BYU
ACADEMICS: A total of 535 student-athletes were named Mountain West Conference scholar-athletes for 2005-06. BYU led the way with 135 student-athletes honored, followed by New Mexico (80), Utah (54) and Wyoming (54), TCU (53), Air Force (52), Colorado State (44), UNLV (35) and San Diego State (28). To be eligible, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better and have participated in varsity competition. BYU's women's track and field team led the way with 28 scholar-athletes, while the football team had 20.
Utah
SOFTBALL: Veteran coach and former University of Iowa standout Debbie Bilbao will join the University of Utah softball coaching staff, head coach Angie Jacobs said. Bilbao, a Sandy native, will work with the pitchers. She joins assistant coach Brandon Twiss, named to the Ute staff last week. Bilbao graduated from Jordan High where she won four state titles (one basketball, one soccer and two softball).
SKIING: Coach Eli Brown signed one of the top American skiers to a letter-of-intent. Alpine skier Tague Thorson finished the 2006 season with six top-10 finishes in his last seven races. In all, he tallied nine top-10 marks last season.
Utah State
ADMINISTRATION: Jana Doggett has become the newest member of the Utah State athletics staff and will begin work on Monday. The former long-time San Diego State administrator, will serve as the department's associate athletics director of external operations, which includes the Big Blue Scholarship Fund, marketing, media relations and ticket office. She will also oversee several sports.
"We are extremely excited to have Jana join our staff," said USU director of athletics Randy Spetman. "She has a very strong background in athletics and brings with her an energy and enthusiasm to get the job done."
Southern Utah
BASKETBALL: Southern Utah University has signed Swaney Cooper, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound forward from Highland (Ill.) Community College, to a national letter of intent, SUU head men's coach Bill Evans announced. Cooper averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for the Cougars, who finished the season ranked No. 4 in the nation (NJCAA Division I) after compiling a perfect 12-0 mark in Region IV play and a 34-2 overall record. Cooper was the team's third-leading rebounder and the sixth-rated shooter in the region after connecting on 110-of-183 shots, a success rate of .601.