Pitino Benches Three for Duping Foes, Officials

After learning that three of his players--guard Travis Ford, center Gimel Martinez and forward Jared Prickett--were involved in a free-throw swapping scheme against Vanderbilt, Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino hit each of them with one-game suspensions.

Ford had acknowledged that players who were fouled in the Vanderbilt game allowed another player with a better free-throw percentage to go to the line in their place, apparently when officials were confused about who should shoot. It apparently happened twice. Kentucky won, 77-69.

Pitino said he called Vanderbilt Coach Jan van Breda Kolff and apologized for the incident, and that both agreed the free throws didn’t influence the result of Saturday night’s game. The players involved will sit out tonight’s game at Tennessee. The Southeastern Conference admonished the officiating crew.

Former Laker and current Hofstra Coach Butch van Breda Kolff, 71, was hospitalized in Hempstead, N.Y., after complaining of dizziness and fatigue. . . . Louisiana Tech basketball coach Jerry Loyd, who won 20 games in each of his first three seasons, resigned effective at the end of the season. His team is 2-22. . . . Northern Arizona athletic director Tom Jurich, 37, has taken the same post at Colorado State. . . . The NCAA plans to meet next Tuesday with the Black Coaches Assn., which threatened last month to lead a boycott of games over a variety of grievances.

Cal State Fullerton, which dropped football in 1992 after a 2-9 season, announced it will not field a team in 1994.

Tennis

Fifth-seeded Andre Agassi scored a 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Mark Keil in the first round of the Nuveen Championships at Scottsdale, Ariz. Agassi, who hadn’t played since a Davis Cup match against the Bahamas on Sept. 24, underwent surgery on his right wrist Dec. 10.

John McEnroe and Boris Becker teamed to beat Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands and Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 7-6, 7-6, in a first-round doubles match at the Rotterdam indoor tournament. It was the first match of the year for the 35-year-old McEnroe, who is no longer a regular on the tour.

Names in the News

Ted Williams showed signs of improvement after a minor stroke, and doctors in Gainesville, Fla., are optimistic he will regain strength in his left side. . . . Roberto Duran scored a unanimous decision over Carlos Montero of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round super middleweight bout at Marseille, France. . . . The NFL Players Assn. has voted Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers and John Elway of the Denver Broncos as most valuable players in the NFC and AFC. The Rams’ Jerome Bettis was voted the NFL rookie of the year. . . . Graham Marsh, who earned $8,250 in his debut on the PGA Senior Tour last week at Naples, Fla., will play in the GTE Classic at Ojai March 4-6. . . . Pittsburgh Penguin owner Howard Baldwin’s offer to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates was rejected by the Pirates’ board of directors, 10-0. . . . An injunction preventing Peter Pocklington from moving the Edmonton Oilers was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in Edmonton. . . . Issiac Holt, 31, a former defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys, was charged with drunk driving after he allegedly missed a curve and drove his car into a neighbor’s kitchen in Plano, Tex. . . . The Los Angeles Blades of Roller Hockey International have hired Bobby Hull Jr., 32, as coach.