NCAA Hits Washington With Sanctions

The NCAA on Tuesday put Washington’s football program on probation for two years and limited the Huskies to four televised regular-season games in one of the next two seasons.

The school will opt to have that limit imposed in 1995, said Jim Daves, Washington’s sports information director.

The penalties from the NCAA Committee on Infractions are in addition to those imposed last year by the Pacific 10 Conference, which imposed a two-year bowl ban.

There was no immediate comment from school officials.

At issue were violations of NCAA rules concerning payments by boosters to student athletes for work not actually performed, “as well as a lack of institutional controls of a summer jobs program,” the NCAA said in a release.

The panel, noting the Pac-10 conducted its own probe and imposed its own penalties before forwarding the case to the NCAA, lauded those efforts but noted the potential for problems when a conference imposes penalties before the NCAA committee review.

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Mississippi’s Billy Brewer, the dean of Southeastern Conference football coaches, was fired, the latest fallout from a second NCAA investigation during his tenure.

His firing came a day after Athletic Director Warner Alford resigned and 3 1/2 weeks after the school announced an NCAA inquiry alleging 15 violations by the football program. Mississippi was put on probation for two years after the 1986 season.

Brewer was 67-56-3 in 11 seasons at Ole Miss, leading the Rebels to three bowl games the past five seasons.

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California linebacker Paul Joiner was not wearing a seat belt when the car he was driving went out of control and struck a light pole, authorities said.

Joiner, expected to be a key part of the Golden Bears’ defense this season, remained in critical but stable condition at Highland General Hospital in Oakland after Sunday’s accident. The 22-year-old suffered multiple head injuries in the crash, which also injured two other Cal players.

Basketball

Voshon Lenard, a second-round draft choice of the Milwaukee Bucks, has told the team he is returning to Minnesota for his senior year, the Bucks announced.

Under a new NCAA rule, underclassmen may enter the draft but retain their college eligibility if they decide to return to college within 30 days of the draft. Any team drafting an underclassman retains that player’s rights for the next year’s draft.

Miscellany

Jacky Durand, a two-time winner of the French national championship, won the 10th stage of the Tour de France.

Three-time winner Miguel Indurain of Spain finished in the pack less than two minutes behind and retained the overall lead.

The Mighty Ducks acquired defenseman Robert Dirk from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a fourth-round draft choice in 1995.

Dirk, 27, had two goals and three assists in 71 games with the Blackhawks last season.