Eye on the U

Hurricanes' women's tennis continues to flourish as coaches, freshman win ITA awards

The UM women's tennis team, ranked sixth in the nation, will meet No. 11 Northwestern at 6 p.m. Friday in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA National Championships in Urbana, Ill.

It's the eighth consecutive season that the Canes have advanced to the Round of 16.

On Tuesday, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced its regional award winners, and UM coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews -- already inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame -- earned Coach of the Year for the Southeast Region.

Hurricanes assistant Alex Santos earned Assistant Coach of the Year for the Southeast Region.

And freshman Stephanie Wagner, UM's No. 1 player, earned Rookie of the Year.

All three will be eligible for the same awards on the national level.

Yaroshuk-Tews' teams are always top-notch, and this one is no different. What's especially gratifying is that all eight players will return next season.

"If we don't get to the final 16 I'm not happy,'' Yaroshuk-Tews said Tuesday. "I make that known with my staff. ...To get to the Sweet 16 is tough and it's grueling, but with this talent, this is where they should be.''

The coach said her players' goal at the beginning of the season was to get at least to the semifinal of this year's nationals. Last year they lost to Florida in the quarters.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

 

 

Defense attorney for UM baseball conditioning coach says his client didn't break law or NCAA rules

The attorney for University of Miami baseball strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Goins told The Miami Herald his client hasn't broken any federal laws or NCAA rules and that the article in Tuesday's editions of Miami New Times has jumped to conclusions.

"I can tell you Mr. Goins has no knowledge of any wrongdoing and hasn't done anything wrong personally on the behalf of Miami. He's kind of been blindsided by this," said attorney Gordon Fenderson of Fenderson and Hampton, LLC.

"We're not going to talk about whether he was a patient or not. There are privacy concerns there. But as far as using or purchasing anything that would be contrary to any rules or laws, he's been blindsided by those allegations.

"It's very presumptive to just say because a list comes out and one person may be accused of wrongdoing everybody on that list is accused of wrongdoing."

Goins, who has been on staff at UM for the past nine years, declined comment when approached by The Miami Herald in person Tuesday and directed all inquiries to his attorney.

The New Times reported Goins' name was on multiple client lists at Biogenesis, the Coral Gables clinic that was allegedly supplying MLB players and others with PEDs. "In one detailed page dated December 14, 2011, [Biogenesis owner Tony] Bosch writes he's selling [Goins] Anavar, testosterone, and a Winstrol/B-12 mix and charging him $400 a month," the story said. "Another [report] from this past December includes sales of HGH and testosterone."

Former UM players Cesar Carrillo and Yasmani Grandal and South Florida-born baseball stars Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez were also mentioned in Tuesday's story. It's inferred Goins may have been supplying players with PEDs. It's not clear if it involved current or former players.

Fenderson said his client hasn't been charged with anything and they are representing him to be proactive in his defense.

Asked if Goins had been suspended by UM pending further investigation Fenderson said: "We're going to let UM do what they're going to do and we'll address it once they make it clear. Naturally the University is in a position that they're going to look at this because there are allegations. We're going to let them do what they're going to do.

"It's just some insinuations at this point. I haven't actually seen the list. It's unfortunate this conclusion has been jumped to."

Canes' RB Duke Johnson becomes target of Twitter thug after commenting on LeSean McCoy's baby mama drama

From the zany world of Twitter here's a new story making the rounds: UM running back Duke Johnson apparently became a target of one of LeSean McCoy's twitter followers for publicly voicing his opinion on the Eagles' star running back's baby mama drama.

BlackSportsOnline first got wind of the story Sunday and now it's spreading after a few retweets. Here is a link to the story and the details. 

In a nutshell, Johnson criticized McCoy publicly -- as other athletes have -- for his public battle with his ex-girlfriend. One of McCoy's fans @John082583 then began attacking Duke for his comments. 

Johnson hasn't paid much attention to it. His response on Twitter: "My mom always told me beware of the Internet thugs....✌"

UM fans have of course come to Duke's defense.

It will be interesting to see if UM coach Al Golden says anything about this. He's been pretty lenient on guys having Twitter accounts. 

UM releases statement on baseball strength coach Jimmy Goins

Unless you've been sleeping for three days you know by now a new scandal involving performance-enhancing drugs and a long list of major league baseball players and a Miami clinic has been in the news.

The Miami New Times released a report of a lengthy three-month investigation Tuesday morning and listed among the names of clients who allegedly purchased PEDs from this clinic is longtime University of Miami baseball and track and field strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Goins.

Goins, who has been at UM for the last nine years, is recorded in multiple client lists according to Tuesday's New Times story. "In one detailed page dated December 14, 2011, [Biogenesis owner Tony] Bosch writes he's selling [Goins] Anavar, testosterone, and a Winstrol/B-12 mix and charging him $400 a month," the story said. "Another [report] from this past December includes sales of HGH and testosterone."

It's not clear in the report how Goins was involved. But former UM players Cesar Carrillo and Yasmani Grandal and former South Florida baseball stars Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez are also mentioned. It's inferred Goins may have been supplying players with PEDs. It's not clear if it is current or former players. UM isn't commenting on anything right now. The feds are investigating. 

But Goins, who was listed on UM's baseball roster as of Tuesday morning, is no longer listed there. A source said he Goins was not at practice today and he'll likely be suspended pending further investigation. Here is a link to Goins' UM profile.

UM released the follow statement to The Miami Herald this afternoon: “The University of Miami is aware of media reports regarding one of our employees and an intensive review is underway. We will not comment further on personnel matters."

Stay tuned for more on this story.