Sports Briefs

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    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A new American Basketball Association team originally slated for North Dakota instead will go to Utah, where it will be called the Utah Snowbears, said franchise owner Timmy Gibbs.

    The team is one of 19 expansion franchises set to join seven existing teams in the 3-year-old ABA.

    It originally was to play in Minot, N.D., but travel and scheduling problems forced the league to relocate the franchise, said Gibbs, a resident of Clearfield and a former Weber State guard.

    “We are looking at the E Center in West Valley City as our home. That’s our No. 1 priority,” Gibbs told The Salt Lake Tribune. “If not, maybe Salt Lake Community College or some other college arena.”

    The Snowbears will be coached by Otis Hailey, Gibbs’ assistant last year with the Tijuana (Mexico) Diablos.

    Gibbs was a player-coach and general manager for the Diablos, but is under contract to play for another Mexico-based pro team this year and is not sure whether he will be able to play for the Snowbears.

    The ABA – not affiliated with the old ABA that included the Utah Stars and disbanded in 1976 – has a season that runs from mid-November to mid-March.

    “We won’t rival the Utah Jazz. We can coexist with the Jazz,” Gibbs said.

    Gibbs and Hailey will conduct a tryout camp June 11-12 in Ogden at the Marshall White Center.

    PROVO, Utah (AP) – Brigham Young University law professor and former Idaho Attorney General Larry EchoHawk has been named the university’s faculty athletics representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and Mountain West Conference.

    EchoHawk succeeds Kevin Worthen, who recently was appointed dean of BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.

    In his new position, EchoHawk will work with BYU’s administration and athletics administrators in monitoring the athletic program within the BYU community and its relationships outside the university.

    EchoHawk’s appointment officially became effective Monday, but he was present at last month’s MWC meetings in Park City.

    In 1995, EchoHawk was the first BYU student-athlete to receive the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Award, which recognizes collegiate athletes who graduated 25 years ago and who have gone on to make outstanding contributions in their professional lives.

    EchoHawk played football at BYU from 1966-69.

    He is a member of the Pawnee Tribe and formerly was tribal attorney for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes at the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho.

    He was the Democratic nominee for governor of Idaho in 1994.

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