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Brasfield Joins Nebraska Staff, Wilhite Promoted

Chris Brasfield
Chris Brasfield

University of Nebraska Head Coach Mike Riley has announced the addition of Chris Brasfield to the Husker football staff. Brasfield will serve as Nebraska’s Director of High School Relations.

Brasfield joins the Nebraska staff following four seasons of working with Riley at Oregon State. Brasfield served as the Beavers’ running backs coach for the past four seasons and was regarded as an elite recruiter for Oregon State.

In his role at Nebraska, Brasfield will oversee the administration of the Huskers’ walk-on program and serve as the primary contact for high school football coaches. Brasfield will also serve as the initial point of contact with the Nebraska program for professional teams, and will help coordinate the Huskers’ annual pro day workouts.

“Chris will play a key role in the administration of our football program as we continue to develop relationships with high school coaches throughout the region, and also build on the great walk-on tradition at Nebraska,” Riley said. “Chris will bring great energy to this position and has an eye for identifying and evaluating talent. Chris has experience at the professional, college and high school levels which helps make him an excellent fit for this job.”

Brasfield helped develop versatile running backs in his four seasons on Riley’s staff at Oregon State. Tailback Storm Woods accounted for more than 2,100 rushing yards during the past three seasons in the Beaver offense. Known for his recruiting ability, Brasfield was recognized in 2012 as one of the top 50 recruiters in the country.

Brasfield gained a wide range of experience at both the collegiate and professional level before his time at Oregon State. He was a defensive graduate assistant at Oregon in 2010, after spending the previous four seasons as the defensive backs coach at Samford.  Brasfield also served in assistant coaching roles at Midwestern State, Southwest Texas State and TCU.

Brasfield has NFL experience with three organizations, most recently participating in the NFL Minority Coaching Internship program with the Titans in 2009. He also served as an intern with the Oakland Raiders in 2000, and was an area scout for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001 and 2002.

A San Antonio native, Brasfield has extensive high school coaching experience as well, including stops at Fort Worth’s Country Day, All Saints Episcopal School and Chicago Hope Academy in Illinois.

Nebraska has also announced that Kenny Wilhite has been promoted to Associate Director of Player Personnel. Wilhite joined the Husker football staff in the spring of 2014 as a regional recruiting assistant, before transitioning to the player personnel role on Mike Riley’s staff.

Wilhite plays a key role in the recruiting efforts in helping identify prospective Nebraska student-athletes, while assisting on all official and unofficial visits. Wilhite was a standout defensive back at Nebraska, earning All-Big Eight honors in 1991.

Huskers Welcome Eagles to Hawks Field

husker baseballFresh off a pair of wins against Northern Colorado, the Nebraska baseball team (9-6, 0-0 Big Ten) continues its 16-game homestand with a three-game series against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (8-9-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) that starts on Friday afternoon.

Friday’s series opener is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. and will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. They are scheduled to meet on Saturday at 2:05 p.m., before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

The Eagles have yet to play a game outside of the state of Florida this season. They have played 16 of their 18 games at home, while their two road games were in Tampa and Miami.

After opening the season with a win at UNLV, senior Chance Sinclair has dropped his last three starts and will look to break the streak in Friday’s opener. Sinclair, who was 9-1 last season, will match up against junior right-hander Mike Murray, who is 1-2 on the year after posting a 13-1 record last season. The 6-3 Murray was the Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Year in 2014, and was also named a second-team All-American by Louisville Slugger as well as a third-team All-American by both the NCBWA and ABCA. He has gone at least 7.0 innings in each of his last three starts, including 8.0 innings in a loss to Minnesota on Feb. 27.

Senior Kyle Kubat is scheduled to start Saturday for the Huskers and is 2-0 on the year, including wins in each of his past two starts. The Eagles are scheduled to start a left-handed pitcher also in freshman Devin Smeltzer. A native of Voorhees, N.J., Smeltzer is 1-1 on the year in four starts and has given up at least three runs in every start.

Sophomore Derek Burkamper is set to climb the hill for the Huskers in Sunday’s finale. Burkamper is coming off a loss to LSU where he struggled early, but allowed just four base runners and two hits over his final five innings of work. The Eagles have not yet announced a starting pitcher for Sunday.

Friday, March 13 (4:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (1-3) vs. RHP Murray (1-2)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: HuskersNSide

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Saturday, March 14 (2:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (2-0) vs. LHP Smeltzer (1-1)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Sunday, March 15 (1:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (1-1) vs. TBA

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus

Radio: Husker Sports Network

‘Five Tool’ Will Ferrell off on Spring Training Blitz

Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy (Photo from Twitter)
Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy (Photo from Twitter)

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Telling everyone “I’m a five-tool guy,” Will Ferrell was off on his barnstorming tour Thursday through five Arizona spring training games.

Wearing a No. 19 Oakland uniform, the star of “Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” ”Elf” and many other movies took batting practice with the A’s.

And waving to the crowd, he took the field as the Athletics’ shortstop. Ferrell fielded warmup grounders and threw perfectly to first baseman Max Muncy as the crowd cheered, but the Seattle Mariners never hit the ball to him.

