Radford

Charlene Curtis is the Lady Owls' new women's basketball coach, Temple University announced yesterday. The Big South Conference Coach of the Year last season at Radford in Virginia, Curtis replaces Linda MacDonald, who resigned April 16 after 10 seasons to accept the head coaching position at the University of Minnesota. Curtis, a Roanoke, Va., native, brings to Temple a record of success at the Division I level, having posted a 121-53 record with four 20-win seasons at Radford since 1984-85.

BRAD GREENBERG'S basketball resume is extensive. It spans 3 decades and even includes a 1-year stint as the 76ers' general manager/vice president of basketball operations. In fact, while Greenberg's stay in Philly was brief, he did make the most influential decision in recent Sixers history by choosing Allen Iverson with the No. 1 pick in the 1996 NBA draft. It was a franchise-altering choice, for which Greenberg never gets the full credit he deserves. Still, while Greenberg's basketball jobs have included everything from assistant coaching to scouting to broadcasting, the one thing he never served as, on any level, was head coach - until 2007, when Radford (Va.)

Downingtown graduate Kathryn Yard is off to a solid start for the James Madison golf team. At the Radford (Va.) Invitational on Sept. 22-23, Yard finished first with a 76-70-146, a school record for 36 holes. James Madison went on to win the team title with a 616. It was her fifth individual championship as a collegian. At the earlier Lady Monarch Invitational in Fayetteville, N.C., Yard shot a 75-77-152 to tie for seventh place. In another match, the senior finished 38th at the Penn State Invitational.

Radford women's basketball coach Charlene Curtis has surfaced as Temple's top candidate to replace Linda Hill-MacDonald, who resigned April 16 to accept a similar position at the University of Minnesota. Curtis, who is in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the women's national team trials, is expected in Philadelphia for a second interview later this week, according to a source familiar with the search. At Radford, which is near Roanoke, Va., Curtis' teams have a 121-53 record in six years.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A part-time college student at a small school near Virginia Tech was identified Friday as the gunman who shot a police officer to death and then killed himself, triggering a lockdown on a campus still coping with the nation's worst mass slaying in recent memory. The day before the shootings, police said Ross Truett Ashley, 22, stole a sport-utility vehicle at gunpoint from a real-estate office in Radford. He dumped the car on the Virginia Tech campus. Authorities have not been able to say what led Ashley to kill a police officer he did not know at a school he had never attended.

Charlene Curtis was named the new women's basketball coach at Temple yesterday. She replaces Linda Hill-MacDonald, who resigned April 16 to accept a similar position at Minnesota. "Beyond her excellent basketball coaching record, Curtis is a very bright and well-rounded individual," Temple president Peter Liacouras said in a news release. "Her record and reputation are the same: She cares about and develops her players as student achievers and good citizens. She is an exciting and excellent addition to the Temple family.

Radford women's basketball coach Charlene Curtis is close to an agreement to be the new coach at Temple. She would succeed Linda Hill-MacDonald, who resigned April 16 to accept a similar position at Minnesota. Temple athletic director Charles Theokas confirmed last night that Curtis was in town yesterday to work out the details. While Temple could announce her signing Monday, she won't be available to be introduced to the public until next month because she is a member of the staff of the USA Select Team that will be competing in Italy and Czechoslovakia until early July.

The madness begins tonight as the Big South, Horizon League and Ohio Valley kick off conference tournament play. Though each league has clear favorites, you can bet that just as sure as Dick Vitale needs decaffeinated coffee, upsets will occur. The Daily News will take a look as each conference begins its postseason tournament, starting with the three leagues today. Big South Regular-season champ: Coastal Carolina (26-5) is coached by Cliff Ellis who also has guided South Alabama, Clemson and Auburn to 20-win seasons.

Jamie Lascik was named a first-team all-American player and earned New Jersey Athletic Conference player-of-the-year honors after leading the Montclair State softball team to the NCAA tournament. Lascik, a Triton High graduate, started every game for the Red Hawks (37-10) as a senior catcher. She led the NJAC in batting and finished third among NCAA Division III players with a .562 average. Lascik was tops on her team with 77 hits and 49 RBIs and was tied for the team lead in total bases with 114. Lascik also was hit by nine pitches, a team high.

