College Basketball Coaches And Republican Fundraisers

Nudo to seek GOP nomination for 52nd Senate seat

CHAMPAIGN — Saying he wants to be a "citizen legislator" in the style championed by James Madison, Champaign County Board member Alan Nudo is entering the race for the Republican nomination in the newly redrawn 52nd Senate District that includes most of Champaign and Vermilion counties.

Nudo will oppose conservative activist John Bambenek of Champaign in the Republican primary election next March 20. The winner will take on state Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, now serving his second term.

"At this time in my life I think this is a good time to try this," said Nudo. "I think the atmosphere is right to take a look at the changes that need to be made in the state."

Whoever the Republican nominee is will face some daunting disadvantages: Frerichs' name recognition, a $270,000 head start in fundraising and a redrawn district map more favorable to the Democrat.

"That makes for a clear distinction between who I'm going to run against and what I did," said Nudo, who led an effort on the Champaign County Board to have a citizens commission draw the new map of county board districts. "That's one of the things I want to bring to the state. We're going to push for a map drawn by the citizens. If I learned anything from the mapping commission we put together, it was tainted by having individuals from the county board swaying or working outside of the parameters."

Frerichs, charged Nudo, was part of a state redistricting process in which the 52nd District boundaries were changed to eliminate St. Joseph, Ogden, Armstrong and Potomac, areas where Frerichs had fared poorly in past elections.

"And that's fine," said Nudo. "I'm going to offer to Republicans and independents the opportunity for people to say that this is a guy who's a citizen legislator. It's something we need to get back to, where we have people from all walks of life go on there and take on what needs to be done in Springfield without looking at the next election cycle. The career people are looking at the next election cycle as soon as this one is over with.

In brief: Fews' fundraiser set for 10th year - Spokesman.com - Aug ...

College basketball: Mark and Marcy Few’s Coaches vs. Cancer turns 10 years old this weekend and they sound like proud parents when describing the event’s growth and impact.

“Looking back over the last 10 years, I am just blown away by the support from the community,” said Few, who has guided the Gonzaga men’s basketball team to 10 WCC titles and 11 NCAA tournament appearances in 11 seasons as head coach. “To think we’ve raised almost $5 million is unbelievable. Marcy and I have both lost loved ones to cancer. It affects us all.”

The festivities begin Friday with a golf outing at Circling Raven and tip-off party at the Davenport Hotel. The golf venue moves to the Spokane Country Club on Saturday, followed by the Basketball Gala at the Davenport Hotel.

George Karl, the former Seattle SuperSonics coach currently with the Denver Nuggets, will be the guest speaker. Karl took a leave of absence during the 2010 season to battle throat and neck cancer. He returned to coach every game last season, leading Denver to a 50-32 record.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas was scheduled to emcee the Gala, but he’s unable to travel due to a bad back. ESPN’s Neil Everett and Sean McDonough will fill in.

Expected coaches include San Diego’s Billy Grier, Boise State’s Leon Rice, Long Beach State’s Dan Monson, Washington State’s Ken Bone, Idaho’s Don Verlin, Eastern Washington’s Jim Hayford and Montana’s Wayne Tinkle.

The event has raised $4.7 million for the American Cancer Society and local cancer-fighting organizations. It is the largest Coaches vs. Cancer fundraising event in the country. More than $675,000 has been donated to Camp Goodtimes, a camp in Post Falls for children with cancer.

Jim Meehan