nior season. It was Shiloh Christians first state title, in any sport, in school history, and Two Bears has been able to use her local celebrity status to draw added attention to the cause.In fact, Two Bears said the protest group has received support from all over the world.So many indigenous tribes

Former Texas coach Charlie Strong has agreed to become South Floridas next football coach, the school announced Sunday.Sources told ESPN that Strong has agreed to a five-year deal with the Bulls.Charlie is a tremendous leader and mentor for our student-athletes and a widely-respected coach with a résumé full of achievements at the highest levels of college football, USF athletic director Mark Harlan said in a statement. He combines a drive to win with great integrity and deep, long-standing connections in the state of Florida. The future of USF football is very bright under his direction.Strong met with South Florida officials Friday and Saturday after having preliminary conversations by phone with school officials earlier in the week. He will replace Willie Taggart, who left to take the head-coaching job at Oregon. Strong was also being pursued as a defensive coordinator by several Power 5 schools around the country.I am humbled that we have a shared commitment to take this university and this football program to even greater heights, Strong said in a statement. Some of the best football talent in the country is right here in the Bay Area and throughout the state of Florida, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with the young men in the USF football program and build on the strong foundation already in place.Strong will become only the fourth head coach in USFs 20-year football history. He has strong ties in Florida and has recruited the state extensively. He was the defensive coordinator at Florida under Urban Meyer when the Gators won national championships in 2006 and 2008 and had three previous stints on the Gators staff, including working under Steve Spurrier in the early 1990s.Strong, 56, was fired by the Longhorns last month after going 5-7 this season. He was 16-21 in three seasons at Texas, after going 37-15 in four seasons as Louisvilles head coach from 2010 to 2013. He won 11 games in 2012 at Louisville and 12 games in 2013, winning bowl games over Florida and Miami in those seasons, respectively.In the two NFL drafts after Strong left Louisville for Texas, the Cardinals had eight players selected in the 2014 draft and 10 players taken in the 2015 draft, including four first-rounders. One of Strongs top players at Louisville was current Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, whom Strong recruited out of Miami.Strong was offered the USF job during his meeting with school officials in Tampa, but he returned home to Austin, Texas, to discuss it with his family before making his decision Sunday, a source said.Strong and Taggart had discussions about the USF job over the weekend, a source said. Taggart had interest in hiring Strong as a defensive coordinator, sources said.This will be Strongs fifth stint coaching in the Sunshine State. At Florida, Strong was a graduate assistant (1983-84), linebackers coach (1988-89), defensive line coach/assistant head coach (1991-94) and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach (2003-09). He also has been an assistant at Texas A&M, Southern Illinois, Ole Miss, Notre Dame and South Carolina.Strong is the first head coach in USFs history with previous head-coaching experience at a Power 5 school.If Strong remains at USF four years, it will make for an intriguing season opener in 2020, when the Bulls visit Texas on Sept. 5.Information from ESPNs Brett McMurphy was used in this report.Charles Mann Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Montez Sweat Womens Jersey . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. https://www.redskinssportsgoods.com/Womens-Doug-Williams-Inverted-Jersey/ .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. Wes Martin Womens Jersey . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Russ Grimm Redskins Jersey . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday.This should be one of the most fun times in the life of Jaye Dawn Two Bears, a 5-foot-10 freshman guard who is living her dream as a University of Milwaukee womens basketball player.But instead of being able to focus on text books, jump shots and the Panthers season opener on Nov. 17, the native of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, is keeping her ear to the ground for news some 750 miles away. Two Bears is gravely concerned about the welfare of her family and thousands of other people who live along the Missouri River.Two Bears is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. And since April, she has gotten involved as much as she possibly can with the protests started by her tribe against the Bakken pipeline project, which is funded by a company called Dakota Access.The $3.7 billion project is a 1,172-mile underground pipeline for oil that crosses through four states -- North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois -- and would shuttle approximately 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Proponents say the pipeline will make the United States less reliant on imported oil. Protesters, including Two Bears and her family, argue that the pipeline would damage the environment, impact climate change and poison the water they need to survive. Mni Wiconi, they say. Water is life.We are not against pipelines or oil -- we are against putting it up under our water, Two Bears said. This is where we get 90 percent of our drinking water.Originally, the pipeline was supposed to run north of Bismarck, North Dakota. But the residents of Bismarck said they didnt want it, and Dakota Access decided to move it toward the reservation.Thats when protesters acted.In August, the Standing Rock Sioux filed a request for a temporary injunction of the pipeline construction. A federal judge denied the request in September. A federal court denied the tribes appeal in October.Protesters, which number in the thousands, have drawn international attention. They have pitched tents and teepees at a campsite that is less than two miles from Two Bears home. On Thursday, more than a hundred protesters were arrested after a standoff with police in Morton County. At least one person was injured. The battle has even moved to?Facebook, where users opposiing the pipeline are ?checking in from the?Standing Rock Indian Reservation, some?claiming the change in location will overwhelm and confuse law enforcement.ddddddddddddThe camp and the protests started in April, while I was still home, said Two Bears, who graduated in May from Shiloh Christian High School in Bismarck. The camp has continued to grow, and over 180 tribes are with us. They have sent letters and posted their tribal flags.In addition to the issues regarding the environment, a Standing Rock tribal chairman said construction crews and their bulldozers have already destroyed and desecrated sacred burial grounds.Two Bears, a four-time all-district and all-region player in high school, capped her prep career by celebrating a state title her senior season. It was Shiloh Christians first state title, in any sport, in school history, and Two Bears has been able to use her local celebrity status to draw added attention to the cause.In fact, Two Bears said the protest group has received support from all over the world.So many indigenous tribes and people are with us, she said. We are even getting support from cities and administrators in places such as Dallas and St. Paul [Minnesota].Its made me feel like we are going to win this battle, knowing we have so much prayer. We want to stop the pipeline and protect our water and our sacred sites. We are not only fighting for our Native people but also for everybody along the Missouri River.Two Bears, whose brother Cody is a tribal official, said her teammates and coaches at Milwaukee support her activism, and they realize how hard it is for her to be at college when there is so much turmoil back home.On Sept. 17, Two Bears was able to go home briefly in order to put on a basketball clinic for kids. She was there along with University of Wisconsin mens basketball player Bronson Koenig, who is a Native American from the Ho-Chunk Nation Tribe.While home, Two Bears visited the campsite and the protesters and came away impressed.Seeing people come together, no matter the color of your skin, Two Bears said, its beautiful, honestly. ' ' '