EASTERN MICHIGAN EAGLES

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CHICAGO - The struggles continued Saturday for the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team.

The Eagles fell to 2-11 - including 0-11 against NCAA Division I competition - with a 79-61 loss at Chicago State (8-7).

Eastern has lost five straight.

Eastern Michigan University officials concluded that basketball coach Charles Ramsey grabbed a student and used profanity in November, and that led to a three-day suspension earlier this month.

Whether more than that took place and what precipitated the Nov. 22 incident with Shawn Quinn, an EMU senior and roommate of basketball player Zane Gay, remains unclear.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Mike Tisdale tied a career high with 25 points and Trent Meacham added 16 to lead Illinois to a 62-53 win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday.

Tisdale scored 17 in the second half to help the Illini overcome a sluggish start in their final non-conference game of the season.

Faculty leaders say they hope Eastern Michigan University will make the same investment in education that it is making in football.

The comments came on Monday after EMU announced Ron English as head coach. The university is expected to pay English about $300,000, not including performance incentives. According to a December 2007 study by USA Today, the average total salary for a coach in the Mid-American Conference that year was $253,000.

There has been no shortage of lousy days for Eastern Michigan's football team, which hasn't had a winning season since 1995, cycles through head coaches every few years and has never sold out its 30,000-seat stadium.

Bruce Shields | The Ann Arbor NewsNew Eastern Michigan football coach Ron English speaks during his introductory news conference at the Convocation Center on Monday. English was the defensive coordinator at Michigan under Lloyd Carr in 2006 and 2007.

Ron English believes in process-driven football.

And although Eastern Michigan University's new football coach puts more stock in the journey than the destination, he doesn't plan to waste time in trying to turn around a program that hasn't posted a winning season in 13 years or appeared in a post-season bowl game since 1987.

Ron English has known for a while now that he wanted to be a head football coach - he was just waiting for the right place to come calling.

And according to English, Eastern Michigan was just what he was looking for.

Bruce Shields | The Ann Arbor NewsNewly named Eastern Michigan University head football coach Ron English addresses the crowd at a news conference held to officially announce his selection on Monday.

YPSILANTI, Mich. - Ron English was well aware of Eastern Michigan's football struggles before he interviewed to become the Eagles' new head coach.

There were plenty of naysayers reminding the former Louisville and Michigan defensive coordinator why he shouldn't take over a program that hasn't had a winning season in 12 years and that last made a bowl appearance in 1987.

But for English, who became the fifth black coach at the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision schools, the opportunity to call a program his own was too much to pass up.