Georgia, Kentucky Waiting on Smith

Vince Dooley, the University of Georgia’s athletic director, figured Kentucky would eventually hire away his basketball coach. He just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

Tubby Smith, who led the Bulldogs to consecutive 20-victory seasons, has been offered the chance to become Rick Pitino’s successor at Kentucky. Smith was pondering the offer Friday, but there seemed little doubt he would be coaching the Wildcats next season.

Meanwhile, Kentucky announced a special meeting Monday of the university Athletic Assn.’s board of directors. The agenda includes the appointment of a new basketball coach.

Smith showed up at Athens, Ga., for an early-morning conditioning session with some of his players Friday but left the campus without telling Dooley if he had reached a decision.

Smith’s players were resigned to losing their popular coach and Dooley already was pondering possible replacements.

“I see no reason to drag it out any length of time,” Dooley said. “I think it will happen rather quickly.”

Tennis

Conchita Martinez, who has not made a final this year and has slipped to No. 6 in the WTA rankings, beat South Africa’s Joannette Kruger, 6-0, 6-4, in the quarterfinals at the Italian Open in Rome, winning her 23rd consecutive match on the Foro Italico’s red clay.

Also moving into the semifinals was Mary Pierce, who followed up her ouster of top-seeded Monica Seles with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Romania’s Ruxandra Dragomir.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, hampered by an arm injury, lost in straight sets to Swiss teenager Patty Schnyder, 6-1, 6-1, and Barbara Paulus ousted Irina Spirlea 6-4, 6-2.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov breezed into the semifinals of the German Open, routing Albert Costa, 6-3, 6-0, at Hamburg.

Kafelnikov’s opponent will be his good friend, Andrei Medvedev, who won here in 1994 and 1995. Medvedev ousted 12th-seeded Sergi Bruguera, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

In other quarterfinals, Felix Mantilla of Spain beat Hicham Arazi of Morocco, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, and Tommy Haas of Germany defeated Alberto Berasategui of Spain, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Boxing

Virgil Hill was stripped of his International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title because he is not scheduled to fight top-ranked William Guthrie.

Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise of U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., ruled in late February that Guthrie must get an IBF title fight by July 19 but Hill is scheduled to fight Darius Michalczewski of Poland on June 13 at Oberhausen, Germany.

That fight will be for the World Boxing Assn.’s light-heavyweight title, which Hill also holds.

Chatchai Sasakul of Thailand scored a unanimous 12-round decision over Ysaias Zamudio of the U.S. at Bangkok for the vacant World Boxing Council flyweight championship.

Motor Sports

Michael Andretti dominated both practice sessions for Sunday’s Rio 400 CART Indy car race on the 1.864-mile modified oval at Nelson Piquet Raceway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Andretti drove his Swift-Ford at 169.834 mph, edging Alex Zanardi in a Reynard-Honda by .114 of a second.

Brazil’s Andre Ribeiro, the defending race champion, escaped injury when his Lola-Honda spun into a tire barrier.

For the third time in 12 races this year, qualifying for the NASCAR Busch Series was canceled because of bad weather and reigning series champion Randy LaJoie will start his Chevrolet from the pole today in the U.S. Cellular 200 at Loudon, N.H., based on owner standings.

Rusty Wallace, 11th in Winston Cup standings, said he, Roger Penske and co-owner Don Miller had scrapped tentative plans to add another car to Wallace’s racing team.

Jurisprudence

A gambler who received complimentary tickets to Fresno State basketball games testified before a federal grand jury in Fresno in connection with alleged point-shaving by Bulldog players.

Jim Muzio, 56, received six sets of tickets, some of them provided by one or more basketball players, The Fresno Bee reported.

The Bee’s sources said Muzio knows former basketball player Dominick Young. Young and Chris Herren have been the focus of a federal investigation into alleged point shaving. Muzio is a farmer and race horse owner whose name surfaced in a number of San Joaquin Valley bookmaking operations, the Bee reported.

Former Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer had to be physically restrained from accosting a woman who had accused him of sexually abusing her in a nightclub, a Tempe (Ariz.) police report says.

The report says the woman saw Plummer outside the club March 23, shortly after closing, and yelled at him, “Don’t ever do that to me again!”

The report said Plummer, who appeared drunk, responded with profanities and then tried to advance on the woman.

A rape charge against Minnesota Viking running back Moe Williams was dismissed because the alleged victim refused to cooperate with the court.

Miscellany

UCLA’s softball team will be able to participate in the 1997 NCAA softball tournament, despite recently imposed sanctions. The Bruins have appealed their NCAA penalties, including a prohibition on postseason competition, and the penalties are stayed until the appeals process is completed.

Former UCLA star Denise Curry, 37, was hired as women’s basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton and given a three-year contract. She succeeds Deborah Ayres, who resigned March 17. . . . A fluke goal in the final period gave Canada a 2-1 victory over Russia and a berth in the finals of the World Ice Hockey Championships at Helsinki, Finland. Finland defeated the U.S., 2-0, dashing the American’s hopes for getting into the bronze-medal game. . . . Homer Rice, 70, retired as Georgia Tech’s athletic director after 17 years on the job. . . . The Kansas City Chiefs released 11-year veteran defensive back Mark Collins, saying last year’s No. 1 draft pick, Jerome Woods, figured to replace Collins at safety.