10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Oregon aims
to rebuild with
coach Taggart
A news conference to formally intro-
duce Taggart was set for today.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
W
illie Taggart has become
known for rebuilding pro-
grams at Western Kentucky
and South Florida. His next
endeavor will be much more high pro-
fi le, trying to turn around the struggling
Oregon Ducks.
Oregon announced Wednesday that it
had hired Taggart to take over following
a disappointing 4-8 season and the dis-
missal of coach Mark Helfrich.
Taggart has been coach at USF for
the past four seasons, guiding the team
from a 2-10 record his fi rst year to a 10-2
mark this year and a spot in the Birming-
ham Bowl.
Before he arrived in Tampa he spent
three seasons at his alma mater, Western
Kentucky, inheriting a winless program
that he turned around with back-to-back
winning seasons.
“Willie places an emphasis on ensur-
ing a positive student-athlete experience
and on winning, and his previous stops
have proven his success at both,” Ore-
gon athletic director Rob Mullens said
in a statement. “We have a very bright
future under his leadership.”
From the outside
Taggart, 40, is the fi rst coach Oregon
has hired from outside the program since
1976. The Ducks’ previous three coaches,
Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Helfrich,
were all assistants who were promoted.
Taggart will also be the fi rst black
head football coach at Oregon. The
length and terms of his contract with the
Ducks were not immediately released.
“Oregon has a strong national pres-
ence and a proud recent history of play-
ing among the nation’s elite, and I look
forward to the challenge of upholding
the excellence,” Taggart said in a state-
ment. “I can’t wait to get started.”
Taggart was 16-20 at Western Ken-
tucky, taking over when it was fi rst tran-
sitioning to FBS. He went 7-5 in his last
two seasons with the Hilltoppers and
then moved to USF, not far from where
he grew up in Bradenton, Florida.
It took two seasons and a change in
offensive philosophy from more pro-
style, West Coast schemes to a spread, but
he now has the 25th-ranked Bulls rolling.
They fi nished second in the American
Athletic Conference East Division.
AP File Photo
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Bach: Olympic
bid process
needs to change
Associated Press
LAUSANNE, Switzerland —
IOC President Thomas Bach says
he wants to change the Olym-
pic host city bidding procedure
because it “produces too many
losers.”
Bach’s comments came on the
same day the IOC executive board
cleared all three candidate cities
for the 2024 Olympics — Paris,
Los Angeles and Budapest, Hun-
gary — to advance to the next
stage of the race.
Bach did not categorically rule
out the possibility of awarding the
hosting rights for two games at
once — 2024 and 2028 — when
the IOC votes next September in
Lima, Peru.
Giants trade
with Mariners
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Right-hander Chris Heston has
been traded from the San Fran-
cisco Giants to the Seattle Mari-
ners for a player to be named.
The Giants did not have a spot
for the 28-year-old in their rotation
featuring Madison Bumgarner,
Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija,
Matt Moore and Matt Cain. Seat-
tle’s need for additional rotation
depth made the Mariners a perfect
partner.
Seattle turns to Terrell with Thomas out
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
RENTON, Wash. — Steven Ter-
rell is about to lose whatever ano-
nymity he had.
Since arriving in Seattle before the
2014 season, Terrell has led a fairly
quiet and inconspicuous life as a
backup safety and key special teams
contributor for the Seahawks. He has
done his job well, but maybe not to
the point where it’s noticed when he
is on the fi eld.
That’s about to change in a hurry,
with Terrell stepping in as the starting
free safety after former All-Pro Earl
Thomas broke his lower left leg.
“He’s got it,” Seattle coach Pete
Carroll said. “He’s looked really good
when he’s played, so hopefully he’ll
just continue to get better and more
confi dent and fl ow with the guys bet-
ter as we stay together out there.”
The expectation is Terrell will be
out there for the fi nal four games of
the regular season and however far
Seattle can advance in the postsea-
son. Short of stepping in for Rus-
sell Wilson or maybe Richard Sher-
man, there may not be a more diffi cult
player on Seattle’s roster to replace
than Thomas, who was injured in the
fi rst half of last Sunday’s win over
Carolina.
Thomas’ combination of speed,
skill and experience as the anchor
in the back of Seattle’s defensive
scheme makes it tough for anyone to
replicate.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Seahawks free safety Steven Terrell (23) runs with Ahtyba Ru-
bin (77) and Richard Sherman, right, after he intercepted a Carolina
Panthers pass in the second half Sunday, in Seattle.
