Jan. 30, 2008

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) -Wolves would replace Indians as Arkansas State's mascot under a committee recommendation Wednesday to the school's chancellor.

The committee, established after the university decided to retire its Indians nickname and mascot to conform to NCAA guidelines, unanimously decided to recommend the Wolves and let chancellor Robert Potts decide whether the name should be the Red Wolves, Black Wolves or just plain Wolves.

The public submitted about 1,500 suggestions to an ASU web site, with more than 700 of them not duplicating another suggestion. From there the list was narrowed to 42 and then to 12.

At a Jan. 4 meeting, the choices were narrowed to variations on three themes with ties to the area: wolves, trains and Crowley's Ridge. All suggestions regarding Crowleys Ridge - Ridge Riders and Ridge Runners among them - were eliminated early in Wednesday's meeting.