Basketball
ANDRE IS ALL-WOODEN: Utah senior point guard Andre Miller is one of 10 players selected to the 1999 John R. Wooden All-American team and announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club earlier this week.Miller was one of the team's top five vote-getters. He was joined in that distinction Elton Brand, Duke; Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State; Richard Hamilton, Connecuticut and Wally Szczerbiak, Miami (Ohio).
Also named to the team were Evan Eschmeyer, Northwestern; Trajan Langdon, Duke; Scott Padgett, Kentucky; Chris Porter, Auburn; and Jason Terry, Arizona.
Both Langdon and Hamilton were 1998 Wooden Award Winners.
TECH HIRES STOKES: Ricky Stokes, a perennial contender for college coaching vacancies, was hired as Virginia Tech's men's basketball coach.
It is the first head job for Stokes, who succeeds Bobby Hussey, fired Monday after two seasons in which the Hokies went 23-32 and suffered a steep decline in home attendance.
Stokes worked this season under Rick Barnes at Texas, which won the Big 12 regular season title.
COTA TO STAY AT UNC: North Carolina junior point guard Ed Cota said he will stay in school for one more season.
Cota flirted with foregoing his final year of eligibility to enter the NBA draft. But he said Wednesday he decided to stay in Chapel Hill after meeting with coach Bill Guthridge.
"Regardless of where I might go in the NBA draft, I want to get my degree on time, and I want to help my teammates compete for a national championship," Cota said. "There's no question that some day I want to play professional basketball but I feel I still have goals to meet at the college level."
BENDER REMAINS AT UW: Nothing against Vanderbilt, but Bob Bender's heart and home are still in Seattle.
"Washington is where I need to be," Bender told reporters in a conference call Wednesday from St. Petersburg, Fla., after withdrawing his name from consideration to become Vanderbilt's basketball coach.
The Nashville school is seeking a replacement for Jan van Breda Kolff, who resigned last month.
Baseball
CUBA VS. ORIOLES: Two Cuban-American members of Congress urged the government to cancel an exhibition baseball game this weekend in Havana between the Baltimore Orioles and Cuba's national team.
Michael Ranneberger, the Clinton administration's coordinator of Cuban affairs, defended the contest as part of a U.S. effort to reach out to the Cuban people.
But Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican whose district includes thousands of Cuban-Americans and exiles, said Sunday's game would not help the Cuban people.
Tennis
STANFORD BEATS BYU: The doubles team of Manuel Calvo and Damien Ward defeated Ryan Wolters and K.J. Hippensteel 8-4 to pick up the only Cougar win as the BYU men's tennis team fell 7-0 to No. 4 Stanford on Wednesday.
Stanford's team of Wolters and Hippensteel is currently ranked second in the nation.
Calvo and Ward did not fare as well against these opponents in singles competition. Wolters defeated Calvo 6-3, 6-4 at number one and, in the third position, Hippensteel beat Ward by the same score. Cougars Gert Vilms, Jeff Harbach, Nic Losee and David White also competed in singles play. Calvo/Ward won the number one doubles, but BYU's Vilms/Harbach and Losee/
Rideout dropped their matches in the second and third positions to give Stanford the doubles point.
The Cougars will play UC Santa Barbara at Santa Barbara Thursday.
Colleges
WISCONSIN ON PROBATION: The NCAA placed Wisconsin on probation for two years because of unauthorized spending of booster club money. The school's teams were spared penalties concerning postseason tournaments, television appearances and scholarship allotments.
Wisconsin chancellor David Ward said he was "gratified" the NCAA found most of the questioned expenditures would have been considered proper had necessary written approval been obtained.
Besides the probation, the NCAA also required Wisconsin to conduct a "comprehensive internal audit" of the booster clubs. The university must also file annual compliance reports, continue developing a comprehensive athletics compliance education program and require the athletic director to attend an NCAA compliance seminar.
Hockey
TRADE VOIDED: The trade of center Peter Zezel from Vancouver to the Anaheim has been voided because Zezel declined to report to the Mighty Ducks. Anaheim acquired Zezel from the Canucks in exchange for future considerations Tuesday.
Auto racing
AL JR. RELEASED: Al Unser Jr. was released from a hospital, two days after surgeons inserted a metal plate into his broken right ankle.
Unser broke the ankle during a crash on the first lap of the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami on Sunday. The two-time Indy 500 winner is expected to stay in Indianapolis for the remainder of the week and to start therapy next week.
Gymnastics
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS: The Cougars complete their regular season this week when they host Southern Utah Thursday at the Marriott Center before traveling to Salt Lake for a meet with Utah on Saturday.
Thursday's 7 p.m. meet will be tape-delayed on KBYU Ch. 11 at 10:35 p.m. Saturday's meet will be televised on KJZZ channel 14 at 7 p.m.
BYU is 20-0 against Southern Utah, including a 194.225 to 192.575 win in Cedar City in the Cougars' last meet. The Cougars have a 2-59 record against Utah, including a 195.150-192.00 loss in the Marriott Center this year.