Basketball
UCONN COACH IN HOSPITAL: Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma was hospitalized Thursday for what the university called a minor condition and is expected to be released this weekend. The school said the 52-year-old coach was at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford but would not elaborate. However, the ailment was described as a non-life threatening intestinal infection by someone familiar with the coach's health.
ASSISTANTS HIRED:Kelvin Sampson hired Indiana natives Ray McCallum and Jeff Meyer as assistant coaches on his Hoosiers staff Thursday. McCallum follows Sampson from Oklahoma to Indiana', a state in which he won back-to-back state titles at Muncie Central in 1978 and 1979. He graduated from Ball State in 1983 as the Mid-American Conference's career scoring leader. Meyer grew up in Reynolds, graduated from Taylor University in Upland, spent two seasons as an assistant at Purdue and was an assistant for three seasons at Butler.
HOOPSTER HEADS TO NFL: Connecticut basketball player Ed Nelson has decided to pursue an NFL career. The 6-foot-8, 265-pound senior power forward, who did not play college football, plans to work out for NFL teams April 21 on the UConn campus.
"I have gotten great feedback in the last week that I am an individual that NFL teams could and will be very interested in," Nelson said Thursday.
PENALTIES AWAIT: Men's basketball teams at Arizona State and Texas A&M and football teams at Arizona, San Jose State, San Diego State and Northern Arizona could face the loss of scholarships next fall because of poor academic results. On Thursday, the NCAA announced the Academic Progress Rates for eight schools that had not reported results in time for the original announcement March 1. San Jose State was hit hardest Thursday, with its men's cross country, baseball, football and soccer teams all making the list. Baseball and football teams at Arizona and San Diego State also face potential sanctions. They were the only new schools with multiple teams listed. Kansas' baseball team also made the list while Tulane was the only new school that avoided any potential sanctions.
Cycling
ARMSTRONG TRIAL ENDS:Lance Armstrong's defamation trial ended Thursday after charges were withdrawn by Italian cyclist Filippo Simeoni. Armstrong also withdrew his defamation action against Simeoni, the lawyer for the Tour de France great said. Neither Armstrong nor Simeoni was at the court in Latina, near Rome.
Tennis
FAMILY CIRCLE CUP: Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne extended her unbeaten streak at the Family Circle Cup to 13 matches Thursday, defeating Karolina Sprem 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. Henin-Hardenne's latest win on the green clay took more than 90 minutes on a warm, windy afternoon in Charleston, S.C.