[ Sports Brief ]

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 24, 2001 by Capital-Journal

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Basketball: Lady Blues sign guard

Washburn women's coach Ron McHenry announced the signing of Malgorzata "Gosia" Czarnecka on Wednesday. The 5-foot-9 point guard, a native of Wroclaw, Poland, is transferring from Barton County, where she averaged 10.9 points per game and hit 44 percent of her 3- point attempts. As a freshman, she was a member of the Region VI all- tournament team.

Nick Collison confirmed Wednesday he will play for the 2001 USA World Championship team in August. Collison, a Kansas sophomore, will be playing on his fifth USA team after being selected by coach Jim Boeheim because of a shortage post players on the roster. Collison earned first-team All-Big 12 honors from the coaches last season.

Big 12 Conference basketball coaches upset with NCAA rules that limit the number of scholarships they can offer will try to change those rules, they decided Wednesday.

NCAA Division I rules limit men's basketball programs to offering five scholarships in one year or eight over two years.

Conference officials said the limit hurts teams when players leave school before graduation to play professionally and when players are removed from their teams for disciplinary reasons.

"We have some real problems academically with men's basketball graduation rates, early departures for pro drafts and other factors," Commissioner Kevin Weiberg said during the conference's seventh annual spring meeting.

Gary Williams has been rewarded for leading the Terrapins to their first Final Four appearance. The school announced Wednesday that the coach's base salary for next season would be nearly $190,000 and that would go to nearly $200,000 in 2002-03. Williams made $175,000 in base salary last season, according to associate athletic director Dave Haglund.

Derek Anderson said Wednesday there is a "good chance" he will play in Game 3 Friday of the Western Conference finals for the San Antonio Spurs after missing three weeks with a shoulder separation. Los Angeles leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.

Teddy Dupay, a Florida basketball player, is being investigated by the school for a possible violation of the student conduct code. Dupay's mother told Florida Today she knew about the investigation but said her son has done nothing to jeopardize his career at Florida and that he plans to play for the Gators next season.

Baseball: Wells on trade market

The struggling Chicago White Sox, on course to fall from first to last in the AL Central, are trying to trade David Wells, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. The 38-year-old left-hander and Chicago general manager Ken Williams did not comment for the story, which cited sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Tribune said Williams already had informed Wells the White Sox were looking to deal him, and that Wells replied he was ready to leave. Wells was 3- 4 with a 3.97 ERA going into Wednesday night's game against Toronto, the team that traded Wells to the White Sox during the offseason.

Football: Chiefs sign first pick

Defensive tackle Eric Downing of Syracuse, the Kansas City Chiefs' third-round draft pick, on Wednesday became the club's first draft pick to sign a contract. Downing, a second-team all-Big East selection following his senior season, signed a three-year contract. Terms were not announced.

Dylen Smith's football career will continue in Canada, Kansas officials announced. Smith was signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL late last week and will join the team on June 4. The 6- foot-1, 190-pound Californian threw for 1,963 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for the 4-7 Jayhawks. He also was the team's second- leading rusher, with 371 yards and a team-high nine rushing TD's. The Santa Monica Community College transfer spent two seasons at KU, recording 3,562 total passing yards. Smith and his new teammates will open camp on June 10, with exhibition play beginning on June 20.

Tennis: Hewitt is hot

Lleyton Hewitt showed Wednesday why he likes his chances at the French Open. The 20-year-old Australian overpowered Sweden's Magnus Norman 6-1, 6-2 at the clay-court World Team Cup, needing just 72 minutes to beat last year's runner-up at Roland Garros. Pat Rafter topped Thomas Enqvist 6-3, 6-3 as Australia swept its best-of-three encounter with Sweden at the $2.1 million event. Wayne Athurs and Scott Draper beat Enqvist and Nicklas Kulti 7-5, 7-5 in doubles.

Martina Hingis , ranked No. 1 in the world and seeking her first French Open title, will be the top seeded player in the Grand Slam event that begins next week. Venus Williams will be seeded second, followed by fellow-American Lindsay Davenport. Players are seeded based on the latest WTA Tour world rankings. Jennifer Capriati, who opened the Grand Slam season by winning the Australian Open, will be seeded fourth.

Golf: Norman likely out of Open

Barring a special exemption from the U.S. Golf Association, Greg Norman will miss the U.S. Open because of a previous commitment the same day as the final stage of qualifying.