Wooden Joins Crum on Hall of Fame Day

It was Denny Crum’s moment at Springfield, Mass., where he was one of five people inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.

That meant it was also John Wooden’s moment.

“He is the one who taught me everything I know about basketball,” said Crum, who played for Wooden and then served as his assistant coach at UCLA. “I wanted him to be part of this.”

Crum joined New Jersey Net and U.S. Olympic Coach Chuck Daly; Italy’s greatest coach, Cesare Rubini, and players Carol Blazejowski and Buddy Jeannette as those honored.

Crum had asked Wooden to present him and Wooden was happy to oblige.

“He was born to coach,” said Wooden, who made his first trip to the Hall of Fame in nearly 20 years.

In 23 years at Louisville, Crum’s teams have won more than 73% of their games and won NCAA championships in 1980 and 1986.

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Houston Rocket center Hakeem Olajuwon, who was second in blocked shots and fourth in rebounding this season, was chosen NBA defensive player of the year for the second consecutive year, beating San Antonio center David Robinson by one vote among the 101 cast by sportswriters and broadcasters.

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Duke’s basketball team has canceled a series of games May 19-June 2 in Australia against that nation’s national team, because Blue Devil players did not perform up to Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s expectations in the classroom.

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The Bobcats, Dragons and Raptors are the finalists in the national name-the-team contest for Toronto’s new NBA franchise.

Football

Florida State University police assigned two people full time and three more part time to investigate accusations of Seminole football players having taken illegal payments from unregistered sports agents.

Any player determined to have taken a gift in violation of NCAA rules could lose part or all of his eligibility. Two players have admitted they received clothes and $40 cash last fall from one prospective agent.

Tennis

Michael Chang struggled past Patrick Rafter, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, at the Italian Open in Rome. Chang, seeded fifth, was the highest-seeded player to compete on a day when the major matches were washed out at the $2-million clay-court tournament.

Lindsay Davenport, a senior at Murrieta Valley High, is ranked 10th this week on the WTA Tour. She is the first U.S. woman to crack the top 10 since Jennifer Capriati in 1990.

Jurisprudence

Fifteen current and former Washington Redskins joined tight end Terry Orr in a lawsuit against the NFL Players Assn. over whether they were required to pay union dues.

Hockey

Wayne Gretzky of the Kings is a finalist for the NHL’s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct for the 10th time. He has won the award twice.

Goaltenders Dominik Hasek of Buffalo and John Vanbiesbrouck of Florida, and forward Sergei Fedorov of Detroit are finalists for two NHL awards each, including the Hart Trophy, awarded the league’s most valuable player.

Miscellany

Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov rode to a dominating time trial victory and moved into the race lead in the fifth stage of the Tour DuPont.

Ekimov, an eight-time world champion and 1988 Olympic gold medalist, completed the 22.9-mile Salem-to-Roanoke route in Virginia in 57 minutes 17 seconds.

The Los Angeles Blades of Roller Hockey International will hold training camp May 16-31 at the Forum and will open their season on June 5 at The Pond of Anaheim. The Blades will be coached by Bobby Hull Jr., son of NHL Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, and are expected to have Nick Vachon, son of former King goalie Rogie Vachon, on the team.

Horse Racing

Smilin Singin Sam, 10th in the Kentucky Derby, will not race in the Preakness on May 21, Cot Campbell, Dogwood Stable president, said.

Names in the News

Harry O’Boyle, 89, who played on Knute Rockne’s 1924 national championship team at Notre Dame and later for two NFL teams, died of cancer in Wheeling, W.Va. . . . Chuck Taylor, who participated in the Rose Bowl first as a Stanford football player and later as coach and athletic director, died of cancer at age 74 at Stanford University Hospital.