Sanders Signs for $17.2 Million

Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions became the highest-paid running back in the NFL on Wednesday by signing a $17.2-million, four-year contract that will pay him an average of $4.3 million per year, agent Lamont Smith said.

The deal makes Sanders the league’s third-highest-paid player behind San Francisco’s Steve Young, who earns a reported $4.9 million per year, and Denver’s John Elway, who gets a reported $4.7 million.

Sanders, who was leading the league in rushing before suffering a knee injury on Thanksgiving Day, was in the final year of a contract that pays him $1.9 million in salary.

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Earnest Givins, who recently became the Houston Oilers’ career pass-receiving leader, agreed to a three-year, $5-million contract extension. . . . Pro Bowl tackles Steve Wallace and Harris Barton signed five-year, $10.35-million contracts with the San Francisco 49ers.

Baseball

Tim Raines returned to the Chicago White Sox, reaching a tentative agreement on an $11-million, three-year contract.

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Two days after their teams released them to avoid salary arbitration, infielder Keith Miller and outfielder Chris Gwynn re-signed with the Kansas City Royals, pitcher Shawn Boskie re-signed with the Chicago Cubs, and infielder Bill Spiers and outfielder Alex Diaz re-signed with the Milwaukee Brewers.

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First baseman Gerald Perry and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal worth $650,000. . . . Left-hander Chris Hammond of the Florida Marlins received a raise to $925,000 for next season.

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Left-handed pitcher Brien Taylor might need arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder after suffering a dislocated shoulder during a weekend fight, the New York Yankees’ said.

College Football

Football players at Stanford had the highest scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests when they were recruited and Oklahoma players ranked at at the bottom of the list, according to a USA Today survey.

Ranking behind Stanford among Division I schools were Northwestern, Duke, Virginia and Vanderbilt. Also in the top 10 were Rice, Southern Methodist, California, Notre Dame and Colorado State.

Stanford football players had an average SAT score of 1069 out of a possible 1600. Oklahoma’s average was 759, just below Kansas State at 769 and Mississippi at 768.

No. 1 Florida State had an average score of 822.

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Ken Hatfield was named coach at Rice, replacing Fred Goldsmith, who resigned to coach Duke. . . . Northeast Louisiana’s football program has been moved up to NCAA Division I-A. . . . Skip Holtz, son of Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz, was named coach at Connecticut.

Miscellany

Ricky Pierce of the Seattle SuperSonics will sit out tonight’s game against the Phoenix Suns after being suspended one game and fined $3,500 for throwing a punch at Byron Scott of the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night. . . . Sergei Fedorov agreed to a four-year contract with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. . . . Edmonton Oiler owner Peter Pocklington plans to appeal Tuesday’s court ruling that prevents him from resuming talks to move his NHL team.

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Softball player Lisa Fernandez of UCLA was selected as one of Today’s Top Six by the NCAA. The award recognizes the top six outstanding senior student-athletes of the preceding calendar year for all sports. . . . Thoroughbred trainer Dominick Galluscio will start a 60-day suspension Friday at Aqueduct after his final appeal was turned down in a case involving a horse that failed a drug test.

World Cup champion Germany completed its North American tour with a scoreless tie against Mexico before 120,000 at Mexico City. . . . Hannes Trinkl of Austria, a late starter who took advantage of improving conditions during the race, gained an upset victory in a men’s World Cup super-giant slalom ski race at Lech am Arlberg, Austria. . . . Katja Koren, an 18-year-old Slovenian student, won a women’s World Cup super-G at Flachau, Austria.