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Hill, Rose Sign Big NBA Deals

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From Staff and Wire Reports

Duke forward Grant Hill, the third pick in the NBA draft, signed a $45-million, eight-year contract Thursday with the Detroit Pistons.

“It’s pretty weird,” he said. “But it’s the way things are going. I guess a couple years from now a rookie will be coming in here making more than I am.”

Hill helped Duke win two NCAA championships and led the Blue Devils to a runner-up finish to Arkansas last spring.

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Michigan guard Jalen Rose, the 13th player picked in the draft, signed a $10.2-million, six-year contract with the Denver Nuggets.

Rose, who left school after his junior season, averaged 19.9 points and a team-high 3.9 assists last season.

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The Chicago Bulls signed free-agent forwards Greg Foster and Jud Buechler to one-year contracts.

Foster, who played at UCLA, spent three years in the NBA before playing in Greece last season. Buechler, a four-year NBA veteran, spent the last two seasons with Golden State.

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Free-agent center Charles Shackleford, who played in Italy last season, has agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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A major hurdle was cleared for Glen Taylor’s proposal to buy the Timberwolves when the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission approved a lease for the Target Center.

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The plan calls for a $54-million public buyout of the Target Center, to be paid off over the 30-year term of the lease by a ticket tax.

The team was set to move to New Orleans until Taylor offered $88.5 million to keep the Timberwolves in Minneapolis.

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The NBA has tentatively approved Roy Tarpley’s request for reinstatement, the Dallas Morning News reported. The newspaper said NBA Commissioner David Stern has approved Tarpley’s return pending the structuring of an after-care program. The Mavericks have said they hope to have Tarpley signed by the start of training camp. Tarpley drew what was termed a lifetime suspension on Oct. 16, 1991, when he became a third-time offender of the league’s drug program.

Baseball

Angel hitting instructor Rod Carew has postponed a decision to renew his contract with the Angels, and instead is considering an offer to join the Colorado Rockies’ coaching staff.

Carew, a member of the Hall of Fame and former teammate of Colorado Manager Don Baylor, has received permission from Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi to talk with the Rockies.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles have invited former Angel manager Buck Rodgers to interview for their managerial vacancy. The Orioles also invited Whitey Herzog, former Angel general manager, to interview for the job. However, Herzog said he is unsure whether he wants to return to managing, and still has a standing offer from the Kansas City Royals.

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New York Met pitcher Dwight Gooden, serving a drug suspension when it was recently revealed he had failed other drug tests, will not face additional penalties until further evaluation.

Gooden has 15 days left on a suspension imposed June 28 after he failed two drug tests. Earlier this month, major league headquarters announced Gooden failed two more drug tests.

Jurisprudence

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson’s attorneys have asked a Marion (Ind.) Superior Court judge to cancel a Nov. 14 hearing scheduled in the appeal of his rape conviction. The hearing was scheduled to hear Tyson’s petition for post-conviction relief, but his attorneys filed a motion asking Judge Patricia Gifford to cancel it.

A lawsuit filed by a woman hit in the nose by a hockey puck was settled hours before Pittsburgh Penguin player Mario Lemieux was expected to testify. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Patricia Ward, 33, sued Lemieux and the Penguins for unspecified damages, alleging both were negligent when Lemieux hit a puck into the stands during a break in play in a game against the New York Rangers on Jan. 14, 1989.

Miscellany

The United States beat Germany, 15-13, 14-16, 15-4, 15-10, in the first round of the men’s world volleyball championship at Athens. Brazil, the world’s top-ranked team, defeated Argentina, 7-15, 10-15, 15-4, 15-10, 15-10, and defending champion Italy swept China, 15-8, 15-8, 15-4.

The men’s professional International Racquetball Tour will make a stop this weekend at the Tournament House Racquetball and Fitness Club in Riverside.

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Names in the News

Guy Forget of France defeated second-seeded Stefan Edberg, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the second round of the $800,000 Swiss Indoors tournament at Basel. . . . The Kings sent right wing Kevin Brown and defenseman Eric Lavign to the Phoenix Roadrunners, their International Hockey League affiliate. . . . Lynne Cox of Los Alamitos said she has received approval from the governments involved to swim the Gulf of Aqaba that joins Israel, Egypt and Jordan Oct. 17-18. . . . Jack Spinks, the first black player from Mississippi to be drafted by the NFL, died of a stroke at the age of 64 in Jackson, Miss. Spinks played for what was then Alcorn A&M; from 1948-52. He was drafted in 1953 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. . . . Driver Don Watson, 42, was killed when his car hit a barrier at 174 m.p.h. during qualifying for the Bathurst Tooheys 1000 in Bathurst, Australia.

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