Off the wire
Posted on Saturday, May 3, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/224578/
FOOTBALL Jones having ‘blast’ Dallas Cowboys first-round draft choice Felix Jones hasn’t yet shared a “Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie !” with owner Jerry Jones, the Arkansas alumnus who had never drafted a fellow Razorback until getting the running back last weekend. Still, the runner is already sharing the owner’s affection for being a Cowboy. “It’s unbelievable for me. I grew up watching the Cowboys, and now that I’ve got a chance to wear that star on the side of my helmet, it’s a blast,” Jones said after his first practice Friday during rookie minicamp. “It’s just a dream come true for me.” The Cowboys got Jones 22 nd overall, 18 picks after his Razorbacks backfield mate Darren McFadden, and a spot ahead of Illinois’ Rashard Mendenhall. “He was appreciative of getting the nod so to speak [over Mendenhall ],” Jerry Jones said. “He earned it. He should have been the pick and will really have an opportunity here because of his skills to really have a special career with the Cowboys.” Felix Jones acknowledged that there were a “few words” spoken about Arkansas when he had a couple of minutes with the Cowboys owner before the start of minicamp, and that they have a lot in common. But the old school cheer will have to wait. “We haven’t practiced it at all,” Felix Jones said. “I haven’t heard him do it yet, but I’m sure he’s still good at it.”
LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was kicked off the defending national championship team Friday after a college career marked by legal and disciplinary problems. Perrilloux “didn’t fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete,” Coach Les Miles said in a statement. “Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team.” Miles did not attribute his decision to any specific recent violation. Still, it was clear Perrilloux’s repeated breaking of team rules, and sometimes the law, made Miles worry whether it was worth keeping the talented heirapparent to the starting job and risk another off-the-field distraction next season. Perrilloux is expected to finish the spring semester, LSU officials said. He must do so to remain eligible to play next season if he transfers. Perrilloux was suspended last summer and during recent spring drills. He was on the fringe of a counterfeiting investigation and was caught trying to enter a Baton Rouge casino with false identification. He also was involved in a nightclub fight in November, causing him to miss a game at Alabama. He was cleared of wrongdoing. Miles again suspended Perrilloux, whose father died Feb. 7, in mid-February after he missed a team meeting, skipped some classes and was late for some conditioning workouts. Perrilloux had to meet academic requirements and do extra conditioning before he was reinstated April 6. Perrilloux was not allowed to play in LSU’s spring game. Before his last reinstatement, Miles said Perrilloux had been doing better with classwork. Indianapolis Colts receiver Marvin Harrison was interviewed by police about a shooting near his North Philadelphia carwash this week. Lt. Frank Vanore said the investigation of Tuesday’s shooting was continuing. Harrison has not been arrested or charged. Radio station WIP, citing unidentified sources, reported the alleged shooting victim argued with Harrison at the Playmakers bar he owns. The victim left and headed to his car, Harrison followed and gunfire broke out, the station reported. The alleged victim was shot in the hand and did not identify the shooter, according to the radio station. Harrison, a prep football star at Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic High, has owned Playmakers since July 2004, according to state records.
BASKETBALL Sampson to become assistant Former Indiana University Coach Kelvin Sampson has agreed to become a Milwaukee Bucks assistant under Scott Skiles, a person with knowledge of the hiring told The Associated Press on Friday. The person requested anonymity because Sampson has not yet signed a contract. This is a second chance for Sampson, who resigned as the Hoosiers’ coach Feb. 22 and accepted a $ 750, 000 buyout after an NCAA report charged him with five major NCAA rules violations. Sampson took the Indiana job in March 2006 and two months later was penalized by the NCAA for making 577 impermissible phone calls between 2000 and 2004 while coaching Oklahoma. The second wave of charges emerged in October when a university investigation found Sampson and his staff made more than 100 impermissible calls while still under recruiting restrictions. Sampson also was said to have participated in at least 10 three-way calls, another violation of the NCAA’s punishment. At the time, Indiana Athletic Director Rick Greenspan called the violations secondary, imposing a one-year extension of the NCAA’s recruiting restrictions and pulling a $ 500, 000 raise for Sampson. The Hoosiers also took away one scholarship for the 2008-2009 season. However, an NCAA report released Feb. 13 by Indiana said Sampson provided false and misleading information to investigators from the university, and the NCAA, failed to meet the “generally recognized high standard of honesty” expected in college sports and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance. Tennessee Coach Bruce Pearl says sophomore forward Duke Crews and sophomore guard Ramar Smith are being dismissed from the team. Pearl says the two players did not meet his expectations after they were given every opportunity to succeed and instead will transfer to another school, though he did not specify where. Pearl would not identify the reason for the dismissals, though he did say the two cases were unrelated and they stemmed from problems over a period of time rather than one specific incident. Smith spent half the season as a starting point guard and averaged 7. 4 points and 3. 2 assists last season. Crews played as a reserve and averaged 5. 4 points and four rebounds.
West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins signed an 11-year contract with the school Friday that will keep him at his alma mater until he’s 65. The deal will pay Huggins $ 1. 5 million a year, plus incentives. When he arrived in April 2007, he was paid $ 800, 000 in his first season. The contract includes a $ 4 million buyout. When Huggins arrived at West Virginia, he agreed to a five-year deal outlined in an offer sheet. Recently, he signed a contract with West Virginia that was similar to the original agreement. Administrators then suggested the university make it a long-term deal. The Mountaineers went 26-11 this season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s third round for the third time in four years. Huggins played at West Virginia from 1975-1977. HOCKEY U. S. wins opener Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists and Tim Thomas made 24 saves as the United States beat Latvia 4-0 on Friday night in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in an opening preliminary round game in the world championship. Dustin Brown, Zach Parise and Patrick O’Sullivan also scored. Paul Martin had three assists.
TENNIS Nadal reaches semifinals Second-ranked and three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-2 and advanced to the semifinals of the Barcelona (Spain ) Open. Chela led 4-2 in the opening set before Nadal broke serve and took control. Nadal has won 101 of his past 102 matches on clay. Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco became the oldest semifinalist on the ATP Tour in 15 years, defeating Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-4 at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany. At 36 years, seventh months, El Aynaoui became the oldest semifinalist on the tour since Jimmy Connors played in San Francisco in 1993 at 40 years, five months. El Aynaoui, ranked 295 th, won the Munich tournament in 2002 but had to qualify this year. It’s his first semifinal since October 2003.