No Postseason Play for Minnesota Basketball

The University of Minnesota will hold its men’s basketball team out of postseason tournament play for a year because of alleged academic cheating in the program, school President Mark Yudof said Tuesday.

The postseason ban includes the NCAA and NIT but not the Big Ten tournament, Yudof said.

The school also is putting the program on probation for an unspecified length of time. That will mean higher levels of reporting to the NCAA, such as periodic self-studies and compliance checks, Yudof said.

An investigation into the men’s basketball program began in March, after former tutor Jan Gangelhoff claimed she had done more than 400 pieces of course work for at least 20 basketball players from 1993 to 1998.

The investigation has since widened to include accusations of improper payments and travel irregularities, and alleged sexual and other misconduct in the men’s athletics department.

Yudof said the university and the NCAA may impose more sanctions after the final university report is completed, probably by Nov. 10. The report is expected to be made public about 10 days later.

Yudof said he realized some current basketball team members may feel the sanctions are unfair, but said, “We must demonstrate good faith and take meaningful action to repair the damage that has been done by others.”

NCAA spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the organization would not comment specifically on the sanctions. But she said it was appropriate and common for schools to come up with their own punishments.

Coach Clem Haskins resigned under pressure in June and accepted a $1.5-million buyout of his contract. He has said he had no knowledge of any academic cheating in the basketball program. Dan Monson of Gonzaga was hired to replace Haskins.

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The exhibition opener for the UCLA men’s basketball team Nov. 10 at Pauley Pavilion will be against a club from Lithuania instead of the Chinese national team, as originally scheduled. . . . Chris Walton, the youngest son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton, has turned down a scholarship offer from UCLA and verbally committed to play for San Diego State. . . . Penny Hardaway’s debut with the Phoenix Suns will be delayed after he and fellow guard Rex Chapman were fined and suspended for the opening game next Tuesday at Denver without pay for their part in an altercation in an exhibition game against the Miami Heat. . . . Precautionary X-rays of Scottie Pippen’s injured left index finger revealed no fracture, but the Portland Trail Blazer forward is wearing a splint and will sit out the last two exhibition games.

Boxing

Luther Mack, a member of the Nevada Athletic Commission, says he favors a letter condemning Mike Tyson for throwing the late punch that ended Saturday night’s fight against Orlin Norris at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The fight was ruled no-contest after Norris injured his right knee falling to the canvas as a result of a punch Tyson threw after the bell ending the first round. In the opinion of referee Richard Steele, Tyson’s blow was an accidental foul.

Said Mack, “There should be some type of letter, stating that this type of thing will not be tolerated, that this is not good for boxing, that it’s time for Mike Tyson to clean his act up and time for him to be a boxer.”

Mack told the Associated Press early Tuesday that Tyson should be fined, but backtracked later in the day when contacted by The Times, saying the earlier statement was premature.

Mack and his fellow commissioners will meet Friday in Las Vegas to decide whether to release Tyson’s $10-million purse from the fight and whether to take any disciplinary action against the former two-time heavyweight champion.

Tennis

Jim Courier, after taking a month off because of an injured ankle, came from behind and beat Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, advancing to the second round of the $2.45-million Eurocard Open at Stuttgart, Germany.

No. 13 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden beat Michael Chang, 6-4, 6-2.

Anna Kournikova of Russia, returning to the tour after recovering from a foot injury, defeated Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the $520,000 Generali Ladies tournament at Linz, Austria.

The match was the first for Kournikova, the world’s 13th-ranked women’s player, since she dropped out of the U.S. Open because of a stress fracture in her right foot.

Miscellany

Britain will back the U.S. proposal for a drug agency that is not controlled by the International Olympic Committee.

Barry McCaffrey, head of the White House drug policy office, is touring Europe to build support for an independent international agency to lead the fight against performance-enhancing drugs.

McCaffrey opposes the IOC’s plans for such an agency, contending it would lack independence and accountability. But the IOC said it plans to set up its agency next month and have it operating by the end of the year.

The challenger series for the America’s Cup fell into disarray today off Auckland, New Zealand, as on-board problems, blustery weather and umpires’ exemptions left only two boats out of 11 in a real race.

That race turned out to be a cliffhanger, as San Francisco’s America True made up one minute in the last leg of its race against Nippon, but lost by one second.

A Cincinnati high school senior’s request for a court order to extend his athletic eligibility because he has a learning disability and needs sports as part of his education could encourage similar requests, lawyers in the case said.

A federal judge heard a second day of testimony on whether to continue to let Ryan Dixon, 18, play sports at Hamilton High School. It was not clear when U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith might rule.

The judge on Oct. 14 ordered Hamilton High temporarily not to enforce the Ohio High School Athletic Assn.’s eight-semester limit on Dixon, who is in his ninth semester because he repeated ninth grade.