrassed.

Oak Park resident Lynn Miller Boren died Monday at a local hospital following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 62. Boren was born Nov. 22, 1937, in American Fork, Utah. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Utah State University. Boren took several graduate courses in education at George Washington University before joining the Army as a teacher in El Paso, Texas. In the mid-1960s, Boren moved to California to teach at the Mariann Frostig Center of Educational Therapy in Pasadena.

Howard S. McDonald, who took over both the embryonic California State University, Los Angeles, when it was known as the Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences, and Los Angeles City College, is dead. McDonald was 92 when he died Saturday at a daughter's home in Los Alamitos. McDonald, who came to Los Angeles from Brigham Young University where he had been president from 1945 to 1949, was in effect the second president of Cal State Los Angeles after P.

UC Irvine's basketball team made the 2-hour flight from San Jose to Salt Lake City Sunday and then took a 2-hour bus trip up to Logan, home of Utah State University. Seems like a long trip for a 5-minute game. Utah State's Reid Newey made four consecutive 3-pointers in the first 5:13 of play Monday night, giving the Aggies a 19-6 lead and Irvine never got closer than 10 points before losing, 104-71, in front of 9,948 at the Spectrum.

Kenny Guinn Former 2-term GOP governor of Nevada Kenny Guinn, 73, a former governor of Nevada, died Thursday after falling from the roof of his Las Vegas home while making repairs, police said. Guinn, a moderate Republican, was elected governor in 1998 and reelected in 2002, serving until 2007. Former Gov. Bob Miller, a Democrat who preceded Guinn in office, described him as "a person who devoted his entire life to making Nevada a better place. He put the interests of the state over partisanship in everything he did."

Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus will resign at the end of the season after his latest health problem put him in the hospital because of chest pains. Majerus, 55, was released from a hospital in Santa Barbara on Wednesday night. Spokeswoman Janet O'Neill would not release further information about his condition. Assistant Kerry Rupp will coach the Utes in the interim, though Majerus could return and finish out the season if his health allows.

This is a tale of NCAA rules enforcement that is as rich as New York cheesecake. Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus was penalized Wednesday for providing excessive meals and meal money to basketball players, among other violations. It is a case -- known as "Foodgate" in Utah -- that posed a particular challenge to the NCAA. "These were not five-course meals or steak meals at the finest restaurant in town," said Thomas Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Assn.

The Big West Conference is adding another two California teams next season, but as far as men's basketball is concerned, Utah State owns the league. The Aggies, behind a tenacious defense, won their third Big West tournament title in the last four seasons late Saturday night with a 50-38 victory over Pacific at the Anaheim Convention Center. Utah State, 12-3 in the Big West tournament since 1996, earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The crowd expected for tonight's Big West Conference men's basketball showdown between Utah State and UC Irvine is forcing Bren Center officials to revamp their operations. Five ticket windows will open an hour before the 7 p.m. tip-off, business manager Kristina Engel said. In addition, students with free admissions and patrons with will-call orders will be handled at a separate entrance on the south side of the building.

Oak Park resident Lynn Miller Boren died Monday at a local hospital following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 62. Boren was born Nov. 22, 1937, in American Fork, Utah. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Utah State University. Boren took several graduate courses in education at George Washington University before joining the Army as a teacher in El Paso, Texas. In the mid-1960s, Boren moved to California to teach at the Mariann Frostig Center of Educational Therapy in Pasadena.

Villa Park graduate Tony D'Amato was named Big West Conference defensive player of the year by the conference coaches Tuesday. D'Amato, a senior linebacker at Utah State, led the conference with 170 tackles, including 23 for a loss, and was third in sacks with eight. Irvine graduate Geoff Noisy, a senior wide receiver at Nevada, shared offensive player of the year honors with New Mexico State running back Denvis Manns and Idaho running back Joel Thomas.

UC Irvine's basketball team made the 2-hour flight from San Jose to Salt Lake City Sunday and then took a 2-hour bus trip up to Logan, home of Utah State University. Seems like a long trip for a 5-minute game. Utah State's Reid Newey made 4 consecutive 3-pointers in the first 5:13 of play Monday night, giving the Aggies a 19-6 lead, and Irvine never got closer than 10 points before losing, 104-71, in front of a delighted-but-bored 9,948 at the Spectrum.

Trying to figure out the intricacies behind Kohn Smith's impending departure as Utah State basketball coach is as hard as trying to find a white cow in a Cache Valley blizzard. One of the few things the university administration, Smith's supporters and Smith's detractors can all agree on amid a swirl of misinformation and accusations is that Smith won't be coaching the Aggies next season.

Utah State's decade-long wait for a return trip to the NCAA tournament is over. Marcus Saxon scored 23 points, and Utah State held off a late rally to beat Pacific, 78-63, Sunday, claiming the Big West tournament championship and an automatic NCAA berth. Justin Jones added 17 points, Kevin Rice had 14 and Pharoah Davis had 11 for Utah State, making its 12th trip to the NCAA tournament but the first since 1988, when the Aggies lost to Nebraska in the first round.

When Utah State quarterback Matt Sauk played his final high school football game for Woodbridge, there were no major college scholarship offers awaiting him. "I wasn't that big, and my statistics in high school weren't all that great," Sauk said. "I wasn't 6 foot 4 like the scouts are always looking for, and my high school team didn't pass a lot." But Sauk wanted to play somewhere, and decided on Orange Coast College. It worked out well for him. Sauk had two good seasons.