NBA Players’ Chief Grantham Resigns

Charles Grantham has resigned as executive director of the NBA Players Assn., citing irreconcilable differences over internal matters.

He was replaced immediately by general counsel Simon Gourdine.

In a prepared statement, Grantham and union president Buck Williams said terms were amicable and neither will have “any further comment concerning the events giving rise to Mr. Grantham’s resignation.”

Grantham held the position since Sept. 19, 1988.

“I’ve valued greatly my experience representing NBA players over the past 15 years, but now I’m looking forward to pursuing other career opportunities,” Grantham said.

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As expected, Maryland All-American Joe Smith announced Friday that he’s giving up his final two years of college eligibility and opting for the NBA draft.

“Basically, my family is not in financial straits,” Smith said at a news conference. “It’s not the money. But my mom raised seven kids and it’s time for me to give something back.”

Smith becomes the first sophomore and the fourth underclassman to declare for the draft, joining juniors Corliss Williamson of Arkansas, Arizona State’s Mario Bennett and Gary Trent of Ohio University.

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Marianne Stanley, the former USC women’s coach who vigorously expressed interest in the Long Beach State coaching job several weeks ago, has applied for it, but a Long Beach administration source said Friday it might be too late.

Maine Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie has become the top candidate and the search committee is not eager to pursue Stanley.

Tennis

Andre Agassi reached the semifinals of the Japan Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Scott Draper, a 20-year-old Australian qualifier, in Tokyo.

Now he gets a more experienced foe--Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, the world’s 10th-ranked player, who beat Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman, 6-3, 6-2.

The other semifinal pits second-seeded Michael Chang against No. 4 Jim Courier. Chang survived a second-set match point for a 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory over Sweden’s Jan Apell, and Courier downed Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist, seeded fifth, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.

Top-seeded Kimiko Date, seeking her fourth consecutive Japan Open title, beat No. 8 Nana Miyagi, 6-1, 6-2. American Amy Frazier, seeded second, meets qualifier Tang Min of Hong Kong today to decide the other finalist.

Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, ranked No. 5 in the world, defeated Thierry Champion of France, 6-4, 6-3, to earn a semifinal berth in the Conde de Godo event in Barcelona. Kafelnikov will face ninth-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria, who beat Spain’s Carlos Costa, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. No. 5 Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, who edged No. 4 Alberto Berasategui of Spain, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, will meet Sweden’s Magnus Larsson who won his quarterfinal against Spaniard Jordi Arrese, 6-3, 6-1.

USC’s Brett Hansen defeated UCLA’s Robert Janecek, 6-0, 7-5, in No. 1 singles, but the Bruins (16-3) won the men’s tennis match, 5-2. USC is 12-6.

Miscellany

Dallas Cowboy offensive lineman Erik Williams will remain free on probation despite an apparent violation of its terms in his arrest on allegations he and a companion sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl at his north Dallas home. Williams has been serving two years probation for an Oct. 24 drunken driving accident. . . . University officials have launched a probe into allegations that a University of Maryland football player bet on intercollegiate sporting events. Gambling on college athletics violates NCAA rules. . . . David Green used an 89.068-m.p.h. lap to win his third NASCAR Busch Grand National pole of the season at Hickory Motor Speedway for today’s Sundrop 400 in Hickory, N.C. . . . William (Skip) Miller, a former Brown University assistant track coach charged with twice raping one of his athletes, was convicted on one count and acquitted on the other in Providence, R.I.