PORTLAND, Ore. -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. Stotts led the Blazers to a 54-28 regular-season record, for the teams biggest improvement in team history. Portland made the playoffs for the first time since 2011, dispatching the Houston Rockets in six games, before falling to the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the Western Conference semifinals. The season wrapped up for the Blazers on Wednesday night with a 104-82 loss in San Antonio. "We werent expected to be in the position we were in the regular season. We werent expected to win the first round. So, it was a special year," Stotts said after the game. "I thought everyone of our stars had career years. The young guys got better. We fought through adversity during the season. We made a strong push at the end of the year. There were so many positives about this season." Stotts has an 87-77 record in two seasons with the Blazers, after serving as an assistant with Dallas for four seasons, including the Mavericks championship in 2011. The Blazers finished 33-49 his first season. "Terry has done an outstanding job during his first two years with the organization," general manager Neil Olshey said in a statement. "This extension illustrates our confidence in him as our head coach as well as the Portland Trail Blazers continued commitment to building a model of consistency and stability." The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Anibal Sanchez Jersey . The appointment of Boullier continues the behind-the-scenes restructuring at McLaren, who recently brought back former team principal Ron Dennis as its new chief executive. Kyle Gibson Jersey . New York then missed its next six shots and scored only two points the rest of the night. The Los Angeles Clippers defence and the Knicks general ineptitude both played a role in the unsurprising finish to a meeting of two teams headed in opposite directions. http://www.twinsrookiestore.com/Twins-Brian-Dozier-Kids-Jersey/ . But San Diego had even more trouble against right-hander Tanner Roark, who pitched a three-hitter for the first complete game of his career as the Nationals shut out the Padres 4-0. The 27-year-old set down the first 16 batters before San Diego catcher Rene Rivera, an . Phil Hughes Jersey . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season. Joe Mauer Jersey . MacIntyre stopped 49 shots and the Marlies defeated the Texas Stars 5-1 in Game 1 of the American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "I felt in control, so that was nice," MacIntyre said.North Carolina coach Roy Williams denied allegations of academic wrongdoing Friday by former player Rashad McCants connected to the schools long-running academic scandal. In an interview with ESPNs "Outside the Lines" to air Friday, McCants -- the second-leading scorer on Williams first NCAA championship team in 2005 -- said tutors wrote papers for him and that Williams knew about no-show classes popular with athletes. "I thought it was a part of the college experience, just like watching it on a movie from He Got Game or Blue Chips," McCants said. "... When you get to college, you dont go to class, you dont do nothing, you just show up and play. Thats exactly how it was, you know, and I think that was the tradition of college basketball, or college, period, any sport. Youre not there to get an education, though they tell you that. "Youre there to make revenue for the college. Youre there to put fans in the seats. Youre there to bring prestige to the university by winning games." McCants also said Williams told him he could swap a failing grade from one class with a passing one from another to stay eligible during the 2004-05 season, according to the report. He entered the NBA draft as a junior after that season. "I strongly disagree with what Rashad has said," Williams said in a statement Friday. "In no way did I know about or do anything close to what he says and I think the players whom I have coached over the years will agree with me.dddddddddddd "I have spent 63 years on this earth trying to do things the right way and the picture he portrays is not fair to the University or me." McCants comments are the latest allegations levied against UNC in an academic fraud scandal that began as an offshoot of an NCAA investigation into the football program beginning in summer 2010. Those findings centred on the formerly named Department of African and Afro-American Studies, most notably with lecture classes featuring significant athlete enrollments that did not meet and were instead treated as independent study courses requiring only a research paper at semesters end. Former UNC learning specialist Mary Willingham, who has questioned the literacy of Tar Heel athletes, has said "paper classes" were designed to keep players eligible despite many reading at below-grade levels. The fraud findings also unauthorized grade changes and possibly forged signatures on grade rolls. By 2012, an investigation led by former Gov. Jim Martin found the problems in the AFAM department ran back at least to the late 1990s. That probe found no evidence of athletic department involvement, though another probe led by former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein is underway. ' ' '