Indiana Tech is looking for a new athletic director – again.
Jeff Walker, who accepted the position in July 2009 after Roger Newton was released, resigned Friday and Monday was named the head men’s basketball coach at Meridian Community College in Meridian, Miss.
“There were a number of reasons,” Walker said of his resignation. “One, I missed coaching, and that became evident to me this year at Indiana Tech, just being the AD and not coaching. That’s what I felt I really wanted to do and needed to do; not that I didn’t enjoy the AD part, too, but I missed coaching; and then just getting back a lot closer to my family. Our kids are (in Mississippi), and both my dad and my wife’s dad are in Tennessee, so it’s a lot more accessible to the family.”
Walker came to Indiana Tech last year from Crichton College in Memphis, Tenn.
Indiana Tech spokeswoman Janet Schutte said the university is searching for a replacement and hopes to fill the vacancy as soon as possible.
Tech has two assistant athletic directors: Martin Neuhoff, men’s soccer coach, and Kirsta Solberg, women’s volleyball coach.
AUTO RACING
Tracy to drive for Dreyer & Reinbold
IndyCar veteran Paul Tracy signed a two-race deal to drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. He will drive the No. 24 car at Kentucky on Saturday and in the race in Motegi on Sept. 18.
BASKETBALL
Spartans guard charged with DWI
Michigan State guard Korie Lucious, 20, wascharged with drunken driving after he was pulled over near the East Lansing campus and his blood-alcohol level was 0.09 percent, according to a police report. The legal limit in Michigan is 0.08 percent.
Sun’s Charles top WNBA rookie
Connecticut Sun’s Tina Charles won the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award, months after she was honored as the women’s college player of the year.
CYCLING
Tour de France champ dies at 50
Laurent Fignon, the Frenchman who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and lost to Greg LeMond in 1989 in the race’s closest finish, died of cancer. He was 50.
FOOTBALL
Harding graduate out for IU opener
Wide receiver Dre Muhammad, a Harding graduate, will not play in IU’s Thursday opener against Towson because of an ankle injury. The Hoosiers will already be without starting receiver Tandon Doss.
Knee injury idles Heisman winner
Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram will miss No. 1 Alabama’s season opener against San Jose State after arthroscopic surgery Tuesday on his left knee, which he hurt in practice Monday.
Paterno puts off naming starting QB
Penn State coach Joe Paterno says he’s not ready to announce whether sophomores Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin or freshman Robert Bolden will be named starting quarterback.
BYU to play as independent
BYU says it is leaving the Mountain West Conference and will go independent in football while joining the West Coast Conference in all other sports in the 2011-12 school year.
Burress denied work release
The New York Department of Correctional Services has denied former Giants Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress’s bid for work release from his two-year prison sentence in a gun case.
GOLF
PGA Championship in Charlotte in ’17
It took two course redesigns and a 17-year wait for Quail Hollow Club, south of Charlotte, N.C., to attract a major championship. The PGA of America announced it will hold the 2017 PGA Championship at the old-style course.
HOCKEY
Chelios retires after 26 seasons
The Detroit Red Wings’ Chris Chelios, the longest-tenured defenseman in NHL history, is finally hanging up his skates. After 26 NHL seasons and three Stanley Cups, Chelios announced his retirement at the age of 48.
SWIMMING
Fishers club coach accepts 2-year ban
Ken Stopkotte, former club coach in Fishers, was banned from coaching for two years by USA Swimming after admitting he had entered times achieved by some swimmers in high school meets as the actual results for three club meets in February.
VOLLEYBALL
Western Michigan dominates IPFW
Stephanie Lamberti had nine kills, and Megan Steenhuysen had 23 assists, but the IPFW women’s volleyball team lost at Western Michigan, 25-13, 25-12, 25-23. IPFW is 2-2.
