Texas player dies in crash
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas defen
sive end Cole Pittman was found
dead Monday at the scene of a one
car accident.
State troopers discovered
Pittman's pickup truck on the side
of U.S. Route 79 nearly Easterly,
about 100 miles northeast of
Austin.
Pittman, a sophomore who had
played in 23 games in his two sea
sons at Texas, was returning to
school from his family's home in
Shreveport, La.
Longhorns coach Mack Brown
told the team Monday afternoon at
a meeting that had been scheduled
to prepare for spring practice. The
workouts were supposed to begin
Tuesday, but have been postponed.
No new date has been given.
“This is the hardest thing I have
faced in 29 years of coaching,’’
Brown said. “We've lost a member
of our family and it really hurts.
Every member of our team is like a
son and you can never prepare
yourself for something like this. I
don't even know how to begin. ”
The 6-foot-5,265-pound Pittman
played defensive tackle as a fresh
man, then moved to end this past
season. He started the first three
games in 2000. He had 30 tackles,
two sacks, five tackles for loss, five
quarterback pressures and caused
one fumble in his career.
Pittman enrolled at Texas in the
spring of 1999 after helping Evan
gel High win three consecutive
Louisiana 1A state titles and to a
state-record 45 straight wins. He
was a first-team all-state performer
and was named second-team All
USA by USA Today.
“This is absolutely devastating
news,” men’s athletic director De
Loss Dodds said. “Our entire ath
letics program is grieving this
loss.”
Before receiving the devastating
news, Brown met with the media to
discuss his plans for the spring and
he immediately put to rest any spec
ulation about his quarterback plans:
Chris Simms is a firm No. 1 and Ma
jor Applewhite is the backup.
“They will be competing, but
there's no question Chris is the
starter,” Brown said. “We don’t feel
the need to alternate guys like we
did the first of last year. ”
The Associated Press
- FSU linebacker dies after workout
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida
State linebacker Devaughn Darling
collapsed and died Monday after an
early-morning, offseason workout.
The 18-year-old linebacker from
Houston was stricken shortly after
7 a.m. He had just finished inten
sive agility and conditioning drills
with teammates, including his
twin brother Devard, at the football
complex.
The cause of death was not im
mediately determined. An autop
sy, requested by school police, will
be done Tuesday.
“This is standard procedure in a
death of this nature,” Lt. Jack Han
dley said of the autopsy request.
“We’re currently doing the death
investigation.”
Devard Darling, coach Bobby
Bowden and other players and
coaches were at the hospital when
the player was pronounced dead
by an emergency room physician.
“Obviously it’s a very .emotion
al time for everyone associated
with our program,” athletic direc
tor David Hart said. “We’re all in a
state of shock.”
Bowden was spending the rest
of the day with the Darling family.
“Right now we’re all pretty
dazed,” Bowden said. “I think all
of our thoughts, prayers and wish
es should be with his mom, his
dad, his twin brother and all of the
family members.”
The school deployed about 10
counselors and team chaplain
Clint Purvis to meet with team
mates. Many were still sobbing
several hours later as they talked in
disbelief.
“Tragedies are never something
you get through very easily,” Hart
said. “We will continue to focus on
our players first and foremost.”
The Garnet and Gold souvenir
store near the campus already had
changed its sign to read: “De
vaughn Darling, We Miss You.”
Florida State athletes receive a
physical that includes an EKG
when they report for football prac
tice in the summer, spokesman
Rob Wilson said.
Devaughn Darling, one of the
youngest players on the team,
started on special teams last sea
son as a freshman. He was to begin
spring practice next week as a
starter at outside linebacker.
The Associated Press
Duke’s Mosch puts
dagger in Tar Heels
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke’s
Sheana Mosch must love to play
against North Carolina.
For the second time this season,
the sophomore guard helped the
fourth-ranked Blue Devils rally for
a win against the Tar Heels, this
time scoring eight consecutive
points in a key stretch as Duke beat
UNC 72-67 Monday night.
Mosch finished with 19 points. In
the season’s first meeting between
the rivals, on Jan. 25, Mosch scored
13 of her 29 points in overtime as
Duke beat the Tar Heels 92-85.
Mosch hit two three-pointers in
Monday night’s eight-point spurt
that helped the Blue Devils rally in
the second half and head to this
weekend’s Atlantic Coast Confer
ence tournament on a winning note.
“It wasn’t just me,” Mosch said.
“It’s all 40 minutes that count, not
just the last three shots.”
Alana Beard added 15 points,
Michele Matyasovsky had 13 and
Georgia Schweitzer 12 for the Blue
Devils.
North Carolina led 63-59 after
two free throws by Candace Sutton
with 2:54 to play. Mosch then hit
two three-pointers 50 seconds
apart. Her last basket, a runner with
35 seconds remaining, gave Duke
the lead for good at 67-65.
“I was missing all game long. It was
about time I hit something,” Mosch
said. “I just told myself that I really
needed to step up and help more. ”
Mosch’s 6-for-14 shooting wasn’t
bad for a Duke team that hit just 40.3
percent from the floor. The Tar
Heels struggled as well, hitting just
38.8 percent.
“It was a battle,” Duke’s Gail
Goestenkors said. “I’m just proud of
the way, when we got down at the
end, we hung together and didn’t
panic.”
Duke (23-3, 13-3 ACC) has won
two straight since a 69-55 loss at
North Carolina State. The Blue Dev
ils head into this week’s ACC tour
nament as the No. 1 seed for the
third time in four years.
North Carolina (14-13,7-9) lost its
third straight despite double-dou
bles from rookie Sutton (19 points,
10 rebounds) and senior LaQuanda
Barksdale (14 points, 15 rebounds).
Corretta Brown scored 18 points
and Juana Brown 10 for the Tar
Heels.
Duke made seven of its first eight
shots to open the game, but missed
21 of its next 29 before halftime. The
Blue Devils shot 40.3 percent, while
the Tar Heels shot 38.8 percent.
North Carolina led 31-22 at the
7:33 mark in the first half before
Beard keyed a 14-2 Duke spurt with
consecutive steals and nine straight
Duke points. The Blue Devils led
36-35 at halftime.
The Tar Heels made three of four
three-point tries in the first 51/2 min
utes of the second half to push ahead
45-39. North Carolina stayed in front
until Matyasovsky hit consecutive
j umpers that tied the game at 5 7.
After that, neither team led by
more than four points until the final
seconds.
“I thought we had Duke back on
their heels for a while,” North Caroli
na coach Sylvia Hatched said. “But a
couple of those threes were huge.”
The Associated Press
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