Connecticut’s Marshall Giving Up Final Season

Donyell Marshall of Connecticut, the Big East player of the year, said Tuesday that he will give up his senior year of eligibility to make himself available for the NBA draft.

Marshall met with Coach Jim Calhoun on Monday and decided to put an end to speculation about his future. He had until May 15 to make his decision.

The 6-foot-9 forward is expected to be an early pick in the June 29 draft after averaging 25.1 points last season.

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Rick Pitino, responding to reports that he was close to becoming the Laker coach, said he would remain at Kentucky.

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Jeff Capel, who coached North Carolina A&T; into the NCAA tournament in his first season, was hired to coach at Old Dominion.

Hockey

A Russian has pleaded guilty in Buffalo, N.Y., to a charge of menacing Alex Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres, whom he was accused of threatening in an extortion attempt.

Serguei Fomitchev, 31, agreed to the plea on a lesser charge to avoid a long wait in jail for an extortion trial and a possible prison term of up to seven years, his lawyer said.

Paul Kariya, No. 1 draft pick of the Mighty Ducks, scored three goals to help Canada defeat Austria, 6-1, in the World Ice Hockey Championships at Bolzano, Italy.

Pro Football

The Kansas City Chiefs, who lost defensive backs Albert Lewis and Kevin Ross to free agency, signed all-pro cornerback Mark Collins of the New York Giants.

Collins, formerly of Cal State Fullerton, had four interceptions and 71 tackles last season.

The Chicago Bears said they will not try to re-sign defensive end Richard Dent and running back Neal Anderson, both free agents, and also released fullback Craig (Ironhead) Heyward. The team also agreed to a one-year, $600,000 contract with free-agent quarterback Steve Walsh.

Soccer

In a rare decision, the governing body of German soccer nullified a 2-1 victory by first-place Bayern Munich against FC Nuremberg and ordered the game replayed.

Referee Hans-Joachim Osmers had ruled that Thomas Helmer scored to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 lead. Television replays showed that the ball went outside the left post and not into the goal.

The U.S. soccer team formally announced plans to play its last exhibition game prior to the World Cup against Mexico at the Rose Bowl on June 4.

Tennis

Steffi Graf returned to the court where Monica Seles was stabbed last year and defeated Silke Frankl, 6-0, 6-0, in the Citizen Cup at Hamburg, Germany. Graf, looking relaxed despite having received death threats, defeated her fellow German in 35 minutes.

Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev, seeded second, lost to South African Marcos Ondruska, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), in the opening round of the BMW Open at Munich, Germany.

Jaime Yzaga of Peru defeated seventh-seeded Alexander Volkov of Russia in the opening round of the Madrid Open, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Jimmy Connors won in a tour event for the first time in more than a year, defeating Doug Flach, 7-5, 6-4, in the opening round of the AT&T; Challenge in Duluth, Ga.

Names in the News

Former Clipper coach Mike Schuler retired from his job as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. . . . Senior Frank Costa beat out junior Ryan Collins and will be Miami’s starting quarterback next season, Coach Dennis Erickson said. . . . Hawaiian-born wrestler Konishiki weighed in at 592 pounds for a May tournament in Tokyo, setting a sumo record, the Japan Sumo Assn. said.

Gary Bettenhausen will drive in the Indianapolis 500 for his younger brother, Tony, creating the first sibling race team in 75 years in which the driver was not also a co-owner.