Ferrell tipped his hat to the crowd as he walked off the field, then gave high fives to his Athletics teammates in the dugout, the first half-inning of his odyssey at an end.

The comedian planned to play for 10 teams at five spring training games, playing every position along the way.

Grass Fire in Rural Nebraska Destroys Sheds

fire-graphicWATERBURY, Neb. (AP) — Fire officials say a grass fire in rural Nebraska has destroyed several sheds in the area.

The Allen Fire Department responded to the fire about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Waterbury, Nebraska. Chief Rod Stevens says firefighters arrived to find the flames had spread to an abandoned car and trailer home after already damaging several nearby sheds.

No injuries were reported in the blaze. Firefighters extinguished the flames within 45 minutes.

Waterbury is about 22 miles west of Sioux City.

 

Woman Takes Plea Deal in Western Nebraska Embezzlement Case

gavel-and-scaleCHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A 25-year-old woman is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19 after making a plea deal on charges that she stole thousands of dollars from her employer in western Nebraska.

Online court records say Danielle Fry, of Bertrand, pleaded no contest on Tuesday and was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of attempted felony theft. Prosecutors dropped three felony theft counts.

Court documents say a representative of Sandstone Real Estate in Chadron contacted the Nebraska State Patrol in February 2014 and reported that he thought a former employee had embezzled from his business. Fry worked at Sandstone from August 2009 until Dec. 12, 2013. According to the documents, a CPA report said $56,500 was missing from Sandstone’s bank deposits over the period of January 2011 to January 2014.

AP Sources: Saints Trade Grubbs to Chiefs for 5th-Rounder

Ben Grubbs
Ben Grubbs

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Two people familiar with the deal say the New Orleans Saints have traded starting left guard Ben Grubbs to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a fifth-round draft choice.

The people spoke to The Associated Press Thursday on condition of anonymity because neither club had announced the trade.

The move gives the Chiefs a veteran offensive lineman who was named to Pro Bowls in 2011 and 2013, while giving the Saints not just an additional draft pick, but also more flexibility under the NFL’s salary cap.

Grubbs, an eight-year veteran out of Auburn, is due a base salary of $6.5 million this season.

He began his NFL career in Baltimore in 2007, starting 12 games as a rookie. Grubbs joined New Orleans in 2012.

Royals’ Collins has Season-Ending Tommy John Surgery

Tim Collins
Tim Collins

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Kansas City Royals left-hander Tim Collins has undergone season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Kansas City said Thursday the 25-year-old was operated on a day earlier by Dr. James Andrews.

Collins made his spring training debut against Texas on March 4 and left after two outs. A MRI revealed ligament damage.

He topped AL relievers with 93 strikeouts in 2012, but a left flexor strain last April put him on the disabled list for a month. He went 0-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 22 regular-season games and had a 3.18 ERA in four postseason games, including three World Series appearances.

Collins out, Brian Flynn, Franklin Morales and Brandon Finnegan are the leading left-handed relief candidates.

FBI Arrests 10 Members, Associates of Organized Crime Family

FBINEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have announced the arrest of 10 members and associates of the DeCavalcante organized crime family in New Jersey.

They’re accused of plotting to commit murder, distribute drugs and promote prostitution.

The suspects include reputed captain 71-year-old Charles Stango, of Henderson, Nevada, and reputed consigliere 72-year-old Frank Nigro, of Toms River.

Prosecutors allege Stango sought and obtained permission from Nigro to kill a rival member in New Jersey. Authorities say Stango discussed his plans with an undercover agent.

Prosecutors say Stango and his son, Anthony, also planned to operate a high-end escort service in the Toms River area.

Some suspects are due in federal court Thursday afternoon in Newark. Stango is due to appear in a Las Vegas courtroom.

Report: Raising Legal Age for Tobacco Would Save Thousands of Lives

smoke-and-a-beerRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal report says raising the legal age to buy tobacco products to higher than 18 would likely prevent premature death for hundreds of thousands of people.

The report issued Thursday by the Institute of Medicine was commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration and mandated by a 2009 law that gave it authority to regulate tobacco.

The law set the federal minimum age at 18. Congress would have to act to raise it nationally.

Most states currently have set the age at 18. Four set the age at 19 and several localities, including New York City, have raised the minimum to 21.

The report looks at the impact of increasing the age to 19, 21 or 25, but it does not make any recommendations.

Nebraskan Accused of Stealing $3,900 from Co-Op

jailGERING, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old Bayard man is accused of stealing nearly $3,900 while working at a co-op in western Nebraska.

Online court records say Nathan Wheeler is charged with theft. Jail records say he remained in custody on Thursday. His attorney, Todd Morten, declined to comment about the case.

An arrest affidavit says Wheeler took the money from June through early September last year when he worked at Panhandle Coop in Scottsbluff. The affidavit says Wheeler told a Scottsbluff officer that if a customer was paying cash, he would manually override the cash discount, enter a higher discount price per gallon and pocket the difference.

The affidavit says Wheeler admitted the thefts but disagreed about the total taken.

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