Davidson hires alum as football coach
DAVIDSON, N.C., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Paul Nichols, a record-setting quarterback at Davidson, has been hired to be the head coach of the Wildcats, the school said Friday.
Nichols, who turns 32 next month, is the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I.
Davidson fired Coach Tripp Merritt with two games left in the 2012 season, which ended with a 2-9 record for the Wildcats.
Merritt had a 31-51 record over eight seasons -- 2005-12-- at Davidson.
The Davidson position is the first head coaching job for Nichols, who has been an assistant at Ohio State, Marshall and Toledo. He most recently was director of player personnel at Illinois.
Nichols owns Davidson school records for career passing yards (5,822), completions (465) and touchdown passes (51). The Wildcats were 22-6, including 10-0 in 2000, with Nichols as a starter.
Report: Olympian says she was a prostitute
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton was a Las Vegas prostitute for the past year and said it was "a huge mistake," thesmokinggun.com reported.
Favor Hamilton, 44, said her husband knew about her secret life as a call girl with an escort service, the report said.
"I take full responsibility for my mistakes. I'm not the victim and I'm not going that route. I'm owning up to what I did. I would not blame anybody except myself," she said. "Everybody in this world makes mistakes. I made a huge mistake. Huge."
The website published the story Thursday.
The New York Times reported Favor Hamilton was getting paid up to $600 an hour.
The Times said she worked under a fake name, Kelly Lundy, but she said she also revealed her true identity to some clients.
Favor Hamilton competed in the Olympics as a distance runner in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
Favor Hamilton had reportedly been in contact with clients to let them know she was leaving the escort business.
The Times said Favor Hamilton also runs a real estate brokerage firm in Wisconsin with her husband and has a 7-year-old old daughter.
Buffalo Bills agree to new stadium lease
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- The Buffalo Bills and Erie County and New York state officials have reached an agreement on a lease on Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The 10-year deal will keep the Bills in western New York for at least seven seasons even if there is a change of ownership. The agreement requires the Bills to pay a $400 million penalty to leave Buffalo before 2020.
The penalty decreases for the last three years of the lease.
The government officials and the Bills also agreed to pay $130 million to upgrade the 73,079-seat, 39-year-old stadium. The NFL team would contribute $35 million, New York state $54 million and Erie County $41 million for the construction.
"The Buffalo Bills are a central part of the cultural, economic and of the entire western part of New York state and the state has never wavered in our commitment to keeping the Bills a thriving part of the Buffalo community," New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.
The Bills began play in 1960 as members of the AFL and played at War Memorial Stadium before moving into the current facility in 1973.
The stadium was first called Rich Stadium and Bills Stadium for one season before being named for team owner Ralph Wilson in 1973.
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Chicago basketball star to attend Duke
CHICAGO, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Chicago high school basketball star Jabari Parker announced he has chosen to attend Duke University.
Parker, the star of Simeon High School's basketball program and the No. 2-ranked senior in the United States by ESPN, announced in his school's gym Thursday he chose Duke over Brigham Young, Michigan State, Stanford and other schools that had attempted to recruit him, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
"What brought me to the decision was the course of history," Parker said. "Duke is always going to be a team in the [NCAA] tournament. You can't go wrong with the program. Also, most importantly, it's a long-term investment. I feel like if I go there, I can get a good degree."
Parker's parents, Lola and Sonny Parker, said they left the decision up to their son. Parker whispered his decision to his mother before the announcement and his father said he did not know the verdict until his son pulled a Duke T-shirt out of a backpack in front of reporters.
"It was important for me that he felt he was always in control of the decision-making, so that's how we handled it," Lola Parker said.
Chicago Bulls star guard Derrick Rose is also a graduate of Simeon High School.
