NBA Ready to Add Toronto Team in ’95

The NBA Expansion Committee unanimously recommended Thursday that a Toronto group be awarded the league’s 28th franchise. The winning group is headed by John Bitove Jr., who won out over two other bidding groups, one headed by Magic Johnson.

Formal approval is expected from the 27-member Board of Governors, which must ratify by a three-quarters vote. The franchise would be eligible for the 1995-96 season.

Bitove, who oversees his family’s food-service business, is part of a group that plans a 22,000-seat downtown arena that won’t be shared with the NHL’s Maple Leafs.

Johnson was one of 12 partners in a group led by music promoters Michael Cohl and Bill Ballard.

The Clippers signed forward Loy Vaught to a four-year, $12-million contract extension. Vaught’s original four-year, $4-million contract was to have expired at the end of the 1993-94 season.

Vaught, who averaged 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in 79 games last season, is expected to become a starter, replacing forward Ken Norman, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Meanwhile, the Clippers and Seton Hall guard-forward Terry Dehere, their top draft choice, remain far apart. Dehere is seeking an $8.4-million, five-year deal and has rejected the Clippers’ $7-million, five-year offer.

The Clippers open training camp next Friday at UC Irvine. Tickets for regular-season games go on sale Saturday at the Sports Arena and Ticketmaster outlets.

The Lakers signed restricted free-agent guard Duane Cooper. Cooper, 24, played in 65 games in his rookie season and averaged 2.4 points and 2.3 assists.

Hockey

The New York Islanders acquired goalie Tom Draper from the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional pick in the 1994 NHL entry draft.

Bryan Marchment, a Chicago Blackhawk defenseman, was suspended for one exhibition game and fined $500 for butting Kelly Chase of the St. Louis Blues last weekend.

Bobby Carpenter, the first United States-born player to score 50 goals in the NHL, was signed by the New Jersey Devils, who also traded defenseman Brent Severyn to Winnipeg for a conditional selection in the 1994 entry draft.

Golf

Jim Hallet shot a five-under-par 67 for the first-round lead in the Buick Southern Open at Pine Mountain, Ga. Hallet holds a one-shot lead over nine golfers, with eight others within two strokes of the lead.

Loren Roberts, Neal Lancaster, Brandel Chamblee, Bill Kratzert, Larry Mize, Fred Funk, Blaine McCallister, Perry Moss and Billy Andrade all shot 68s.

David Frost of South Africa shot a six-under-par 66 for the opening-round lead in the German Masters at Monsheim, Germany. Nine players trailed Frost by two strokes.

Barbara Stephan of Torrance shot a second-round 78 under damp, rainy conditions to take a four-shot lead after the second of three rounds of the 32nd Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J.

Soccer

The French club AS Monaco said it will allow star forward Jurgen Klinsmann to play for Germany during the World Cup champion’s December tour of the United States and Mexico.

Germany plays Argentina on Dec. 15 at Miami, the United States on Dec. 18 at Palo Alto, and Mexico on Dec. 22 at Mexico City.

Sailing

A Spanish boat withdrew and the U.S. Women’s Challenge was struggling with a disintegrating mainsail on Day 6 of the Whitbread Round the World Race. Spain’s Fortuna, one of five boats in the larger maxi class, pulled out after the collapse of its mizzen mast.

Nance Frank’s all-woman Whitbread 60 boat, meanwhile, had to do repeated repairs to its mainsail when it tore several times in winds no stronger than 20 knots. The women lost so much time that New Zealand’s Yamaha, skippered by Ross Field, was able to catch up after returning to port to replace a broken rudder.

Miscellany

Four Harbor College football players were suspended indefinitely from school in the aftermath of a brawl between Harbor and Pierce College players after their game at Harbor last Saturday.

Harbor did not name the suspended players. The fracas started near the teams’ locker rooms after Pierce defeated the Seahawks at Harbor College in Wilmington, 23-0.

Harbor plans to reinstate its football program Monday after it was suspended this week while an investigation into the incident was conducted.

Names in the News

Isaiah (J.R.) Rider, the former Nevada Las Vegas basketball star and top draft pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves, was arraigned in Alameda, Calif., on two counts of driving with a suspended license.

A West Virginia high school football player died of head injuries, six days after collapsing during a game. Chuck Schofield, 17, died after his family decided to disconnect life supports, Coach Kenny Wright said.

Maria Jongeling, 18, of the Netherlands won the gold medal in the women’s 2,000-meter individual pursuit in the world junior cycling championships in Perth, Australia.