“Just his natural ability. He’s just
one of those players that comes along
once in however many years,” Terrell
said. “He just has a knack, a natural
knack and he just has it. He’s really
instinctual and has a great feel for
everything.”
Part of the unknown with Terrell is
simply having not gotten much of an
opportunity. That’s the price of play-
ing behind Thomas, who until two
weeks ago had played every game of
his professional career.
Terrell signed with Seattle at the
• Seattle Seahawk (8-3-1)
at Green Bay Packers (6-6)
• Sunday, 1:25 p.m. TV: FOX
start of training camp in 2014 and
found a home after spending his fi rst
season in the NFL bouncing around
between Jacksonville and Houston.
Finding stability meant giving up
the chance to be a regular contribu-
tor on defense. Terrell wasn’t going
Antetokounmpo gets second
triple-double as Bucks win
By DAVE BOEHLER
Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
(All games canceled/postponed)
FRIDAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at R.A.
Long, 7 p.m.; Warrenton at Neah-Kah-
Nie, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball — R.A. Long at As-
toria, 7 p.m.; Seaside at Corbett, 7 p.m.;
Warrenton at Neah-Kah-Nie, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — Astoria at Ilwaco,
5:45 p.m.; Knappa at Delphian, TBA;
Warrenton JV2 at Jewell, 11 a.m.
Boys Basketball — Sandy at Astoria,
7 p.m.; Knappa at Delphian, 4 p.m.; Mel-
bourne Magic at Jewell, 1 p.m.; Willapa
Valley at Ilwaco, 7:30 p.m.
Swimming — Andrew Nygaard Invi-
tational, Astoria Aquatic Center, 10:15
a.m.
Wrestling — Warrenton Tournament,
10 a.m.
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
to beat out Thomas for a starting role,
so he made special teams his oppor-
tunity to shine. During the 2015 sea-
son, Terrell appeared in 12 games but
recorded just one tackle.
While his playing time was lim-
ited, Terrell was continuing to learn
from Thomas.
“He kind of teaches in his own
way,” Terrell said. “For me, I learn
more from him just asking questions,
his mindset about things and how he
sees certain situations and little things
in our position like reading the quar-
terback, or what is the fi rst thing you
do when you watch fi lm. Little things
like that, that’s what I’ve gotten the
biggest advantage from Earl.”
Terrell has gotten more play-
ing time in the past three games at
safety than maybe his entire career
combined. Terrell stepped in when
Thomas suffered a hamstring strain
midway through Seattle’s win over
Philadelphia in Week 12 and played
the entire game the following week
against Tampa Bay. And he jumped
right back into action when Thomas
limped off the fi eld last Sunday after
injuring his leg.
Terrell knows he likely will be
picked on, beginning with Aaron
Rodgers and Green Bay this weekend.
“I would assume they would,” he
said. “This defense, it’s kind of hard
to single one person out and try to
attack them. We have so many weap-
ons and the way our style of play is,
but I assume they will come after me.
I don’t really know.”
AP Photo/Morry Gash
Trail Blazers’ Allen Crabbe fouls Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo in the
second half Wednesday in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 115-107.
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Ante-
tokounmpo is emerging as a dynamic
player and precocious leader — and
at 22 years old, he’s already closing
in on one of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s
franchise records.
Antetokounmpo got his second
triple-double of the season to lead the
Milwaukee Bucks over the Portland
Trail Blazers 115-107 on Wednesday.
Antetokounmpo had 15 points,
12 rebounds and 11 assists for his
seventh career triple-double — sec-
ond-most with the franchise behind
Abdul-Jabbar’s eight. Antetokoun-
mpo is the only NBA player averag-
ing at least 20 points, eight rebounds,
fi ve assists, two blocks and two steals
this season.
Jabari Parker added 27 points for
Milwaukee, which rebounded from a
UP NEXT: BLAZERS
• Portland Trail Blazers (12-11)
at Memphis Grizzlies (15-8)
• Today, 5 p.m. TV: CSNW
one-point home loss to San Antonio
on Monday to win for the fi fth time
in six games.
“The team is rolling right now,
feeling good,” Antetokounmpo said.
The Bucks entered holding oppo-
nents to a NBA-best .311 shooting
percentage from 3-point range, but
Portland drilled 17 of them on 40
attempts — both season highs.
Damian Lillard made fi ve and
scored a team-high 30 points to go
with seven rebounds and six assists.
C.J. McCollum added 23 points,
including four 3-pointers, as the Blaz-
ers continued a nine-game stretch of
playing eight times on the road.