Rightfielder Billy McCarthy, the Washington Township High graduate who just finished his junior baseball season at Rutgers, confirmed yesterday that he had signed with the Atlanta Braves and would head Friday to their short-season, single-A team in Jamestown, N.Y. McCarthy, 21, was signed by J.J. Picollo, the former Cherry Hill West standout who is now an Atlanta scout. Last week, McCarthy was chosen in the draft's sixth round. He was the 195th overall selection. McCarthy said he had not set a timetable for playing at advanced levels because he did not want to be disappointed if it did not happen.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A part-time college student at a small school near Virginia Tech was identified Friday as the gunman who shot a police officer to death and then killed himself, triggering a lockdown on a campus still coping with the nation's worst mass slaying in recent memory. The day before the shootings, police said Ross Truett Ashley, 22, stole a sport-utility vehicle at gunpoint from a real-estate office in Radford. He dumped the car on the Virginia Tech campus. Authorities have not been able to say what led Ashley to kill a police officer he did not know at a school he had never attended.

When the old Navy destroyer was sunk off Cape May Point in August, it was already bedraggled. Holes had been cut in the hull, paint was peeling, and brass, bronze, and other metals had been stripped. But the Arthur W. Radford - the longest vessel made into an artificial reef on the East Coast - took a turn for the worse when Hurricane Irene barreled through on Aug. 28. Divers who have visited the wreck say they were stunned to find the 564-foot ship broken in two and the larger section carried from the bow. The unsupported position of the hull, coupled with Irene's powerful storm surge, apparently caused the breakup.

Like mourners gathered at the wake of a close friend, former crew members of the Arthur W. Radford stood vigil Wednesday over the decommissioned Navy destroyer as it began its slow descent into the Atlantic. From aboard the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, they watched the warship drop low in the water, its decks flood, and jets of water, like final gasps, shoot into the air. Then, amid applause and ooh's and ahh's, the Radford's bow lifted and slipped into a bubbling cauldron of white and turquoise waters 29 miles south of Cape May Point.

The end will come slowly, with whooshing water, jets of escaping air, and the creaks and groans of metal. The 563-foot Arthur W. Radford, a decommissioned Navy destroyer with 26 years of service, will slip beneath the waves off Cape May Point by early November to begin a new mission as the longest vessel ever turned into an East Coast artificial reef. After serving during the Persian Gulf War and in peacekeeping operations off Lebanon, the Radford will become the home of marine life, including bluefin tuna and mako sharks.

The madness begins tonight as the Big South, Horizon League and Ohio Valley kick off conference tournament play. Though each league has clear favorites, you can bet that just as sure as Dick Vitale needs decaffeinated coffee, upsets will occur. The Daily News will take a look as each conference begins its postseason tournament, starting with the three leagues today. Big South Regular-season champ: Coastal Carolina (26-5) is coached by Cliff Ellis who also has guided South Alabama, Clemson and Auburn to 20-win seasons.

BRAD GREENBERG'S basketball resume is extensive. It spans 3 decades and even includes a 1-year stint as the 76ers' general manager/vice president of basketball operations. In fact, while Greenberg's stay in Philly was brief, he did make the most influential decision in recent Sixers history by choosing Allen Iverson with the No. 1 pick in the 1996 NBA draft. It was a franchise-altering choice, for which Greenberg never gets the full credit he deserves. Still, while Greenberg's basketball jobs have included everything from assistant coaching to scouting to broadcasting, the one thing he never served as, on any level, was head coach - until 2007, when Radford (Va.)

Lenape senior Steve Mignogna is among the fastest baseball players in South Jersey, but he was in no rush to make a college decision. A centerfielder, Mignogna said he could have signed in the early period in November but wanted to keep his options open. He's glad he waited after making a commitment last week to attend Radford University in Virginia on a partial academic and baseball scholarship. "I decided to wait and not sign in the first period because I had made visits to just two schools, Villanova and George Washington," Mignogna said.

Rightfielder Billy McCarthy, the Washington Township High graduate who just finished his junior baseball season at Rutgers, confirmed yesterday that he had signed with the Atlanta Braves and would head Friday to their short-season, single-A team in Jamestown, N.Y. McCarthy, 21, was signed by J.J. Picollo, the former Cherry Hill West standout who is now an Atlanta scout. Last week, McCarthy was chosen in the draft's sixth round. He was the 195th overall selection. McCarthy said he had not set a timetable for playing at advanced levels because he did not want to be disappointed if it did not happen.

When emotions overflow on the lacrosse or football field, Nate McCreary stays cool and delivers the necessary shot, pass or punt. The West Chester Henderson senior can make a split decision without making a snap judgment, and those skills are serving him well in life. Last weekend, McCreary learned that Radford University of Virginia was planning to drop its Division I men's lacrosse program. McCreary was prepared to attend Radford. It was the only school to which he had applied and been offered a partial lacrosse scholarship.