[ Briefly in sports ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 22, 2001 by Capital-Journal

- Briefly in sports

Football

- K-State hands out awards --- The Kansas State football team announced its 2000 season award winners Sunday evening at its annual ceremony. Senior defensive end Chris Johnson earned Defensive Most Valuable Player honors, while quarterback Jonathan Beasley and All- American senior wide receiver Quincy Morgan will share the Offensive MVP award. The Most Improved Defensive Player honors were shared by linebackers Ben Leber and Terry Pierce and the Most Improved Offensive Player award was junior fullback Rock Cartwright. Senior fullback Johnno Lazetich recieved the Ken Ochs Courage Award and the Purple Pride Award was shared by senior defensive end Steve Altobello and senior defensive tackle C. W. Klebe. Eighteen awards were handed out at the ceremony.

- Capers ready to begin work as Texans coach --- It's not easy to get the kind of experience that Dom Capers has on his resume: successfully building an NFL franchise from the ground up. That was a big reason the expansion Houston Texans made him their first head coach. Capers, who took the Carolina Panthers from nothing to the playoffs in two years, officially signed a six-year contract with the Texans on Sunday. Capers, who has been defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars the past two seasons, will have plenty of time to put his experience to work. The Texans don't begin play until 2002. Capers will earn $300,000 this year, then begins a five-year contract worth $9.5 million.

- Celebration honors national champions --- A crowd estimated at 30,000 turned out in Norman, Okla., to celebrate Oklahoma's football championship. The Sooners capped their 13-0 season with a 13-2 victory against Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3. Each senior player was introduced, along with several members of the state Legislature and the members of the university's board of regents. At one point, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Oklahoma Today magazine unveiled a poster showing that the football team had been chosen as the magazine's 2000 Oklahomans of the Year.

- Carruth awaits sentencing in murder case --- Rae Carruth awaits sentencing today, with the possibility of spending his next 25 years in prison for conspiring to murder his pregnant girlfriend. The former NFL player, who turned 27 Saturday, escaped a first-degree murder conviction that could have led to a death sentence. He was convicted Friday of conspiracy to commit murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and using an instrument, in this case a gun, with the intent to destroy an unborn child. The verdict came after about 20 hours of deliberations during four days by the jury of seven men and five women.

Basketball

- Tech starter dislocates knee cap during OSU game --- No. 9 Texas Tech will be playing without starter Amber Tarr for at least two weeks and possibly as long as a month after the team's star 3-point shooter dislocated her knee cap during an 82-29 victory against Oklahoma State in Lubbock, Texas. The Lady Raiders were in the midst of a 12-0 run during the first six minutes of the contest when Tarr, a forward, suddenly fell to the floor. Tarr has averaged 11.5 points per game this season and tied her career high of six 3-pointers against Southeastern Louisiana.

- St. Joseph's coach takes leave --- The St. Joseph's women's basketball coach named in a sexual harassment complaint against her husband has taken a paid leave of absence for the rest of the season. Stephanie Gaitley was replaced by assistant coach Reggi Grennan on an interim basis for the rest of the season. A former player at the Philadelphia school, Cheryl Kulesa, filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in September accusing Frank Gaitley, a former assistant coach, of sexual harassment.

- Former Knicks coach, GM Eddie Donovan dies --- Donovan, the general manager who helped build the New York Knicks' two championship teams in the 1970s, died Saturday in Bernardsville, N.J., from complications of a stroke. He was 78. Donovan was general manager of the Knicks from 1963-70, acquiring Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Cazzie Russell and Jackson. Donovan also coached the Knicks for four seasons, going 84-194. His .302 winning percentage is the worst of the 18 coaches in Knicks history. The Knicks held a moment of silence before their game against the Indiana Pacers to honor Donovan.

- West Virginia player spits on cheerleader --- West Virginia center Chris Moss spit on a female Notre Dame cheerleader and had to be pulled off the court by coaches after fouling out in a 78-61 loss to the Irish in South Bend, Ind. Moss fouled out with 8:56 left to play when he got a technical for pushing Troy Murphy between free throws. Official Jim Burr restrained Moss from getting closer to official Ken Clark, who called the foul. Moss was finally pulled from the floor by West Virginia coach Gale Catlett and his assistants. Assistant coach Lester Rowe tried to escort Moss off the floor in front of the student section as fans taunted Moss. Moss turned to the crowd and spit, hitting a cheerleader. It was not clear whether Moss intended to hit her.