Pac-12 Tournament Moving to Las Vegas The Pacific-12 men's basketball tournament is moving to Las Vegas for the next three years. Commissioner Larry Scott announced the deal Tuesday at the MGM Grand hotel-casino, standing poolside near a site known for boxing, not basketball. Scott said the move from Los Angeles will generate buzz and create atmosphere for the conference's fans. The Pac-12 tournament will be the fourth conference tournament in Las Vegas, along with those of the Mountain West, the Western Athletic Conference and the West Coast Conference. RICE KICKED OFF TEAM Glen Rice Jr. was kicked off the Georgia Tech team less than a week after a shooting incident outside an Atlanta nightclub that led to criminal charges. Coach Brian Gregory cut ties with Rice, a junior guard who was serving his second suspension of the season at the time of the latest trouble. Rice, son of the former N.B.A. star, led Georgia Tech in scoring and rebounding this season but had numerous disciplinary issues. He didn't play for the Yellow Jackets after being suspended Feb. 17. Rice was charged in the incident early Thursday, the same day Georgia Tech's 11-20 season ended with a 54-36 loss to Miami in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. S.M.U. FIRES DOHERTY Southern Methodist fired Coach Matt Doherty after six seasons in which Doherty, a former North Carolina coach, failed to take the Mustangs to the N.C.A.A. tournament. Doherty went 13-19 this season and 80-109 in six years with S.M.U., which will move to the Big East from Conference USA in 2013. GAMECOCKS COACH FIRED South Carolina has fired Coach Darrin Horn. The Gamecocks finished last in the Southeastern Conference at 2-14, their worst record in their 20 years in the league. South Carolina's overall 10-21 record marked just the fourth 20-loss season in more than a century of basketball. SAMFORD LETS COACH GO Samford has fired Coach Jimmy Tillette. Tillette has been the Bulldogs" coach for 15 seasons and led them to the N.C.A.A. tournament in 1999 and 2000. Samford fell to 11-19 last season, the sixth straight in which the Bulldogs failed to post a winning record. Tillette went 229-219 at Samford, making him the winningest coach in program history and the only one to lead it to back-to-back 20-win seasons. TOP FRESHMAN IS NAMED The Kentucky forward Anthony Davis is the winner of the Wayman Tisdale Award, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to the national freshman of the year. Davis, a 6-foot-10 native of Chicago, led the Wildcats to a 32-2 record and No. 1 ranking, averaging 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 64.2 percent from the field, second best in the nation, and leading the country with 157 blocked shots. THE PRESIDENT'S PICKS President Obama is picking Kentucky, Ohio State, Missouri and North Carolina to reach the Final Four. Obama filled out an N.C.A.A. tournament bracket for ESPN for the fourth straight year. On the women's side, he selected Baylor, St. John's, Connecticut and Notre Dame to advance. HIRES COACH Mississippi State has hired Vin Schaefer to be its next coach. Schaefer comes to the Bulldogs after 15 years as the associate head coach at Texas A&M. He also had an eight-year stint as the coach at Sam Houston State before going to the Big 12. Schaefer takes over for Sharon Fanning-Otis, who announced her retirement last month after 17 seasons with the Bulldogs. She leads the program in career coaching wins, with a 281-232 record.